Casual Mode – why it could make sense and how it could work

There's a repeated debated to add a casual mode to the game. Typical arguments for it include:

• Ladder is stressful, sometimes I don't feel up for it
• If I want to try new decks, ladder makes me hesitant, thus reducing diversity of play and fun for me
• If I have a whacky network connection, or my baby might wake up any minute, I might not want to "risk medals" in the ladder

Typical arguments against it include:

• For that, there's already the friendly games you can play in your alliance or with people on your friends list!
• This would reduce liquidity from the ladder, increasing queuing times

First, let's look at the counter arguments:

• Casual games in alliance and on friends list are okay for well-connected players who are active on discord. Casual games are basically inaccessible for most players. I would love to play more casual games, and I even am on discord – but I find it too much hassle, especially when I'm short on time.
• The risk of increasing ladder queuing time is indeed real. So the goal must be to design the casual mode in such a way that most players would still want to play ladder in many situations. If we get this right, then the casual mode could even reduce ladder queuing times, because it might keep players interested and invested in the game who really miss that mode. 

There are just certain types of players who find ladder stressful, and I feel we can respect that. Any other traditional RTS caters for these with custom games that can be easily set up, and where others can join easily. And still, most good players play lots of ladder in e.g. WarCraft 3 or StarCraft: Broodwar or StarCraft 2. 

Just a quick mock-up for illustration purposes. And yes, that's the German version of Rivals.

So, done right, casual games would make a lot of players happier without relevant downsides.

What would I suggest?

• There must be no or much slower progression through casual games compared to ladder.
• No fuel gained 
• No vat progress
• No (or fewer) Credits and XP
• Casual games must still involve different unit levels, as on ladder. So that even players who might like that game mode have an incentive to progress, hence play ladder.
• To facilitate a good matchmaking, I would suggest a hidden matchmaking algorithm that combines:
• Medals for active players (in a softer way than on ladder)
• Unit levels, to reduce situations where players with >2 level difference play against each other
• Potentially a secret casual matchmaking score (similar to medals, but hidden) that prevents too easy long loss runs (as they would be demotivating for newer players)
• Advertise the mode as a secondary "test and practice" mode and making it clear that it has downsides

Why do NightEnD, Happy & Co still play ladder, even though there is custom games? 

Would people still play ladder? Yes, of course!

Ladder is amazing because:

• It gives you a sense of progress through leagues, rankings, medal count
• I makes the rough skill level of your opponents transparent, giving you a sense of accomplishment & personal progression in your skill levels
• It ensures the opponents usually try their best, giving you a better sense of accomplishment and better training value

It might be that on the bottom end, some share of newer players would play this game mode a lot. But this might not be a bad thing:

1. Better than them playing less / stopping to play – they can switch to ladder later, or still be incentivized to recommend the game to others or buy something in the game
2. Queue times are not a problem at the lower leagues, so even if casual takes 20% of game volume there, I see no problem

Now, I'm not saying that this must be the #1 priority for the Rivals developers. But I strongly believe that beyond balancing units and the econonmy, it's important that the game improves it's stickiness for the numerous players for whom "ladder only" might not be the perfect experience. 

Beyond directly improving the experience of causal players, I still think that more tournaments, supported by Redwood, could help to improve the community feeling of Rivals & allow casual players (who are not on the discord or in a hyper-active alliance) to connect with the community and top players.


Thanks to Nhiyla, 13lade, CptBenzie, Sven/Eden, ZeroHour and others on discord for their thoughts on this topic.