(Note: This post has been edited. See "EDIT #1".)
Currently, Meltdown has several problems that were already present when it was released on the Test Server about a month ago. Back then, I wrote a suggestion on how to fix many of them in "one go". I believe it might be relevant again, so I'll repeat a slightly modified version here:
Meltdown games could be divided into three versions - the free versions, much like the regular games, and the one with the entry fee. Like this:
-Quick Match (completely free-to-play)
-Custom Game (completely free-to-play) (Only passworded CGs would be allowed, to prevent matching with QM.)
-Weekly Meltdown Competition (with the entry fee)
Creating a Meltdown deck could be part of the deck editor - you'd go there, select a Meltdown version (Quick Match, Custom Game or Competition), click "Create a Meltdown deck"-button, and you'd get your card pool. Then you'd edit the deck just like you would a normal deck with the ability to clear and save the deck, and return later to modify it, and all this without any time limit.
However, you could only have one Meltdown deck at any time for each version of Meltdown (one for Quick Match, one for Custom Games and one for Competition play), and you wouldn't get a new card pool for a version until you'd start a game in that specific version against an opponent. (Cancelling the game before an opponent shows up wouldn't renew the card pool). In other words, there'd be a "deck slot" for each Meltdown version.
So, for example in Quick Match, the moment the game would begin with two players joined, the saved QM deck would be deleted, and the next time when the player would create a QM Meltdown deck, the card pool would be renewed. The rest of the versions could follow the same principle. Also, if in the future there'd be official events like Best 2-out-of-3 Meltdown Tournaments, then a deck slot could be created for the specific event, for the duration of it.
In Tournaments where players play with a new Meltdown deck each round, an advanced form of deckbuilding could work so that a player could first, during the days before the tournament, create several Tournament-specific Meltdown decks in a row, and then use those decks, in the order in which they were created, to play during the Tournament. (The order couldn't be changed.) This would practically eliminate waiting times during the event that would otherwise go to deckbuilding.
As far as I can tell, the benefits of this kind of system would be:
-Players can create their deck at their own pace without time limits in all Meltdown versions, making the deckbuilding process very friendly for new players.
-Without time limits, no problems can ever arise from people "timing out" during the deckbuilding.
-Players can create their deck well ahead of actually playing with them, which reduces waiting times.
-Players can't "fish" for good card pools. (If they concede the game right after an opponent has joined, they'll get the normal penalties that come with losing a game.)
-Since a deck is saved after creation, it can't be lost (due to pre-game errors or cancelling, for example) before a game is properly started with it.
Comments, please.
EDIT #1:
I've made a two additions to my original proposition above, marked with yellow text.
I've also made a list of the problems that my proposition originally was meant to address. They still exist at the time I'm writing this. If Wulven takes the route of fixing these issues individually instead of restructuring the Meltdown deckbuilding process, my proposition, in its entirety, will naturally make less and less sense for them to implement. Still, I suppose that in the first place, my point was just to give them the best solution that I can think of, and then they can make of it what they deem best.
(Also note that in certain quotes, I've added clarification text inside brackets [like this].)
In every case, here's the list of problems:
-Players can still "fish" for good card pools (if they can afford to).
-Players must build their deck within a time limit.
-In passworded custom games, one player has to wait for the other to build their deck first.
-During deckbuilding, the hero can't be switched without clearing the deck.
-Free-to-play Custom Meltdown Tournaments aren't possible on the live server.
-Passworded games "let in" passwordless people.
-Passworded games count in the weekly Competition.
(The last two I didn't specifically address, but I included them anyway since they're serious enough.) More detailed descriptions follow:
-Players can still "fish" for good card pools (if they can afford to):
This issue of "fishing" has been mostly fixed by making it so that a player doesn't get a new card pool until he finishes building a Meltdown deck by clicking the "ok" button at the deckbuilding screen. When he does that, 200 gold is substracted from his account, and he's taken to the "waiting for opponents"-screen.
At that point however, if the player clicks "cancel" before an opponent has joined the game, then the game will be cancelled, the player will get a new card pool and his Meltdown ranking hasn't changed at all. For most people, it probably doesn't make any sense to repeat this kind of process, but players at the very top levels of the Meltdown Competition might have incentive to do this, since they're already bound to win a lot of gold. If "fishing" with a couple of thousand gold will get you from the 2nd place to the 1st place, then it might be well worth the investment.
Another group who might be inclined to "fish" are people who have lots of gold and just want to get to the top, regardless of how much it costs them. If gold means nothing to them, with fishing they can get one superb Meltdown deck after another. I honesty have no idea whether these kind of people actually exist, but at least it's possible in theory.
In my propsition, I imagined that losing a game would actually come with a penalty of lowering the player's standing in the Competition.
-Players must build their deck within a time limit:
The player has to create their deck within 3 minutes. Even though the card pool stays the same after a timeout, anyone who runs out of time will probably be frustrated since they have to restart the deckbuilding process. Is there any good reason for this time limit to exist at all? Even Gondorian has said:
-In passworded custom games, one player has to wait for the other to build their deck first:Originally Posted by Gondorian
Gondorian has said:
In my personal opinion, it's unlikely that two players who've arranged to play a game with each other would leave each other waiting due to a lack of timer. At least the system could be adjusted so that both players can create their deck at the same time, so that the waiting time would be reduced for the one who finished deckbuilding first.
In my proposition, even Tournament decks can be built ahead of the event itself, so whenever people would create their deck beforehand, they can just "come to the table and play" without any waiting times due to deckbuilding.
-During deckbuilding, the hero can't be switched without clearing the deck:
Again, an unnecessary nuisance.
-Free-to-play Custom Meltdown Tournaments aren't possible on the live server:
As long as every Meltdown game comes with a price tag on the live server, free-to-play Meltdown tournaments like these apparently won't be possible on the live server.
Below there are two more issues, though my proposition doesn't specifically address them:
-Passworded games "let in" passwordless people:
This bug is still present the last time I created a passworded game on the live server. I didn't even tell the password to anyone, but somebody got in anyway. (It was a good game though.)
-Passworded games count in the weekly Competition:
And hence, at least in theory, people could make arrangements for a one-sided victory streak, provided the previous bug doesn't hinder them.
EDIT #1 concludes here. I wrote it in a bit of a hurry, so I'd be grateful if you'd point out any embarrassing mistakes that I've made.
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