How to expand?

[dbest]

My current setup has 96 slots for users. The slots are split into 4 countries. Each country has 2 leagues with 12 slots each.
In about 10 days, I have only 24 slots remaining. (I believe some questioned the logic on this forum..)

I am in a fix and need to do something about it. Let me list some alternatives that I have thought of:

a) Do not accept new users till the next season begins in Jan 2011.
This would mean that we would lose some users as they might not want to stick around for so long without active participation.

b) Add 2 more nations to the existing setup.
Currently I have 4 nations that users can join. I could add 2 more nations and simulate the past games and bring them up to speed.
This would mean that there would be 48 new slots, as each nation would have 24 slots.

c) Change existing league level
Currently I have 2 leagues in 4 countries. Each league is at Rookie level. Top teams will promote to Amateur at the end of the season.
What I could do is rename the current Rookie league to Amateur and introduce 4 Rookie leagues in each country.
This would mean that new users would come in Rookie leagues in the existing countries.
So 48x4 = 192 new slots would be introduced.

[Chris]

d) Sacrifice realism and redesign the game to allow leagues to have fluid/unlimited number of slots

e) Add 3rd Amateur league that would have unlimited number of slots


This can be solved either by having unlimited slots in a league or having unlimited number of leagues. Any other solution would only soften the problem without solving it.

[Harkins]

I vote for D or E. Don't limit how quickly you can attract players.

I'm not a big fan of putting everyone in one big league, really, I'd worry about players realizing halfway through the tournament that they have no chance of winning and abandoning their accounts. I guess if you get paid up-front it's not quite as painful (though you still have to deal with people advancing because of forfeits), but I'd run many small, frequent tournaments and make sure there's a continuity in players' resources. I may realize halfway through the October tournament that I'm not going to win, but if I keep playing my best my team will be prepared to do better in the November tournament.

[dbest]

Having unlimited slots brings up certain issues. I will need to ensure that there is an even number of teams in each league, as one round consists of one team facing another. Also, how would I determine a cut-off? In the current setup, each team faces an opponent twice.

[raestlyn]

Why you just can't give a free ticket for one team each round? You just basically make an empty slot and make everyone play against it like it would be normal team.

[Nox]

Why not automatically open(aka create) new leagues (of various levels if the respective one is full)?

[dbest]

Why you just can't give a free ticket for one team each round? You just basically make an empty slot and make everyone play against it like it would be normal team.

Fixtures are drawn at the start of the season. I would have to generate fixtures each time someone joins a league.

Why not automatically open(aka create) new leagues (of various levels if the respective one is full)?

Thats one of my option, but I will have to do it manually.. I have the code setup, so its a matter of entering a few numbers..

[dbest]

Added 2 more leagues in each country, effectively doubling the number of slots available. I know it only softens the issue, but hopefully, I don't have to expand soon.