Since the first BattleBall tournament in Origins ended on August 26th of last year, the game's lobbies have been virtually empty. It is fair to say that the premier tournament of the game did not go exactly to plan. Many Habbos were left bitter; still confused about the scoring system and feeling frustrated about how the tournament had been run.

But now, Macklebee has launched a preview for the new upcoming tournament (Season 1) - featuring several key changes to the game in an attempt to right previous wrongs, and to realise the game's full potential. You can find the preview at the very top of the Public Rooms section of the navigator.

Changes made to the game

Here is a quick run-through of the changes that have been made to the game:

I. Simplified scoring system: The only things that affect a player's individual score are capturing, stealing, and assisting in locking tiles - NOT the use of power-ups or extra performer or team bonuses added post-game.

II. New rating adjustment system: BattleBall is now a 'zero-sum game', meaning that Team 1's gain will be equal to Team 2's loss (e.g. if Team 1 gains 10 points, Team 2 will lose 10 points).

III. Power-up spawn points: Power-ups now appear at fixed spawn points - the same position, at the same time, every time. The power-ups get progressively stronger through the game (e.g. no cannons or bombs at the beginning of a game).

For the preview, all players' ratings have been reset to 1000. Your rating will now also be visible in the game list when queuing for a game.

The only map available to play for the preview is Sky Peak, but teams can be created in any possible configuration; for the actual tournament, teams will be fixed in a 2v2 format.

I decided to try to play the preview myself to test out these new changes and see if the playing experience had improved since I last played the game back in August. Bear in mind that I am by no means a pro-BattleBall player...

What I found is that the game did indeed feel more fair, both playing and scoring-wise. The fixed power-up spawn points and spawn times make the game less chaotic, with the power-ups being distributed in spaces easily accessible to all teams, evening out the playing field.

In one of the games I played, my teammate left the game just as the countdown was ending. Usually, that would mean an inevitable point deduction for me, but with the new rating adjustment system, no points were deducted. This is a very welcome change to combat players' ragequitting - my teammate being punished with a large points deduction (ouch!) as seen in the picture below: 

The final standings page has also been updated, showing each players' captures (C), assists (A) and steals (S). 

Feedback

To ensure that the Origins Community are satisfied with these changes, a feedback thread has been opened in the Origins Discord Server. Habbos are encouraged to play the preview and give their thoughts on it, as well as any possible suggestions.

One of the more persistent suggestions is a limit on the amount of games a player can play each day. Macklebee has confirmed on Twitter that there will be further discussion on this matter as we get closer to the start of the new tournament - so don't fret!

We'd love to know: have you played the preview yet? If so, what do you think of the changes that have been made? Let us know in the comments below!