I cant disagree more with those last 2 posts, the changes was just what ELO needed, and it balanced out the clans, not making it favorable for certain clans. i see alot more different clans now then i ever did with the old ELO. Admins: keep up the good work!

It's got to be said that since the changes came in, the prize pool for elo hasn't broken 3 mil clintz. That means that not nearly as many people are playing. Supposedly more balanced or not.

Kazjun hits the nail on the head

all of you looking for the problem...there it is

alot of people have stopped playing since the change

so clearly something is wrong

People stopping to play may not just be the results of changes to ELO, but of less people playing UR in general. The market inflation (and lack of intervention taken against this) has discouraged just as much or even more players from playing UR anymore. People who actually like ELO will not be discouraged by changes, only the people that arent any good at ELO and got points with cookie cutter decks maybe. But then do you want a big prize in clints, or do you want to get better at the game and have a chance of winning a cr?

but seriously saying less people playing elo because of the changes is a lil too straightforward of an assumption, it will have some part to play, but no more significant then changes in the market and or game itsself

But but. "Less people playing UR in general" is also an effect of ELO changes. Not the only reason, but many players play mainly ELO. They do play other game modes, but now when ELO is horrible, they don't play UR as much, or just leave it completely.

The new ELO is awesome, if people aren't playing because they don't like it, fine. I agree with some of the posts that all the clans are very balanced now, I mean come on, Freaks are viable The reason you are seeing not as many people playing is that they either can't adjust or that their standard destroy everyone decks actually require thought and strategy. You can't just slap together a Roots deck and win now, with 14 life you can't 2HKO unless you are using the power clans like Fang Pi and La Junta. The big problem is, too many people have gotten used to pill 6 wait, pill 6 2HKO. that's not strategy, you can't do that anymore and I think that frustrates people to the point they either adapt or quit. It's great to know the world is populated with people who when the going gets tough quit.

I just don't agree with the "it's more balanced, if you don't like it then don't play" argument. You can go all on about how it makes players better and all clans more equal or whatever (may or may not be true), but if people aren't playing then that is a problem. Not just for the mode, but the game itself. Having lots of players is the life blood of online games. Once the players start leaving then the games begin to decline. Not that I think UR is in any danger of death, but you have to be on the look out if players start declining. And seeing such a noticable drop is something that should be looked at. And its not just a drop in a week or two. It's been fairly constant.

Though I do agree some with dark eagle. There are other factors as well. Maybe its the inflation, maybe people were just sick of constant bans. This change may have just been the straw that broke the camels back. We don't have the data to say one way or the other how much an effect it has. But we can say that it is definately one of the factors, and thus open to be looked at.

The Elo change has generally been for the best. It has gotten rid of the old 'Top ELO decks' and you cant just use GHEIST/ Roots and expect to win every time. the 6 0 6 pill schem is gone and people actually have to think in ELO instead of just Ko'ing.

I don't like the bans though, too many cards are just being chucked on this list when they become a little bit dangerous.
Freaks finally are able to be used and people instantly ban them? It's a joke!
Temp staff bans should be removed with the exception of Sigma and Ojibway
For player bans i really like that other dudes idea of cards only on the ban list for 3 wks, then auto unban. It would mean we actually get to see cards like Toro/ Leviatonn etc that keep getting banned. Who cares if they're strong, they were made to be used, not just sit around. I also think player bans should be kept to a max. limit-say 10, that way we are less likely to have 2-3 cards from one clan banned at a time.

AS for players leaving UR? Well I think inflation plays the part here. Prices are rising ridiculously.
People say 'aww if ur gun complain then don't buy him' but it's the new players who suffer. They come on, see cards like that wit huge price tags then get bored trying to accumulate enough clintz to pay for them and leave. UR shud jus put a cap on card prices for a while until everything settles down.
And the players leaving ELO? these are old players who don't want to adjust to changes and want to use their 2HKO GHEIST decks.

ELO nowadays = 50/50 90% of the games

Please bring 12 life back. With no danger whatsoever of a 2-hit-ko, people will just not throw any pills when they think their opponent has overpilled. Double old has become the most used strategy nowadays, if it wasn't that bad earlier on. Winning the first round is pretty much useless now because people won't be afraid of being knocked out on the 2nd round (which used to give a big mind-game advantage to whoever won the 1st round)
It pretty much took the strategy factor out of the game and luck started counting a whole lot more.

I hate double old and coinflip 2hkos with equal intensity. People will always take advantage of rules one way or another