Bumping this to provide a few (very naive) ideas.
- In theory, games with stage select play could make bo3 and brackets work by incrementing the stage played on with each match. Match 1 in stage 1, match 2 in stage 2, so on. It'd help to keep tournaments shorter, and perhaps lend them a defined sense of pacing and narrative. Most tournaments would be too small to have enough rounds in practice though, so you'd probably need to alter this concept to make it work, but it could probably be done.
- For full-game tournaments, you could do something similar with difficulty levels if the game has them. Early matches being locked at lower difficulties could make competition more accessible to novice players, while also rewarding knowledge of scoring strategy across multiple difficulties. Games with narrow enough differences in scoring potential across difficulties could also simply let players choose and strategize around their difficulty selection. Touhou is a great fit for this system as well.
- For games with highly granular ship loadouts...I dunno if this would be
good, but it could be
interesting to introduce a bo3 counterpick system. Let players choose whatever loadout they wish first round, but when rounds 2 and 3 start, the loser of the previous round gets to pick a shot type that both players must ditto with. I like it as a means of encouraging players to specialize in obscure loadout selections and rewarding a well-rounded understanding of the game, but I can also see how players might dislike being forced off of their preferred shot types.
Basically, CosmoDreamer is the ideal esports shmup
though tournaments are probably a good way to inject life into any shmup's scene. Shmups really do seem to need more social elements than they have right now.
