When I first joined the Steering Committee, aside from new card ideas, I had one major project in mind that I wanted to champion, and this is it. I wanted to revamp how we vote on IACP Items.
Why Change What Works?
The binary voting system we’ve been using is a simple one, but the impacts of it were more complex than initially conceived. Under this system, players were given two choices for a particular item: Approve the card, locking it in for Approved Play and preventing further editing; or Disapprove the card, banning it from Approved Play and sending it back to the drawing board for possible review in a future season. At a glance, this sounds great, but we’ve found that some cards get Approved or Disapproved that we weren’t expecting, and we struggled to understand why. Eventually, the answer became clear — folks were voting a given way for different reasons.
Is this card getting Approved because people think it’s truly in its ideal state, or just because they don’t want to ban it from Approved Play, even though they may think it’s not up to snuff? Is this card getting Disapproved because people think it’s unhealthy for the game and shouldn’t be legal in Approved Play, or because they think it’s too weak or otherwise needs work before locking it in to never be edited again?
You see the problem here. And I think the answer is a simple one. As of Season 6, Approval Voting will now have a third option, and the impact of each option will be clearly outlined, both below and in the actual Approval Voting Form, when that time comes.
The New Voting System
Voting will now be divided into 3 options:
- Full Approval: I enthusiastically approve this item. It will be approved for play, and not be changed again.
- Probationary Approval: I think this item needs work, but is fine. It will be approved for play, but will be reviewed for further changes in upcoming seasons.
- Disapproval: I think this item is unhealthy for the game. It will not be approved for play, and will be reviewed for further changes in upcoming seasons.
Voting Calculation System:
If Disapproval receives more than 30% of the vote, the item will receive Disapproval.
Otherwise, if Full Approval receives 50% or more of the remaining votes, the item will receive Full Approval.
In any other case, the item will receive Probationary Approval.
What Does it All Mean?
While it reads as more complex, because we’re talking about splitting votes three ways, the Calculation Method is actually fairly simple. We used the old system as a baseline: If we think of Full Approval and Probationary Approval as ‘votes to Approve’, together, they need to meet a threshold of 70%. If more than 30% of voters think a card is unhealthy for the game, it will not be Approved for Play. Barring that, we look at the split between the Full and Probationary Approval Votes, and whichever one has the majority of non-Disapproval votes wins. In the event of a tie between the Approval options, the item will receive Full Approval.
Just for clarity’s sake, here are a few examples of made-up cards, with 10 players voting:
• Let the Wookiee Win receives 1 Full Approval Vote, 5 Probationary Approval Votes, and 4 Disapproval Votes. Because 40% of the voters (>30%) voted for Disapproval, Let the Wookiee Win has been deemed unhealthy for the game in its current state, and will not be legal for Approved Play. It will be reviewed for revision and inclusion in a future season.
• Anakin Skywalker receives 3 Full Approval Votes, 7 Probationary Approval Votes, and 0 Disapproval Votes. Disapproval received no votes, so obviously that’s out. Since more than half of the remaining votes were for Probationary Approval, Anakin Skywalker receives Probationary Approval, entering Approved Play, but being reviewed for further tweaking in upcoming seasons.
• Baze Malbus receives 4 Full Approval Votes, 4 Probationary Approval Votes, and 2 Disapproval Votes. Disapproval only received 20%, so that’s out. Looking at the remaining 8 votes, we have a tie. Therefore, Baze Malbus receives Full Approval. He enters Approved Play, and will not be edited further.
This new system will allow us to better understand and therefore achieve the vision of you, the players, as we work together to create more amazing content for Imperial Assault. Thank you for joining us so far for Season 6, and I look forward to sitting across the virtual table from you soon!