You’ve had your say, and the results are in for our Season IV feedback questionnaire. First off, a massive thank you to all who took the time to share your thoughts.
For all our seasonal questionnaires, we read, consider and take any learnings/suggestions into our planning for the following season. Your Commissioners held a board meeting on Wednesday, 3rd June, to do just that! Following this meeting, we have a solid outline for Season V, the FB Cup and all our other activities… and I wanted to share the feedback and provide a commentary on how we’ve taken your feedback into Season V plans.
So, let’s crack on…
Overall sentiment
The season is viewed very positively. Most respondents rate:
- League experience: Excellent.
- Cup experience: Good/Excellent.
- Likelihood to join Season V: 4–5 out of 5.
Key themes from your feedback
What coaches liked the most:
- Balanced divisions (“every game felt evenly matched”).
- Friendly opponents & community vibe.
- Clear communication and round breakdowns.
- Swag and round incentives.
- Cup integration with TourPlay (for some).
- Venue atmosphere at Bargammon’s Tavern.
“A great level of competition… no game felt like a cake walk.”
“Absolutely banging chaps! Such a great community.”
What coaches liked least/concerns raised
SPP & resurrection format in the cup
This is the single biggest recurring criticism:
- Cup SPP “spiking” league balance.
- Better coaches gaining even more advantage.
- Healing MNGs via Cup games.
- Incentivising Cup participation through league benefits feels “off”.
“SPP. Glad we tried it, think it’s too much with resurrection. Maybe you get an MVP only, if you play a game.”
“It feels like giving SPPs during a cup match to be used in league throws off the balance in the same division. The better coaches will be able to further enhance their teams.“
However, it’s worth pointing out that even as the area of Season IV, which attracted most criticism, these elements of the cup received positive feedback overall.
That being said, we agree the set-up for this season’s F.B. Cup didn’t hit the mark. Next season’s F.B. Cup will bring back a much better risk/reward balance and not be resurrection format.
Playing the same opponents repeatedly
Multiple respondents want:
- More mixing between divisions.
- More promotion/relegation slots.
- More variety in opponents.
We had similar feedback last season, so we implemented increased automatic promotion/relegation between divisions for Season IV. As a reminder to coaches, at the end of Season IV, we will automatically promote/relegate 2 teams between divisions. Promotion/relegation playoffs will then occur between teams in 8th place (from the higher div) and 3rd, 4th and 5th (from the lower div). The winner enters Season V in the higher division. Note: Div 3/div 4 will not have a play-off due to the increased size of Div 4.
We will also be implementing a system to ensure coaches participating in Round 1 of next season’s F.B. Cup will play a coach from a different division.
Tourplay learning curve
Season IV welcomed the largest influx of brand‑new coaches we’ve ever had. That’s been fantastic for the community, but it has naturally brought a few challenges — and one of the biggest has been getting to grips with TourPlay.
We spotted this early in the season, which is (one reason) why we introduced exhibition matches on TourPlay. These were designed as a low‑pressure sandbox where coaches could experiment with both their teams and the platform itself. That may have come too late for Season IV, but hopefully it will be useful when we move into Season V.
Bounty system
Coaches had mixed feelings on the bounty system:
- Some enjoy it.
- Some find it “vindictive” and “dogpiling”.
- Most are neutral (“not fussed either way”).
Commissioners reviewed the feedback and vote to retain the bounty system in Season V. As per recent Discord discussions, further tweaks may be made to clarify how to use bounties in the right spirit.
Suggestions and changes for Season V
I’ve already covered the F.B. Cup, promotion/relegation and other main areas of feedback. However, alongside those topics, we received many other suggestions:
- Improve tie-breaker clarity. We are keeping an eye on this. Once the final matches have occurred, we will analyse whether the tie-breakers are working as intended, and if not, we’ll raise with Tourplay.
- More commentary and updates across divisions. We’ve always wanted to improve match write-ups and updates across divisions. If coaches have sensible ideas to help achieve this, please get in touch.
- Lack of streamed matches. We agree! Unfortunately, Dan has been unable to host any matches this season (so far) – we may be able to get some done before the end of the season!
- More non-BB activities. We received overwhelming feedback to continue with non-BB games. Be sure to check out the channels on Discord and get involved!
- Forge Breaker branded merch. We’ll have loads coming for Season V, but for the time being, be sure to see the webstore!
- Divisional Officers. Whilst coaches loved their divisional officers, some feedback suggested quicker resolutions of problem matches are needed. We’d like to state that your officers have done a great job this season, often dealing with coaches’ challenging circumstances.
- Commissioners – who are they? For next season, we’re pleased to welcome Pete (Pholus) back as a Commissioner after a season ‘off’. In terms of understanding who the staff are, we’ve updated the ‘About’ page with some mug shots… and the rules pack page now has a section covering what the Div Officers and Commissioners do.
Season V
Finally, coaches chose OCTOBER as the start date for Season V
… so we’re pleased to confirm Season V will start on:
7th October 2026
Thank you all for submitting your feedback. Sign-ups for Season V are now open, the rules pack is available, so we wish you the best of luck over the final matches this season and hope to see you all back for Season V!
No responses yet