Max Match Play is a very new format, so all of the TDs and players who are trying it out right now are helping to explore what’s normal.
I’ve been involved in two so far myself and have definitely learned some lessons, similar to what @Zaxxoff described.
Thank you @Lam for trying out this variation where the number of matches is adjusted to try to meet a timeframe goal. Based on seeing that match burndown, it looks like more experimentation is needed to figure out how to pull that off while also avoiding the “long tail of slow matches” problem that lead to overshooting the goal of ending around 5pm.
Maybe only ever increasing the target number of matches by 1 at a time would be better than jumping from 20 to 24. But waiting until everyone has completed 20 (or maybe 19) matches before increasing it to 21 would also lead to more people stuck in the waiting list longer and fewer games total. There are definitely tradeoffs.
I think this is a great guideline for when to click the Create games button. Based on my experience (and what I see in this burn down and in @Zaxxoff’s comments), I think it would be better when combined with one more rule. Also check for any players who are currently playing that already 2 games behind the people with the most games completed. If there are, wait until those players are done playing their match.
@haugstrup has mentioned he’s waiting for more data and feedback before iterating on the Match Play Events implementation of the format, so hopefully some TDs can try out that rule and provide feedback on if it helps make their tournaments better or not (e.g. no long tail of final matches; but still not too much waiting).
So true!