NEW FEATURES IN SSN2

Season 2 is ALMOST here, but before we tip things off next week, we wanted to give you a look at what you can expect from our newest version of the game.

SSN2 upgrades and evolutions include:

• UPDATED SCHEDULE (TWO MAJORS FIND NEW HOMES)
• INTRODUCING TRAINING CAMP (REPLACING THE PRESEASON)
• EARLIER TRADE DEADLINE (LOCKING IN SWOOPER BOWL ROSTERS)
• UPDATED SWOOPER POINTS (MORE EMPHASIS ON WINS)
• A NEW POST-SEASON TOURNAMENT (OUR VERSION OF THE NIT)
• A NEW WEEKLY CHALLENGE (PLAY MATCHMAKER GAMES, EARN SP)
• A NEW ROOKIE TOURNAMENT (OUR OWN RISING STARS EVENT)
• A NEW SEASON REWARD SYSTEM (PLAYER NAME CHANGES ANYONE?)
• INTRODUCING FREE TO PLAY (LOWERING THE BARRIER TO ENTRY)

Let's get into each SSN2 feature add...

SSN2 TRAINING CAMP + COURT CLOSURES

Training Camp will replace the preseason and act as your team "practice" window prior to the start of the next regular season. Use this window to learn about your team risk free, as stats will not count during this period.

FULL COURT CLOSURE: Courts will close for player maintenance, no head-to-head games or tournaments.

• 8/14/23 - 8/18/23

TRAINING CAMP: H2H games will run, no tournaments.

• 8/19/23 - 8/20/23

REGULAR SEASON:

• 9/28/23 (THU): THE SOA CUP
• 10/10/23 (TUE): ROOKIE FEST (NEW!)
• 10/12/23 (THU): ALL-STAR TOURNAMENT
• 10/20/23 (FRI): TRADE DEADLINE (ONLY PLAYERS ON YOUR ROSTER BY THIS DAY ARE ELIGIBLE FOR POST-SEASON TOURNAMENTS)
• 10/26/23 (THU): THE GLOBAL OPEN
• 11/3/23 (FRI): REGULAR SEASON ENDS + TRAINING CAMP BEGINS + SWOOOPER BOWL SEED LOCK

POST-SEASON:

• 11/6/23 (MON): SWOOPER BOWL/BRONZE JUG LINEUP LOCK
• 11/7/23 (TUE): SWOOPY AWARDS + BRONZE JUG TOURNAMENT (NEW!) + SWOOPER BOWL LINEUPS REVEALED
• 11/8/23 (WED): SWOOPER BOWL (RD OF 64)
• 11/9/23 (THU): SWOOPER BOWL (RDS OF 32 + 16)
• 11/10/23 (FRI): SWOOPER BOWL (RD OF 8 + 4 + CHAMPIONSHIP)

OFF-SEASON:

• 11/14/23 (TUE): PLAYER EVOLUTION DAY
• 11/15/23 (WED): MINT DAY 1 (PRESALE)
• 11/16/23 (THU): MINT DAY 2 (PUBLIC SALE)
• 11/17/23 (FRI): PLAYER REVEAL DAY
• 11/18/23 (SAT): COURTS RE-OPEN FOR TRAINING CAMP
• 11/19/23 (SUN): FINAL DAY OF TRAINING CAMP

SSN3 TRAINING CAMP + COURT CLOSURES

Training Camp will replace the preseason and act as your team "practice" window prior to the start of the next regular season. During this window there will be no tournaments, while some days will include open head-to-head (H2H) games.

Use this window to learn about your team risk free, as stats will not count during this period.

TRAINING CAMP: H2H games will run for much of camp, no tournaments.

• 11/3/23 - 11/19/23

NO HEAD-TO-HEAD GAMES: Courts will close for player maintenance.

• 11/13/23 - 11/17/23 (between the first and last days of the off-season)

SEASON 3

• 11/20/23 (MON): SEASON 3 REGULAR SEASON BEGINS

MAJOR increases in Swooper Points across every tournament, with points doubling from 1-Swoopster, to 3-Swoopster, to 5-Swoopster, to Major tournaments. We've also significantly increased the reward for winning 25 games in a week.

As always, we appreciate your feedback. Now happy SP hunting!

DAILY SWOOPER POINTS EARNED:

• FIRST 5 GAMES PLAYED EACH DAY - 150 PTS (NO CHANGE)

5-SWOOPSTER STANDARD TOURNAMENT POINTS EARNED:

• WIN A 5-SWOOPSTER TOURNAMENT - 500 PTS (PREV: 100)
• FINISH 2ND IN A 5-SWOOPSTER TOURNAMENT - 400 PTS (PREV: 50)
• FINISH 3RD/4TH IN A 5-SWOOPSTER TOURNEY - 300 PTS (PREV: 25)
• FINISH 5TH-8TH IN A 5-SWOOPSTER TOURNEY - 150 PTS (PREV: 0)
• FINISH 9TH-16TH IN A 5-SWOOPSTER TOURNEY - 80 PTS (PREV: 0)
• FINISH 17TH-32ND IN A 5-SWOOPSTER TOURNEY - 40 PTS (PREV: 0)
• FINISH 33RD-64TH IN A 5-SWOOPSTER TOURNEY - 20 PTS (PREV: 0)
• FINISH 65TH-128TH IN A 5-SWOOPSTER TOURNEY - 10 PTS (PREV: 0)
• FINISH 129TH-256TH IN A 5-SWOOPSTER TOURNEY - 0 PTS (PREV: 0)

3-SWOOPSTER STANDARD TOURNAMENT POINTS EARNED:

• WIN A 3-SWOOPSTER TOURNAMENT - 250 PTS (PREV: 50)
• FINISH 2ND IN A 3-SWOOPSTER TOURNAMENT - 200 PTS (PREV: 25)
• FINISH 3RD/4TH IN A 3-SWOOPSTER TOURNEY - 150 PTS (PREV: 10)
• FINISH 5TH-8TH IN A 3-SWOOPSTER TOURNEY - 75 PTS (PREV: 0)
• FINISH 9TH-16TH IN A 3-SWOOPSTER TOURNEY - 40 PTS (PREV: 0)
• FINISH 17TH-32ND IN A 3-SWOOPSTER TOURNEY - 20 PTS (PREV: 0)
• FINISH 33RD-64TH IN A 3-SWOOPSTER TOURNEY - 10 PTS (PREV: 0)
• FINISH 65TH-128TH IN A 3-SWOOPSTER TOURNEY - 5 PTS (PREV: 0)
• FINISH 129TH-256TH IN A 3-SWOOPSTER TOURNEY - 0 PTS (PREV: 0)

1-SWOOPSTER STANDARD TOURNAMENT POINTS EARNED:

• WIN A 1-SWOOPSTER TOURNAMENT - 125 PTS (PREV: 25)
• FINISH 2ND IN A 1-SWOOPSTER TOURNAMENT - 100 PTS (PREV: 10)
• FINISH 3RD/4TH IN A 1-SWOOPSTER TOURNEY - 75 PTS (PREV: 5)
• FINISH 5TH-8TH IN A 1-SWOOPSTER TOURNEY - 40 PTS (PREV: 0)
• FINISH 9TH-16TH IN A 1-SWOOPSTER TOURNEY - 20 PTS (PREV: 0)
• FINISH 17TH-32ND IN A 1-SWOOPSTER TOURNEY - 10 PTS (PREV: 0)
• FINISH 33RD-64TH IN A 1-SWOOPSTER TOURNEY - 5 PTS (PREV: 0)
• FINISH 65TH-128TH IN A 1-SWOOPSTER TOURNEY - 0 PTS (PREV: 0)
• FINISH 129TH-256TH IN A 1-SWOOPSTER TOURNEY - 0 PTS (PREV: 0)

WEEKLY POINTS EARNED

• COMPLETE A WEEKLY CHALLENGE - 100 PTS
• PLAY IN 35 MATCHMAKING GAMES IN A WEEK - 150 PTS (NEW!)
• FIRST 25 WINS IN A WEEK - 300 PTS (PREV: 75)

BI-SEASONAL POINTS EARNED

• WIN A MAJOR TOURNAMENT - 1,000 PTS (PREV: 200)
• FINISH 2ND IN A MAJOR TOURNAMENT - 800 PTS (PREV: 100)
• FINISH 3RD/4TH IN A MAJOR TOURNAMENT - 600 PTS (PREV: 50)
• FINISH 5TH-8TH IN A MAJOR TOURNEY - 300 PTS (PREV: 25)
• FINISH 9TH-16TH IN A MAJOR TOURNEY - 150 PTS (PREV: 10)
• FINISH 17TH-32ND IN A MAJOR TOURNEY - 80 PTS (PREV: 0)
• FINISH 33RD-64TH IN A MAJOR TOURNEY - 40 PTS (PREV: 0)
• FINISH 65TH-128TH IN A MAJOR TOURNEY - 20 PTS (PREV: 0)
• FINISH 129TH-256TH IN A MAJOR TOURNEY - 10 PTS (PREV: 0)

WHAT ARE WEEKLY CHALLENGES?

For those of you who have participated in Swoops challenges in the past, weekly challenges will look familiar. Each week we will introduce a new team or individual Swoopster challenge, that once completed, will reward that owner with 100 team points.

Here are a few examples of challenges coming your way:

• SCORE 6,000 PTS AS A TEAM
• 70 BLKS FROM A SINGLE SWOOPSTER
• 140 3PTS MADE BY A SINGLE SWOOPSTER
• 1,000 ASTS AS A TEAM

WHERE CAN I TRACK MY SWOOPER POINTS?

You will find a tracker within your personal locker room that tells you how close you are to completing your current daily and weekly activities. You will also find an 'SP' column on the team leaderboard, so you can see how you're stacking up against your fellow owners, and where you stand in the race to the Swooper Bowl.

While the Swooper Bowl is the goal, we've added a consolation prize in the form of the Bronze Jug. College Basketball's National Invitational Tournament (NIT) is the  right comparison here. This is a consolation for the next group of 64 teams who did not qualify for the grandaddy of them all. It's not as shiny, but there's still cash to be won!

Let's dig into the details.

DATE: 11/7/23 (TUE)

NUMBER OF TEAMS: 64

QUALIFYING METRIC: SWOOPER POINTS

SEEDING METRIC: SWOOPER POINTS

TIE-BREAKERS:

• WIN %
• HEAD-TO-HEAD RECORD
• HEAD-TO-HEAD POINTS SCORED

SERIES FORMAT: 3-3-5-5-5-7

CASH PRIZES:

• 1ST PLACE: $600
• 2ND PLACE: $300
• 3RD-4TH PLACE: $150
• 5TH-8TH PLACE: $60
• 9TH-16TH PLACE: $30

We know that as we grow, certain levels of team talent will naturally form. What some of you may not have realized, in an effort to create more competitive daily games, we added a matchmaker button to the 5-Swoopster lobbies in SSN1. Now in SSN2, we are paying out Swooper Points to you (150 SP) if you play in 35 matchmaker games in a week.

You say you're the best? Prove it against teams at your level.

Once again, we heard your feedback and we agree! Rookies need time to shine every season, which brings us to Rookie Fest, our new seasonal tournament for season 1 players only. Much like the All-Star tournament, Rookie Fest will be an 8 team tournament, with those teams made up of the best individual rookies from that current season. The event will take place the same week as the All-Star Tournament.  

Let's get into the details.

DATE: 10/10/23 (TUE)

NUMBER OF TEAMS: 8

NUMBER OF ROOKIES: 40

• GUARDS: 16
• FORWARDS: 16
• CENTERS: 8

SELECTION PROCESS: Players chosen by Swoops based on ssn performance

TEAM BUILDING: Random drawing for teams

SERIES FORMAT: 3-3-5

PRIZES:

• OWNER OF EACH ALL-STAR: $25
• OWNER OF EACH ALL-STAR ON THE WINNING TEAM: 1 FREE MINT

While we won't have a fully built season pass system for SSN2, we do want to reward those who put the work in to earn Swooper Points each week. With that in mind, and inspired by our free to play colleagues, we're introducing a precursor to our version of a battlepass.

In season 2 you will have the opportunity, at no cost, to earn three rewards by earning different levels of Swooper Points:

• 4,000 SP: NO RUST FOR ONE PLAYER OF YOUR CHOICE
• 9,000 SP: RAFFLE TICKET FOR A FREE AGENT OF YOUR CHOICE
• 12,000 SP: ONE NAME CHANGE FOR AN OWNED PLAYER OF YOUR CHOICE

All prizes, including the running of the raffle, will be fulfilled during the off-season.

WHAT IS PLAYER RUST?

Every Swoopster evolves after each season in a few specific ways:

1. Aging one year
2. Revealing an additional attribute
3. Attributes progress or regress (both revealed and hidden)

Rust is another element of the evolution process that only effects those players who do not play in a minimum number of games per season. To be specific, if a Swoopster on your roster does not participate in at least 50 games in a single season, they experience rusting.

Rusting results in the Swoopster only receiving 50% of their attribute increases during Player Evolution Day. For example, if your Swoopster would have gained 4 attribute points for their 3PT shooting ability during Player Evolution Day, instead, because of the rust factor, your player only gains 2 attribute points (50% of 4).

Rust is an all or nothing proposition. Playing in 1 game or playing in 49 games has the same rust impact (50% decrease). Conversely, once the 50 game minimum is hit, your player no longer has to worry about rusting.

For some with large rosters, it may be difficult to get every player into 50 games, which is why the ability to exclude a player from rusting becomes valuable.

 

One of the biggest introductions in the short life of the Swoops basketball league, free-to-play will now allow anyone the chance to own and operate their own basketball franchise risk free.

WHY FREE-TO-PLAY?

We've proven that once someone plays our community driven game, they become obsessed (in a good way). Yet, to this point, entering the Swooperverse has been a leap of faith, with no way to try out our beautiful game without buying your first player. Not the easiest way to grow our wonderful community. That all changes in SSN2, and in a big way.

Not only will new users be able to play Swoops for free, they will do so with their own Swoopster (well, almost).  

INTRODUCING OFF-CHAIN PLAYERS

When a new users signs up for Swoops they will be introduced to their first ever Swoopster. That Swoopster will be essentially a rental until the user completes two simple, but important, tasks:

• IN-GAME TUTORIAL: It's not easy running the front office of your own basketball team. Because of that, we are now requiring every new user to complete a short, but informative, tutorial on how to play the game.
• IN-GAME CHALLENGE: The Swooper Bowl is the biggest event in our league, and how do you qualify for the Swooper Bowl? By earning Swooper Points via daily and weekly in-game challenges. Which leads us to the second task that must be completed before a Swoopster is fully handed over. After completing the tutorial, a new user must then earn 1,000 Swooper Points, a sort of Swoops right of passage, by playing games against real deal Swoops franchises.

Once the user completes these two tasks, their once borrowed player becomes fully owned (in technical terms, going from an off-chain player, to an on-chain player).

We cannot be more excited about the additiona of Free-to-Play and all of our improvements for SSN2. And none of this happens without the love and support of our incredibly passionate owner community. It's YOU who make Swoops the future of virutual sports, and it's you who we listen to each day, in an effort to build the biggest and best virtual basketball league in the world.

Enjoy SSN2 everyone, we'll see you on the court!

- Team Swoops