TrackMania’s primary esports league, known as the TrackMania Grand League has been growing in popularity, but complaints have surfaced regarding the latest scoring system employed by Ubisoft Nadeo.Photo credit: Ubisoft Nadeo
Since 2020, the TrackMania Grand League has served as the pinnacle of competition on the eponymous game, with the very best drivers TrackMania has to offer battling it out week after week to determine who the fastest is. If you aren’t familiar with TrackMania or the TMGL, this summary might sound quite conventional in the world of esports racing, but in fact it is anything but.
Scoring Systems from Space
Not only are the tracks and cars more akin to an extreme version of Hot Wheels than anything else, the scoring system which was used for the first few seasons of the TMGL certainly broke the mould. The system attracted some criticism and was something of a turn off for potential viewers due to its complexity. For the most recent Fall 2021 season, Ubisoft Nadeo did away with the old scoring system and instead adopted a new system which featured multipliers being added to the accumulated points totals of the drivers for the final track of each stage or ‘step’.
The final track was raced eight total times, with each race consisting of two laps. The winners of the first four races of the final map doubled their points totals, those who won the fifth and sixth races earned a tripling of their points tallies, the winner of the seventh race had their points quadrupled, and finally the eighth race allowed its victor to multiply their own points total by five.
#TMGLFALL2021 WITHOUT MULTIPLIER
— Eirik Holdal #Trackmania (@EirikHoldal) December 5, 2021
1. 🇩🇪 GranaDy – 498 (▲ 3)
2. 🇫🇷 Bren – 445 (▲ 9)
3. 🇨🇭 Affi – 444 (-)
4. 🇫🇷 Gwen – 430 (▼ 3)
5. 🇦🇺 Mudda – 424 (▼ 3)
6. 🇬🇧 Pac – 418 (▲ 1)
7. 🇩🇪 Massa – 410 (▼ 1)
8. 🇨🇦 CarlJr. – 359 (▲ 5)
In terms of the impact it had on the overall standings, this was an enormous change. Not only did it further shift the weight of importance towards the final track of each step, thereby devaluing the first four, but it also completely transformed the points totals compared to what they would have been had the multiplier system not been in place.
Drivers such as ‘Scrapie’ Heinen, Aurélien ‘Aurel’ Bouard, Patrick ‘Mudda’ Radisich and Gwendal ‘Gwen’ Duparc all benefitted significantly from the new system, rising up the ranks by three or more positions compared to where they would have been without the multiplier. On the other hand, reigning TMGL champion, TrackMania World Cup champion and our Hero of the Month for July Carl-Antoni ‘CarlJr.’ Cloutier lost out by five whole places. He wasn’t even the most disadvantaged; in a field with 16 drivers, Brendan ‘Bren’ Seve would have placed 9 places higher had it not been for the multiplier, a difference of over half the field.
Community Reaction
Responses to the multiplier system from viewers have generally been negative. Users on Twitter replying to Eirik Holdal’s tweet about the position changes caused by the new scoring system described it as “sad” and even “disgusting”, while others commented that they were “undecided” on the matter.
Here you go:
— Eirik Holdal #Trackmania (@EirikHoldal) December 5, 2021
However, the clearest community reaction was given in a poll which Holdal put out on Twitter, wherein users could vote on whether they liked the new multiplier system, the old ‘point-loss’ system, or whether they didn’t like either one of them. The result was overwhelming, with 88.8% of respondents claiming not to like either system. The points systems have been something of an achilles heel for the Grand League, but it remains to be seen whether any changes will be enacted in response to the community’s outcry.
At the close of the regular season, the final round of which took place on 5 December, it was the young Frenchman Gwen who claimed top spot heading into playoffs. Meanwhile CarlJr ended up in the bottom four places, and as such will have to defend his position in the Grand League against the top finishers in the Challengers division.
What do you think of the TMGL’s multiplier points system? Tell us on Twitter at @OverTake_gg or in the comments down below!
