For the most part, this Deckathalon wasn't as challenging as the last one. I believe the hamster reward at 600 points mitigated some of the unhealthy competition as players just gave up after getting their pet. However, there are still major changes that need to be made to prevent the biggest competition around the top 25. My advice is to get rid of the leader board and instead make the rewards based on individual performance. Instead of our individual progress bar maxing out at 600, make the bar max out at 10,000. This allows for players to create their own threshold relative to their incentivized rewards. The reason I think 10,000 should be the max is due to this being the lowest of the top 25 scores in the Death Deckathalon. I believe this is the root of the problem as players are in a constant grind with no real end goal. In addition, every 500-1000 points should give a suitable reward for your effort like this for example:
500 points=normal hamster 1000 points= 3 superior death runes 1500 points= 3 strengthening runes 2000 points= some title that can be equipped like "Master of Spirits" 2500 points= 3 superior death runes 3000 points= 3 strengthening runes 3500 points= Deckathalon pack 4000 points= another title "Grand master of Spirits" etc. 8000 points= School hamster and School Gauntlets etc. 10000 points= exclusive mount, pack for friends and a title "Champion of Spirits" Add ultimate runes accordingly
By using this method, players are engaging in constant rewards and unique prizes like titles and materials needed for the gauntlets while also never worrying about losing their spots in the leader board. Also the spirits titles were a callback to the mirrored schools at Pigswick academy so that players can utilize those naming conventions. In the end I believe this will solve the core problem with the health issue as the constant competition for dominance was the real issue and will also mitigate top questionable scorers holding the top 10 spots.
