Hattrick Open
Hattrick Open (HTO) has been an independent website hosting the tournament system. At the same time, Open was a completely new platform that gave to Hattrick Team much better flexibility in the development of the core game as well. Being an independent platform that does not affect the classic Hattrick game in any way at all, it was designer as an exciting complement to Hattrick, but also a great game in it's own right.
Hattrick in a different package. Like in the case of Las vegas: "What happens in Open stays in Open" (HT-Johan)
Legacy
HTO was active for less then a year and it was closed after a few months due to lack of success and almost absence of accesses. However it was a testing yard for many game features that were subsequently implemented on the official website.
Among the aspects developed in HTO the main ones that stand out are:
- Tournament feature was introduced in Hattrick site in March 2012, less than a year after HTO;
- the way to set match order form (a lot more powerful and adaptive to the context) was developed quite similarly with subsequent game changes;
- HT Live was completely updated building on the experience of HTO;
- Chat system within tournaments was boldly copied;
- New alternative player faces where developed starting from HTO new graphic.
After all, HTO completely re-envisioned what Hattrick looks and feels like, and paid a lot of attention to the live experience itself: live match ratings, a chat system, skills as a value instead of the text denominations, all things gradually integrated on the main site.
Purpose
HTO was intended to create cups and leagues for manager's friends, inside and outside Hattrick. User could subscribe and decide everything theirself, down to match times and what rules to use.
Open made easier one of the most wished features in the game, a better support for friendly cups and for playing Hattrick with friends.
As said many times on the forums, it has been a tough project to solve for HTs because the league and match schedules are very rigid and fundamental parts of the game that often cause problems even when we try to make minor changes to them.
The match engine was the same and it was super easy to import a Hattrick team using regular credentials and set up a tournament with it. However the HTs strive to make HTO more accessible to non-Hattrick users as well; To achieve this, they have both simplified some aspects (Open does not have any training, staff members, transfers or economy) as well as added a few new tactical elements in the game.
To summarize: HTO has been a place to try new interface concepts in a live environment, without disturbing Hattrick at all. The best and most suitable of these has been integrated back into Hattrick.
Features
Open was many things, but first of all it was a new way to play and have fun with Hattrick. It allowed you to play as often as you like, with whatever teams you like, and in lots of different tournament formats. You could play with your existing Hattrick team, or with new teams that ensure a level playing field with the other managers in your tournament. You could play quick games to settle a grudge with another manager, or set up leagues that play over weeks.
Experimentation in experimentation
Other ways to play Open was created in a free beta for everyone. Furthermore, free tournaments were offered for Hattrick users in different ways after that. But as Open was a game that could really be used without limits, pay-to-play at a reasonable price was tried to make sure the service is sustainable.
More arcade gameplay
- Action Cards, which is a way to boost skills and form, or to heal injuries, within a tournament. You get some cards at the start, and some during the tournament, and spending them at the right time is an important tactical element.
- The Prediction league, where you try to predict the results in other games in your tournament. Being the best can earn you extra Action Cards.
- Fatigue, which basically forces you to rest players during the tournament.
Some things that have changed a bit: There is more interactive help in the game, the match order form will for example show you what players will contribute most in a certain position - taking into account all relevant skills.
Hattrick Open Points
The experimentation of Open was also extended to how it is paid for. A tournament is either paid for by the person who creates it, who can then invite everyone to play for free - or each participant pays a small fee to take part. Everything is paid for with Hattrick Open's own currency, called Hattrick Open Points.
You can get points in two ways: Either pay for them with Hattrick Credits, or buy them through the Hattrick Open site. As part of this launch, we also accept micropayments through SMS for the first time (a payment method available in 12 countries to start with).
