How to Organize Diorama (Hako)

2012/05/15

Please note that all standard rules of competitive level Diorama have been developed by the JP.  Since their competitive player population exponentially exceeds the NAs’, we have no choice but to abide to their methods.  Needless to say, they are conservatively strict with playing by their definitive rules and have little to no intention of changing them.  Moreover, they have been playing with those same—or at least similar—rules for several years, as they are indeed the founders of the competitive Diorama form.  NA players merely realized and were invited to play in this intense environment around 2008, and even now in the year 2012, only a few NA players have been able to reach a high enough level of skill to play against the JP on even footage.  In order to build public awareness and understanding of the highest form of Ballista, as well as allowing people to set up their own competitive games, the standard rules of Diorama are explained below.  Please keep in mind that the JP have established a well-organized and competitive environment with these standard rules, which evidently produce the highest quality of games.

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Jobs

Only the following jobs and their corresponding subjobs are played in Diorama.

Back line:
• WHM/SCH (rarely WHM/RDM)
• RDM/BLM
• PLD/WAR (rarely PLD/WHM)

Front line:
• DRK/SAM
• RNG/SAM
• WAR/SAM
• DRG/SAM
• MNK/WAR
• SAM/WAR

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Difficulty Hierarchy

Jobs are listed below in terms of relative difficulty, starting with tier 1 as the hardest to play.

Tier 1
WHM  RDM  PLD

Tier 2
DRK  WAR

Tier 3
MNK  RNG  DRG  SAM

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Team Setups

Job setups are dependent on the amount of people participating in the match and should be identical on both teams (mirror match).  There should not be any duplicate jobs on a single team, and the maximum amount of players in any given game is 12 (maximum 6v6).  A team should only have three DDs at most.  If a fourth DD should be added, it would ideally be MNK, a slightly lighter DD, as seen in the case of a 6v6 setting.

General setups are listed below.  Unless stated otherwise, the subjobs for the listed jobs are standard.

3v3
• DD  DD  DD
• DD  DD  PLD
• Personal ideal:  WAR  DRK  PLD

4v4
• DD  DD  DD  PLD
• DD  DD  DD  WHM/RDM
• Personal ideal:  WAR  DRK  MNK  PLD

5v5
• DD  DD  DD  WHM  PLD
• DD  DD  DD  WHM  RDM
• DD  DD  DD  RDM  PLD/WHM
• Personal ideal:  WAR  DRK  SAM  WHM  RDM

6v6
• DD  DD  DD  WHM  RDM  PLD
• DD  DD  DD  MNK  WHM  RDM
• Personal ideal:  WAR  DRK  SAM  WHM  RDM  PLD

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Settings

In most cases, the MC (Master of Ceremonies) will adjust the following settings at the Herald.  Everything else should be left untouched.

Game type: Auto-balance (‘Open’ if playing with fixed teams)
*Briefing time: 1:00 (3:00 if playing with RDM)
*Match time: 15:00
Item usage (outside items): OFF
Point difference: 20

*The briefing a match times used to be 3:00 and 20:00 respectively, but the JP have recently modified those times, allowing for more games to be played in a single Diorama reservation.

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Starting the Match

The MC’s Job:
1) Before starting the match and after everyone has signed up, the MC must manaully auto-balance the jobs at the Herald.
2) *After each match, the MC should reset the entries and allow everyone to sign up again.
3) Repeat step 1.

*If the entries are not reset, the Herald will not rearrange the jobs for the next match, and thus, the teams will be remain unchanged, despite opting for an auto-balance.

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If there are still unclear explanations, please let me know.  Thanks.

Note: This page is a direct copy of blog entry “How to Organize Diorama (Hako)”.