If you only gem 5 attacks (7 gem armies, for 35 gems, which is how many you win, so you're not spending any money), and make 5 more attacks during the course of the day, you should be able to put up around 200bp. Across a 50 member guild, this is 10k bp, without spending anything except the gems you won. 10kbp is enough to win most rumbles, and 5 attacks throughout the day really isn't that many. If every member made 10 attacks throughout the day, plus 5 extra gem attacks using up the 35 gems you win, it would be 15k bp which would win almost any rumble. Its not the lack of gems that kills most guilds, its how many players don't bother to attack. I fight so many guilds that have 10-15 0s. If all of them had put up 100 bp, which is a really small goal, many would have ended up winning. Sure there are a couple extreme guilds out there like LS that have players that put up 5kbp per player, but that is an anomaly that you will rarely run into, and during those rumbles, save those gems and go for second. You don't have to come in first every time, second still has plenty of free loot. Rumbles were intended as a way to increase resources, especially in the high ranks where grog is scarce. There was a real guild war planned and rumbles were meant to tide us over until then, but players started taking them way more seriously than anticipated, so I think Midoki shifted a lot of its focus away from making a real guild war and instead trying to polish what was really supposed to be something to hold us over. Rumbles weren't supposed to be about winning, they were supposed to be a way to get an easy 1m loot as a reward for normal, active play. Its only natural that players who gem should get slightly more resources for their effort, since they're keeping the game alive.
The way this minis problem would go away is by giving the bases, depending on how developed that base is, a value. Let's say a PH2 with no developed def should be worth 2 BPS but a PH 9 with maxed out def should be +50 pts, the points should be given depending on how much that base had been upg, the harder the base, the more points you should get, that way it would push those minis to develop their bases in order to get more points.
Fair? Aren't we playing a pirate themed game? If a guild wants to win rumbles they will find a way, either spending gems or recruiting minis is fine by me. I got tired of being in guilds that were happy with the consolation prize so started one where participation in rumbles is mandatory. Yes, we have finished in 2nd and 3rd, but not without a worthy fight. Happy to say we have more wins than place and show, and have never finished out of the gold and grog. So stop whining and start fighting!
