I think the problem falls mostly on half-assed commitments from the elite writers and battle moderators. Since I've been here, these are the tournaments that ran:
- Summer Classic V: Run by Knucklehead until he got bored, then run by God of War and Meth.
- Fall Brawl II: Run by Strikta until he got bored, then run by Meth until he got bored, then run by CtrlF4.
- Tag III: Run by PancakeBrah, but featuring a no-show in the finals by Hall of Famers Orc and Hush.
- The Elements: Run by God of War until he got bored, then run by Meth, featuring a no-show in the finals by Hall of Famer Bags.
- Key Grand Prix: Run by Strikta until he got bored before it even began, then run by CtrlF4.
- Newbie Tournament 2013: Run by Meth, who wrote zero magazines.
Sharp Nine right now is writing a good magazine every week for the NBL and still having problems getting people to sign in and then show up and vote.
But honestly, Destroyer's idea to bring back the 1-2 league might work. No-showing in a 1-2 league is some low-level shit, and voting on those battles is ridiculously easy, as is compiling a magazine every week.
Topical leagues require so much more effort than battle leagues as a whole, though, yet the topical leagues here have been successes across the board.