The need surfaced in a 22,784 member communityEndeavor Headquarters · 22,784 members

The chat kept coming back to the same thing: nobody wanted to boot the whole game just to find out the map was one they did not want to play.

A casual complaint exposed a useful gap outside the game

The discussion was not formal research, but the repeated behaviour was clear. Players had to launch the full game, navigate to a mode, and check the rotation before deciding whether they wanted to play. A small external utility could answer that question earlier and remove an unnecessary login.

• Show the live map before a player commits to opening the game.
• Support players who wait for specific maps instead of treating every rotation as equal.
• Keep the utility fast and focused rather than recreating the game interface.

I began with the smallest useful release

Version one covered unranked mode only. It showed the live map, what was up next, and the map after that, nothing more. There was no ranked mode and no full schedule. That narrow release was enough to test the value of an external rotation checker before expanding the experience.

The first release came back with clear signals from the community

The hardest part was making one global rotation feel local to everyone

Players were checking the tracker from Europe, Asia, North America, and other regions. I did not want anyone translating server time in their head, so I made the schedule adapt to each visitor’s local timezone and kept the live countdown separate from future start times.

• Show every rotation in the player’s own local time.
• Separate the live countdown from scheduled start times so ‘now’ and ‘later’ never compete.
• Use clear whole hour slots wherever the rotation allows, instead of awkward times such as :25 or :35.
• Keep ranked and unranked schedules separate without hiding either one.

Each layer answers one planning question

• Live card: what can a player play right now, and how long is left?
• Mode switcher: is the ranked or unranked rotation relevant?
• Next cards: what is changing soon without scanning the whole day?
• 24 hour schedule: when will a preferred map return?
• Responsive layout: does the same answer remain clear on a phone?

Solo mode stayed out because demand was not there

I considered adding the solo rotation, but comparatively few players appeared to use that mode and nobody had requested it. Keeping the tracker focused on the modes people were actively checking protected its clarity while leaving solo as a clear next step if real demand appears.

The conversation set the direction; continued feedback expanded it

The community discussion exposed the original need, but the first release revealed a broader one. Players were not only checking what was live; they were deciding when the game was worth opening. That shift from checking now to planning later became the most important design decision in the project.

• Next, I would instrument repeat visits, map preference, and mode switching to understand actual behaviour.
• I would keep validating timezone handling across daylight saving changes and more regional settings.
• I would only add solo mode once player behaviour or direct requests justify the extra complexity.