Proposal for a *DAMN Battle League Finals Tournament

[Mr. Lothario]

     Preface: These are some ideas we came up with in an effort to make the regular season more active by making the finals more accessible and exciting for all clans on the ladder.

1. At the close of the Battle League regular season, the finals are held. The finals will take the form of a single-elimination tournament with mandatory, scheduled CBs for all participants.

2. Any clan which is recorded as having played a minimum of four CBs during the regular season is eligible to play in the finals tournament. Eligibility of players is according to the standard *DAMN Battle League rules.

3. The overall structure of the tournament is based on the NCAA March Madness tournament or a Grand Slam tennis tournament. The number of brackets shall be dependent upon the number of participating clans. 16 clans is optimal, because in that case the tournament can be resolved in four rounds (two weekends at one round per day). This type of tournament can handle any number of teams through adding more brackets and/or using byes, so it's not necessary to limit the tournament to 16 clans. Adding another bracket will necessitate additional tournament rounds, however.

4. A tournament round is 24 hours. The first tournament round starts at 1200 NOON PST on "Super Saturday", so called because it's the day that has the highest number of CBs and serves to kick off the tournament. The tournament should be scheduled to take place on consecutive weekends. All CBs must started by MIDNIGHT PST on the day that CB is scheduled.

5. The participating clans will be seeded to determine the bracket structure. The seeding is based upon the standings in the Battle League rankings at the end of the season. The first-ranked clan will be seed number 1, second-ranked will be seed #2, etc. In the first round of the finals tournament, the first seed will be paired against the last seed, and the second seed against the next-to-last seed, and so on. Byes, if required, will be given to the highest-ranking clans first. For example, if there is only one bye required, it will go to the first seed. In the case of a tie in victory points in the Battle League standings, the tie will be resolved using the tie breaking rules set forth in the *DAMN Battle League rules.


Example bracket structure for 8 teams: (numbers are seeds)

Round 1(quarter finals)
#1    
______|Round 2(semifinals)
#8    |______|
______|      |
             |Round 3 (finals)
#4           |______|
______|      |      |
#5    |______|      |
______|             |
                     |
#3                  |
______|             |_______
#6    |______|      |
______|      |      |
             |      |
#2           |______|
______|      |
#7    |______|
______|


6. The maps for each round of the tournament shall be chosen by the *DAMN Battle League admins and announced at the beginning of the season. The maps should be chosen to represent a wide variety of playing styles. The maps used in the tournament are selected from all maps ruled eligible for regular season CBs.

7. For the finals tournament, a CB is best of five matches, and each match is best of seven rounds. Each round has a five minute time limit. All matches in a CB are played on the map preselected for that round of the tournament. The clan with the higher seed chooses the team colors for the first match. The teams swap colors at the end of each match. The winner of the CB moves on to the next tournament round.

8. At all times during tournament play, a minimum of 3 Battle League admins are expected to be logged onto GR to answer questions and handle rules disputes. All admins available for this purpose must make themselves known by prepending <BLA> to their GR name. (e.g. <BLA>Not_A_Noob) It is suggested these admins be in voice contact with each other, especially during any such dispute. Given the global nature of the League, it may not always be possible to have 3 admins online for each CB. However at least one admin unaffilliated with the CBing clans MUST be available in order for a CB to take place. The admins are responsible for being available.

9. During the semifinal round and final round, it shall be mandatory for at least two admins to sit in on each game, one of which shall observe each team. These admins will be in voice communication with each other, and are present to settle rules disputes immediately, and to monitor the game against cheating. At any point in the finals admins can be asked to join and observe a CB upon request.

10. Due to the high concentration of admin attention on the finals tournament, absolutely no appeals to the *DAMN Battle League forums shall be allowed. Any and all disputes shall be settled by the admins present at the scene, and their ruling is final. Any dispute which is not resolved by the next day of the tournament shall result in the disputed CB being declared a double forfeit and counted as a loss for both clans involved. The forfeiting clan(s) simply forfeit their game in the Finals.  Clans who forfeit will not be punished further other than a loss being added to their record.

11. All conclusions made by this proposal supercede that of previous rules as well as previous rulings.

12. The winner of the finals gets the nifty little BL winner icon, and all associated bragging rights as usual.


-Ace
-Alaric
-Brain
-Buccaneer
-Mr. Lothario?
-WillieTell

[TError]

Looks like a very good idea. But i fear that there will be many many problems with that many CBs to be played in the finals. Of course it can be solved by admins online, wich is set as a requirement, but i'm affraid that there can occour so many problems that admins won't be able to solve them all. Another thing is that there will have to be scheduled 4 matches in round 1, there has been huge problems with scheduling 2 earlier, so that can also produce problems.

I think that it's a great idea, as it would make the finals more accesible, and the "average" clan would have more to play for.

A bad thing would be that a clan can have 3000 points and end up as number one in the main season, but in the 1st round of the finals be beaten out by a clan that has 500 points.

[Brain]

Looks like a very good idea. But i fear that there will be many many problems with that many CBs to be played in the finals. Of course it can be solved by admins online, wich is set as a requirement, but i'm affraid that there can occour so many problems that admins won't be able to solve them all. Another thing is that there will have to be scheduled 4 matches in round 1, there has been huge problems with scheduling 2 earlier, so that can also produce problems.

I think that it's a great idea, as it would make the finals more accesible, and the "average" clan would have more to play for.

A bad thing would be that a clan can have 3000 points and end up as number one in the main season, but in the 1st round of the finals be beaten out by a clan that has 500 points.

for the scheduling issue, i foresee it coming down to having the 2 clans work out a time that is best for them, so that shouldn't be a huge issue if we leave it up to the clans involved.  be sides, if the 2 clans don't play then it will get racked up as a bye so in this system, it's not as much of an issue.

for the admin issue.  i really doubt that there will be that many problems that the admins will have to deal with.  for every fiasco that you see in the forums there are countless cb's that go off without a hitch.  i can't think of any problems that my clan has been involved  in all the cb's we have played

for the number one seed being knocked out of the finalsearly. well, what can i say. nobody complains  when something like this happens during march madness, do they? (excepting people who have money riding on the games)  why would this be that much different?


if this is incoherent or anything, sorry, i didn't get any sleep last night (not for lack of trying either) so i'm kinda running on caffeine right now

[BTs_GhostSniper]

-Ace
-Alaric
-Brain
-Buccaneer
-Mr. Lothario?
-WillieTell

lol, 9 out of 10 Mischievous Professionals agree

[Brain]

6 out of 15 actually GS.  i'm not quite that tired that i cant count yet...getting there though

[BTs_GhostSniper]

6 out of 15 actually GS.  i'm not quite that tired that i cant count yet...getting there though

It was just a play on words, Brain.  You know, Like 9 out of 10 Doctors agree....

[Brain]

i know...but seeing as i have nothing better to do at the moment...

[BTs_GhostSniper]

i know...but seeing as i have nothing better to do at the moment...

lol.....I understand COMPLETELY!  That's why I'm on these forums 9 out of 10 hours each day.....

[TError]

I know that there won't be that many problems, and the admins will most likely be able to handle thoose that might occour. The reason i stated that there could be a problem is most likely that i have the recent BTs vs MP5 issue in my head, that pretty much ended up in chaos. I doubt that we'll see such big problems occour again.

The scheduling issue can give major problems. All 4 matches have to be done on this "super-saturday", a fine idea, but it could very easily happen that the smaller clans won't be able to cb just that day, once again i get to think of the chaos of the BTs vs MP5 issue.

There is nothing to do with the number 1 being knocked out early, it will only make it more open.

[Brain]

ok, then some clarifications on the issue.  any one clan will have to CB only ONCE per 24 hour period. this will idealy occur on a weekend so that euro/usa cbs will be possible

as for scheduling and smaller clans, matchups should be decided atleast 24 hours ahead of time or as much as up to a week ahead of time so that timing shouldn't be as much of an issue.


the chaos of the bts/mp5 issue erupted from many different factors, but it could have been prevented had an admin been on hand (this is my personal take of the situation it by no means represents the opinion of any of the BL admins or any other members of |MP|). due to the large amount of admin presence we have suggested here, that shouldn't happen

[TError]

I don't see how that would solve the problems for the smaller clans. But on the other side, the current system isn't better than this one concerning small clans.

i would like to know if the cb has to be done inside the 24 hour period, or if it can be pushed if boots clans agree to it.

[Cutter]

i think a tourney is a great idea. i don't know how well it would work in the place of the current finals. nor do i believe mauti or elan would be happy doing the work involved. but put it aside from the regular bl and i think it'll be great. mb one of the other big clans like MP or BTs should give it a try during the next bl break.

[Civrock]

this "tournament" could run between 2 seasons or next to one... but it should definitely not replace the current WORKING system in my opinion. clans who didnt make it to the Top 4 in the mainseason dont deserve to participate in any way in the Finals.

[Cutter]

make it single elimination, a tourney standing alone (not as finals), and allow open registration. in either ghr or rvs your gonna get between 6 and 18 clans that will want to enter. single elimination will make it nice and short. sure some clans will be pissed if they get bounced by an inferior clan, but if it's done during the bl break the losing clan shouldn't be too heart broken. and if single elimination is too harsh, make it round robin.

[Mr. Lothario]

     Responding to questions raised...

     It's true that requiring one scheduled CB per 24 hours may be difficult for smaller clans, but because it is a relatively low rate of CBs and because the dates for those CBs is known well ahead of time, arrangements can be made. Like Brain said, if it doesn't happen, it's simply counted as a loss for the clans involved. That sucks for them, but it doesn't ruin the tournament.

     All CBs must take place within the 24 hour period in order to allow the next round to be scheduled and played on time. Exceptions could be made for CBs on Sunday, but since any delayed CB will still require the presence of admins (on a day that the admins in question normally wouldn't have any tournament-related schedules), delaying a CB would require the permission and arrangement of at least three admins.

     Regarding a 3000 point clan being beaten by a 500 point clan: one of our motivations in constructing this idea was to use a system that primarily stresses skill, rather than primarily testing your ability to get CBs in the regular season and secondarily testing skill like the current system. If a clan can earn 3000 points in the regular season and still loses to the last seed in the first round of the finals, then their skill simply isn't up to snuff. This issue is the main thing we mean when we say "to make the finals more exciting".

     "Clans who didn't make it to the Top 4 in the main season don't deserve to participate in the Finals." There's the example of March Madness and Grand Slam tournaments as working and respected tournaments of this type, but I know that's not what you're talking about. To our way of thinking, the clan that wins the finals and thus the season should be the clan that is good enough to win when the chips are down, no matter who the opponent is. Regular season ranking still plays a part, as higher seeds are first in line for byes, and are bracketed to play against the lowest seeds, both of which will give them an easier ride. For a low seed to upset and come away with the tournament means that they had to win against at least one high seeded clan, and likely more than one (depends on how many upsets there are in the same tournament, heh). If a low seed can pull that off, they deserve the victory.

     Scheduling: The way I would elect to handle the scheduling if it were up to me is I would have all round 1 participants make arrangements before the first tournament weekend with everyone in round 1 and 2 of their bracket. In other words, handle the scheduling of the first two rounds' CBs all at once. After round one, you'd follow the appointment you set with the clan you will be playing against in round two. Referring to the bracket diagram, seed 1 would arrange with seed 8 for the first Saturday, and with seeds 4 and 5 for the following Sunday. If seeds 1 and 4 both win in the first round, their second-round match is already scheduled. Doing it that way would be the least stressful for the admins involved, since they would have advance knowledge of when they needed to be available; and it would be the least difficult for the clans involved, since seed 1 wouldn't have to worry about staying online on Saturday until seeds 4 and 5 finished their CB, or vice-versa.

[Aramarth]

Honestly, there is nothing wrong with the idea. I am sure to laugh privately at anyone who argues against this point. The problem is, that the community which makes up this league has never accepted a decent change, ever.
Some people around here argue against giving themselves more choices, and argue against making the game more fun. And for what? I certainly haven't seen an answer, and all my reasoning can come up with is that a lot of people are simply afraid. Afraid to lose what dominance they think they have to a change that they think will give someone else an advantage.
Guess what. Everyone gets the same change dealt to them, you are not alone. Clan A does NOT get a bigger advantage now that warzone is on the books, and clan B does NOT always get the weaker spawn because of it either. Everyone gets the same odds, and changing whether the bet is on a coin or a die does not change the odds when you call heads or tails, evens or odds.

Then the worst part, is the community's tendency to assume the worst before they have seen any trials. So there is your problem gentlemen of MP. Your proposal will not be stricken down by facts, assuming it dies, but simply by the reality that it is different.

Aramarth

[z][t-Magnetic]

Nice speech Ara...Do you remember that despite all the talk the community DID accept the WZ, and got to love it...Who says it will not be the case here too?

I?m all for a more active ladder, and as some one said earlier, this would be a way of getting everyone in the mood. Not to speak of the tension, which would be intact all the way even though a clan is at the 16th or 1st spot. There will be a larger amount of nerveracking cbs, which we have normally only experienced during the finals, since this system kicks out the losing clan in every round.

I say we give it a go...


z][t-Magnetic

[Aramarth]

Do you remember that despite all the talk the community DID accept the WZ, and got to love it...Who says it will not be the case here too?

Yes mags, I remember the wz debate quite well. The community didn't ever accept it. The complaints went on till the bitter end. In the end, they shut up only because it was a mute issue, and the game was going on anyway.

Don't read like I am raining on your party, I'm all for this change. I'm just mentioning what I've read and what I expect to read again.

Ara

[BTs_eight]

This tournament thing is a great idea@!

That's what we were going to use for the BTL Finals.... But it never came about since it was just a test season... ;P

welll we still got the scripts for em... lets see what we can scrape up....

[z][t-Magnetic]

Rgr that Ara...putting away my umbrella  


z][t-Magnetic