Yeah I only offer because I remember you saying you didn't want to do it again. I agree dealing with clans can be a real pain sometimes (hence why I abandoned the clan leadership position I had with TEZC after a week or two), but I'm at a pretty low-stress point in my life right now so I think I can deal with it.
Anyway, since the server is a go here is my rough sketch of the rules/procedures:
Signup
- Two signup threads, one for clans, one for individuals.
- In the clan thread, you must have commitments to play from and list at least 5 players before signing up. You must leave an e-mail AND an IRC channel/AIM/MSN/XFire contact. You should have at least 6 players (5 and a reserve) by the time the tournament begins, preferably 7-8.
- Individuals leave an e-mail and agree to either be in the #utjb channel before matches or be on the AIM/MSN/XFire chat that the leader chooses (to prevent the leader from having to communicate in 4 different ways with their 4 players, for instance).
- Individuals will be split up into several community teams before the tourney and a leader for each will be either elected, or selected by an admin if there is no clear consensus among the team.
Matches
- Matches will be a time that is convenient for Europeans (as they make up the majority of this community), but not so early in the evening that Americans cannot play. I'm thinking at this point that no earlier than 20:00 GMT (time of the lockdown).
- Each team will select a map and inform the other team at least 15 minutes before play begins (to allow for last-minute downloads so the game doesn't get delayed, players on 56k should get all the maps on the Mothership well in advance).
- The teams will then play a "home-and-home", with 20 minute maps (no overtime/score limit). Any map that has been on the Mothership for at least a week is fair game.
- Clan leaders must contact each other, using the "live" sign-up contact info or preferably meeting in #utjb on irc.enterthegame.com, at least 15 minutes before the match is scheduled to begin. If a clan has not shown at least 4 players on the server by 15 minutes after the match is set to begin, they automatically forfeit. If neither team has done this, the team leaders can either choose to continue to wait (if they both think it is likely they will be able to get the needed players), or reschedule if either leader wants to do so. A team may also choose to play down one man (and only one man) if they wish to do so.
- If at all possible an admin will be available to spectate the match and manage pauses, if not clan leaders might be given an admin pass? (details to be worked out). Pauses for dropped players are allowed, but if a player does not reconnect within a reasonable amount of time (no more than 5 minutes), play proceeds with one team down a player. If possible each clan should have a reserve player spectating ready to jump in if a player is dropped.
- Hiding is not cheating, it is a team's responsibility to track down someone who just puts up a tent in the closing minutes while their team is ahead. Switch camping of any kind is also not cheating (or even "lame" IMHO), it is a team's responsibility to defend their own switch. Using map bugs is cheating. A team may forfeit the game, or in severe cases for clan teams be ejected from the tournament (community teams will not be held responsible for the actions of a player, just that player), if they exploit map bugs (including any sort of leaving the intended play boundaries) or us aimbots, invisible skins, etc.
- Scheduling: Teams will be assigned another team to play against for each week of the tournament, they will then be in charge of scheduling their own matches (at least 48 hours in advance and notification to admins required) for whatever day of the week works best for both teams. Sundays are off-limits, as always. Scheduling is flexible to a certain extent, but teams should make their best effort to stay on schedule. If group play goes over too long matches may result in a default loss to both teams (with warning well in advance).
- At the end of the match both leaders must submit the results if an admin was not present, all team members should attempt to take end score screenshots so disputes can be handled reliably.
Scoring
- Each home-and-home series counts as one "match", the winner is whichever team scores the most captures in both maps combined. In non-elimination (group play) matches, ties simply count as ties. In elimination rounds tie breaker is whoever scores more captures on their opponent's chosen map, or if this is still tied, the result of a third 20 minute match (with overtime if needed).
- In group play a win is 3 points, a tie is 1.
- The number of groups and teams in each group, and the structure of the elimination rounds, will be determined by the number of teams participating.
Ok, how does that sound to everyone? Anything you think should be different? Anything important that isn't clarified?
