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Introducing The League [name WIP]; an alternative to the endless stream of tournaments

Match format?


  • Total voters
    49
  • Poll closed .

Njok

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Jun 17, 2015
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Squids, Kids,

Recently, multiple members of the community have reported feeling burned out from the numerous tournaments that have been ongoing. Whilst it is great to see such high activity in the community, this has been a growing concern, and thus a group of us have come together to attempt to provide a solution that will free up time for players without compromising the competitive scene.

Introducing The League, our attempt at a Splatoon league system. We aim to run seasonally, during which teams will compete in seeded divisions under a promotion/relegation system, to compete for the title of top squad. A collaboration between Messtival, Calamari Cup and several others, this is our proposed solution to burnout whilst keeping adrenaline flowing. Outlined below is our proposed format. For now, we’re just aiming to make the idea known, and gauge the level of interest. That way, we can best judge how to move forward, and create an environment that everybody wants to be a part of.

We aim to have multiple seeded divisions, with the top division(s) playing a full season. In case of large interest from teams, the starting division could be a larger division that runs in Swiss style. The amount of rounds played in that division would be equal to the higher division(s). A fully detailed version will be worked on once we know if there is interest in this.

Playoffs will follow after every season. A playoff for promotion/relegation will be played by the top x teams of the lower division and the bottom x teams of the higher division. The championship will be decided by the playoffs for the top x teams of the first division.

Arranging games

Proposed default match time is Sunday at 12 PM PST / 3 PM EST / 8PM GMT, although teams are free to agree on a different day and time that better suits their schedules, but within the week of the current round. If teams are not able to agree on rescheduling, the match has to be played at the default time.

Reporting scores

Screenshots that clearly show the winning team, are required for every map. Scores are then reported by sending screenshots to the TO staff. It’s the winners obligation to report and upload screenshots. If the losing team does not confirm the results, then they will be confirmed automatically after 48 hours.

Disputes

If a dispute occurs, TOs will try to resolve it as quickly as possible over discord. If a TO is not available, a dispute can be filed through either a google form or an e-mail. TOs will respond to all disputes within a 24 hour period, although care will be taken to resolve them much earlier.

We have a range of proposed formats that we’re looking for community insight on. Attached to this thread you'll find a poll which includes to following formats:

Format A

Matches will be a BO3 out of BO5 sets. The map list will be provided by the TOs, with no map appearing twice. Modes will rotate in a set pattern, but the first mode for each set will vary from week to week.

Week 1, Set 1: SZ-TC-RM-SZ-TC, Set 2: TC-RM-SZ-TC-RM, Set 3: RM-SZ-TC-RM-SZ. Week 2, Set 1: TC-RM-SZ-TC-RM, Set 2: RM-SZ-TC-RM-SZ, Set 3: SZ-TC-RM-SZ-TC.

Format B

Matches are a BOx with mode list provided by the TOs. Teams alternate maps, starting with either the home or away team. The same map cannot be picked twice.

Format C

Matches are a BOx with no provided list. The home team picks the mode. The away team picks the first map, and then proceeds to alternate with the home team. Maps cannot be picked twice. Modes will have to be picked 2 or 3 times, depending on the BO size.

Format D

Matches are a BOx with a provided map and mode list. The format will be standard Halo-style.

We are specifically looking for input from the community on this, so if you are interested at all please do leave a comment below. You can also contact me or anyone else from the staff for access to the discord server (WIP). Be assured everyone's suggestions will be heard and considered.

To all active teams: we're asking you if you're interested in playing in something like this and for your input on what the final version of the league should look like.

To everyone interested in being a part of the TO team: please contact any of us because we could definitely use additions to the staff.

For now we leave you with this and we're looking forward to getting this discussion going.

 
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BonFire

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rollmops99
As I already mentioned on Discord, the Mario Kart Community handles it like that: there is a league called MKU, there are division with 6 teams each and everyone scrims everyone twice (so 10 weeks of playing). Every match is on a sunday at 3 EST. After those 10 Weeks, the winner of each division moves one division up and the last moves down. The system lasts 4 years from now and we had in our best times in 2012 up to 15 divisions.
 
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LockeExile

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I like the format. My worry is that with what are essentially invitational tournaments, not all teams will be able to make it. If seed #9 in a 16-team division can't make it, do they get demoted? Currently missing a tournament is no big deal. I don't know whether or not it's too much to ask for teams to prioritize the playoffs and make sure they have enough players/subs to fill in any gaps. Just moving the highest and lowest seeds would work, but then we don't get the excitement of tournaments.
 

Burnburn

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NSTC will probably be competing in this whenever it starts. I haven't really heard much from my team mates atm, but a lot of us have been saying that they prefer a system like this. I voted for D personally, I don't like A just because of the fact that wins end up being negated if a set is L W W L L. Don't like C because it could end up being the same map or mode again and again. B is a pretty nice system, I'd rate it D>B>A>C.
 
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SupersonicWaffle

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supersonicwaffle
I like the format. My worry is that with what are essentially invitational tournaments, not all teams will be able to make it. If seed #9 in a 16-team division can't make it, do they get demoted? Currently missing a tournament is no big deal. I don't know whether or not it's too much to ask for teams to prioritize the playoffs and make sure they have enough players/subs to fill in any gaps. Just moving the highest and lowest seeds would work, but then we don't get the excitement of tournaments.
they wouldn't, demotion / promotion would be determined through a playoff between highest seeds of the lower division and lowest seeds of higher division. If it ended up being a 16 team division seed #9 would probably end up being in a range where they wouldn't play in the post-season. that being said we're probably looking at smaller divisions than 16 teams in part so that every team can have a post-season

NSTC will probably be competing in this whenever it starts. I haven't really heard much from my team mates atm, but a lot of us have been saying that they prefer a system like this. I voted for D personally, I don't like A just because of the fact that wins end up being negated if a set is L W W L L. Don't like C because it could end up being the same map or mode again and again. C is a pretty nice system, I'd rate it D>C>A>B.
As it says in the post in Formats B and C teams would not be able to pick a map twice, that's both teams actually so a single map could never be played twice. As for modes in Format C it would be in a way that the same mode must not be picked twice in a row.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Burnburn

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As it says in the post in Formats B and C teams would not be able to pick a map twice, that's both teams actually so a single map could never be played twice. As for modes in Format C it would be in a way that the same mode must not be picked twice in a row.
Man, reading is hard. The thing you proposed is a good solution to the problem. Anyway there's also the issues of some maps possibly never being played because teams never choose it. There's also the chance of teams picking the same maps and modes between every league match too (So against different teams). Though that could also be an advantage for the other team since then it gets more obvious what maps and modes the other team picks and can practise on said maps.

Personally just prefer random over a human factor.
 

swifT

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Voted for D. I think that Halo Style has already been seen to be the way to go. Though people are clearly entitled to their own opinions.

The only problems I have with this I've already voiced to Njok. I'm worried that the number of teams interested will be low
thus skewing some of the divisions. I really want to see this work out. It may reinvigorate some teams and players.
Personally I got, and still am. Very tired of constant tournaments weekend after weekend and its been that way
for quite a while. Which is why I've been taking a break from splat to begin with. But a league is just what the community needs IMO.

A league could keep things interesting and appealing to a lot of teams. Especially since it can show their improvement as they climb through
divisions etc as opposed to entering these big tournaments only to be shut out in the early rounds.

Heres hoping this picks up. I know I'm on board.
 

Typhlosion09

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Voted for D. I think that Halo Style has already been seen to be the way to go. Though people are clearly entitled to their own opinions.

The only problems I have with this I've already voiced to Njok. I'm worried that the number of teams interested will be low
thus skewing some of the divisions. I really want to see this work out. It may reinvigorate some teams and players.
Personally I got, and still am. Very tired of constant tournaments weekend after weekend and its been that way
for quite a while. Which is why I've been taking a break from splat to begin with. But a league is just what the community needs IMO.

A league could keep things interesting and appealing to a lot of teams. Especially since it can show their improvement as they climb through
divisions etc as opposed to entering these big tournaments only to be shut out in the early rounds.

Heres hoping this picks up. I know I'm on board.
Honestly I'm worried of the same problem. We would appreciate everyone lets as many teams as possible know about this. So spread the word everyone.
 

Kbot

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More than likely, I'll just about force all IU teams to sign up. I haven't discussed it with all of them, but I'll get on that. A few other things to note.
  1. I haven't discussed this with EGtv, but more than likely SplatMaps, our CS:GO application, will be available to the public at some point in the future. We can work that out down the road, but I suggest you all keep that in the back of your minds as you progress forward with match setup.
  2. I'm worried about a 3 PM ET start time and what that does to tournaments. While not the best option for west coast teams, I would suggest a 11 or 12 default time (AM ET) for this, so as to not interfere with other tournaments, which will need more time to run.
  3. If you would like me to, I can take this up as a "Just along for the ride" project for me, where if you have any questions or w/e you can tag me. I won't sign up for being a full on TO just due to the amount of stuff I'm already involved in.
  4. I feel like there was something else I was going to put here, but I guess not right now.
Please keep in touch with the community and continue to gain interest. Can't wait to see where this goes.
 

WispBae

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TD would most definitely prefer this, it's much nicer for busy players, not having to sit for hours on end at home, plus lets everyone play.

Competitive Halo/CoD are good examples to follow, since I'm all for D. The other systems are just too based around FGC stuff, honestly, since many Splatoon players also play Smash.
 

Zarkith

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I guess I don't have too much of a say in this considering our team's current status, but I've been longing for a league like this for months.

Now that I don't have to bother organizing Cthuligans constantly, I was considering starting something very similar to this, though with Round Robin instead of Swiss. (Mostly because it's how the TF2 leagues operate, and that's what I was familiar with before hopping over to Splatoon). Swiss should work better initially though as it's easier for organizers to manage, especially without the automated systems that UGC and ETF2L have.

This exactly what the community needs. It's a shame we didn't last long enough to participate, but hopefully this will help prevent other teams from meeting our/8bS/GT/SK/Squiddernauts' fate.
 

Typhlosion09

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https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...ZOhWKODKTuSHF82q9FM/edit?pli=1#gid=1303049672 Likely this will be used for seeding. We may use other rankings and more recent tournament placings to decide rankings as well, and we may even have a tournament or some matches to help decide. We haven't really decided just yet. As for teams not on that list they will likely be placed in the lowest division for now, but if you think you got what it takes to climb the divisions and become the next great squad we'd love to see you join!
 

Ultramus

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I'm all for this, the format is pretty similar to what I suggested in the other thread so no complaints here.

I'd like to see version D, I think everyone is on board with that nowadays. Makes things run smoothly. I think a Bo7 or Bo9 would be most ideal for each set to give it some weight over a normal Bo5.

This format would do a lot for building hype for a grand finals tournament at the end of the season and would definitely help casting. It's amazing how much more enjoyable matches are with casting, I especially enjoy watching our teams matches after the fact to see what the commentators thought during the match, having fixed playing times makes this significantly easier.

I personally, and I feel like my team would agree, would love to participate in something like this, it also would make us feel a bit better on missing a few tourneys if we were playing a match in a league. Sometimes if you want to get games in you HAVE to commit to playing an entire tournament, and as a team we've had to run many different setups as people have differing schedules. The alternative was going without any competition matches which sucks, much nicer to just have one set to play and be free afterwards while still competing. You can see that some of our play, myself I know, can get really lax and sloppy due to just fatigue, BB4 we did really poorly because we just didn't have our heads in the game so to speak.
 

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