Interest check/questionaire for XBL Online Ranbats!

[iora]

Hello! Checking out some interest for some online XBL ranbat action!

Might be a good idea for people who may or may not like ranked, or might want something to practice for between tourneys IRL. Might be good to help people meet new netplay friends or whatever excuse you want to have to play.

To make sure things run smoothly for everyone, I just want to get some opinions on some points, and see what the general public would prefer.

So do me a favor, and if you are interested, give some input on the following questions!

Looking to do the first one maybe 1-2 weeks from now, and make it a weekly event.... So lets get the input in by like 8/22 or so? (edit: Input is slow coming in, so i might just make a judgement call and go with my gut if i don't get a lot of opinions. We will see.)

So take a look below, give your input only if you are interested in this, and we'll figure something out!

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1: Tourney Organization:

I would like to use Challonge to run the brackets, since it is simple. But for communication mid tourney to help people get things going smoothly, there are a few options.

-Use an irc channel. --- You can use a web-based client if you don't have irc. This would just need you to have access to a computer throughout the tourney. Reporting in could be done via IRC PMs.

-Use the Dustloop forums. --- I can post all the info online, but again this would need steady internet access. This could be done via smartphone though for those that prefer that, but would take longer since it is not real time. Reporting in could be done via XBL chat.

-XBL account --- XBL has a feature that lets you view a friends' friends list. I could have everyone interested in the tourney on a side accounts friend list. Then you just need to add that account, and you can invite via viewing that accounts friend list. Then you can report back via XBL chat.

-Other --- Taking suggestions!

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2: Date and time:

-Input what day and what time you would prefer. --- Let me know all the days you could see yourself being available, and the times you could available those days.

I am east coast USA. The ranbats would probably be split into USA time zones. EST/CST (Which i could run) and PST/MST (Which i could run if its early enough, or someone else would have to take care of). Splitting like this would help keep connections solid.

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3: Player limit:

-A tourney-friendly number limited bracket (8/16/32 etc etc).

-Allow everyone, and accept there will be byes.

Personal preference, though I prefer option #2 (allow everyone) but if a lot of people are against it, we can avoid it.

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4: Point structure:

It is a ranbat. So points will be kept.

-Points for high placement, and small participation reward. --- This rewards stronger players harder, while making it important to finish well.

-Points for participation, and a bonus for each round you advance. --- This rewards consistency, and makes bigger tourneys worth more points by nature. The bonuses would get bigger for higher placement, so the points would curve as you do better.

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5: Disconnect ruling:

What to do in case of disconnect?

-Forfeit the round. --- Regame would be done, but you allow the rounds to get set so 1 round is forfeited, and it gets restored to how it should have been. (Example: PlayerA disconnects from PlayerZ. The round score was 0-0 (aka the forfeit happened round 1). They would reconnect, and PlayerA allows PlayerZ to win the first round uncontested to get the round score to be 1-0.). This could cause issues as far as burst gauge, Labrys Axe, and slowing things down.

-Forfeit the match. --- Things will be 2 of 3 so its not an instant loss. This will keep things moving smoothly. Problematic though as this solution is kinda rough.

-Honorable regame. --- Good for accidents, but bad for ragequits. Will slow things a bit.

Notes about disconnect policy:

If there is a DC, I'll watch the game in case it happens again, or in case its unclear who was the DC and who was not. If theres 3 people in a lobby and 1 DCs, the remaining two make it obvious to see who the problem is. This is probably the toughest thing about online tourneys, so opinions here are helpful.

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Other notes:

-What if someone lags? --- You let me know who is lagging. If that player gets enough reports about his lag, I will prohibit entry until it gets fixed. I don't like this solution, but I want to ensure this runs will. A bad player in the pool can ruin the enjoyment of others, so I have to be tough on this. Nothing personal.

-Recording/Streaming/Commentary? --- I lack equipment, but if someone wants to volunteer I would gladly help organize that the best I can!

-Prizes? --- None from me. This is meant to be 1 step above casual netplay to give people a place to practice for tourneys/take the game a little more seriously/track progress/whatever. If someone wants to donate, I am not opposed, but go into it with the mindset that there are no prizes besides a pat on the back.

-How to handle trolls/people doing less-than-honest shit? --- Case by case, but I will probably just ban them from the ranbat. This includes giving up wins on purpose (fucks with the rankings), entering on multiple accounts at once, and other shit like that.

-Character lock? --- Yes, character lock in each tourney. You can switch between tourneys though. Learn your character, don't counterpick. Its a place to practice after all. ^^

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Please get back to me if you are interested in a XBL ranbat.

I expect 5 answers, since there are 5 main questions, though if you have other concerns LET ME KNOW and I will answer/we will figure it out together!

Thank you

Edited August 20, 2012 by iora

[The09er]

I'm down for this. I could use all the practice I can and having a scheduled time I can kick other people off the internet in the house so my lag is minimal.

1) IRC channel - I don't like using a microphone and xbox parties can get cluttered while dustloop forums tend to be a bit slower than messaging in real time. There is no reason not to use IRC since there is a web-based client.

2) Fri-Sat is good, though honestly any day besides monday is fine by me. If we do it early enough in the evening like at 6-8pm EST that would be great also. Though it would probably be better if we avoided a day/week where there are a lot of events.

3) I'm fine with allowing everyone as long as everyone isn't some ridiculous number.

4) While I'm indifferent to what we end up using I would lean towards rewarding players for doing GOOD rather than showing up. Try and have a decent representation of player strength here.

5) Forfeit the match - Lets keep things moving and act like this is an actual tourney. I'm all for doing a rematch in the case of a bruised ego, but do it after the tourney.

[iora]

Not quite the response I was hoping for. Hopefully some more interest gets shown, or maybe this will be an idea for a later date or something instead.

Let me know guys. Come on! ^^

[toanenadiz]

Didn't even know this thread existed...

1) IRC would probably be best. Though in my case, I tend to turn off all internet access except for my consoles when I play online, so I would be disconnecting and reconnecting to the channel before/after every match

2) Thursday and Fridays would be the only days I could do this. The time doesn't matter much

3) Allow everyone.

4) Points for high placement, and small participation reward.

5) Forfeit. It's harsh but it would be too much work to deal with handling bursts and Labrys axe gauge if the forfeit the round model was used. Re-game would be fine but it would everything down and that is something that wanted in an ranbat.

[Ciddypoo]

Would be nice to have something like this go on!

1. IRC, definitely. Real time communication is a must, especially when these things are first starting out. Sudden changes to brackets or other issues can be addressed immediately.

2. I'm fine with any day of the week so long as it's more towards the late afternoon or evening (I'm EST, so probably evening would be better to get some PST folks in).

3. I'd say allow everyone . . . eventually. Organization is the most difficult part of running this stuff, so I think starting small-ish would be better off the bat. It'll help gauge how much time it'll take to finish X-sized brackets. I'd say 32 is a good number, judging by the uh ... current responses to the thread, but I imagine at crunch time there'll be more.

4. Points for high placement.

5. Forfeit single match. The round stuff is a bum deal since Burst timing is pretty important. However, I would of course favor any other decision if it's made mutual by the two players (if they want to regame, let them regame, and so forth as long as it isn't holding up brackets).

[strawberry]

I'm interested! There was this online street fighter league that actually helped players level up for some majors, one guy did pretty well at Final Round so I've got faith in this. If you want some ideas it is on sfxol.weebly.com. For communication a lot of it goes down in a facebook group (he tried email but I'm sure some people hate getting so much mail in there inbox)

[Tecta1Eastside]

I'm interested! There was this online street fighter league that actually helped players level up for some majors, one guy did pretty well at Final Round so I've got faith in this. If you want some ideas it is on sfxol.weebly.com. For communication a lot of it goes down in a facebook group (he tried email but I'm sure some people hate getting so much mail in there inbox)

Im interested too. Anything that will bring out competition on this game cuz if I don't find some, I promise you I'm gonna trade this in for DOA5. I may be able to get some of my friends interested if this gets big enough too. Friday or Saturday is the best for me since I don't have college classes.

[iora]

Getting some agreement on most points, i like it!

I will post a thread about the exacts after work today. be on the look out!

But to be on the lookout, Friday, 8pm EST will be the start time

I can start it this week, or next. Up to you guys. input as to which you prefer.

[Ciddypoo]

No reason to delay a week. Might be better to do is earlier to gauge the real interest.

[iora]

Thread made for the ranbats

starting 9/7/12 (theres a local i might attend on 8/31 or i would do it then)

go go - and spread the word!!

http://www.dustloop.com/forums/showthread.php?14951-XBL-ONLINE-RANBATS-1-9-7-12&p=1382963#post1382963