Promotions, Relegations, Minor Updates and Unban

Date November 17, 2011

It has taken a while, but we can now announce promotions and relegation critera for non-premier divisions! Please bear in mind that we have to consider the new Season 11 structure when deciding these spots, as well as factor in the madness that is the pre-season division seeding. We’d like to have just one group in Division 1 next season and see the skill levels in both Division 1 and 2 rise, so hopefully teams in Division 2 will understand not having automatic promotions. They are welcome to request a Division 1 spot when they sign up to Season 11.

Behold!

  • Division 1: The bottom 4 teams from each group will be relegated.
  • Division 2: No teams will be promoted. The bottom 4 teams from each group will be relegated.
  • Division 3: The top team from each group will be promoted.The bottom 3 teams from each group will be relegated.
  • Division 4: The top 2 teams from each group will be promoted. The bottom 3 teams from each group will be relegated.
  • Division 5: The top 2 teams from each group will be promoted. The bottom 2 teams from each group will be relegated.
  • Division 6: The top 3 teams from each group will be promoted.

BeaVerN ban overturned

As you may already know, we have been rebuilding our anti-cheat team from scratch for some time now. We currently have a small team of promising AC admins, which in addition to senior AC admin UK octochris, includes the new admins Serbia hys and Switzerland Steve. After proving themselves more than worthy, they reviewed a ban which has been in question since it was issued, namely Sweden BeaVerN’s case. After reviewing the demo and previous evidence, they unanimously concluded to that no evidence of cheating could be found. This means that BeaVerN is unbanned with immediate effect, and is to be considered a fully legitimate player.

The anti-cheat would like to say the following:

Let us start by apologising for how long this has taken. It is utterly indefensible that an innocent player and his team have been hung out to dry for two seasons having been convicted of an act that he did not perform. We are utterly disgusted by the conduct that we have seen from some members of the previous AC team, and we will not justify it for one second. This was a mistake, a big mistake, and there are no excuses for what happened, but the best that we can do is learn from it, and make things right again.

 You might say that it is very easy for us to criticise our predecessors, as we weren’t part of the team at the time, but we intend to make good on our promises of improvement. We are very committed to making sure that the process is much fairer and consistent for everyone that chooses to make ETF2L the place that they play TF2, for example, we are currently rewriting anti-cheat protocol, and we intend to shortly set up a documented system for reviews of existing bans.

A human-patrolled anti-cheat system can never be flawless, but we can certainly strive to be better.

BeaVerN wishes to state the following:

I want to thank my friends on Steam, all the people who have supported me, and a special thanks to my clan.

We are very sorry that BeaVerN and his team European Quarantine have been prevented from enjoying ETF2L for most of this year, and we offer our most sincere apologies for the time it has taken to have the case reviewed. In line with the BeaVerN review, the anti-cheat team will have a policy that allows appeals for future and past cases.

More Updates

First off, an update for highlander teams: Being released mid-season and affecting gameplay, The Bombinomicon is banned from the Highlander League. The Apoco-Fist skin is allowed.

We also have some updates from the land of exciting TF2 cups: Excello are hosting another ZOWIE TF2 Challenge, sponsored by ZOWIE. Signing up will help competitive TF2’s future, so be sure to have a look!

The Esports Heaven Sapphire Challenge Final between European Epsilon and European Relic is expected to take place at around a week from now. Unfortunately European yoyotech are unavailable to play the third-place playoff, so UK Infused receive 3rd place, and thus £50.

On a lighter note, our lovely site coder has added an “add friend” icon to the user and team pages to make it easier to add people to Steam Friends. Enjoy!

84 Comments

  1. boomeh: Tplay said:

    free boomeh ?

  2. arc: iSlam said:

    thanks guys :)

  3. IPZIE: SUAVE said:

    JUSTICE PREVAIL dummmmdummmmmmmmmmmm
    Gz brah o/

  4. schocky: ist doof said:

    nice BeaVerN, gz :)

  5. The Man with many Faces: spire said:

    boomeh fucking cheater WE MEET AGAIN

  6. Linus: [d¿s] - 007 said:

    lmao @beavern case

    <3 qn

  7. WARHURYEAH: GlueEater said:

    Well, that has just made division 2 a waste of time.

  8. fluffy: Pinturillo - William said:

    Beav <3

  9. fisk: KiH - KiH said:

    lmao @beavern case. How much time was left of that ban anyway? About *censored* time you got your act together ETF2L.

  10. Daleth: ti. - [PG] said:

    cool

  11. ANTY: 2ne1 said:

    FREE BEAVERN

  12. Whiteglow said:

    ignoring of season 11 incoming =D

  13. Dummy said:

    retarded decision about s11, good one admins. im sure teams will be extremely happy about rule changes at the end of the season, without warning or anything. usually rule changes apply to the next season, especially if its the end of the season like now, so what up with this shit? what was the point of winning div 2 if you arent going to go up, lol?

  14. randa said:

    It’s funny cos Chris thought he cheated after reviewing Beaverns demo at the time he was banned .

  15. octochris: (0v0) said:

    if you take anything i post seriously randa, you have not learnt anything

  16. kardanadam: TROLLIED said:

    including this one?

  17. poxie said:

    its the thought that counts

  18. BELLSPROUT?!: ‹Con› - evCon. said:

    ban beavern!!!!

  19. Snyyppis: RLM said:

    I’m curious as to the reasoning behind moving back to the single division one system. I know there was plenty of discussion over it before s10 and a lot of people, me included, pointed out back then how much better that system would be.

    What I don’t understand is why select another approach for s10 only to change it next season, effectively making many teams’ efforts pointless. What changed your minds?

    It’s still the better way to do it, but ideally you should have chosen one system and just stuck with it.

  20. Linus: [d¿s] - 007 said:

    shame that s10 didnt have a single division 1 – regardless, its the right move to bring it back, even though it really does screw some teams over.

  21. Gubbins: Op4 said:

    Unban blorg

  22. Jakle said:

    Give qn a trophy for being cool dudes about it all!
    Congrats on your unban Beavern.

  23. jonii: fm-eSportstf2 said:

    Division 2: No teams will be promoted.

    what? lol

  24. stvv: WUL said:

    So div2 was essentially a waste for all teams, the 3 teams that won their tables get no reward/upgrade, anything for playing well and coming first…what? please tell me i’m not the only one who is confused about this.

    Seems like div2 was, other than the obvious official practise/competing, a waste of time?, i’m not the only one whose thinking this am i?

  25. IPZIE: SUAVE said:

    do you want strong divs?

  26. stvv: WUL said:

    I agree that this will make the divisions stronger, but, it seems like the people that won div2 aren’t getting anything for doing that ;\/

  27. Hildreth: Bully - Pander said:

    Haha we didn’t get promoted to Div 2 anyway. :D:D:D

    Free BeaVerN…oh wait.

  28. Mr. G - String: DStS said:

    FREE BEAVERN

  29. IPZIE: SUAVE said:

    steve i think and i can just speak for myself that this div2 half of the time felt like playing div3. There were just 2 other teams that felt like on the same level / better or worth beeing in division 2. And i heared that from alot of other groups aswell.So i really believe making 1 division1 is a good point to get the div2 stronger even so i totally understand your point of feeling overlooked. We can all gather screenshots and improve over the break until next season and show that we are div1/2/3/4/5/6/Highlander

  30. M0re said:

    Thanks for listening about the divs… :)

  31. RaCio: GoT² said:

    @Snyyppis

    The problems was that the s9 results didnt help with the s10 seedings and we had about 30 teams applying to div1. Moving to divs of 8 also caused some problems with the skill levels, as there were essentially a few less spots in each div. It might hurt now, but if we have promotions and relegations that tie into s11 well, we can move back to a system were promotions decide more then the s11 mail request. The new division 2 will have half of the current division one, so the skill level should be higher.

    That said, a 4 way playoff for the last div1 spot is possible if the teams are interested.

  32. Nislem said:

    http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6194/6091055628_5509893c79_o.jpg

  33. Lynn: ⁄⁄nν said:

    Oh hey my team’s going div5, sweet! Finally out of the limbo of competitive TF2 and time to get some serious competition going.

  34. Admirable: (Toucan Ambassador) said:

    Is Beavern gonna shave off that gay protest beard now?!!1

  35. howdeh: Perilous - WUL said:

    that would explain why dotpixels finished 3rd… good job ipz

  36. IPZIE: SUAVE said:

    dont be that butthurt mate, im right and you know that. the divs are just a lil bit washy. and i much rather tie 6 games and play a hard div2 than have 2 good games and the rest is just bullshit.

  37. IPZIE: SUAVE said:

    you dropped son, i dont know how you want to judge the whole situation

  38. blw: element // said:

    lmao
    and where are the apologies for other cases ? or do u think it’s the only one innocent who “have been prevented from enjoying ETF2L for most of this year” ?
    fockin weird league

  39. Mark: Phase said:

    Poor Quad..

  40. howdeh: Perilous - WUL said:

    “butthurt”

  41. Septique said:

    Blah. If we are unbanning cheaters, FREE DANNY!

  42. Head Hunter said:

    Finally justice.
    Also, I am in total agreement of having only one division 1 group. Will make both it and div2 stronger. It may seem like div 2 in particular was a waste of time but winning it establishes you a good solid ground and guaranteed entry for next season which will no doubt be harder and more respectful.

    And hopefully this change will get rid of those fucking wannabe teams searching div2/1 when they aren’t proven and getting smashed 5-0.

    More importantly; Beavern :D

  43. Trane said:

    Free Gary Glitter.

  44. Sylosin: MEAT - evCon. said:

    spoken like a prodigy, headhunter

    kudos to Quarantine for biding their time and patiently abstaining from two whole seasons. C U S11 BOYOS

    also,
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyFXR9qE-kM

  45. Jakle said:

    How many of the other divisions will there be?

  46. Snyyppis: RLM said:

    @Racio

    I still don’t understand what changed your minds. Was it the wide skill-gap between teams in current div1? Or the relatively low standard of div2? Or was it always clear to you that s10 is just to please the people who think they’re higher skilled than they really are, avoid public outrage and then move quietly into the single div1 format effectively only upsetting one division?

    At the very least, arrange playoffs between the div2 winners for 1 secure spot in div1. It’s not much to ask and is a decent reward for the best div2 team.

    All that said I look forward to s11 with this format, shame we had to wait a season for it.

    Also, does the unbanning of beavern mean that the new policy of banned hackers is that their cases can be re-opened re-evaluated?

  47. RaCio: GoT² said:

    We are working on an AC policy that allows reviews/appeals, yes.

    As for the other question, I don’t think it was easily doable last season. Especially after the feedback we wanted to return to the system of 1 division of 1. With the current promotion and relegation system, only div2 and to a lesser extent div3 are truly affected. It’s a bit painful, but I’m sure it will result in a better system. As for div2 playoffs, I guess we could work on a 4 way playoff between the 1st div2 teams for the last div1 spot (2a has a tie, so there’d be 4 teams).

  48. hoppi: TIDS said:

    good to have an ac team back :)

  49. d2m: vertex » - derptex9 said:

    Great to see an innocent player finally unbanned. Fucking wrote an essay telling you he wasnt cheating when you banned him and i quit being a silent ac admin :(

    Look forward to what appears to be an interesting divisional change for next season, although it is harsh as f*ck to the winners of div2.

    gg

  50. Gideon said:

    How to win both top teams from ur div and be relegated. Simple guide by Gideon.

  51. Lenny said:

    ahah epic

  52. biester said:

    Free danny!!!!

  53. Trane said:

    Well, I think a playoff for top div2 teams for a spot in div 1 guaranteed would be a really good idea. It does seem a bit unfair on the guys who excelled in div2.

  54. tramsig: -><- said:

    Dont know why you guys care, divs are gonna be messed up anyways because of drops and new teams.

    Btw, my team wants to play highlander, can someone please drop? NOW? ;)

  55. Koeitje: AUTOBOTS said:

    Excellent plan to bring back a single div1. Makes it so much more competitive. The skill gap was quite big this season. If the same division structure was used and div2 winners would be promoted they’d just get crushed by the top 3 div1 teams of each (a/b) division.

  56. Septique said:

    Although div2 seems now like a waste of time, I somewhat agree on this. Div1 and div2 will get a lot stronger and I guess more interesting for the participating teams.

  57. r7an: -9w- said:

    Good idea as there was a big skill gap. Don’t think you should have a playoff either as that’s just going back on what you’re trying to do, ie get the weak teams out of there!

  58. Spike Himself: TC said:

    You could read it as “nobody in div2 gets promoted” I guess, but consider this:

    Day 1: we announce 1 team from each div2 bracket gets promoted (yay no whine only happy people)
    Day 2: we announce that next season we’re having only 1 div1 bracket, effectively moving half of them back to div2 (yay no whine only happy people)

  59. toogyboogy: (ETF2L Donator) - SOFT - bobs said:

    Bring back 2 tables for division 2 aswell! we like stronger competition in div 2 aswell. should be earned.
    and playoff system on who gets promoted from div 2.

    Why cant you have a playoff between the losers of div 1 and the winners of div 2 on who gets the div 1 spot?

  60. Snyyppis: RLM said:

    Maybe the current top div2 couldn’t compete with the top 8 of div1 next season, but surely the same applies to the top 5 teams in div3 that _are_ getting the promotion to div2.

    It’s only reasonable that if you make a single div1 you should have only 2 div2s, and those div2s have little room for the div3 winners.

    If you do end up still using 3 separate div2s you make the gap between divs 1 and 2 excessively large.

  61. The state of the game « VanillaTF2 said:

    […] what’s next. Perhaps more imminently, the cancellation of Beavern‘s ban, as seen in yesterday’s announcement. If you haven’t been paying attention, he was banned last year for alleged use of aimbot. […]

  62. RaCio: GoT² said:

    @Snyyppis
    The new division 2 will have half of the teams that were in div1 skill bracket this season. So the skill level should already be higher. By having 2 div 2’s you’d be leaving only 1/3 of the original div2. We’ll be looking closely at how the tables turn out in s11 and try to make the playoffs for them clear as soon as possible.

  63. Permzilla: (Legend) - (☞゚ヮ゚)☞ - WiK? said:

    where is silleh’s unban now?

  64. Hellfish said:

    i dont get the whole “the skill difference in div1 is too big” point.
    its normal that there are teams which rape their whole div and teams that got their ass owned. thats a normal thing and you will find it in every div from prem to 6. so why shouldnt it be in div1?

    btw
    free danny!

  65. Buffalo Bill: TDR » - T⑨ said:

    Because it’s boring when the winner is known in advance.

  66. Hellfish said:

    yeah buts thats how it is in nearly every div

  67. strut: -=Crazy=- said:

    So why the ban in first place?

    Hopefully witch-hunt will commence

    *popcorn*

  68. Admirable: (Toucan Ambassador) said:

    Still waiting for the KondoR and Spicke apologies D:<

  69. Luzik: Suoli - moog said:

    free lenny/danny/silleh/elm0re/cantremembermore

  70. biester said:

    Fucking unbann Danny NOW

  71. ANTY: 2ne1 said:

    Reviewing everyone? or just the people who enough noise is made about?

  72. sno: UbeR | - itsallgood said:

    yay beavern :)

  73. WLL said:

    FREE DANNY FREE DANNY FREE DANNY FREE DANNY FREE DANNY FREE DANNY FREE DANNY
    FREE DANNY FREE DANNY FREE DANNY FREE DANNY FREE DANNY FREE DANNY FREE DANNY
    FREE DANNY FREE DANNY FREE DANNY FREE DANNY FREE DANNY FREE DANNY FREE DANNY
    FREE DANNY FREE DANNY FREE DANNY FREE DANNY FREE DANNY FREE DANNY FREE DANNY
    FREE DANNY FREE DANNY FREE DANNY FREE DANNY FREE DANNY FREE DANNY FREE DANNY
    FREE DANNY FREE DANNY FREE DANNY FREE DANNY FREE DANNY FREE DANNY FREE DANNY
    FREE DANNY FREE DANNY FREE DANNY FREE DANNY FREE DANNY FREE DANNY FREE DANNY

  74. archy said:

    I never thought that I would ever see someone in a leading position or in a position with some kind of responsibility commit that they had done a mistake.

    I have to admit that I am at least a little bit impressed by that.

  75. IPZIE: SUAVE said:

    and noone cares

  76. .: cc// said:

    Hey Danny , here is an idea for you : http://screenshot.ftf2.com/11517420.jpg

  77. arc: iSlam said:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YreDCzh71ow&feature=channel_video_title forza for ac admin

    heres a little something for you http://memegenerator.net/cache/instances/400x/11/11270/11540640.jpg

  78. .: cc// said:

    http://screenshot.ftf2.com/158.gif

  79. BaNaNa said:

    Good to know. Unban me now …

  80. biester said:

    Forza there is no need to get Danny unbanned! Since he wanted to get inactive anway :D thats why he never really complaint about the ban. Maybe he cheatet maybe not – je is the only one who really knows it :) still he is a nice guy to chill out in mumble :)

  81. Lenny said:

    actually biester i know he cheated

  82. biester said:

    be happy and masturbate on it :D

    anyway i am not replaying now anymore since i didnt want to start anything about danny :D

  83. .panic said:

    Beav, you left me crying when you deleted me for no reason. I am sad.

  84. iNdx said:

    hi can i get a review + apology on my case pls ty

    also tack kondor blw abra etc etc