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We have been internally discussing to switch over to the scoring system the most important competitive TF2 scenes in the world outside of Europe are using. I believe, it is now time to involve you, the players, as well.

This is the ruleset for 5cp maps that is used in North America across all leagues as well as in other parts of the world (e.g. Oceania).

– 2 halves à 30 minutes
– First team to score 5 points over both halves wins the map
– If timelimit is hit or one team scores three points in the first half, sides are switched
– If scores are tied at the end of the second half, an overtime with no timelimit (subject to confirmation) is played (similar to our “golden cap” just without the “whoever holds mid after 10 minutes wins” rule)

We are still unsure if the switch would be accompagnied with 2 maps per week on 2 different days (like ESEA) or if it will remain 1 map per week or if you will face every opponent twice per season (like in ESEA invite). Input is very welcome!

Here is my explanation why I believe it is a good idea to change the EU scoring system:

Many games are decided 5-10 minutes before the timelimit ends (e.g. because one team is leading by 4 points or so). This is kind of anticlimatic for both, players and spectators and can make matches boring. It also makes comebacks harder and we all love epic comebacks, don’t we?

The change would also be another step towards a unified world wide TF2 ruleset. North America and Oceania are using the same ruleset of 2 30 minute halves and a winlimit of 5. Asiafortress uses winlimit 5, timelimit 30 and for Brazil and South Africa I could not (bother to) find any information.

The switch will promote aggresive play. It would be no longer useful to sit and defend the 4th point for 4 minutes to force the opponent to push from a disadvantageous position, for example.

Uneven maps (did someone say granary?) will not be that much of an issue anymore as both teams will play on each side.

Of course there are also points speaking against it. For once, a game could now take any time from 10 to 60 minutes (in comparison to 10 to 30 minutes as it is now) and this would e.g. make cups much harder to plan or result in a lot of waiting time during the first rounds.

The switch would also most definitely cause some confusion during the first ~two play weeks of the first season using the new system. I am not that worried about that, though, and am confident all players would pick up the new ruleset after two weeks latest.

The counting can be an issue without a plugin as the players would manually have to count the score for the second half.

I much appreciate any constructive input on the points I mentioned. Feel free to contribute more pros and cons or just your opinion with a short explanation why you think it is a good or bad idea. I believe it is very important to finally address this issue, do not turn this thread into a flame war please.

Consense in the admin staff is that if we were to make the switch, Season 15 (signups opening in about a month) would be to early for this. I would like to hear what you have to say about that as well.

Give it a cup, a proper cup, like the 6th cup, perhaps after s15. That would for one give people the chance to get accustomed to the ruleset before the actual season starts and might provide the admin team with a lot of feedback. It would also work towards bridging the summer gap.

Edit: What about making it first to three points with one ‘half’ of 30min and overtime?

I’m in favor of switching to the other system. It sucks that more often then not, a team will just sit on 4th point simply because they don’t have to push

Can be a good idea !

I am in favor, had some great matches playing ugc in roughly the same format.

Quoted from CanFo

We are still unsure if the switch would be accompagnied with 2 maps per week on 2 different days (like ESEA) or if it will remain 1 map per week or if you will face every opponent twice per season (like in ESEA invite). Input is very welcome!

This is the best reason to do it in my opinion. It makes the games better as the maps are more well rehearsed, the season more enticing to follow for fans as it has a clearer structure as well as more matches, and the introduction of new maps a vastly smoother task. I could probably write an essay on this, so I’ll just leave it at that and rant for 10 minutes on pirate radio.

you did a great job going over to NA unlocks and as far as it seems noone really minds that change anymore. I am personally a big fan of the american system and agree with kaidus. Do it for a season and see how it goes, we have nothing to loose

So long as configs did all the thinking for me I wouldn’t care, or likely even notice.