Season 8 News
May 8, 2010
Having listened to a lot of feedback from players over the last couple of weeks, it seems that there are a large number of players who do not want a season that starts in 3-4 weeks time, and would much prefer to play after the summer holidays. We have listened to this feedback, and the three Head Admins had a chat last night about the various options that we have available.
One of the biggest problems we have is that if Season 8 was to start at the end of May/start of June, there would be quite a few teams who would not enter – including some of the top teams in Division 1 and Division 2, as well as various teams from Divisions 3-6. We don’t want to have a league that suffers because of a lack of entrants and equally we don’t want to run a season with fewer teams and then have all the teams who did not enter Season 8 come back for Season 9, expecting to put in the same divisions they finished in for Season 7. It would be a logistical nightmare and cause a lot of issues both for the Admin team and for the players themselves.
Four months is a long time to go without a full league season, we do appreciate this. Unfortunately there were major changes in the Admin team when 
Daykiller left, leaving 
Kop, D2M and 
RaCio in charge. We all had to spend some time learning how the league system worked behind the scenes, as well as fixing some of the issues from Season 6 and trying to make Season 7 one of the best seasons ever for ETF2L. I believe we achieved this, however there were still a number of mistakes and problems that we will be fixing for Season 8.
If Season 8 is postponed for a few more months, please don’t panic. We have a lot of ideas for Summer competitions including:
- 6th Cup
- ETF2L Champions League
- More MNM-style Fun Cups
- Nations Cup
- Summer League (This would not officially count towards promotion/relegation spots for Season 8. However the results can still be used to request being moving between divisions.)
- Top Secret Summer Fun Cup
Finally, for those of you who are new to competitive TF2 and realise that the majority of this post might not have concerned you too much, we’re also looking forward to the Highlander Community Challenge which will be held very soon.
We’d like to give you all an opportunity to comment further on the available dates. So please have your say in the poll below and add a comment as well if you can. We will read every comment on here and we hope that the poll will give us a good indication of when you would like to play.
Thanks for your time!
When would you like Season 8 to start?
Total Voters: 1,220
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Thats crap, waiting 4 months for the next season will make so many people stop playing because lack of genuine competitive play. Why not have a season because a few teams dont want it. over 400 teams signed up last season and I doubt more than 30 said they wont want to play so soon, so why ruin it for the other hundreds of teams who would love to play?
Altho I’m not in a team atm I have too heard alot of people not happy bout the league starting soon and, if I’m honest, I thought that they would not be listened to and the league would be forced through regardless.
I am very glad I’m wrong :)
Maybe some NA players should point their admins (ESEA ones in particular) to this news post to how to manage a league and keep your player base happy.
And good idea filling the gap between seasons with cups, including a nations cup (perfect timing with the world cup looming).
Should give plenty of opportunity for people to play matches whilst not forcing those who do not want to play over the summer to play.
dont postpone season 8 because some teams claim they will not play over the summer
June is too soon IMO. July is perfect. Throw in a few MNM/other cups in the meantime to keep the punters busy till then. Sorted.
5th july sounds perfect, i think almost all exams will be done by then (a levels definitely will have)
Maybe this is the right time to promote the ladder, or make it more interesting (to top teams) somehow?
WHY?????
The problem is, an open ladder will never be interesting to them.
Naturally the highest skilled teams will gravitate to the top of the ladder after winning games against weaker opponents. They will then be challenged by teams below them, the majority of which will be significantly weaker than them and zero fun to play.
So they can either waste their time playing those games or they can just waste their time declining challenges and losing points in the process.
The only way it would ever work would be if you had multiple ladders with promotion between them – but then you’re effectively making it a league.
there are many teams which will fold until september, so it’s ridiculous to wait, the tables will be fucked up in both cases
only the idea of the summer league makes any sense … the gaps in the “normal” league (resulting from dropping teams) can be closed by teams which participated in this summer league, and the results can help the admins to put the teams in a suitable division
Nationscup \o/
we should start now, sc2 will kill tf2 in the end of july anyway
why should we always listen to the whining of the “top-teams” ?!?!
all they do is mimimimi
unlock mimimimi
new maps mimimimi
new season in a few weeks mimimimi
also after 4 month break alot of teams will fold and the “top-teams” will fold after 2 losses cos of lack of teamplay and training…
For people thinking/saying it’s ridiculous to wait etc, please take a look back to last year at Season 5. It started at the end of April/start of May – finished early July. There was then a long break until September for league games. No league games were played between July-September, because teams were on holiday or busy. Nations Cup was run during that period to fill in some time during that break.
If we were a month earlier in our plans for this season – we’d have already started Season 8 now. Unfortunately though, as mentioned in the news post, this was not possible.
With regards to 2011 – we have a full schedule planned for next year including 3 seasons and multiple cups.
nations cup woo
5th of July sounds great.
Monday 6th September 2010
PLEASE.
Maybe not immediately in the literal sense, but sometimes between may late may and early june!
Gimpfen – Read the news post mate. Whatever happens there will be competitive TF2 over the summer. The only thing that will be decided is in which format :)
So there won’t be a 4 month break for anyone unless that player leaves his computer for 4 months. I mentioned 4 months in the thread because that was the longest time that we could go without an ‘official’ league season. But this does not stop us from running another competitive league over the summer mate!
July sounds pretty sweet. Just get some one-night cups and 1v1, 2v2 fun cups as a filler…
Sure some teams will drop but they most likely would even with a season running. The EMS season and esportsheaven money cups should provide some top-end games in the meantime.
Perhaps we can fill the next eSportsHeaven competition if the league isn’t running?
Allow people to get their revision/exams out of the way. Get some of the core holiday time past too and then we should be good to go.
start s8 right away? whats the point…
after it ends there will be the same issue with s9 as it is now with s8
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+1 @ “June is too soon IMO. July is perfect. Throw in a few MNM/other cups in the meantime to keep the punters busy till then. Sorted. ” and “5th july sounds perfect, i think almost all exams will be done by then (a levels definitely will have)”
CAN’T WE ALL JUST.. GET ALONG :)
To be honest July is better for me, earliest after GCSEs. atm it looks like the polls say the majority dont want it now or too far away so the middle ground should be taken – august has gotten too few votes so august. Maybe I just want july, though. :)
IMMEDIATELY!!!!111 (32%, 45 Votes)
Examinations and the beginning of holidays – the best time to start the season in August? lol
gj D:<
A tiny fraction of the people who think they’ll suddenly develop a life over the summer actually will. Just go ahead as normal tbh.
I think 5th of July sounds perfect. Thats less thats less than 2 months from today and with signups 2 weeks prior to that you only really have to fill 5-6 weeks with MNM, cups, Highlander challenge etc. to entertain those who aren’t super busy with exams etc.
Also I can imagine that the highlander challenge will require quite a lot of work from the admins so is it not better to run this in a break between seasons. Seems like the perfect filler for a few weeks in my opinion.
Also I think its great just how much you guys listen to the community with votes etc. Constantly giving players the chance to put there view forward is really great. Keep up the good work!
Also although ‘Immediately’ is currently winning votes, you have to remember that 70% of people don’t think it should start immediately.
The new season should commence mid july just after the football worldcup is finished because this event would seriously disrupt the schedules. Although this might sound like a kind of summer break you should not give in to the idea of a summer break because it will most likely result in a 4 months hiatus since everyone goes to vaccation at different times. Just play a normal season with laid back rules (more wildcards, less tighter schedules) and it will work out fine.
I don’t think that that a pause of more than 4 months in the key competition would be good for the steady growing community attracted by the ETF2L.
July our August seem fine to me.
What I would like to see is a bit of co-ordination with other leagues. You’d find that the drop rate would be less if you started the league after the end of say WPTF2L and speak with ESL means that teams can then concentrate on the competitions also releasing an idea of the map rotations in good time so the newer teams have time to play them.
2 pence in the slot.
everything expect july is fine
September tbh.. Or at least August i’d say. Seems like a lot of people want the season now, but there will be a bunch of teams that won’t and as you mentioned in the newspost it will be a fucking mess for season 9 when teams come back.
I like the Summer League idea. Something that would count for a lot more than regular pcw screenshots when trying to get promoted to a higher division. Any mentioned suggestions are better than running the league during summer imo.
Now or wait the end of summer, i’ll be quite busy during august (on the road with my reggae band).
Begin it during July/having a nations cup would be pretty cool.
A nations cup can’t really be compared to a league. Spectating nations games is fun and all but I think the other 2000 people who don’t get to play would rather have osmethign else going on :x.
just remember i40 is at the end of August, so that may delay some games being played etc :)
agree with mercu, do it now or wait till september,
but if now still need a loose schedule for the football fans in july
Same as cheee and the rasta redhead plz :(
i voted immediately, but monday 5th july seems OK!!!
5th July sounds perfect, immediately is fine too.
july!
i rather take the 1st option cuz i wan’t it close to now but no so much and after school so i can seperate my studying for tests from the league..
so 5th July.
if the season starts in july surely no one will be able to play as so many people are going on holiday? :S
and it interfere with world cup :(
World Cup – Holidays – Exams – Sept. sounds like a better option.
Summer cups are always fun (ClanBase always used summer cups to bridge the gap) along with Nations Cups, MNMs and other “suprises” i’m sure etf2l can keep those clans who are still around busy until then!!
Think starting June is the best option – Exams coming up for a lot of people, the summer gives many of us plenty of free time to schedule, whilst people on holiday….well that is what backups/wildcards are for.
I’d definately appreciate the month break.
However waiting 2-3 months for the season isn’t great for many people, as said people will lose interest because of the lack of geniune competitive play. Sure fn cups, knockout cups…etc will be a laugh, but aren’t up on your agenda. Lower division teams will suffer.
That said another naions cup would be coooool.
http://vanillatf2.org/2010/05/vanillatf2-survey/
September. Noone works or just travels in July-August? ffs
september i think its right to choose. I would enter any fun cup though the summer, and its more fun.
LOkking forward season 8, be skilled
We don’t want to have a league that suffers because of a lack of entrants and equally we don’t want to run a season with fewer teams and then have all the teams who did not enter Season 8 come back for Season 9, expecting to put in the same divisions they finished in for Season 7.
its gonna be a hell either way waiting for a long period of time. “my clan trained every day the hole summer and these guys barely got in but they havent played shit for 4 months” :P
The best way would be to hold one in July. As others have said people will lose interest with the lack of any real competitive environment. If you’re busy with travelling, holiday, exams, etc. just don’t enter. There were plenty of teams in Season 7 who couldn’t even join, I’m sure they would love a chance to play.
If it’s still a huge concern, I like the suggestion of the “Summer League”. Maybe the format could be changed a little. e.g. If there are less teams, draw up less divisions, include less maps and spread them out so you have a game every two weeks rather than one. Or just play best of 1 map every week. You could also use it as a chance to try things out for Season 8 that you can’t do in a full season, such as allowing certain unlocks and see how they play out.
The point is, cups alone aren’t enough as weaker teams will inevitably get knocked out early, and what else do they have to look forward to?
On that note, why not just get people signed up soon to gauge interest? If there are enough entries for a Season 8 in July, then go for that, if not then just put them in a Summer League.
July is the best!
Many teams/people want to have a rest in summer. And it will be a little bit dishonest, if they miss the whole season. So, we must choose SEPTEMBER!!!
Now or September.
July ? Are you kidding me? Do you know what “be on holidays” mean ?
GET A LIFE.
http://hardcoretagcutting.ytmnd.com/
if july, then please 1 week later. on 11th there will be world cup final :)
any time in july-august is silly to start a new league, people will be tooo busy
july is perfect, right after exams :D
September. Get a life, nerds.
september is prolly best due to summer hols affecting most clans where it is generally an inactive time, CiC2 will prolly end up playing ladder matches to fill time as it is more flexible and you tend to be able to play when you have players.
thanks
Playing during July is shit, its the best part of the summer :(
No one is making you play. If the sun suddenly gives you previously unknown social aptitude then there should be no need to feel obligated to play the season.
It’s not about a social life. It is about holidays.
hey man its long time til september and all summer no league, but in september school stats again and most of us (some of us) won’t have that much time like in summer..
atleast take the 2 top voted options and let people vote for them only.. =/
haha, 2 votes between july (winning) and september XD..
JULY
Yea lets play in july, I really want to sit around a computer on my vacation, yay!
No season 8 for me.
Bye!
Funny i would have seen it start beginning of August, July seems pretty strange?
I’m sure ESH will continue to make things interesting meanwhile…EMS, ETF2L cups…whats the problem?
as late as possible tbh, otherwise there are going to be so many games that won’t be played in their respective week, this could be due to exams, holidays (can last up to a month anyway), and even when you yourself have a full line up, doesn’t mean that the other team may :/
wait really late, or its going to be a really slow boring and unexciting season for both players and admins. i personally don’t want to be playing 6 officials over 2 weeks
summer league sounds good, along with some small cups to keep teams interested!
Screw september. I’d like to have some fun playing @ July :)
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All i have left for real life is the summer break.. Please – GIMME ME SOME TIME TO LIVE A NORMAL LIFE FFS.
its clear over 50% want to start the season now or in 1 month so lets go ;)
we should start now, sc2 will kill tf2 in the end of july anyway
Bad Thing;)
[quote]The problem is, an open ladder will never be interesting to them.
Naturally the highest skilled teams will gravitate to the top of the ladder after winning games against weaker opponents. They will then be challenged by teams below them, the majority of which will be significantly weaker than them and zero fun to play.
So they can either waste their time playing those games or they can just waste their time declining challenges and losing points in the process.
The only way it would ever work would be if you had multiple ladders with promotion between them – but then you’re effectively making it a league.[/quote]
I can see your point, D2M. Here it my proposal:
One could divide the ladder into 2 or 3 “divisions”, like the MNMs, where the upper one could contain small prizes (I dunno, SteelSeries hardware, a fragmovie, in-game medals). All the ladders could also give an ETF2L trophy for staying in the different top 3 positions over a certaim amount of time (maybe even bigger or more fancy trophies? A champion title under the nick name in the forum?)
Further I’d say the searching system must be improved. What about a system where you have to renew your open challenge every 5th minute or so, with a web page where one could browse all the open challenges at that time? You could have columns such as what division the team plays in, or if no division; estimated skill level*. A chat system for when a challenge is accepted would also be great. The way teams choose maps should also be improved.
I’d also like it if the 2nd or 3rd place had to defeat the leader to take the lead themselves. Like this you could promote the big title matches on the front page of ETF2L.
What I do like about the ladder right now, is the double point per featured map feature. It obviously serves the same purpose as the MNMs, which is a good thing.
*I know it would contain a lot of work, but there could be an alorithm programmed to estimate the skill level of teams that haven’t played any league games. You could see what teams (from which divisions/division equivalence) the team has played against in other officials, or look at the division of the player’s previous clans.
A totally different suggestion would be to allow different teams for the league and the ladder. This way the people who want to can stay active this summer …
how sc2 will kill tf2 if it’s 2 different games? FPS fans will play in tf2, RTS fans will play sc2. I don’t play games, tf2 only. I think there are many pearsons who thinks like me.
5th july gogogo
SEPTEMBAR.
just play it immediatly and maybe leave 2-3 more weeks to finish the matches to allow the clans manage the summer holydays
L2LIFE.
The best option is autumn, as summer, most players will be at sea
wait until 2011 i want to discuss about the maps when the season starts !
beginning of august because Jazzman is a jugge :<
i say 6 th of sep because the holyday here is finished then
The season shouldnt be start before sept
august
its a game not a job.. do you need a holyday for learning? NO (well some yes..) so why the fuck wont you play on a non religion holyday?!
maybe some will go on a trip but still.. we want to play.
NOT JULY FFS
july
sept pls
Sept yes!
sept pls!
july
its stupid to wait now 4months
Well-thought-out arguments and brutal logic there, I change my vote to july.
Oh wait.
Sept pls
Hey guys. Dont be stupid. Summer is not the time to play computer games (even if they are fucking great). Feel the nature !!! :D
please, september!