One Night Cup: Saffron Unlocks

On Thursday, April 5 at 20:00 CEST it is again time for our monthly one night cup! This time we will allow some unlocks to play with. Similarly to the past events it is also possible to enter this cup using a Fun Team which can be setup in the normal way using the page found here. The signed up teams will be divided into skill based brackets of 16.

The map schedule is as follows:

• 20.00 CEST, Round of 16: cp_snakewater
• 20:45 CEST, Quarter Finals: cp_granary
• 21:30 CEST, Semi-Finals: cp_gullywash_final1
• 22:15 CEST, Final: cp_badlands

The following unlocks are allowed:

• The Kritzkrieg
• The Blutsauger
• The Crusader’s Crossbow
• The Übersaw
• The Original
• The Overdose
• The Boston Basher
• The Bonk!
• The Gunboats
• The Degreaser
• The Flaregun
• The Gunslinger
• The Huntsman
• The Paintrain

***Get the whitelist for this cup here (etf2l_whitelist_saffron.txt)***

Rules overview:

• ETF2L Season 11 rules apply (apart from the unlock ruling)
• Setup – Cups of 16, divided by skill levels
• Merc rules – 2 mercs allowed by default
• Bracket draw – Thursday, April 5 at 19:00 CET in #etf2l
• Sign-ups open – Now

TF2 Mix-up partners up with Child’s Play

Donations for the TF2 Mix-up Match (which includes gaming personalities like Robin Walker, Freddie Wong, Yogscast and Notch) are coming to a close. On Monday, three community members will be randomly picked to play in the match and receive signed merchandise from Valve and Bethesda. All you have to do is donate to Child’s Play through the TF2 Mix-up site before Monday 09:00, and you have a chance of getting picked. So far more than 420 donors have raised a total amount of almost $9,000. So make sure you check out the TF2 Mixup homepage.

Configs updated

You might already have noticed one change. Some people found it hard to find the configs on our beautiful site. This is why we renamed the “Rules” tab to “Rules & Configs“. All config-related information can be found on that page. Furthermore, the 6v6 config is from now on named etf2l_6v6.cfg and the Highlander config file is named etf2l_9v9.cfg to avoid confusion. Please note that the etf2_9v9.cfg is still an addon for the etf2l_6v6.cfg so your server will need both files to be set up for league matches. The same applies to the whitelist files which are now named etf2l_whitelist_6v6.txt and etf2l_whitelist_9v9.txt. You can always find the latest whitelist version on this page, provided by  Dave.

Also, Chris updated his map configs with the Highlander Season 2 map pool. There is also a pack available that includes all map configs, the league configs and whitelists.

Additionally, our forum rules have been updated. Please familiarise yourself with them.

We have closed the public poll section of the Tt eSPORTS Banner contest. We are very grateful for the feedback you have given us, it will be very helpful in deciding the overall winner of the contest and the Shock One headset Tt eSPORTS have offered as a prize!

In total, 533 voters made 902 votes.

Top 6:

• Kallio
• Phife
• Knuck
• Oxy #2
• Supadupa #1
• Ryan Leitao #2

Congratulations to the top 6, these entrants make it through to the final selection stage. On top of that, they have all won Dota 2 keys, courtesy of Gamers United!

Now we will take some time to pick our overall winner. Part of that process might include a few temporary changes to the site, we will keep you up to speed with anything we decide in that event.

The Reddit Round Robin

The Reddit Round Robin is a one day Highlander tournament, founded by  JollyRanchers from Reddit EU, out of a desire to engage with other teams of a similar skill level, creating a fun atmosphere to practice for official league matches. It has now evolved into a tournament which aims to give newer and more casual members of the Team Fortress 2 community a chance to play in a more competitive structure, while still keeping a light and fun atmosphere. It is aimed primarily at less experienced teams, though all are welcome. You can find more details on how to sign up by clicking the image or clicking here.

Site change

The wonderful  SpikeHimself has made a funky little change to the site, which adds custom titles to certain users. We thought the old “Site Admin” tag was a little misleading, and was applied to admins of different levels, so we have added Head Admin, Senior Admin and Trial Admin to the list of possibilities. Thanks Spike!

Ban

The following player has been banned:

• ICEE – aimbot – 1 year ban.

As some of you may have noticed this week, the Highlander Season 2 tables are now final and teams have started to schedule their week 1 matches. Remember week 1 doesn’t officially start until Sunday, March 25, but of course we allow teams to play early. We would like to remind players that the week 1 schedule deadline has passed and any teams that haven’t agreed upon a date for their match have been allocated a default date. When we set a default date, we will always give a team a minimum of 48 hours notice before they play their match – this means that you may be given a default date on Friday and have to play the Sunday, so make sure you don’t get caught off-guard and check your match page regularly or you will find yourself ending up with a default loss! Rescheduling a match is still possible by proposing a new schedule and asking your opponent to accept, or by using a wildcard.

Map schedule

We have had some issues regarding incorrect maps for map weeks being played due to a bug with the default maps. Apologies if this caused any inconvenience. Just to remind everyone of the map schedule for each week so that we do not have any more confusion. The map schedule for Highlander Season 2 is as follows:

• Week 1: Badwater
• Week 2: Foundry & Lakeside
• Week 3: Upward
• Week 4: Lakeside & Foundry
• Week 5: Barnblitz

If your match page says the maps are different to the allocated map week, please ignore it and play the maps according to the Highlander rules.

Submitting results for Payload maps

This season we have changed the way the map rotation works for Highlander in order to experiment with a system that has some weeks with only 1 map and other weeks with 2 maps, ensuring you are able to get a satisfying game on all gamemodes without the match ending too quickly. However, there has been some confusion over how to submit scores correctly for Payload maps as well as explaining how we will allocate points for Payload maps. Remember that Payload maps like Badwater, Upward and Barnblitz are played best of 3 attack/defence rounds. If one team wins 2 rounds, you will win the map without needing a third round – this means you will gain 6 points and your opponents will gain 0. If both team win 1 round each, you have to play a third round to decide who wins the match overall. The winner of this third, deciding round will gain 4 points whilst the loser will gain 2 points. Therefore the only possible scores for Payload maps this season will be 6-0, 0-6,  4-2 and 2-4. If you have a different scoreline, please contact an admin. If you have any feedback on this new system then please let us know what you think using our feedback forum.

Here is a little guide below to help you submit the results:

1. To begin with, make sure you have taken a status screenshot when all players were on the server and got suitable scoreboard screenshots (ideally taken when it shows the MVP’s for the winning team – example). Forgotten scoreboard screenshots can be retrieved from your recorded demo. This is not possible for status screenshots. Forgotten status screenshots will entail a minor warning the first time and a major warning (including one point deduction) the second time so make sure you take it duing the match!
2. To submit the results, go to “My Matches” and select “Submit Results” for the correct match.
3. If the match was won 2-0, in the “result” box add ‘2-0’ for map 1 and map 2 – here is a screenshot example.
4. If the match was won 2-1, in the “result” box add ‘2-1′ for map 1 and map 2 and tick the golden cap box for both maps. Here is another screenshot example.

Notes: If you’re entering any other results, you did something wrong. If you still have issues submitting results, or you have submitted the results incorrectly you can contact an admin on IRC (#etf2l on Quakenet) by typing !admin in the channel.

Highlander Map Config pack & Whitelist updates

Better late than never, here is a link to the Highlander Season 2 whitelist file. Place it in the config folder of your server. Please note that the whitelist will have to be executed separately from the match config by using mp_tournament_whitelist “cfg/etf2l_whitelist_9v9” and mp_tournament_restart.

With many thanks to Selek, you can also download a map config pack here which will be automatically executed and set up the correct settings for the map or gamemode you are playing or use the one maintained by Chris.

UPDATE: The config- and whitelist names have been updated. The 6v6 config is now named “etf2l_6v6.cfg” and the Highlander addon (6v6 config needed) is named “etf2l_9v9.cfg”. The whitelists have been renamed to “etf2l_whitelist_6v6.txt” and “etf2l_whitelist_9v9.txt”. Please make sure to update the config files on your servers. Thanks!

Summer Time

Sunday morning at 02.00 CET the clock is shifted to 03.00 CEST. The ETF2L match times might be messed up during the next week. If you want to play on Sunday or later at e.g. 20.00 you should schedule the match for 19.00. To be completely sure, teams should specify if they mean CET or CEST in the match comments.

Let’s get the most important issue in the history of competitive TF2 out of the way first: Yes, the Original will be allowed in Season 12.

Also, Valve listened to a combined call of the largest communities in Europe, North America and Oceania and finally created a subforum for competitive Team Fortress 2 in the Steam Powered User Forums. Check it out and start discussing our favourite game!

Playoffs

Now that that’s over with, let’s move onto the playoffs! As Season 11 draws to a close there is still one thing left to do for those who only just missed out on that precious guaranteed promotion spot (or dreaded guaranteed demotion spot).  The Premiership playoffs follow the trusted format where the top 4 teams fight for the title. The 4th placed team will play the 3rd placed team. The winner of that match will then have to play the 2nd placed team to decide who enters the grand final against the 1st placed team, and who goes home with the 3rd place prize.

Premier Division Championship Playoff

The schedule for the premiership playoffs is the following:

• Crack Clan versus Team Yoyotech – March 18th – March 24th
  
• Winner versus Epsilon eSports – March 25th – March 31st or sooner
  
• Winner versus  Team Infused – April 1st – April 7th or sooner
  

Tie breakers

All tie breakers need to be played until April 7. If you fail to schedule your matches until Thursday, March 28, a default date will be decided by the admins. Remember that all players that have been added during week 7 or later are considered as mercs and need approval by your opponent. Using an unapproved merc leads to a default loss and a minor warning.

Division 4b relegation

 Time 4 Fisting versus  Team Colonslash: Classy

Division 4g promotion

pgc Team versus WinNerds

Division 5a promotion

Green Elephant versus Quick Team

Division 5c promotion

8U Gaming versus Les Snobs!

Division 6c promotion

Bitches and Neep versus Chill it

Esports Heaven Cups

Esports Heaven is hosting two Team Fortress 2 cups in about two weeks.

• The Velociraptor Challenge – koth_maps only, 5v5, classlimit 1, all unlocks allowed, prizes are 5x 300GB SATA HDD’s and €250 cash for the first placed team by Western Digital
• Angel’s Cup – standard 6v6 setup, map pool inlcludes ETF2L Season 11 maps and cp_croissant, prize is 750 € for the first placed team by Angel

ETF2L Banner Competition

We have received an overwhelming lot of entries in the past two weeks, thanks to everyone who participated! We now had the unpleasant job of sorting out some images and present you the best 26 submission on the contest page. Every ETF2L user may pick up to two banners that he would like to see as the new header of the site. The admin staff will then pick the new header and the winner of a Tt eSPORTS SHOCK One headset out of the six most voted banners.

The poll is open until Sunday, March 25, place your votes!

Highlander Season 2 Tables

As some you may already know, we have published the preliminary tables for Season 2 here. These tables are NOT final, so teams still have the opportunity to request to change divisions by asking for an admin in our IRC channel (#etf2l @ quakenet.org). The deadline for requesting a division change is midnight on Saturday 17^th March.

On Sunday 18^th, tables will be finalized and teams must start scheduling their week 1 fixtures. Please note that a default dates will be set if the match is not scheduled by the Friday before the next week commences. Remember it is a lot easier to make an effort to talk to your opponents using the match comments, so that admins are aware of what days/times you can play on if your opponent fails to accept a schedule proposal.

VAC Bans

March 15th has been and gone, so our new policy on VAC bans is now in effect. If you receive a VAC ban that stops you from playing TF2, you will be banned from the league for 1 year. If you attempt to avoid this ban, you will be banned from the league for 2 years, with the length doubled further for each attempt made.

VAC bans that do not stop your account joining a VAC-enabled TF2 server are fine.

Premier Division VODs

We have been a little tardy with respect to delivering VanillaTV’s coverage of our Premier Division matches. Sorry! You can find links to all the latest VODs below:

• Infused vs Crack Clan – Map 1 Map 2
• YoYoTech vs Crack Clan – Map 1 Map 2
• YoYoTech vs Karnage – Map 1 Map 2
• YoYoTech vs Infused – Map 1 Map 2
• Infused vs TryHarders – Map 2

Banners

The deadline for entries into our Tt eSPORTS Banner Competition passed a few days ago now, and we’re happy to say we received well over 60 entries from over 40 different users – thanks!

We’ve spent the week looking over them all, highlighting the ones we like and making the tough decision of rejecting a few. Once we have the number of entries down to something more manageable, we will put those entries to a public vote. We will then pick the final winner from the most popular choices in the poll. Expect that poll to be out in the next few days!

Staff Changes

We are delighted to welcome 2 new admins to our Anti Cheat staff:

• schocky
• smZi

Who wants to be an admin?

There are not really any set periods of recruitment – we are always looking for new applicants to the admin team! If you think you have what it takes to be an admin, please drop us a line at [email protected]. We’ll do our best to reply to every application, whether it’s good or bad news.

• Your real name and/or ingame name
• Your spoken languages
• Why you want to be an admin
• Why you think you would be a good admin (any relevant experience or insight)

In particular, we would love to hear from any talented news writers and web coders out there!