Experimental Highlander Cup #1

Highlander addicts might be twitching a little since Season 1 ended and Season 2 is still in the preparation stage. But there is nothing to fear now, because as part of our preparations for Season 2 we are proud to announce the first ever Experimental Highlander cup! This cup will focus on testing some new maps for Highlander, mainly maps that have been recommended to us in our feedback forum –  if you have any suggestions please feel free to comment in this thread.

Schedule & Map details

The date for the cup will be Thursday 9th February starting at 20.00 CET. The final will be a best of 3 maps, to be held on a different evening.  There will be a maximum 4 brackets of 16 teams, divided by skill, with options to extend or decrease the signup numbers. Do not hesitate to sign up as we will try our best to accommodate you!

• Round 1 – 20.00 CET – pl_barnblitz
• Round 2 – 20.45 CET – cp_foundry
• Round 3 – 21.30 CET – cp_upland

The maps for the final (to be held on a different evening) will be foundry and upland, with turbine_pro as the decider if necessary.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: if you cannot play on that evening at the times listed DO NOT sign up.

Unlocks

The following unlocks are not permitted:

• Set bonuses involving hats 
• The Enforcer
• Machina
• Bombinomicon
• Pomson 6000
• Philogistinator
• Spycicle

Please make sure the Bombinomicon and all other banned weapons are unequipped before the match starts. If you use one of these weapons, the other team may be awarded a default win. We are also still looking for feedback regarding unlocks for Highlander season 2, so please give us your opinion in the feedback thread.

Rules

• One merc is allowed by default and up to 3 mercs are allowed if the opposing team agrees.
• PL and A/D maps (e.g. Upland) = 1 round of Attack/Defence.
• 5CP maps = 30 minutes, first to 5.
• CTF maps = 1 Round of 20 minutes, first to 5 caps. In case of a tie, teams will play a Golden cap round with a 10 minute timelimit, if it still remains a tie (and to prevent stalemates) reset the config and timelimit.
• Heavy fist fights if you can’t decide who attacks/defends first.
• Maximum waiting time of 10 minutes. Teams not ready by then should ready up or suffer a default loss.
• Minimum of 8 players needed to start a match.

Please make sure you have the correct config enabled with the correct map settings. If you have any questions on anything please do not hesistate to ask for admin support.

Signups will be open NOW – remember to make sure your team has at least 9 players on the roster with each member’s Steam ID filled in correctly!

One Night Cup: Konkreet!

It’s cup time again! On Thursday 2nd February at 20:00 CET we will be giving people the chance to try another upcoming map. All rounds will be played on cp_konkreet, a map created by Mark. Similarly to the croissant cup 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.

Konkreet can be downloaded here.

• Setup – Cups of 16, divided by skill levels
• Merc rules – 2 mercs allowed by default
• Bracket draw – Wednesday 1st February at 19:30 CET in #etf2l
• Map – cp_konkreet_b2
• Sign-ups open – Now

The final tables

The  Season 11 tables are now final. Some teams told us they were dropping and we replaced them with teams from the waiting list. Check out your fixtures if you want to know if you are one of them.

Please start scheduling your matches right now! You can still join the waiting list here. There is a good chance that some teams will be dropping in the next two to three weeks and we will need replacement teams. All team leaders of teams that are replacing a dropped team from now on will receive an email reminding them.
We decided to move back week 1 by one week which gives you some more days to schedule your week 1 match. The first default dates will be set on Friday, January 27, so make sure to have your match scheduled by then. To not delay the season any further, there will be no catch-up week, so make sure to play all of your matches by Saturday, March 17 2012. You can, however, start playing right now, in “week 0”, if you are afraid that you will not manage to play all your matches until then.
This will not affect the playoff schedule, which stays as follows:

Playoffs

Playoffs will be held between March 18th and March 31st. Write it down, cancel all other engagements, consider yourselves notified.

Premier Division Playoffs

• 4th vs 3rd: March 18th – March 24th
• Winner vs 2nd: March 25th – March 31st or sooner
• Winner vs 1st: April 1st – April 7th or sooner

Rule changes

You can relax, the foundry rule is dead – cp_foundry will no longer be mandatory decider map for all playoffs. Instead, cp_freight_final1 will be cut for the playoffs which means that only five maps are left in the pool. Please use the map elimination system to pick two home maps and one decider.

The map pool for all playoff matches is:

• cp_badlands
• cp_granary
• cp_gullywash_final1
• cp_snakewater
• cp_gravelpit

Spike Himself is awesome

One of the rule changes we were trying to implement before the Season started was to let every match be wildcarded once by each team (in other words: both teams can wildcard a match, providing they still have a wildcard to spend). We were unsure if it would be implemented before Week 1, but Spike Himself managed to sort it out in time.

Each wildcard removes the schedule for a given match and gives teams the next 14 days, starting at the moment the wildcard was used, to reschedule. Default dates will still be set for wildcarded matches 7 days before the deadline is met. Make sure to hug Spike Himself if you meet him (but don’t add him on Steam like last time ¬.¬).

Provisional Divisions

Voilà. A link to the feedback thread can be found below.

S11 Map Schedule

• Week 1 – cp_badlands and cp_snakewater
• Week 2 – cp_snakewater and cp_gullywash_final1
• Week 3 – cp_gullywash_final1 and cp_freight_final1
• Week 4 – cp_freight_final1 and cp_granary
• Week 5 – cp_granary and cp_badlands
• Week 6 – cp_badlands and cp_gravelpit
• Week 7 – cp_gravelpit and cp_gullywash_final1

Playoffs

Playoffs will be held between March 18th and March 31st. Write it down, cancel all other engagements, consider yourselves notified.

Premier Division Playoffs

• 4th vs 3rd: March 18th – March 24th
• Winner vs 2nd: March 25th – March 31st or sooner
• Winner vs 1st: April 1st – April 7th or sooner

Changes to the Rules

In preparation for Season 11 we have updated the etf2l config and had a look over the rules. Some rules are still being discussed, any further changes we make will be announced at a later date.

Config changes

sv_restrict_aspect_ratio_fov 0 has been added

Comments have been added to various parts of the config, to clarify the purpose of commands where we feel it necessary.

You can download the config here. The config is always available on the rules page.

Rules changes – League rules:

• Updated to Season 11 Rules – Title, map pool, map schedule.
• Banned the Bombinomicon

General Rules:

• Edited: 1.4, 3.2, 3.8

• 1.4 Use the match comments to record agreements on mercs, servers and other cases

  We encourage using the match comments to keep in touch with an opponent. Any agreement between two teams regarding the use of mercs or servers must be recorded on the relevant match page. If anything requires verification it MUST be documented either by a screenshot of the original conversation or by leaders from both teams providing confirmation in the match comments.

  If your opponent allows a merc, you are expected to extend the same courtesy to them.

  3.2 Status & Scoreboard screenshots required

  One member of each team has to take a status screenshot before a match is starting and after every player switch. A screenshot of the final score has to be taken at the end of every map/round. Please note that a scoreboard screenshot is not sufficient for all attack/defense maps as it does not show the winner – the screenshot explicitly declaring one team to be the winner is required instead. When submitting the result, a team leader has to upload all relevant screenshots.
  If one or more score screenshots are still missing after one week, and the result has not been verified by the teams, both teams will receive a minor warning.
  Missing status screenshots will be awarded with a minor warning no matter if the result has been verified by the teams. The second violation of this rule will be punished with a major warning and one point deduction.

  3.8 Teams may request a pause if problems occur

  Teams may request a pause at any time during a match. Reasons for pausing can include:

  – Player drop

  – Server problems

  – The match is unplayable due to network issues

  If you need to pause, you must clearly request a pause and give a reason for it (for example: “Pause please, player drop”). The other team is then required to pause at the first appropriate time (e.g. not in the middle of a push). Teams must pause within 15 seconds of being asked. Not responding to a pause request will lead to penalties like a minor warning accompanied with the forfeit of the round in question, or, in extreme cases, a major warning and forfeit of the map.

  You may not resume the game under any circumstances without giving proper warning to the other team.

  Each team has the right to one pause per map.

  A pause may not last longer than 5 minutes.

  If your opponent allows a pause longer than 5 minutes or more than one pause you are expected to extend the same courtesy to them.

• Added: 6.5, all of 7.

• 6.5 VAC Bans

  As of March 15, 2012, any player with a VAC ban on the Source engine will be banned for 1 year. Players with VAC bans that do not apply to Team Fortress 2 will not be affected. Players receiving VAC bans before March 15, 2012 will not be affected.

  7. Admins

  7.1 Requesting admin help

  To request help from an admin or to file a match complaint, please join our IRC channel #etf2l on quakenet, type !admin and wait for the next free admin to respond. Please do not add admins on Steam to ask questions or directly query them on IRC.
  If you do not have an IRC client installed on your pc you may use our webchat plugin.

  7.2 Admins on the staff page

  All active admins are shown at the staff page. When requesting help from an admin on IRC you may specify for which competition you need an admin, e.g. !admin highlander or !admin 6v6

  7.3 Admin discretion

  The ETF2L rules are enforced at the discretion of the admin team. Any complaints will be judged on a case-by-case basis and different punishments may be handed out in each case.

Feedback

As always we appreciate any feedback you can give us. Post your thoughts on the rules, unlocks, provisional divisions and the poll system in the appropriate thread.

3 days, 2 polls, 2,219 votes and we have 6 maps. Firstly, the results of the initial poll featuring obscure_final, croissant and bazillion:

Poll 1

• Badlands – 946 – 92%
• Gullywash – 921 – 90%
• Granary – 802 – 78%
• Snakewater – 760 – 74%
• Freight – 511 – 50%
• Gravelpit – 503 – 49%
• Foundry – 460 – 45%
• Obscure – 424 – 41%
• Croissant – 256 – 25%
• Bazillion – 198 – 19%

Total voters – 1,024

Secondly (and more importantly), the remade poll featuring turbine and viaduct after their initial exclusion was questioned:

Poll 2:

• Badlands – 1074 – 90%
  
• Gullywash – 1055 – 88%
  
• Granary – 954 – 80%
  
• Snakewater – 836 – 70%
  
• Freight – 632 – 53%
  
• Gravelpit – 601 – 50%
• Foundry – 505 – 42%
• Turbine – 465 – 39%
• Viaduct – 443 – 37%

Total voters – 1,195

Users who voted in the second poll:

• 1 answer – 13 – 1%
• 2 answers – 12 – 1%
• 3 answers – 35 – 3%
• 4 answers – 90 – 8 %
• 5 answers – 209 – 17%
• 6 answers – 836 – 70%

So there you have it. The Season 11 Map Pool is:

S11 Map Pool

• cp_badlands
• cp_gullywash_final1
• cp_granary
• cp_snakewater
• cp_freight_final1
• cp_gravelpit

The 7th map, cp_foundry, will be the decider map in any and all Season 11 playoffs. This means that during the map-pick/elimination phases, teams only need to pick 2 maps rather than 3.

Playoffs

Playoffs will be held between March 18th and March 31st. Write it down, cancel all other engagements, consider yourselves notified.

Premier Division Playoffs

• 4th vs 3rd: March 18th – March 24th
• Winner vs 2nd: March 25th – March 31st or sooner
• Winner vs 1st: April 1st – April 7th or sooner

Staff Changes

Our lead Anti-Cheat admin octochris has decided to call it a day on TF2, again. Chris had a great impact on the team when joining 3 months ago, and since then has been a valuable asset and contributor to various staff discussions. We thank him for his hard work and wish him the best in his future endeavours.

Consequently, this leaves hys on his lonesome on the Anti-Cheat team. If you think you can replace Chris, or that you can help us out on the Anti-Cheat team, please send an email to [email protected], telling us who you are, why you want to join us and why you think you would be any good.

Season 11

Signups are open! for our 11th glorious season of 6v6!

Teams signing up should specify which division they would prefer to be placed in using the handy dropdown menu (now with added “prem”).

Teams requesting any division higher than 6 should be prepared to provide evidence to support their ability, whether it’s a long-standing pedigree or a boatful of screenshots from recent results. Such boats should be uploaded to one place like imgur, and the link should be sent in an email to [email protected], along with details of who you are and what division you are requesting.

Map Poll

Yesterday we opened the map vote for Season 11. The feedback we received had many cries for turbine and viaduct to have been in the poll, so after receiving 1,024 votes we have closed the poll and had a discussion. The following poll is the result. We have eliminated the bottom 3 maps from the previous poll (Obscure_final, Croissant and Bazillion) and replaced them with koth_pro_viaduct_rc3 and ctf_turbine_pro_rc1. Like last time, please vote for the maps you would like to see in Season 11.

Please note: Voters do not need to pick 6 maps, 6 is just the maximum. If for example you only want to vote for 4 maps, pick those 4 and submit your vote. The final map pool will, however, contain 6 maps.

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Turbine_pro rules proposal:

“ESL rules” – Best of 3 rounds, timelimit 10, capturelimit 5. Rounds ending without a clear winner are ignored.

Pro_viaduct rules proposal:

Best of 5 (winlimit 3), timelimit 0.

Schedule

• Map pool finalised: Thursday (at the latest)
• Signups open: Now!
• Signups close: Sunday, January 15 (Waiting list will still be open for signups)
• Provisional Divisions out: Next week
• Week 1 start: January 22nd

Playoffs

Playoffs will be held between March 18th and March 31st. Write it down, cancel all other engagements, consider yourselves notified.

Premier Division Playoffs

• 4th vs 3rd: March 18th – March 24th
• Winner vs 2nd: March 25th – March 31st or sooner
• Winner vs 1st: April 1st – April 7th or sooner

Rule Changes

We’re working on a number of minor improvements to our league rules. These will be explained in detail in a separate post to come soon.

Highlander Tiebreakers

Our first Highlander Season has finished, which brings us to the tiebreaker games. Teams that are tied on points for first place need to play a best-of-three maps match to determine who is to be promoted from their respective divisions. Maps should be chosen from the Season 1 Map Pool.

The following Highlander matches must be played in the next 2 weeks:

• Division 4F
  • Guru training with Yoda vs Man1a Crew
• Division 5C
  • Kazminators vs Manchester United
• Division 5E
  • Furious Wookiez vs Spice Marines Extreme Culinary Squad
• Division 6B
  • The Magnificent Nine vs Freefrag Frag Bag
• Division 6D
  • FREE 2 GAY vs Vanilla Existence
• Division 6E
  • Foust team vs Orbit Fruittini