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[Snare]

How to Host a Tourney
By Momentai
With commentary from peeps

 

Synopsis

Better late than never I suppose. I must say checking in throughout the years I never expected this. I'm happy to see the occasional PUG or clan war at least, but right now the tourney section is like a smelly pile of poop. Not the good kind of poop either, more like the kind that you need to bleach the toilet after having to use the plunger for a few hours. Of course it hasn't been all bad, there's still some parts of the toilet bowl that's shining glittering white. Regardless I do think this is something that's been a long time coming though.

Now comes the part with a lot of words. I'll try to add pretty pictures and such, but if it's such a bother for you to read scroll down to the post that's marked "Checklists" to get all the important parts. Just take each checklist step by step and you might get through something resembling a tournament. Just know that many of the details and nit-pickings of hosting a tournament will be in the main post. So without further introduction...

bwah
fV:

P.S. Keep a look out for tips and comments from other peeps in the community in these here quote bubbles. Cause you know it takes a village and stuff.

Table of Contents

1. The Main Stage
          a. The Brainstorming
          b. The Planning
          c. The Thread
          d. The Matches
          e. The Closing

2. Checklists
          a. The Brainstorming
          b. The Planning
          c. The Thread
          d. The Matches
          e. The Closing
          f. The Backups

3. Snakes and Ladders
          a. 3v3 Vanilla Tourney (2012)
          a. General War Tourney (2011)
          b. Summer Tourney (2011)
          c. Spring Tourney (2011)
          d. Winter Tourney (2010)
          e. Summer Clan Tourney (2010)
          f. International All-Star Exhibition (2010)
          g. February 4v4 Fest (2010)

The Main Stage

 

Beforehand
Before starting I wanted to give a bit of insight. After hosting three tournaments I can honestly say they are a pain in the buttocks. Even the fun parts were very time consuming. Maybe if I ever get around to starting a gg2 league I'll streamline the process so the organizer doesn't have to do much of anything, but as it is the organizer basically has to do everything. I'm plenty thankful to the people who co-organized with me though. Without them, more than a few important things would have fallen through the crack.

Time and Effort
I think a common misconception about hosting a tournament is how much time and effort is put into each part. If I were to break it down I would say brainstorming(5%), planning(40%), thread(40%), matches(10%), closing(5%). Between checking/updating/managing the thread and sending mass pm waves everyday, the matches themselves were quiet relaxing. Although I'm calling this section the main stage, in truth most of what happens with my tournaments happened behind the stage in the pm boxes and irc channel. What you read in the thread posts will never and should never tell the full story. Far to many tourney threads end up in the gutter because they open a thread and then try to organize a tournament when really it should be the other way around.

Crisis Mode
Expect the worst to happen every match, because more than likely something will always go wrong. Being able to manage things going wrong is probably the most important thing an organizer will need to deal with. Every tournament has its share of mishaps and such. Skimming through my old tournament threads every other match it felt like we were missing our server host and we had to scramble to find another one. In each section at the bottom I'll have a spot for common mishaps that can happen and how to deal with them. Hopefully they can serve as a reference if you're ever faced with a similar situation.

The Brainstorming

 

The Idea
Sometimes inspiration comes to you like an Eggo popping out of a toaster. Sometimes though the Eggo gets stuck in the toaster and sets off the smoke detector. You don't always have to have some creative new tournament idea to host a tourney. Sometimes the most tired and true formats are the best. If you really want to re-invent the wheel, try looking at other tournaments from other games. Sometimes they also have side tourneys where they do wacky fun things which might translate to gg2.

Common Mishaps
  Keep ideas to irc, pming and the brainstorm thread. Nothing kills a tourney faster than opening a new thread to talk about "what a great idea this could be if someone would only host a tourney" for months upon months.
  All ideas seem better in your head. Double check with other people about your brilliant 21v21 tournament concept before starting to plan for it.

The Planning

 

The Difference
Planning is really where a tournament finds its first foothold or just falls face first into maple syrup. Now that you have the what you want to do from brainstorming, here comes the how you are going to do. A great deal of emphasis on how, because when you plan a tournament if you don't have the entire thing planned from start to end, something's bound to break.

Server Hosts
Server hosts are key to getting anything done tournament-wise. The reason is simple, without a server nobody can do diddly squat. Before going around and blabbing about your tournament, find at least 3 server hosts that can host your tourney. Don't just ask them to host for your tourney, ask when they can host. Can your server hosts only do things Sunday? Well then your tournament's gonna have to be all on Sundays then. Keeping in touch with your server hosts and finding what works best for them through your tourney should always be your number one priority.

The Server
Before any match, if the server host has a sudden case of amnesia they should be able to look at a pm or the thread to find exactly how their server should be set up. Preferably both. Make sure to keep it simple and to the point. Here's an example of a generic pm you should be able to send out to your tourney hosts.

Code: [Select]

*PM me a reply verifying that you can make or not make the important dates*

Schedule: http://www.schedule-link.com
Server Mod: http://www.modthingy.com

Important Date(s): You're hosting a match on Sunday, September 2nd @ 2pm
                          Also on Sunday, September 2nd @ 4pm
                          Also on Saturday September 8th @ 2pm

Out-of-Game Rules
------------------
0. If a team breaks an out-of-game rule and the effect of has a meaningful impact on the game, the other team may call that map forfeit in their favor.
1. Class limit is set to one for every class.
2. Substitutes are only allowed during transition maps. If a team wishes, they can deny substitutions to the other team.
3. In the case of ties, the team with the most total points wins. There is no overtime.

In-Game Rules
--------------
Server Name: Tourney Server
Welcome Message: PHS v. GA & HTBA v. 10 today
Password: 1234
Hosting Port: 8190
Player Limit: 12
Time Limit (mins): 10
Capture Limit: 3
Respawn Time (secs): 5
Auto Balance: No
Announce to Lobby: Yes

Map Rotation
-------------
(For hosting a server but not actually being able to be present)
ctf_transition
ctf_conflict
ctf_transition
arena_lumberyard
ctf_transition
koth_harvest
ctf_transition
cp_egypt
ctf_transition
arena_montane


Rule Set
I'm never too sure why this is such a hard thing to figure out. Make it 4v4, 5 second respawn and 10 minute maps. Play three maps and the winner of 2/3 maps wins. Have at least 5 maps in your map pool, 1 map for transition between maps and have a pre-decided map for the starting map of each set. The loser of the previous map gets to decide what the next map is. No repeats on maps unless both teams agree. If the server host can't be there, set up the maps in a rotation cycle and play whatever shows up.

4v4 has always been the perfect number of people. Just enough to make most maps playable and give freedom to team strategies, but small enough that you can actually organize things. 5 second respawn gives teams in CTF about two chances to stop the intel and gives a slight emphasis on dying. 10 minute maps admittedly came from the youtube limit of 10 minute videos, but it turned out to be the perfect length for matches. Although some matches get cut short it's usually at a point where the map has already bee decided and the next few minutes are just formalities.

As for playing 2/3 maps, giving time for transition and such, playing three maps always takes about an hour long. Playing for 2/3 sets is really pushing it, since that's going onto three hours. In truth if competitive play ever got to the point where we could play like that as a standard I would be a very happy camper, but for now its best to keep it as a dream. A set map pool of 5 maps comes from the same reasoning. If everything goes to hell you want to be able to fall back on a standard format for your matches that even the players can run themselves.

CTF limit should be 3. Arena is best 4/7 rounds. CP I would go by who controls the most spots or by total team points. In koth 10 minutes gives plenty of time for one team to win. Until dkoth and gen have a similar system of ending after a fixed time I would avoid playing it for now. As for overtime (mostly for CTF), I prefer ending by total team points for the map rather than playing the standard overtime. This way maps are guaranteed to last 10 minutes and it makes scheduling that much easier.

Keep the class limit to 1 for every class. Server hosts shouldn't be allowed to play unless it's an extreme situation. Substitutes are always allowed but the other team can tell you to shove it on any sub you pick. Teams can always play with less members (4v3) but never more. A team cannot be 100% subs, but if you have the people you might as well play the games for fun anyways.

If no members of a team have shown up to a match after 10 minutes, they forfeit the first map. After 20 minutes they forfeit the set. If neither team shows up they both forfeit. If a server host doesn't show up play a substitute game instead. If someone can't show up to officiate the match, inform both team leaders and make sure they know what needs to be done for the match and cross your fingers.

Tourney Formats
There are plenty of tournament formats that you could do. Keep in mind that each have their own little quirks that you have to deal with.

Single Elimination - Tends to be longer than people give it credit for and you still don't have too many matches. Because matches depend so much on previous teams getting finished, delays in a match must be given sparsely. Especially on the first round of matches, no delays can be accepted for those.

Double Elimination - Oddly enough it takes almost the same amount of weeks as a single elimination since its almost like running two single elimination tournaments at the same time. Same issues as single elimination about match dependency though, giving you not much leeway in terms of rescheduling.

Round Robin - My personal favorite, since its basically like hosting scheduled PUGs every weekend. Since matches can be independent of each other, rescheduling one match doesn't cascade and effect other matches. Can be taxing on time though, since going from 4 teams to 5 teams can mean an extra month or two of matches.

Round Robin + Finals - All the perks of a round robin with all the hype of a single elimination. Personally I think this is the way to go for hosting tournaments.

My main comment would be that it is much easier to set up tourneys with a smaller number of teams, but each with a larger pool of players in the roster. The Summer Exhibition did this, and we didn't have much trouble finding people to play in each match. This meant that matches were played more often, had less scheduling concerns, and were generally more consistent. It had 5 regions iirc (US East, US West, Canada, Europe, Korea), and each region had a giant roster of players.

While it may seem more "epic" to have large tourney brackets and a lot of unique team entrants, it leads to more problems than not. The problem with having tourneys with the inverse - lots of teams with only a few players (4 main roster, 1-2 subs) - is that any slight mishap means a match will have to either be rescheduled, or DQ'd. DQing wouldn't be an issue if our community were larger, because there would still be plenty of matches to be played; having over 50% of the matches fall through the cracks just wastes the tournament organizer's time.

Overall, I think it makes more sense to have a 4-5 big roster team round robin style tournaments (possibly with the top 2 teams playing a grand finals set), than it is to have a 8-12 (+ byes) smaller roster team double elim tournament.

Schedule
SCHEDULE EVERYTHING AHEAD OF TIME. Holy poop this must be the biggest issue I have seen in tournaments so far. Never have a schedule your own match format, it doesn't work offline and it won't work online. Treat your tournament like people need to show up in real life to participate. That means knowing how many matches will occur and how many weekends you will need to host the tourney.

If you need something to be voted on by the public, make sure to have a set end date for the voting that makes sense. If you need to reschedule a match, have the voting be completed about three days before the earliest possible match date. You can't expect changes to be made and everyone to know about it an hour later. Always give leeway to things like that. If you need to vote on maps and such, make sure to do it before the tournament actually starts (so like during signups). Once the tournament starts, baring any big issues, the rules should be set in stone.

IRC
The importance of the irc shouldn't be overlooked. It's the way of communication and organization that is required for every match. Without it we would be just as doomed as we would be trying to play gg2 without having the game downloaded. I suggest familiarizing yourself with the irc commands, here's a good link to check out.
http://www.irchelp.org/irchelp/irctutorial.html

Backups
Backups, backups, backups. I can't emphasize enough how much you need something to fall back onto if things go wrong. Assume anything that can go wrong will go wrong and have a backup plan for each one of them. A few common ones are no players, no server hosts, and servers with the wrong settings but no host to change them. Usually this is when you post on the thread and pm spam everybody asking for help. I'll have a list of backup things on the checklist post for what to do when certain things go wrong.

Creative Input
Of course nothing here is written in stone. You're welcome to make changes to the rule set and tournament formats as far as you need to fit your own tournament. Many of these things are simply basics of getting the tournament going. Just know that any small change comes with its own problems to solve. Make sure you double check everything to see how your small change effects other parts of the tournament or you might find yourself assuming something that just doesn't work anymore.

Example Tourney Planning
If I was doing a Round Robin + Finals tournament with 4 teams planned on signing up, I would need to plan for 6 matches plus 2 tiebreak matches and 1 final match, totaling to 9. If I wanted I could fit 2 matches per weekend giving me a month + a week long tourney. This gives me very little leeway if a few matches can't be played, so I would plan for a 4-6 week tournament and tell the public it will be a 6 week long tournament.

Since I'm planning on 16 people to signup, I would give about 2 weeks for signups since it isn't too many people. In this time I would have public voting for things that I'm not 100% sure on.

Now since its September 4th as of writing this, I would spend the next 2 weeks gathering server hosts, writing up the thread, doing etc things and post the thread sometime around Sunday, Sept. 23rd. This gives me plenty of time to find and organize server hosts and finalize details that need to be worked on. As for signups I would probably close them Sunday, October 7th and post the match schedule for next weekend on Monday. This way signups (which doesn't take too much of a time commitment) can be done when people are starting to settle into the new school year while the actual tournament happens when things aren't so chaotic.

During signups I would ask for days and sections of days (morning/afternoon/evening) that works best. Mostly likely though it will be Saturday morning/afternoon, all day Sunday or Monday evenings. These just tend to be the best times and days for people to play. I would finalize the times the week beforehand and release the weekly schedule Monday every week.

Overall that's about the next 10 weeks all planned out, and I haven't even finished doing about 90% of what still needs to be done before posting the tourney thread. I still need to send pm's to everybody, create the tourney thread, figure out the rules, map list, commentary, recording, server mod, setup the irc, substitutes, and backups for everything just listed.

Imaginary Match Day
Sort of how when you write an essay, if you read it out loud in front of a mirror you find silly little mistakes you probably wouldn't have noticed otherwise. Gathering 1 person for red team, 1 person for blue team, a server host for like 10 minutes and running through a practice match will avoid a lot of headaches when the tourney actually starts.

First do a perfect run through, where everybody shows up. Join the irc channel, make sure both teams have their own channel for planning and such in addition to having a tourney irc channel. Start off on the transition map and double check that everybody is ready on irc. Play through the map and know what should happen if there's a tie. Make sure that the server settings are correct while the map is running as well.

Now run through one team not showing up. Then both teams not showing up, then the server host not showing up and finally you not showing up. Never assume something will happen because you need it to happen, always have a backup. What if irc isn't working? Better find a backup chat program. What if everybody lags out of the server? How about if the game ends in a tie but someone lagged out half way through the match so the point total isn't correct? I'm sure there will be issues that come up that nobody could possibly imagine, but planning for as many mishaps as possible is what an organizer has to do.


Common Mishaps
  Never expect things to go as planned. Expect maybe like 80% of the things to actually work out and get ready to manage things as they fall apart.
  Lag is a killer. Sometimes it can't be helped and you need to power through it but sometimes you should just call it quits for the day and try again later. Use your best judgement when dealing with lag.

The Thread

 

Creation
The making of a tourney thread is actually pretty simple. Organizing and making it pretty are the harder parts. A good rule of thumb is to keep important and recent events towards the top and let everything else trail towards the bottom. After finishing your tourney thread, read through it and pretend you're trying to run a match based only on what's written on the thread. It should be as easy as a step by step guide on how to run a match.

Maintenance
The joy of every tournament, making sure shit's working. Usually this involves updating the thread, adding people to the signups and deal with whiny people in your thread, but the most important part of maintaining the thread is to set ending dates for everything. Whether or not you feel like there could be more discussion or whatever, a final decision needs to be made by a certain time regardless of whether you or anybody else likes it. This mostly pertains to signups and voting, but it also applies to the entire tournament in general. Although settings dates for everybody else is fine and dandy, setting dates is much more important as a tourney organizer.

Reminders
I've always taken the shotgun approach to getting reminders out. Post it everywhere and eventually they may notice. Whenever I needed to let people know about upcoming matches, I would change the thread title, update the first post, post in the thread and send mass waves of pm's to everybody. This is usually a week before the matches. 3 days before I do the same thing, then 1 day before, then 1 hour before, and finally 10 minutes before. Don't expect people to honor commitments that they don't remember, make sure to drill it in till it sticks.


Common Mishaps
  If a tourney theoretically had all its people ready to play at this exact moment but no thread has been posted yet, the posting of the thread should give the players everything they need to play the tourney. A thread should always be created as a tourney never an idea.
  Be aware that not everybody lives in your timezone. When posting times and dates don't forget to include all relevant timezone times.

The Matches

 

Before a match
Early is the key word here. Make sure to remind people that if a match starts at 2pm the match should actually start at 2, not have people arrive at 2. This is especially important in regards to the server host. Since a large number of things that can go wrong falls on the actions of the server host, making sure they arrive 10 to 15 minutes early to prepare the server can save many headaches.

Remember to also post in the thread that people involved in the matches should join the irc. If lag is an issue, have them join the irc during transition maps and close their browser during the actual maps, but still emphasize that checking in on the irc is required.

Make sure to check in with the team leaders about who is expected to be at the match today. If there is even a slight chance of someone not showing, start asking around the thread and irc for substitutes. Even if they simply hang around the irc and don't play, having them there just in case saves the usual scramble for extra players during the match.

During a match
All number of things can happen during a match, more than I can possibly think of. If possible, have someone record the match so when stuff happens you can always look back at the film. Not having the ability to record, I suggest taking a screenshot of the scoreboard every minute. With 10 screenshots, hopefully some causalities can be avoided.

Also don't forget to write down the final score after every map. I used to just pm myself in irc which team won on what map with the score, but anyway you feel like works.

After a match
Post the results in the thread, update the main post, get ready for next week's matches. Once you get into the full swing of things, sometimes it's hard to keep track of what matches are done, need to be done, are rescheduled and are next week. Try keeping a list of all the matches somewhere in the thread and simply crossing them out when they've been done. Keep them in chronological order as well, so when a reschedule happens you know where the match should be placed on the list.

Cheating
I've yet to see an incident of intentional cheating, but it's still something to keep an eye out for. Having required server and client side mods with a unique UUID to prevent certain actions is usually the easiest solution but sometimes that just isn't possible. Any act of aimbotting or seeing invisible spies should lead to immediate forfeit of the match, expulsion of the player from the tournament and possibly the team. Any break of class limit that significantly affects the game should be a forfeit of the map with a forewarning to the offending player of expulsion if it happens again.

Common Mishaps
  A finished match is better than a good one. Remember that your focus during a match is to get the match done.

The Closing

 

The Importance
The final wrap up seems to be lost on many tournaments as being needed, but in truth it's as needed as much as any other part of a tournament. The closing includes naming a winner of the tournament, honorable mentions, what was accomplished, etc. Changing the first post of the thread as well as posting in the thread is recommended. Although the tournament closing means no more matches, it doesn't have to be the end of the tournament. Anything from interview to talking about what to do next should be encouraged discussion during the closing.

Common Mishaps
  Not actually having a closing seems to be pretty common. Give some closure, leave your tourney on a high note.

[Snare]

The Checklist

 

Ideally this should be a step by step guide on what you should do when organizing a tournament, but that just can't be done. I'll try to cover as many bases as I can but it's still on your head to keep track of everything. If it helps copy and paste the guide somewhere and check off things as you do them.

The Brainstorming

 

Once
[ ] Is your idea practical?
[ ] Have you double-checked with someone else that your idea is practical?

The Planning

 

Once
[ ] Sketch out a basic schedule
          [ ] Pick a tourney format
                    [ ] Estimate the number of teams joining
                              [ ] Take into account if you have less/more teams than estimated
                    [ ] Calculate the number of matches that are required
                    [ ] Calculate the number of weekends that are required
                              [ ] Include weeks allotted for rescheduled matches
          [ ] Pick a match format
                    [ ] Calculate how long matches will last
                              [ ] 10 minutes per map
                              [ ] 5-10 minutes to switch between maps
                              [ ] ~10 minutes to switch between servers
[ ] Recruit Server Hosts
          [ ] Recruit through PMs
          [ ] Recruit as many server hosts as possible
          [ ] Include a basic schedule
                    [ ] Get a confirmation about the schedule working or not
[ ] Create in-game rule set
          [ ] Include exact server settings
          [ ] Include map list
                    [ ] Minimum 5 maps, can always include more later
[ ] Create out-of-game rule set
          [ ] Include tourney format
          [ ] Include match format
          [ ] Include substitution rules
          [ ] Include overtime/tie rules
          [ ] Include class limit
          [ ] Include signup rules
                    [ ] For teams
                    [ ] For server hosts
                    [ ] For recorders + commentators
                    [ ] For substitutes
          [ ] Include cheating rules
                    [ ] For client side mods
[ ] Create tournament mod (if needed)
          [ ] PM someone who can mod (if needed)
          [ ] Include a separate UUID
[ ] Setup IRC room
          [ ] Register a nickname
          [ ] Create a tourney room
                    [ ] Make sure you are mod of the room
[ ] Creation of generic PMs
          [ ] A weekly upcoming matches PM
                    [ ] Sent to...
                              [ ] Organizer + Co-Organizers
                              [ ] Referees
                              [ ] Server hosts
                              [ ] Recorders + Commentators
                              [ ] Relevant team leaders
                    [ ] Require a confirmation of attendance to the upcoming matches
                    [ ] Include teams + players playing
                    [ ] Include name of server host
                    [ ] Include name of referee
                    [ ] Include names of recorders and commentators
                    [ ] Include day, time and date
                              [ ] Include times from relevant timezones

The Thread

 

Once
[ ] Creation
          [ ] First Post
                    [ ] Tourney title
                              [ ] Include organizer + co-organizer names
                    [ ] Fancy graphic
                    [ ] Section for important announcements + upcoming matches
                              [ ] For voting, include last day to vote
                              [ ] For signups, include last day to signup
                              [ ] For upcoming matches, include dates, times, server host, and teams
                    [ ] Links to important things
                              [ ] Include links to irc rooms, mods, brackets, etc.
                              [ ] Include scoreboard if needed
                    [ ] Welcome message + synopsis
                              [ ] Include a greeting and why you are hosting
                              [ ] Include a basic rundown of what you hope to accomplish
                              [ ] Include a rough schedule of the next few months
                              [ ] Include any quirks that your tournament will have
                    [ ] How to signup
                              [ ] Include how to signup for server hosts, commentators, recorders, substitutes, etc.
                              [ ] Include that teams should signup together.
          [ ] Second Post
                    [ ] Schedule
                    [ ] Tournament Format
                    [ ] Out-of-game rules
                    [ ] In-game rules
                    [ ] Map list
          [ ] Third Post
                    [ ] List of organizers + co-organizers
                    [ ] List of server hosts
                    [ ] List of recorders
                    [ ] List of commentators
                    [ ] List of teams
                    [ ] List of substitutes
[ ] Before Posting
           [ ] Have a minimum of 3 server hosts
           [ ] Have a map pool of at least 5 maps written out
           [ ] Have in-game rules for every map type written out
                      [ ] Include server name + password + welcome message + hosting port
                      [ ] Include player limit + time limit + capture limit
                      [ ] Include respawn time + auto balance + announce to lobby
                      [ ] Include current map pool
           [ ] Have out-of-game rules written out
                      [ ] Include how the tournament format works
                      [ ] Include how switching between maps works
                      [ ] Include how signups work
                      [ ] Include how substitutions work
                      [ ] Include how ties + overtime work
Every Month
[ ] State of the tourney update
          [ ] Post on current standing of things
          [ ] Include whether or not the tourney is still going
          [ ] Include any future tourney plans or important messages
Every Week
[ ] On Monday
          [ ] Confirm timezone conversions are correct
          [ ] Post next week's match schedule in thread
                    [ ] Include day + date + time
                              [ ] Include relevant timezones
                    [ ] Include team names + player names
                    [ ] Include name of server host
                    [ ] Include name of referee/official
          [ ] PM server hosts for confirmation of availability next weekend
                    [ ] Include server password for the week
          [ ] PM recorders for confirmation of availability next weekend
                    [ ] Include server password for the week
          [ ] PM commentators for confirmation of availability next weekend
                    [ ] Include server password for the week
          [ ] PM team leaders updating them of next weekend's matches
                    [ ] Include server password for the week
          [ ] Post a reminder for everybody to reply to confirmation PM
[ ] On Thursday
          [ ] Post a reminder for everybody to reply to confirmation PM
Every Day
[ ] Check in on forums
          [ ] Check for new posts in tourney thread
          [ ] Check for new PMs
Before a Match
[ ] 1 day before
          [ ] Post a reminder of matches
                    [ ] Include time + day + date
                              [ ] Include relevant timezones
                    [ ] Include names of players playing
                    [ ] Include name of server host
                    [ ] Include name of commentators + recorders
                    [ ] Include name of referee/official
[ ] 1 hour before
          [ ] Post a reminder of matches
                    [ ] Include time + day + date
                    [ ] Include names of players playing
                    [ ] Include name of server host
                    [ ] Include name of commentators + recorders
                    [ ] Include name of referee/official
During a Match
[ ] Check in on forums
          [ ] Check for new posts in tourney thread
          [ ] Check for new PMs
After a Match
[ ] Update scoreboard or bracket
[ ] Post match results
          [ ] Include team names and players
          [ ] Include names of maps + who won + score

The Matches

 

Before a Match
[ ] 1 day before
          [ ] Confirm a server host can be there
          [ ] Confirm members of team 1 can be there
          [ ] Confirm members of team 2 can be there
          [ ] Confirm substitutes are available
                    [ ] Preferably have them in irc
[ ] 1 hour before
          [ ] Join irc
                    [ ] Setup tourney room
                    [ ] Setup red team's room
                    [ ] Setup blue team's room
          [ ] Confirm server settings
                    [ ] Confirm playability (how the lag is)
                    [ ] Confirm whether the server host can stay the entire match
                    [ ] Confirm correct password
                    [ ] Confirm correct number of player slots
                    [ ] Confirm correct map pool
During a Match
[ ] Remind server hosts to use the server mod
[ ] Remind everybody else to use the client mod
[ ] Match Format (~3 hour)
          [ ] Set 1 (~1 hour)
                    [ ] Transition Map (5-10 mins)
                    [ ] Map 1 (10 mins)
                    [ ] Transition Map (5-10 mins)
                    [ ] Map 2 (10 mins)
                    [ ] Transition Map (5-10 mins)
                    [ ] Map 3 (10 mins)
          [ ] Switch servers (5-10 mins)
          [ ] Set 2 (~1 hour)
          [ ] Switch servers (5-10 mins)
          [ ] Set 3 (~1 hour)
[ ] During transition
          [ ] Deciding the next map
                    [ ] If server host is present, losing team decides next map
                              [ ] Reset server for next map. The map list should be...
                                        [ ] ctf_transition
                                        [ ] next map
          [ ] Confirm everybody is ready
                    [ ] Change in-game name to "Check in on irc"
                    [ ] Confirm with server host
                    [ ] Confirm with recorders + commentators
                    [ ] Confirm with red team
                    [ ] Confirm with blue team
After a Match
[ ] Post finals scores in IRC
[ ] Post upcoming matches in IRC
[ ] Take questions about tournament in IRC
[ ] Solve pertaining issues about the match in IRC
[ ] Solve pertaining issues about the tournament in IRC

The Closing

 

Once
[ ] Modify the thread
          [ ] First post
                    [ ] Tourney winners (1st place)
                              [ ] Team name + players
                              [ ] Small blurb about the team
                              [ ] Highlight or accomplishments
                    [ ] Same for 2nd place
                    [ ] Same for 3rd place
                    [ ] Honorable mentions
                              [ ] Server hosts
                              [ ] Commentators + Recorders
                              [ ] Exceptional contributors to the tourney

The Backups

 

No Show: Player(s)
[ ] Preparation and prevention
          [ ] Send reminders of when matches are to all relevant players often
          [ ] Encourage people to still attend matches even if they aren't playing
[ ] If it happens...
          [ ] Remind the team(s) that they can still play with less members, but filling their roster is encouraged.
          [ ] Remind the team(s) the next map starts when the transition map counts down from 10 minutes.
          [ ] Suggest asking the IRC, posting in the forums, sending pms, or contacting friends for help.
No Show: Team
[ ] Preparation and prevention
          [ ] Send reminders of when matches to all relevant players often
                    [ ] Include times from all relevant timezones
[ ] If it happens...
          [ ] Double check with the thread on when the match was scheduled
                    [ ] If multiple times are posted for the same match...
                              [ ] Apologize for the screw up
                              [ ] Try to reschedule the match for the latest match time posted
                              [ ] If your tourney has time to spare...
                                        [ ] If both teams agree reschedule for another day/week
                                        [ ] One week should be the longest delay allowed for a reschedule
                              [ ] If your tourney has no time to spare...
                                        [ ] Use the latest time posted on the thread as the official time
                                        [ ] Decide the match winner based on which team showed up at that time
          [ ] After 10 minutes, the no-shows forfeit the first map
          [ ] After 20 minutes, the no-shows forfeit the match
No Show: Both Teams
[ ] Preparation and prevention
          [ ] Send reminders of when matches to all relevant players often
                    [ ] Include times from all relevant timezones
[ ] If it happens...
          [ ] Double check with the thread on when the match was scheduled
                    [ ] If the time in the thread is later than the current time...
                              [ ] Learn to read and show up at the thread time
                    [ ] If the time in the thread is before the current time...
                              [ ] Apologize in the thread and figure out what happened
                              [ ] If the match went well...
                                        [ ] Use the missed match score for the tourney
                              [ ] If the match went bad...
                                        [ ] If time allows...
                                                  [ ] Figure out another time/day to reschedule
                                        [ ] If time does't allow...
                                                  [ ] Rock-paper-scissors
No Show: Server Host
[ ] Preparation and prevention
          [ ] Send reminders of when matches to all relevant players often
                    [ ] Include times from all relevant timezones
                    [ ] Include confirmation of arrival to the matches
[ ] If it happens...
          [ ] Try to find another server host (~10 minutes)
                    [ ] Ask the IRC
                    [ ] Post in the thread
                    [ ] Send out a pm wave to the other server hosts
          [ ] Try to reschedule the match
                    [ ] Try for the same day at a later time
                    [ ] Otherwise try for next week
          [ ] Try playing a substitute game instead
                    [ ] Rock-paper-scissors
                    [ ] http://www.isketch.net
No Show: Yourself
[ ] Preparation and prevention
          [ ] Write down the match dates
                    [ ] Write down upcoming match dates at the top of the thread
                    [ ] PM all reminders to yourself
          [ ] Write down how a match works in the thread
                    [ ] Include what to do if you aren't there
                    [ ] Include how the server is set up
                    [ ] Include the map list
[ ] If it happens...
          [ ] If a match gets done...
                    [ ] Apologize and thank the big Eggo in the sky
          [ ] If a match doesn't get done...
                    [ ] If there's time...
                              [ ] Apologize and reschedule
                    [ ] If there's no time...
                              [ ] Apologize and rock-paper-scissors
Broken: GG2
[ ] Preparation and prevention
          [ ] Have a list of other games to play
                    [ ] rock-paper-scissors
                    [ ] TF2
                    [ ] http://www.isketch.net (charades)
                    [ ] http://www.haxball.com/ (soccer)
[ ] If it happens...
          [ ] Blame fredmang
          [ ] If enough time...
                    [ ] Reschedule for another week
          [ ] If short on time...
                    [ ] Play a substitute game instead
Broken: IRC
[ ] Preparation and prevention
          [ ] Have a list of substitute chat programs
                    [ ] Steam
                    [ ] Ventrillo
                    [ ] Skype
                    [ ] MSN messanger
[ ] If it happens...
          [ ] Blame fredmang
          [ ] If enough time...
                    [ ] Reschedule for another week
          [ ] If short on time...
                    [ ] Use another chat service
                    [ ] Or change names in-game to pass messages

[trog]

the standard now is 8 sec respawn and 4 caps

good guide, guardo's in for a shitload of work hehe

[Phantom Brave]

standard now is 7 sec respawn and 5 caps
 

[Intel Guard]

wow now I have to actually put work into this

[Snare]

Respawn time should depend on how many players you have and capture limit should be based on how long the time limit is. Unless the standard ctf maps have changed size in the past 2 years, 3 caps always gave games that ended around 9 minutes, which is perfect for 10 minute long games.

As for respawn time, it's been debated back and forth being somewhere between 5 and 8 for sometime now. The biggest issue with respawn is the balance between jelloing for the intel and the number of chances you get to defend. The reason I prefer using 5 seconds though is because of matches that suddenly become 3v3 instead of 4v4. 7 or 8 seconds just becomes excessive for 1/3 of your team to be missing.