One-day ladle

100 players getting together and playing just for the fun of it, in teams, on Fortress-servers. How it all goes ahead is determined by players contributing ideas here, and there are different ways of arranged these thoughts; what follows is one way. Feel free to add to the list under any category and please remember that all editions are constructive: contributor's guidelines.

preparations

At this stage (TRONICv1.3), it is possible to begin to design how the event may be run. Due consideration to ensure solutions can be extendable to satisfy the ideal objectives for THE CUP. THE LADLE is played two months after THE SPOON, and is a trial for what is to come in THE BOWL, three months ahead. Preparation before this day is very much happening now, in this wiki, on the forums, and in chatrooms, as well as on the grid.

team registration

Players first have to organise themselves into teams. Perhaps players have the chance of playing on different teams... and as the day of the CUP draws near, they have to make decisions on which teams they play. This is the first real test for the registration of teams. When it comes down to it, the teams need to be registered so that on the day, team-pairing is easy and records of wins and losses are easily tabulated. Check out LADLE team-lists.

fortress settings

All servers must run standardised fortress settings, probably as they are on CVS Test Server. Although different servers and clients may translate them, this should as much as possible be standardised. Any variation between servers can be a matter of more popular, recommended servers. The most significant factor to determine is the win-zone, and there is plenty of discussion already about this topic in the forums. Check out fortress winzone discussion.

reaching upto 128 players

Something like a marketing strategy. Is it through word of mouth... through advertising.. can players encourage others to join by posting invitations in other game forums. At the root of it all, however, is the game itself. It is essential that the first experience a player has of the game is a pleasurable one, and hence some thought must be paid to how new players are treated. If the growth is exponential (as things seem to be on the net), then at some stage it may be possible to have noob-only servers.

the day

128 players, 16 teams, playing on up to 8 servers.

feasible round-period timing

How is each round run? Can we play 8 games simultaneously? To play the entire competition in 3 hours, we can use a round of 3/4 hour. This gives fifteen minutes for captains to get to the chatroom, challenge opponent captains, return to team, collect teams at the appointed server, and then half-hour to play best of three.

8pm GMT

first round, 16 teams playing on 8 servers simultaneously

8.45pm GMT

quarter-finals, 8 teams playing on 4 servers simultaneously

9.30pm GMT

semi-finals, 4 teams on 2 servers

10.15pm GMT

finals, 2 teams play the best of 5

team-captain challenge room

Team-captains all meet at a specified chat room. They challenge one another to a competition, agree on a server, and then leave to conduct their game.

Now, this might not be easy, with a lot of captains delaying their challenging, so it would be nice if we had a bit of software which was set to a timer. If a team is left at the end of the 5 mins or whatever and they have not accepted a challenge, they lose by default. This will ensure that captains get their thumb out and challenge...

server allocation

Stuff to do with PING so that players have reasonable, acceptable PING. If there are enough players and hence servers, players will tend to play others nearby so that PING is roughly equivalent. Towards the end of the competition, neutral, recommended servers, are used to home the finals. Check out LADLE fortress-servers.

Teams congregate, kick off anyone who is not in the competition, and then play their game. They must do this within half an hour since the next rounds will start without them otherwise. There are two ways of ensuring no mid-game entries: locking the server, or providing a pass word thingy which is only divulged to teamcaptains on the day, or presenting a full team of 8, which is by far the easiest. If a team does not have the numbers, they can take players from the pool who do not have set teams to play in.

Winning team-captains return to the challenge room for the next round. Losing team-captains can go to another challenge room to challenge other losing teams just for the sake of it.

spectators

It might be nice to have a facility for the final to be mirrored off other servers so that everyone can witness the final, cheer etc... Just adds to the fun and makes the final more exciting since all the players will know they are being watched by players they put out the competition....heheheh