General Tournament Information
NOTE - This is just an informative section about how players and brackets were picked. You can skip this if you like - just scroll down a page to the next header (in bold), Official Bracket
OK guys, I am going to post the official participants, the official bracket, and then (in post #3), some instructions and guidelines for all participants. Please take the time to read EVERYTHING in these next couple posts, and begin to act on the bracket/instructions immediately. The tournament doesn't "officially start" until the 1st, but people should start trying to set games up as soon as possible. This gives us 4 extra days to work out the kinks in the system, and identify/replace anyone who is not involving themselves in the process...
Two notes - first, participants were chosen as follows - first, I generally tried to take the first 16 who signed up. A couple guys signed up with me before the tournament was announced, so the order in this thread is mostly consistent, but not always. Second, enjin went down the night I put this thread up. TZ, SoS, and RI all had advanced warning about the tournament before the thread went up, and I posted on ET immediately. However, ER was a day late getting the message, because enjin was down when I tried to tell them. They signed up almost immediately after I posted to them, so I wanted to make sure to take at least 2 of them, to give them a chance. I am happy to say all 6 clans, as well as independents, are all represented in this tournament! Because this is the first tournament in this format, I was not comfortable opening the pool past 16, which would add an entire new round, and much more coordination. I hope to be able to include everyone in future tournaments, and signups who did not get entry will be given some extra consideration in the future. I thank those folks for signing up and apologize for not being able to fit everybody in.
Second - A number of people have asked how the bracket was created. Players were not seeded, but in the interest of fairness, I wanted the groups to be reasonable balanced, and both halves of the bracket to be reasonably balanced. Looking at the player pool, I was able to group people by skill level into groups, and then, randomly assigned people into groups (using a quick program i wrote to generate the proper randomness with the pools) - such that each group contained as close to an equal number of people from each tier, as possible. I think the end result is reasonably balanced. It seems to me group 4 is the most difficult top to bottom, and 2/3 SoS members are in there, so if anyone got the shaft, I believe its us, so hopefully nobody else has any reason to gripe ;) If anybody has any objections/concerns about their PARTICULAR situation (such as those not included in the bracket), please send those privately. General questions/comments/etc that are not personal can be posted here or sent privately.
OK, without further ado, the bracket.
***Official Bracket Groups***
Note that the top 2 players from each group will advance. Each group member needs to have a best of 3 match with each other group member (see instructions post below for more detail). It doesn't matter who you play first or last, as long as you play all 3 group members :) The 2 winners from 2 groups, for example, groups 1 and 2, will combine into one group in the 2nd round, while the winners from the other two groups (such as groups 3 and 4) will combine into the second group in the 2nd round. The combinations of groups may depend on how substitutions & attendance affect the difficulty of the groups.
Each group below lists all 4 members. The members are listed with their SE name, clan, and code first. Their IRC/clan nickname may also be in parenthesis. After their SE name/code, is their exact StickPage account name (if its different from their SE account name), which you will need to message them about scheduling (see instructions post).
Group 1
CuriousTurtle ET #045
DragonArcherZ (daz) TZ #350 - SP mail account: DragonArcherZ
Mysterybat SOLO #216
Lazar72 TOW #355
Group 2
RIxracer RI #165
59saintdane TZ #956
HashBrownTrials RI #892
SoSxSoS (khan) SoS #585 - SP mail account: khan0944
Group 3
Galeforce TZ #222
Wyzdm TZ #510
Ben SOLO #022 - SP mail account: BenTZ
Ignatius (Viperwrath) ER #461 - SP mail account: Viperwrath
Group 4
Eagle100 RI #624
Pandarus SoS #883
Chaos0176 SoS #778
Ihatethisname (rain) TZ #211 - SP mail account: IHATETHISNAME
Group 5:
CuriousTurtle ET #045
Mysterybat SOLO #216
HashBrownTrials RI #892
SoSxSoS (khan) SoS #585 - SP mail account: khan0944
Group 6:
Wyzdm TZ #510
Ben SOLO #022 - SP mail account: BenTZ
Pandarus SoS #883
Chaos0176 SoS #778
Instructions (IMPORTANT)
Participant Instructions
Each participant needs to read these instructions and begin to set up matches with their opponents, as soon as possible! Matches can start NOW. If any participant is totally inactive in the next couple days, they will be replaced. As long as you have made an effort to find and schedule matches, even if you have yet to play your first match, you should be good.
1) If you are unclear about the tournament format or the rules, re-read the introductory post in this thread (the first post). If you missed my post about there being prizes, note that CJ was awesome enough to offer prizes for this tournament, 1st place - 2 year membership. 2nd place - 1 year membership. 3rd place - to be determined.
2) You have 3 best-of-3 matches to play. Coordination is key - start by adding your opponent to your SE friend list, and by joining and staying in the IRC room as much as you can, so you can try to find your opponents - either to play them, or to schedule a time both of you can play. The IRC room does not cause in-game lag, you can leave it open while you play, so opponents can find you. If you see any opponents in IRC, slap them (left click their name on the right hand side, and select slap, which will ding their computer), and take a minute to coordinate. Here is the chatroom again:
http://qwebirc.swiftirc.net/?channels=#sos-chat
3) Participants should directly contact their opponents, through StickPage email, to try to schedule a time. Randomly being online will work for some people and some matches, but not all of them, so we need to talk to each other, and find times that can work. I know people are not available 24/7, but please try to check your StickPage email and the IRC room frequently during this event - especially while scheduling matches.
Please take the time to email each of your 3 opponents now. You can drop them a 1 liner - include the general times you are available over the next week, and see if they can do those times, or if not, when they are available. If you want, you can use this template. Either way, try to copy me and your admin so we know what is going on.
Email Scheduling Template (copy paste into the StickPage email form, and put in your specific information)
Recipient Users: opponent1;yourAdmin;chaos0176
Title: Tournament Scheduling
Body: Hey, I see we are playing in the first round. I am available
. Do any of these times work for you? If not, what other times might work for you? Lets try to find 1-2 times that we can both probably show up for, and try to meet up then. Thanks.
4) When you play a set, post the outcome (who won and the score), and the replays, in the replay thread:
http://forums.stickpage.com/showthread.php?85067-SoS-TZ-Hosted-Tournament-REPLAY-THREAD
5) If you decide you are too busy, or no longer want to participate, let me know ASAP, by posting here in this thread. If you let me know quickly enough, it will not disrupt the tournament. Failure to attend without letting me know will most likely result in being banned from future tournaments.
Assigned Admins
Each admin or pair of admins is listed first, followed by all the people assigned to them. If you have simple questions, try to reach out to your admin, who is usually one of your clan leaders. You can always contact me or post here, but there is a lot to coordinate, so try to grab your admin for the easy stuff. Also, this is the person you should copy on the scheduling emails (as well as chaos0176).
Chaos0176 and SoSxSoS (Khan) - SP mail account: khan0944
Pandarus
CuriousTurtle
Lazar
Ben
Mysterybat
Ignatius (Viperwrath) - SP mail account: Viperwrath
Wyzdm and IHATETHISNAME (Rain) - SP mail account: IHATETHISNAME
Daz
59saintdane
Galeforce
Hashbrowntrials
Rixracer
Eagle100
Admin Instructions
1) Add the name and codes of the participants you are trying to help out, to your SE list, if they aren't already there.
2) Try to stay in the main IRC room as much as you can - even if you are idle or away from your computer - so you can see if people have questions, or possibly, so you can be roused if you get slapped.
3) Keep track of your assigned people. Try to get a hold of them ASAP to make sure they know the official bracket is out, and what their tasks are (staying in IRC, emailing opponents to schedule a game).
4) Assist with scheduling for anyone struggling. Facilitating the scheduling here is key to the success of the whole event. Thanks for helping out!! 