Author Topic: Tournament in a Day? (Read 50390 times)

danisthirty · « **on:** July 12, 2016, 09:13:43 AM »

I was thinking the other night about new and/ or alternative styles of competition to keep things interesting for those of us who like to play each other online. All of the competitions we run at the moment are quite long-term commitments that depend on the availability of everyone else who is taking part and their ability/ willingness to organise their games. So I was trying to think of ideas for much shorter competitions, and would like to suggest the following simple idea for a complete (albeit small) tournament that could be run from start to finish in a single evening...

What’s so special about this competition?
The entire competition will be held in a single evening, on a previously agreed date and time. It will be a simple elimination style contest meaning that a win takes you immediately through to the next round and a loss means you’re out/ eliminated.

Who is it for?
Interested parties must pre-register on the forums to take part, provided of course that they will be free and able to take part on the date/ time of the competition. All that is required is a simple “I’m in” but this is especially important as places will be limited (8 or 16 plus a number of substitutes).

What if I miss the start?
All participants must be present in the chat room before the official start time. Anyone who isn’t present when the tournament begins will be replaced by a substitute player assuming there are any on hand to step in. If not, the absent player will get an automatic loss (therefore being eliminated) and their opponent will go through to the next round by default.

How do you decide who plays who?
Fixtures will be drawn at random (names out of a hat) and will not be disclosed prior to the start of the competition. As each game is finished, the scores are reported back via the chat room and the winner will go straight on to their next match if their next opponent has already been decided by the outcome of another match, or will wait in the chat room for it to finish if it hasn’t.

How is the winner decided?
The competition continues in this way (see above) until there are just two players left who will play the final game between them. The winner of this game wins the overall competition.

Will we be using expansions?
Matches will be base-game only with start player being selected at random (“Randomise seating order” checked). There’s no technical reason why expansions shouldn’t be included, but in order to fit the whole tournament into a single evening I’m suggesting we keep it simple for the time being.

Are there any restrictions on who can play?
All players are welcome, regardless of whether they are already taking part in an ongoing competition such as The Tower League or the Welcome Tournament. Or even if they’ve never taken part in any online competitions before.

What if I want to play but am not free on the specific date?
If successful, this format could be reused and perhaps even turned into a regular monthly tournament. If nothing else, it could be something for the regular competitive players to look forward to in the event of league delays or other slow times.

What if there aren’t enough players?
Depending on levels of interest, I would propose doing either an 8-player (3 wins to victory) or a 16-player (4 wins to victory) trial/ proof of concept. Whilst 16 players doesn’t seem very many, the fact that they must all be available to play on the same evening is guaranteed to limit participation to such an extent that even 8 may be difficult to arrange. Still, it’s got to be worth a try...

I’m keen to know people’s thoughts and suggestions on this before, if there are enough people willing to give it a go, running a trial one-day tournament at some point in early August. So please let me know what you think.

Linkback: https://www.carcassonnecentral.com/community/index.php?topic=2835.0

jma03 · « **Reply #1 on:** July 12, 2016, 09:57:08 AM »

I think a fantastic idea.

I would like to participate in , but I think I have some limitations because of my work , which is usually evening.
but if my day off coincides with the date set for this tournament , ofcourse would be available.

and if I can not, I could go to the reserve list for the next round.

jungleboy · « **Reply #2 on:** July 12, 2016, 10:03:28 AM »

It's a fun idea so I hope you get it off the ground, but unfortunately I won't be able to participate (at least for the first tournament) because I'm not available for the next six weeks.

ny1050220 · « **Reply #3 on:** July 12, 2016, 10:22:08 AM »

I think it's a great idea and I'd like to participate.
My only concern/restriction is that an evening in UK is an afternoon in my time zone, so a good time for me would be on the weekend. I understand many competitors need to work or would like to spend the weekend evenings with families and friends. If that is what prevents me from attending, that's totally fine.
By the way, how much competitors are there in Americas? I remember rfielder and monwil are also in Eastern Time Zone. Who else?

MrNumbers · « **Reply #4 on:** July 12, 2016, 12:27:03 PM »

Good idea, and I am in, if the dates are right for me. One question regarding the rules: what if the game end in a draw? Replay?

Rich_The_Fish · « **Reply #5 on:** July 12, 2016, 01:51:08 PM »

Sounds good, I like the idea and would no doubt participate if I was available. As already mentioned, it could be somewhat difficult to get enough players available for the start (particularly taking time difference into account). We'd also probably need to play at a reasonably similar speed, as a particularly long game could really delay the next round starting.

Another possibility could involve everyone playing say a couple of 3P or 4P games (and altering the groups for each game), with the winners then progressing to the next round / final? It would at least mean that all players would get a few games and would therefore get more game time, before no doubt being knocked out by more experienced players? These multiplayer games would be quicker than playing individual 2P games back to back, so a popular expansion could be always be used to boost tile count and add variety. I appreciate this is rather different to the proposed idea, but just thought I'd mention it.

Would the format used for the tournament at UK Expo work (similar to above?), or are we thinking of a more head to head battle?

Chuck · « **Reply #6 on:** July 12, 2016, 10:01:00 PM »

Sounds like fun!
Like the others, I'm in, depending on my availablility.
One suggestion to the idea of Rich: in a 4p game, i would recommend to let the winner and first runner up move onto the next game.

danisthirty · « **Reply #7 on:** July 13, 2016, 01:16:35 AM »

Good response so far, thanks everyone.

I know it's short notice, but if there's enough availability we could try to run one this Sunday at 7pm UK time. In order to keep it as accessible as possible I think weekends are a good idea. And I chose 7pm UK time because it's not too late for those one or two hours ahead and not too early for those in the US/ Canada. If we aim for 8 players, the most anyone will play will be 3 games so if we assume an hour per game, the latest it would finish would be midnight in Latvia (UK time + 2 hours). If we can't do it this Sunday then we won't be able to do it until August as I'm away for the next two weekends.

In the event of a draw, the game would be replayed. I see no alternative.

I'm not against the idea of arranging a few multi-opponent games per se, but part of the purpose of this tournament is to provide some good head-to-head base-game competitive practice so I'd like to stick to 2-player games for the time being.

So, how about it? Anyone free this Sunday at 7pm (UK time)? First 8 players who can say for sure that they will be free then are in!

PS - I'm in!

Rosco · « **Reply #8 on:** July 13, 2016, 02:24:14 AM »

i will join but i will not be available for the next 3 weeks.

khalidqasrawi · « **Reply #9 on:** July 13, 2016, 03:12:21 AM »

Sounds great. I'm certainly in if I'm around on the chosen day.

kq

danisthirty · « **Reply #10 on:** July 13, 2016, 03:30:09 AM »

Quote from: Rosco on July 13, 2016, 02:24:14 AM

i will join but i will not be available for the next 3 weeks.

Quote from: khalidqasrawi on July 13, 2016, 03:12:21 AM

Sounds great. I'm certainly in if I'm around on the chosen day.

kq

If you're not going to be available then you can't really sign up to this; herein lies the problem. In order for it to work, people need to be able to commit to the date/ time of the competition and then make sure they're there for it. All being well, it's something that can be repeated in future and if you're free then, you're more than welcome to join in. But for the time being at least, please only sign up to this if you know you're going to be free and able to participate on Sunday 17th July at 7pm (UK time)...

khalidqasrawi · « **Reply #11 on:** July 13, 2016, 03:49:28 AM »

Quote from: danisthirty on July 13, 2016, 03:30:09 AM

If you're not going to be available then you can't really sign up to this; herein lies the problem.

The problem is me not reading the thread through. I'll let you know if I can do Sunday 17.

Jéré · « **Reply #12 on:** July 13, 2016, 03:56:07 AM »

Great idea and it is worth trying! Maybe it is better to aim for 8 participants max (plus substitutes) for the first attempt but we'll see how it goes.

I'm in!

Rosco · « **Reply #13 on:** July 13, 2016, 04:15:04 AM »

Dan - your message about the date was posted whilst my message was being typed so i didnt see it. I will do one in the future.

Rich_The_Fish · « **Reply #14 on:** July 13, 2016, 05:28:51 AM »

I would be up for it, but already have a Tower game scheduled for Sunday night. I'll see if I can get it re-arranged and will let you know if I'm free.