Several loose ends have recently been tied up and quite a few modifications have been made to Tournament Policy in general. I will use this thread to explain these changes and to answer several looming questions. The idea is that this thread will be around for a week or two so everyone can clearly understand what is going on, and then all these changes will be inserted into the main rules thread.
The Queue System
We had plenty of time to test out the new Queue system and we established a few problems with it as it currently standed, namely:
1) We do not control what applications we recieve, leading to poorly timed tournaments or not enough balance between tournament types
2) The Queue wait time is too long
3) Non-Official tournaments are taking too long
To solve these problems we are splitting the Queue into two seperate ones, which gives us as TD's a better ability to control the flow and balance of the tournament schedule.
Upon recieving a new tournament application, we will identifiy the application as one of the following three types:
Type A is a tournament that simply plays out the rules of a standard/accepted metagame. Examples would be an "Ubers" tournament or an "ADV OU" tournament. These are "competitive", and can also extend into team tournaments (Team Trials) or tournaments of higher prestige (Sneak).
Type B is a tournament that takes the rules of a standard/accepted metagame but adds some sort of niche/twist to them or slightly changes them. An example is FUK DRAGON or Gauntlet. These are for the most part "competitive" as they still appeal to the competitive player.
Type C is gimmick tournaments or tournaments where the rules are completely nonstandard or play in some format where you need to make a new team every round. Examples are StreetPKMN, Mono or Wyoming. These are "non competitive" in the sense that they do not always appeal to the competitive player, but are still enjoyable meanders from standard play.
The Queue split will serve the purpose of identifying the needs of the tournament forum at any given time (Old Gen tournaments before SPL, OU tournaments when the tiers change, etc). The "Priority" Queue will hold a maximum of 3 tournaments and will be primarily for Type A tournaments. The "Standard" Queue will hold a maximum of 6 tournaments and will be primarily for Type B and C tournaments.
Both Queues will be updated in the Tournament Listing thread.
Forming Player Lists from Signups
There was a recent PR topic regarding this issue, and we feel that a slight alteration in favour of First Come, First Serve is best. Under the new rules, all tournaments will operate under 62.5% FCFS/37.5% random selection, numbers that fit perfectly into 64/128.
Furthermore, the Tournament Listing thread will be updated with exact dates that tournament sign-ups will be posted that hosts must adhere to. The host and TD will be in contact sometime around a week before signups are to be posted to decide on a day, and that day will be made public, giving all users a fair shot to sign up for the tournament early.
Glitch Abuse
An update on this post, the list has been givin plenty of time to formulate and it will now be released to the public. Keep in mind the list is not exhaustive, and is merely the product of the discoveries of our researchers. If there is anything absent from the list, notify a TD.
After analyzing the list at hand, it has been decided that none of these glitches "break" the game or stand out in comparison to any of the other ones. If we ban one, then we should ban them all, and the truth is too many of them are impossible to regulate. Thus, the list of banned glitches right now remains at "none". Refer to the post itself for our philosophy on the subject.
VGC
Nothing is set in stone at the moment, but the TDs acknowledge that this is a new area that absolutely deserves exploration. We are planning to incorporate this metagame into our Official Tournament cycle when that becomes feasible. Updates on this will come as they happen, but rest assured this is not being ignored.
Standard Rules and Clauses
These have not been clearly defined anywhere and seem to slightly change from tournament to tournament, so here they are in hard text. These rules apply to all tournaments under all circumstances, unless otherwise approved by a TD.
Species Clause: A player cannot have two of the same pokémon on their team. For example, a player cannot have two Koffing on his or her team.
Sleep Clause: A player cannot put two or more different opposing Pokémon to sleep using attacks that induce sleep to opposing pokémon.
Evasion Clause: A player cannot increase their Pokémon's evasion stat with a move that specifically increases evasion. Items or indirect boosts do not break this clause.
OHKO Clause: Players cannot use Horn Drill, Guillotine, Sheer Cold, or Fissure in any of their Pokémon's movesets.
Self-KO Clause: Players cannot use moves such as Explosion or Perish Song when they would force a tie. If a move that has recoil damage causes a tie, the user of the move is the winner.
Battle Timeout: If a player exhausts the timer, he/she loses.
Other Reminders
This is stuff that is not new but should still be noted:
-The maximum time for a round deadline is two weeks, unless an exception is given by a TD
-Subs can be used in any order the host deems fit
-Hosts cannot change the rules of their tournament mid-round, and any between round rule change must be approved by the TD responsible for that tournament
-Subs should not be used past the first round. If a battle is not completed just flip a coin
-Deadline extensions should be almost completely avoided, barring extenuating circumstances
That is all, feel free to voice any comments or concerns to a Tournament Director, they will be happy to listen. Also note that Tournament Applications are now open!
The Queue System
We had plenty of time to test out the new Queue system and we established a few problems with it as it currently standed, namely:
1) We do not control what applications we recieve, leading to poorly timed tournaments or not enough balance between tournament types
2) The Queue wait time is too long
3) Non-Official tournaments are taking too long
To solve these problems we are splitting the Queue into two seperate ones, which gives us as TD's a better ability to control the flow and balance of the tournament schedule.
Upon recieving a new tournament application, we will identifiy the application as one of the following three types:
Type A is a tournament that simply plays out the rules of a standard/accepted metagame. Examples would be an "Ubers" tournament or an "ADV OU" tournament. These are "competitive", and can also extend into team tournaments (Team Trials) or tournaments of higher prestige (Sneak).
Type B is a tournament that takes the rules of a standard/accepted metagame but adds some sort of niche/twist to them or slightly changes them. An example is FUK DRAGON or Gauntlet. These are for the most part "competitive" as they still appeal to the competitive player.
Type C is gimmick tournaments or tournaments where the rules are completely nonstandard or play in some format where you need to make a new team every round. Examples are StreetPKMN, Mono or Wyoming. These are "non competitive" in the sense that they do not always appeal to the competitive player, but are still enjoyable meanders from standard play.
The Queue split will serve the purpose of identifying the needs of the tournament forum at any given time (Old Gen tournaments before SPL, OU tournaments when the tiers change, etc). The "Priority" Queue will hold a maximum of 3 tournaments and will be primarily for Type A tournaments. The "Standard" Queue will hold a maximum of 6 tournaments and will be primarily for Type B and C tournaments.
Both Queues will be updated in the Tournament Listing thread.
Forming Player Lists from Signups
There was a recent PR topic regarding this issue, and we feel that a slight alteration in favour of First Come, First Serve is best. Under the new rules, all tournaments will operate under 62.5% FCFS/37.5% random selection, numbers that fit perfectly into 64/128.
Furthermore, the Tournament Listing thread will be updated with exact dates that tournament sign-ups will be posted that hosts must adhere to. The host and TD will be in contact sometime around a week before signups are to be posted to decide on a day, and that day will be made public, giving all users a fair shot to sign up for the tournament early.
Glitch Abuse
An update on this post, the list has been givin plenty of time to formulate and it will now be released to the public. Keep in mind the list is not exhaustive, and is merely the product of the discoveries of our researchers. If there is anything absent from the list, notify a TD.
After analyzing the list at hand, it has been decided that none of these glitches "break" the game or stand out in comparison to any of the other ones. If we ban one, then we should ban them all, and the truth is too many of them are impossible to regulate. Thus, the list of banned glitches right now remains at "none". Refer to the post itself for our philosophy on the subject.
VGC
Nothing is set in stone at the moment, but the TDs acknowledge that this is a new area that absolutely deserves exploration. We are planning to incorporate this metagame into our Official Tournament cycle when that becomes feasible. Updates on this will come as they happen, but rest assured this is not being ignored.
Standard Rules and Clauses
These have not been clearly defined anywhere and seem to slightly change from tournament to tournament, so here they are in hard text. These rules apply to all tournaments under all circumstances, unless otherwise approved by a TD.
Species Clause: A player cannot have two of the same pokémon on their team. For example, a player cannot have two Koffing on his or her team.
Sleep Clause: A player cannot put two or more different opposing Pokémon to sleep using attacks that induce sleep to opposing pokémon.
Evasion Clause: A player cannot increase their Pokémon's evasion stat with a move that specifically increases evasion. Items or indirect boosts do not break this clause.
OHKO Clause: Players cannot use Horn Drill, Guillotine, Sheer Cold, or Fissure in any of their Pokémon's movesets.
Self-KO Clause: Players cannot use moves such as Explosion or Perish Song when they would force a tie. If a move that has recoil damage causes a tie, the user of the move is the winner.
Battle Timeout: If a player exhausts the timer, he/she loses.
Other Reminders
This is stuff that is not new but should still be noted:
-The maximum time for a round deadline is two weeks, unless an exception is given by a TD
-Subs can be used in any order the host deems fit
-Hosts cannot change the rules of their tournament mid-round, and any between round rule change must be approved by the TD responsible for that tournament
-Subs should not be used past the first round. If a battle is not completed just flip a coin
-Deadline extensions should be almost completely avoided, barring extenuating circumstances
That is all, feel free to voice any comments or concerns to a Tournament Director, they will be happy to listen. Also note that Tournament Applications are now open!