CAP Server Mini-Tournament Rules Workshop

[DougJustDoug]

Excellent write-up by Bass. Why isn't he posting this stuff himself? Is he having trouble with his Smogon account?

 

[IggyBot]

My answer to this problem is that having the TO see your battle may give them a (small) advantage but after all the FC is intended to be though, and its not like giving one player an advantage over the others, they have won the MT already.

Knowing your opponents team is far more than a "small" advantage, it's gamebreaking. You know what your opponent is most likely going to switch to in certain situations, and that makes deciding your move far easier. It also allows you plan out what you need to do more easily, since if I know my opponents team, I can think to myself and say "If I get Stealth Rocks up early, and bait Zapdos with X pokemon, Gyarados can easily Dragon Dance and sweep". That is a huge advantage.

As for the FC to be challenging, I agree that it should be. However, it should not be unfair, or biased in one players direction. That's like implementing a rule that you must use at least 4 UU pokemon while the TO is allowed 2 ubers.

Another thing is that though many TOs are in the battles few of us have time to watch in any detail.
If a participant is extremely worried about the TO "scouting" they can do one of two things
1. Ask the TO leave or not to join their battle.
2. Use a different team for the final challenge

The TO doesn't have to watch the battle in detail, they can simply glance once in a while to see sets, and run their cursor over the players pokemon to see what they are.

Using a different team will also put some players at a disadvantage, as not every player has 2-3 top tier teams they're willing to use in a battle that actually counts on the leaderboard.

 

[Bass]

Excellent write-up by Bass. Why isn't he posting this stuff himself? Is he having trouble with his Smogon account?

Not at all, I simply thought I should PM eric first, and after reading my revisions, he decided to post them here himself.

agreeing with pretty much all beef said.

I asked Bass to write up some guidelines for new TOs, here is what he has done, edits in bold.

[CENTER][B][SIZE=3][SIZE=4]Mini-Tournament FAQ[/SIZE][/SIZE][/B]

[SIZE=3][SIZE=1]By Bass, Eric the Espeon and Tennisace0227[/SIZE][/SIZE][/CENTER]

 
 
 
 
 
Greetings to all patrons of Doug’s Create-a-Pokemon project, since eric needs help in writing a more comprehensive guide for our server’s age old favorite pastime that is Mini-Tournaments, with nearly fifteen of them under my belt, I would like to help out by answering some frequently asked questions about them.
 
[B]Guide for Tournament participants:[/B]
Q: What is a mini-tournament?
A: A mini-tournament is exactly what its name implies. It is a relatively small and casual tournament ranging from four to sixteen players. It isn’t like a traditional tournament on Smogon that lasts for a few weeks, but rather a short and simple tournament that lasts for usually fifteen to thirty minutes. It’s a long-standing tradition on Doug’s Create-a-Pokemon server that flourishes in part to the closeness and dedication of the Create-a-Pokemon community. 
 
Q: How do I enter a mini-tournament?
A: Simple. Wait for an approved TO to type in the main chat that they are starting a tournament. If you are in the middle of a battle, a mod or driver may assist the TO and wall (send a message to all users) that a tournament is about to start. If you plan on entering, simply give them a PM (Right click the TO’s name on the users list and select “Private Message”.) and tell them that you want to enter the tournament. If there are spots left, the TO should PM you a confirmation that you are in the tournament. Some TO's use a different method of signing up, they will say "Sign up in the main chat" if they say that you dont need to PM them, just send a message in the main chat saying you want to sign up.
 
Q: Wait, what’s a TO?
A: A TO is a tournament organizer. For more information on how to become one, see the second section of this guide.
 
Q: What are the rules?
A: The rules of a tournament are always up to the TO. However, if they do not state any rules, then, and I cannot emphasize this enough, [B]Always assume the rules are Standard/OU tier.[/B] 
 
Q: What are the standard rules?
A: Whenever you battle an opponent in a standard/OU tournament, make sure the following clauses are checked:
Evasion Clause: ON
Extended Game: OFF is better but does not matter.
Freeze Clause: ON is better but does not matter.
Item Clause: OFF
Level Balance: OFF
OHKO Clause: ON
Random Battle: OFF
Sleep Clause: ON
Species Clause: ON is better but does not matter.
Strict Damage Clause: OFF is better but it does not matter.
Timed Battle: ON, to ensure all battles are completed in a reasonable amount of time.
Self-KO Clause: (Not actually programmed into shoddy)
No Ubers (Refer to Smogon tier lists. “Limbo” is considered OU for the sake of simplicity).
In addition to these clauses, NO SCOUTING has become a mandatory rule. 
 
Q: What is scouting?
A: Scouting is when a player that is participating in the tournament is intentionally watching a battle between other players in the tournament in order to get an idea of what team they are using. This gives the “scouter” an unfair advantage since they would have an idea of what they would be going up against in later rounds. If you are caught in this act, you will be given a warning to leave the battle. If you do not heed it, you will be disqualified indefinitely. Note that if you have been eliminated or are not in the tourney, it is perfectly fine to watch any remaining battles in the tournament.
 
Q: Are you allowed to use the new Pokemon in the Mini Tournaments?
A: Of course. Its the CaP server so you may use them unless the rules for that Tourney do not permit it, an example would be a UU tourney, all CaP Pokemon are considered OU.
 
Q: What if I didn’t enter the tournament in time?
A: All you can do is wait for another tournament to start. Some TO’s might grant you permission to join as a sub so if a player does not show up for their match you can take their place. [I].[/I]
 
Q: Ok, so can you explain to me the structure of each tournament?
A: After enough people have entered, the TO will post random pairings for the first round. Once you know who your opponent is, it is your responsibility to communicate an with him or her IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE TO SAYS “BEGIN!” After each player battles their opponent, they must inform the TO of the result. Once all results are in, the losers are eliminated and the pairings for the next round are posted, this process repeats until one winner is left standing.
 
Q: Is there any prize for winning?
A: There is no real prize for winning a mini-tournament other than heightened fame and glory…for about five minutes, some TOs will send a /wall announcing your victory and your place on the leaderboard. (Tennisace0227 gives cookies to winners. However, he holds all the cookies in a secret underground base.) The whole purpose of a mini-tournament is to have fun. True glory, however, goes to the player that wins their final challenge.
 
Q: What’s a final challenge?
A: A final challenge is a final battle that the winner of the tournament must compete in. The opponent is usually the TO, though the TO is allowed to designate anyone he or she wants as the final challenge opponent. Winning nets you twice the glory, of course.
 
Q: I won a Tourney but my points have not been added...
A: This is a big problem if this has happened to you please talk to the TO who did the tourney and remind them to tell me. If you have done this (and waited a reasonable amount of time for them to send it and me to update) and your points have not been added contact me or one of the veteran TOs and we will talk to the TO involved.
 
Q: I cant win anything... what should I do?
A: Read some of Smogons guides, and play a lot until you get better. You could also sign up to the Smogon tutor/apprentice program, it can help a lot.
 
Q: The TO left in the middle of a tourney...
A: TOs should [B]NEVER[/B] leave without finishing the tourney unless they can find someone to take over the running of the tourney. Try to ask a different TO to run it, if none are around then the tourney is pretty much over... sorry.
 
Q: Is there a leaderboard?
A: Yes there is. Rankings on the leaderboard are determined by a point system. 1, 2, and 4 points are rewarded for winning four, eight, and sixteen player tournaments respectively. Final challenge wins are worth an additional bonus point and are separate from main tournament points. It is the TO’s responsibility to PM eric the espeon and keep the results up to date. If they forget, PM the TO remind them.
 
[B]Guide for Tournament Organizers (TOs):[/B]
 
Q: What is a TO?
A: A tournament organizer is a user approved by Doug’s Create-a-Pokemon administration to organize mini-tournaments. 
 
Q: Why should I become a TO?
A: Since Mini-Tournaments cannot begin without the presence of a TO, users of the CAP server will greatly appreciate it when you give up some of your time to host a tournament. You will grow more involved in the CAP server as a whole, and in turn, you will gain the respect of many users.
 
Q: How do I become a TO?
A: The process is relatively simple. PM eric the espeon or any Veteran TO (see the list below) (on Doug’s Server or Smogon) if you are interested in becoming a TO. You will probably become approved and added to the list as long as you have been somewhat active in mini-tournaments.
 
Q: YEAAAAAH! I AM A TO!! Uhh, wait, what do I do next?
A: Indeed, now that you are a TO, you are probably unsure of how to make the best use of your newly acquired privilege. Here are some additional rules/tips that TO’s should follow.[LIST]
[*]Before starting a tournament, always, and I mean always, STATE THE RULES. I have had several problems in the past where users were unclear about what the rules of the tournament were, and some battles had to be redone. Even if it’s a standard tourney, say it.
[*]Now look at what is going on in the server. How many people are on? Pay close attention and determine how big your tournament should be. Don’t try to start an eight-man tournament if only a few people are on, and never start a four-man tournament when a lot of people are on, or else you’ll have a lot of disappointing customers.
[*]Next, in CAPS (If you are an approved TO, the moderators won’t mind), type “PM ME TO JOIN (4, 8, or 16) MAN TOURNEY”, At the best case scenario, the required number of people will have read your message and immediately join. However, this is usually not the case. If you are having trouble at attracting participants, than you can ask a moderator or a driver to wall “PM (TO) to join tourney”, since walling will send your message to all users. Sometimes you will not be able to get enough people for the size of tourney you planed if so make it smaller and if you cant find 4 people its not a good time for an MT.
[*]Once you have enough people, you will need to create pairings. [B]DO NOT CLOSE YOUR PMs.[/B] Keeping PM tabs up helps you keep track of who is in the tournament. There are several pairing generators available, including Smogon made ones in the Tournament forum. If you cannot download them, then do your best to make the pairings on the top of your head. Try to avoid prejudice in your decisions.
[*]State the pairings in the Main Chat. Again in CAPS. (Anything you type in the main chat related to your tournament should be in CAPS). Then give the players the cue to start by saying “BEGIN!”
[*]At this point, sit tight and wait for the battles to finish. It is recommended that you watch each battle to see if everything is going smoothly. Make sure everyone PM’s you their results. If players don’t start their battles, remind them who their opponent is through PM. You can also highlight key battles in the main chat to attract spectators.
[*]If things aren’t working out, be assertive! Act tough! Remind the participants that you are the boss, but be sure to remain calm and act in your best judgment to resolve any disputes. Usually, you should disqualify any player that is caught breaking the rules. If someone leaves without having their battle give them about a minute to return (it may be connection problems). If you DQ someone try to find a sub to replace them, do not use people who were/are in the tourney as subs.
[*]Once the first round of battles is complete, verify the winners through your PM’s. Then state your next set of pairings, and repeat until a winner is decided.
[*]Now, as the TO, you must face the winner in the final challenge battle, following the same rules that your participants followed.
[*]Once the tournament is over, PM eric the espeon the results so the leaderboard gets updated. It is your responsibility to be honest about the results. Always include the following in your PM:[/LIST][LIST]
[*]Number of Players
[*]Main Tournament Winner
[*]Final Challenge Winner[/LIST]As you host more tournaments, memorizing this procedure should become second nature to you. But a few questions remain.
 
[B]Q: I am not a TO, can I start a tournament?
A: No.

Q: But I am not going to make the results official or anything...!
A: No buts. The purpose of the TO system is to ensure that only people who have demonstrated their maturity and responsibility on the Create-a-Pokemon server can organize a tournament. If you really think that you are qualified to organize a tournament, than apply to become a TO yourself.[/B]

Q: Can I host a tournament while another one is going on?
A: While there is no rule that prevents you from doing so, it is common courtesy to wait your turn before starting a tournament. It makes it easier for the TO that is running the tournament in progress to keep track of results, as well as give more opportunities for people to participate again.
 
Q: Do TO’s have a leaderboard?
A: Yes, their ranking is based on final challenge wins (1 point per win or loss, your wins – losses determines your overall ranking).
 
Q: Hey, you said TO’s can make the rules, to what extent?
A: Any. You can make UU tournaments, Uber tournaments, tag team tournaments (see below), even Random Tournaments! Get creative! Users will like it when you give them the opportunity to participate in several types of tournaments[B], [/B]however it is harder to get people to sign up for a tourney if they have to make a new team so things like "mono NFE" or "mono starter" will be hard to do.
 
Q: What is a Tag-team tournament?
A: Here’s a brief guide:[LIST]
[*]To enter, each player must form a team with another player and inform the TO the name of their team-mate to enter.
[*]The tourney size is four teams, two people per team, making eight players total.
[*]Next, one member of each team is assigned as "captain". When the TO states the pairings, they will pair them by teams. The pairings will address them as "team captain" to keep organization simple.
[*]Once pairings are decided, the players decide amongst themselves who from each team they will face. In order to advance, a team must get two wins. (One player on each team battling the other). If there is a tie in the number of wins, a sudden death battle between the winning players on each team will decide which team advances to the next round.
[*]The team that wins must decide which player goes on to the final challenge. Only one player participates.
[*]Points won are shared between players on the winning team (For a 8 player tourney each player would get 1 point).[/LIST]Q: What are the different classes of TO?
A: New is for TOs who have not done many Mini Tournaments and don't know that much about how to do them.
Semi-Experienced is for those who have done a few Mini Tournaments and generally know what do do.
Veteran is for TOs who know very well what to do, they have been active in discussing Mini Tournaments, are often good battlers and have participated in and organized many Mini Tournaments, Veteran TOs will be able to approve new TOs.

[B]Q: I am a veteran TO, and someone is asking me to be a TO, what should I do?
A: Approve him if you know that he or she has been active in Mini-Tournaments and is capable of running tournaments of their own. If you are not sure, you can always refer to the scoreboard and get a good idea of how much they have participated. Once you approve them, you can PM eric the espeon any TO's that you have appointed so he can update the list. [/B]
 
Q: I have heard a rumor about an upcoming "Mini Tournament bot", is this true?
A: Yes. There is a possibility that DougJustDoug will program a Mini Tournament bot for the CaP server, but please do not pester him about it.
 
Q: I have read your guide, but still have questions, what should I do?
A: If you are on the server, ask the resident TO for some advice. He or she should usually be able to help you.
 
Hopefully, this guide answers some, if not all of your questions regarding mini-tournaments.

my reply was:
Its not exactly what I had in mind for guidelines, I was thinking of having a test tourney where the new TO did an MT with the veteran TO watching to see if they did it right, the bit about non-TOs doing tourneys is fine though.

I will try to make the relevant changes today.

I think that's a good idea, actually. It would be the perfect way for users to get an idea if one is capable of running a tourney, and we already have some examples of this working (Such as IggyBot's case.)

Knowing your opponents team is far more than a "small" advantage, it's gamebreaking. You know what your opponent is most likely going to switch to in certain situations, and that makes deciding your move far easier. It also allows you plan out what you need to do more easily, since if I know my opponents team, I can think to myself and say "If I get Stealth Rocks up early, and bait Zapdos with X pokemon, Gyarados can easily Dragon Dance and sweep". That is a huge advantage.

As for the FC to be challenging, I agree that it should be. However, it should not be unfair, or biased in one players direction. That's like implementing a rule that you must use at least 4 UU pokemon while the TO is allowed 2 ubers.



The TO doesn't have to watch the battle in detail, they can simply glance once in a while to see sets, and run their cursor over the players pokemon to see what they are.

Using a different team will also put some players at a disadvantage, as not every player has 2-3 top tier teams they're willing to use in a battle that actually counts on the leaderboard.

There is no question that being able to see someone else's team gives the "scouter" an advantage should they end up battling the said person. Unfortunately, as eric said, it is necessary to spectate every match to ensure that the results for the main tournament are accurate. There have been quite a few times where I have seen players lie about the results to unfairly advance to the next round. This also allows you to make sure the players are following the rules. I have some alternatives to scouting if you wish not to...

1) Use an alternative team for the final challenge. Pretty simple idea, this nullifies the advantage the TO has gained from scouting. However, if you do not have a team you think would be worth using for the FC, then...

2) Have someone that isn't in the tournament scout the matches for you. Some mods will be more than happy to help you with this so you don't have to fill guilty during the final challenge. We could also try Doug's suggestion and appoint "scouts" or "refs" that have a separate job of reporting the correct results to the TO.

However, these conditions aren't always going to be fulfilled, and ensuring the fairness of the main tournament is always a bigger priority than the final challenge. The final challenge has little weight on leaderboard rankings, plus even with scouting, most TO's never win every single final challenge.

 

[eric the espeon]

Knowing your opponents team is far more than a "small" advantage, it's gamebreaking. You know what your opponent is most likely going to switch to in certain situations, and that makes deciding your move far easier. It also allows you plan out what you need to do more easily, since if I know my opponents team, I can think to myself and say "If I get Stealth Rocks up early, and bait Zapdos with X pokemon, Gyarados can easily Dragon Dance and sweep". That is a huge advantage.

The thing is that almost all of the time a TO does not watch the battles with that level of detail or try to memorise both players teams, I for one watch the main chat much more.

As for the FC to be challenging, I agree that it should be. However, it should not be unfair, or biased in one players direction. That's like implementing a rule that you must use at least 4 UU pokemon while the TO is allowed 2 ubers.

I think you are MASSIVELY overestamateing the advantage here, seeing the opponents team (and probably remembering 2 maybe 3 pokes) does not actually weaken their team, it does give you a, quite small, tactical advantage but unless the TO actively takes notes on the battlers it should not have a massive affect.

The TO doesn't have to watch the battle in detail, they can simply glance once in a while to see sets, and run their cursor over the players pokemon to see what they are.

but they would have to memorize them, I know that I will not memorize that much of a team from playing against it, let alone glancing in.

Using a different team will also put some players at a disadvantage, as not every player has 2-3 top tier teams they're willing to use in a battle that actually counts on the leaderboard.

Maybe but I would expect that most players who reach the FC would have at least 2 teams that work reasonably well.

And if you don't have a second team, don't want the TO to have any advantage you can always ask them not to watch your match.

I think that's a good idea, actually. It would be the perfect way for users to get an idea if one is capable of running a tourney, and we already have some examples of this working (Such as IggyBot's case.)

Ok Bass, I will get round to adding that asap.

 

[eric the espeon]

I will PM this to the veteran TOs when I get a few comments on it.
also maybe I will make a few more people veteran TOs sometime...

As a Veteran TO you probably have many people asking you "how do i become a TO" in the past all requests have been directed to me, but no longer! Now you have the power to approve new TOs so here are the guidelines for who to let in:

Guidelines for approving new TOs

by eric the espeon
​

First when someone asks you to approve them have a think about if they are total noobs (not every TO must be a great battler but they should show some level of competence) next ask them how many MTs they have been in (if they don't know what a MT is give them a link to the FAQ and tell them to read through it before asking to become one) if they say they have been in a decent number (at very least 3, preferably >5, if they have not tell them to participate in a few more) then ask them if they have read the FAQ, if they have not tell them to read it and give them a link.

Once you have been through all of that tell them that they must organize a tourney (4 player is best really) with you watching to see how well they do, if there is another tourney going on or something else so that it can't happen now then they will have to wait, DON'T approve them until you have seen them do at least one tourney.
If they make a few smallish mistakes in organizing the tourney its not too bad, just tell them what they have done wrong and see if they listen, but if they make big mistakes and the whole thing is a mess try to let them down gently no "LOL that was so crap, no way are you a TO" tell them that they will have to wait a while before reapplying for TOship and explain what they need to improve.
If they do well then congratulate them and PM me their name and I will add it as soon as I can.

Comments?

Guidelines for promoting TOs (to semi-experienced, gotta think of a better name for them though) will be done sometime.

Edit: I have added and changed stuff in the sticky, have a look.

 

[Bass]

I will PM this to the veteran TOs when I get a few comments on it.
also maybe I will make a few more people veteran TOs sometime...

As a Veteran TO you probably have many people asking you "how do i become a TO" in the past all requests have been directed to me, but no longer! Now you have the power to approve new TOs so here are the guidelines for who to let in:

Guidelines for approving new TOs

by eric the espeon
​

First when someone asks you to approve them have a think about if they are total noobs (not every TO must be a great battler but they should show some level of competence) next ask them how many MTs they have been in (if they don't know what a MT is give them a link to the FAQ and tell them to read through it before asking to become one) if they say they have been in a decent number (at very least 3, preferably >5, if they have not tell them to participate in a few more) then ask them if they have read the FAQ, if they have not tell them to read it and give them a link.

Once you have been through all of that tell them that they must organize a tourney (4 player is best really) with you watching to see how well they do, if there is another tourney going on or something else so that it can't happen now then they will have to wait, DON'T approve them until you have seen them do at least one tourney.
If they make a few smallish mistakes in organizing the tourney its not too bad, just tell them what they have done wrong and see if they listen, but if they make big mistakes and the whole thing is a mess try to let them down gently no "LOL that was so crap, no way are you a TO" tell them that they will have to wait a while before reapplying for TOship and explain what they need to improve.
If they do well then congratulate them and PM me their name and I will add it as soon as I can.

Comments?

Guidelines for promoting TOs (to semi-experienced, gotta think of a better name for them though) will be done sometime.

Edit: I have added and changed stuff in the sticky, have a look.

Again, I think these are good guidelines. I would make the language a bit more formal, but that's just me. I am sure this change will ensure that more TO's in the future will know what they are doing.

Also, as of late, I have seen several users break rules or completely mess up a tournament, so now that we have established guidelines for New TO's, I think it is time that we add this to the original FAQ:

Punishment FAQ

When it is all said and done, a successfully organized mini-tournament brings a lot of fun and a sense of community to users of the CAP server. Thus, maintaining the integrity of tournaments is a high priority, so please read the following:

Q: What kind of things should I avoid doing when participating and/or hosting a tournament?
A: To recap, here's a list of behaviors that will not be tolerated during the event of a mini-tournament.

For Participants:

• Harassing, insulting, or threatening other users, including fellow tournament participants, the TO, or spectators.
• Intentionally breaking the TO's rules (ie. Use Ubers in an OU tournament).
• Not showing up for your match or dropping out of the tournament. (Unless it is an emergency)
• Asking the TO to join the tournament when they know it is full.
• Changing your name in the middle of a tournament.
• "Scouting" another participant's battle.
• Attempting to host a tournament if you are not a TO.
• Intentionally sending the TO false results (and any other form of cheating).

For Tournament Organizers:

• Leaving in the middle of your own tournament. (Unless it is an emergency)
• Harassing, insulting, or threatening other users, including tournament participants, or spectators.
• Forgetting or refusing to PM eric the espeon the results of your tournament.
• Attempting to falsify tournament results (And your leaderboard placement).
• Knowingly start another tournament while another one is going on.
• Fighting an unfair battle against your final challenge opponent (ie using Ubers against OU).

Q: What are the consequences?
A: Your punishment will depend on the severity of your offense. For smaller thing such as leaving or scouting, you will be given a warning and possibly tournament disqualification. However, if you have committed multiple of the above offenses or have done some very despicable things (like cheating), then you will temporarily or even permanently lose your privilege of participating (or hosting if you are a TO) a tournament.

Q: I am a tournament organizer, how can I prevent people from cheating?
A: Indeed, cheating is probably the worst of all things one can do in a tournament. It essentially destroys the purpose of not just the leaderboard but also the values we hold dear on this server. So, as a TO, the best thing you can do to prevent cheating is watching your participants' battles. Through this, you can always be certain that the results will be 100% accurate and you will catch people if they attempt to lie about them. However, some may opt not to watch every single battle due to scouting reasons (for the final challenge).

Q: I am a participant, and my opponent CLEARLY cheated, but the TO did not witness it. What should I do?
A: PM the tournament organizer. If you believe your opponent has cheated, don't bother PMing the TO unless you have some solid evidence to back it up. Battle logs, spectator accounts, and several other things will be useful. Attempting to falsely accuse someone of cheating, however, is in fact a form of cheating itself and will immediately bar you from participating in tournaments ever again, so don't do it.

Q: I think <User> should be banned from participating in/organizing tournaments.
A: What you are asking for is the severest of all punishments. You should PM eric the espeon why you believe said user should be banned. Again, like above, you must provide specific evidence showing that the user in question has committed enough of the above offenses to warrant a ban. Saying things like "yO eric, ban dis dude, he's a (BAN ME PLEASE)!" is not only not enough but may result in yourself being banned, so please be sure that your accusations are valid.

Here is the list of banned tournament users, modeled after smogon's:

The following users are banned from participating in tournaments:
<User> (State reasons here)

The following users are banned from starting tournaments:
<User> (State reasons here)

What do you guys think?

 

[eric the espeon]

Nice I have added it to the sticky (with a few smallish changes) the one thing I am not too sure about is the name... "Punishment FAQ" sounds a bit threatening, maybe something like "What not to do" would fit better?

 

[IggyBot]

The thing is that almost all of the time a TO does not watch the battles with that level of detail or try to memorise both players teams, I for one watch the main chat much more.

You don't have to watch in detail, simply scan once in a while, or run your mouse cursor over the players pokeballs after the battle.

I think you are MASSIVELY overestamateing the advantage here, seeing the opponents team (and probably remembering 2 maybe 3 pokes) does not actually weaken their team, it does give you a, quite small, tactical advantage but unless the TO actively takes notes on the battlers it should not have a massive affect.

I obviously exaggerated, but it is a huge advantage. It completely changes your battle strategy. You're assuming that TO's will only remember a few pokemon, when in reality, it is not hard to quickly scan and see the whole team, or just leave the battle open to view the log if needed. Taking notes is not needed to know an opponents team. In fact, you only need to know a few key pokemon, as I explained before.

but they would have to memorize them, I know that I will not memorize that much of a team from playing against it, let alone glancing in.

Like I said, fully memorizing your opponents team isn't nessecary at all.

Maybe but I would expect that most players who reach the FC would have at least 2 teams that work reasonably well.

And if you don't have a second team, don't want the TO to have any advantage you can always ask them not to watch your match.

You can't automatically assume that everyone has multiple teams they feel comfortable using. And why should you have to ask the TO to leave, when they shouldn't be able to watch your match in the first place?

 

[Bass]

Here's something I forgot to add to the list of things not do do....

• If you are spectating, please do not give advice to either of the players.

 

[tennisace]

cheering is allowed, advice is not.

 

[eric the espeon]

right adding.

how do you put the dot thingys in? I know how to make more of them but they don't copy/paste.

On another note the number of views for the sticky has almost caught up with the workshop, another 52 to go.

 

[Bass]

Here's something that has concerned me... Even though most people have passed the test, they have often failed to send eric the results because they did not have a smogon account...

Thus, I think it should be a requirement for all TO's to have a smogon account for now on.

 

[tennisace]

except for aki.
he's been banned

 

[eric the espeon]

I agree this is a big problem, from now on do not approve anyone unless they have a Smogon account.

Also I have heard a few people saying that the veteran TO left during their test MT. iirc it was Hybrid, but if it was one of you please don't let someone start a test if you will not be able to stay and watch it.

PMing Hybrid this stuff, btw his Smogon account is ss4_hybrid.

 

[tennisace]

i left during a test and had bass cover for me because i had to eat lunch, but earlier i forget who had me cover a couple tests

 

[eric the espeon]

For now Lv. 78 Kyorge/Groudon are allowed in OU Mini Tourneys to help with the auto weather in OU test. If you disagree please post here.

 

[DougJustDoug]

Now that we are formalizing testing teams, Groudon and Kyogre should be banned from MT's. All weather testing will be done between testing teams, not in general server play.

 

[eric the espeon]

Mmm that was my feeling now, I posted this a bit late really.
I changed the rules so they were allowed a while ago.
yea I will change that I think.

 

[eric the espeon]

Right this intro is very outdated:
I have been doing Mini Tourneys for quite some time (long before the CAP server was up) but in a disorganized way, one at a time with the rules changing every time. DougJustDoug has asked me to serve as the Tournament Director for the CAP server, and I wanted to write down the rules for doing Mini-Tourneys so that other people can do them. I have also made a leader board of Tourney Victorys so we know how who wins a lot as well as how many tourneys are played.

it dates back to a time when 90% of MT were done by me, so we need something quickish to describe the scoreboard and Mini Tourneys at the start, any ideas?

 

[Bass]

Right this intro is very outdated:
I have been doing Mini Tourneys for quite some time (long before the CAP server was up) but in a disorganized way, one at a time with the rules changing every time. DougJustDoug has asked me to serve as the Tournament Director for the CAP server, and I wanted to write down the rules for doing Mini-Tourneys so that other people can do them. I have also made a leader board of Tourney Victorys so we know how who wins a lot as well as how many tourneys are played.

it dates back to a time when 90% of MT were done by me, so we need something quickish to describe the scoreboard and Mini Tourneys at the start, any ideas?

Welcome to the Create-A-Pokemon server! If you have been lurking on the server for quite some time, you may run into a "mini-tournament" sooner or later. If you would wish to learn more about mini-tournaments, please read the post below.

The purpose of this scoreboard is to determine not only the relative skill level of players on this server with respect to one another (akin to the ladder ratings on the official server) but also determine how much each person participates in battles on this server. We like to establish a sense of community in the Create-A-Pokemon project and encourage everyone to participate in mini-tournaments.

Also, another issue that has recently been brought up to me by tennisace0227 is appointing new TO's. Lately, we have dealt with A LOT of people asking us to become TO's and take the test, and as a result, we have come to question as to whether we have enough TO's already. Just like smogon's apprenticeship program, there were far too many people applying to become tutors, so applications are now closed. While I am not exactly sure what exact amount of TOs is enough, I think that we are at the point where there generally is a TO online when users want to play in a mini-tournament, so for now, we should temporarily close TO applications at this time. Really, it seems more people want to be a TO than we actually need, and as Beef argued in an earlier post, simply making everyone who wants to be a TO a TO defeats the purpose of making "TO" a status. Thoughts?

 

[eric the espeon]

Welcome to the Create-A-Pokemon server! If you have been on the server for some time, you may have run into a "mini-tournament". If you would wish to learn more about mini-tournaments, please read the posts below.

The purpose of this scoreboard is to determine not only the relative skill level of players on this server with respect to one another (akin to the ladder ratings on the official server) but also determine how much each person participates in battles on this server. We like to establish a sense of community in the Create-A-Pokemon project and encourage everyone to participate in mini-tournaments.

mmm much better than my original one, I have made a few changes.

Also, another issue that has recently been brought up to me by tennisace0227 is appointing new TO's. Lately, we have dealt with A LOT of people asking us to become TO's and take the test, and as a result, we have come to question as to whether we have enough TO's already. Just like smogon's apprenticeship program, there were far too many people applying to become tutors, so applications are now closed. While I am not exactly sure what exact amount of TOs is enough, I think that we are at the point where there generally is a TO online when users want to play in a mini-tournament, so for now, we should temporarily close TO applications at this time. Really, it seems more people want to be a TO than we actually need, and as Beef argued in an earlier post, simply making everyone who wants to be a TO a TO defeats the purpose of making "TO" a status. Thoughts?

right... well my opinion is that if someone wants to organize a MT and they have the skill to do so they should have a chance to do so. If there is always a TO who is ready to organize a tourney online then we have enough TOs, otherwise why not get more (so long as they are good at it)?
Maybe we could be more selective from now on and only take the best, or only let people who we know are active and compident (how do you spell it? My spellcheck is not picking it up...) take the test, and tell all others they will have to wait till a later date.

Oh and Captain is now a Veteran TO.

 

[Bass]

mmm much better than my original one, I have made a few changes.




right... well my opinion is that if someone wants to organize a MT and they have the skill to do so they should have a chance to do so. If there is always a TO who is ready to organize a tourney online then we have enough TOs, otherwise why not get more (so long as they are good at it)?
Maybe we could be more selective from now on and only take the best, or only let people who we know are active and compident (how do you spell it? My spellcheck is not picking it up...) take the test, and tell all others they will have to wait till a later date.

Oh and Captain is now a Veteran TO.

My only problem with this is being selective when we pick. Yes, it is true some people do a little bit better than others, but you won't know if someone is a great TO until you have watched them organize many tournaments.

 

[eric the espeon]

My only problem with this is being selective when we pick. Yes, it is true some people do a little bit better than others, but you won't know if someone is a great TO until you have watched them organize many tournaments.

True but you can often pick out those who will do poorly, or at least not very well.
Also those who are very active participants tend to be better TOs.

 

[tennisace]

The problem is is that the quality of people applying has gone down the tube. I've started flat out rejecting people because they're trolls/n00bs. I have let in one more person who is an admin on Captain's Server in the meantime because he's compitant. I have no problem with competant battlers, I do have a problem with letting in n00bs. We should also revise the current list and remove some people, as some tournaments I have seen on the server aren't as good as they should have been. We should either stop applications completely, or tighten the standards a lot.

 

[eric the espeon]

The problem is is that the quality of people applying has gone down the tube. I've started flat out rejecting people because they're trolls/n00bs. I have let in one more person who is an admin on Captain's Server in the meantime because he's compitant. I have no problem with competant battlers, I do have a problem with letting in n00bs. We should also revise the current list and remove some people, as some tournaments I have seen on the server aren't as good as they should have been. We should either stop applications completely, or tighten the standards a lot.

I don't want to block all applications. Thats not a good idea IMO.
Tightening standers is a much better option IMO, we should also have a complaints system so people can bad TOs warned or fired.

I would also like to establish a "middle tier" between Veteran and normal TOs for established TOs who are not exactly Veteran.


Another thing, Should the winner of the CaP tourney get MT points? My feeling is no as they would get a ridiculous amount of points (16 or 32) however if those points were shared between the top 4 or so it could be an option. Also it is not really a "Mini" Tourney.