Smogon Tour - Season 8

[Lunar Solstice]

Sunday's time is a horrible time for me =/. Don't expect to win but it'll be fun. Why can't Sunday and Saturday switched times? >_>

 

[Eternal]

Okay making it so you can only sign up once a week isn't going to stop signups from filling up quickly. If we're looking to make it so you don't have to sit there hitting refresh for a minute then this definitely isn't the solution. I'm sure someone can come up with something better.

Or we can just leave things the way they are since I don't really see a problem. The players that really want to get in get in, sorry if spamming refresh for a minute so you can play an hour long tourney seems like too much of a price to pay.

If you're asking everyone to spam refresh then the only people that may make it would be those that were the fastest with the fastest internet connection (because slow connections effect refresh rates). Mostly those that are lucky would make it. While many others would be pissed that they cannot participate because of their internet speed, or bad luck not posting "in" fast enough.

I don't what's the best solution to this. But, You can have two seperate tournaments. Since the tournament ends with 64 players. The other 32~64 participants can participate in another tournament. Since two tournaments are going on at the same time. It won't exceed the estimated time for a 64 player tournament to end.

This won't create confusion if there are two Moderators, each hosting one tournament.

 

[Invictus]

Sweet, great timings for me as well.

 

[Rudy]

Yes I will actually be able to compete in a ST :D

 

[locopoke]

If you're asking everyone to spam refresh then the only people that may make it would be those that were the fastest with the fastest internet connection (because slow connections effect refresh rates). Mostly those that are lucky would make it. While many others would be pissed that they cannot participate because of their internet speed, or bad luck not posting "in" fast enough.

I don't what's the best solution to this. But, You can have two seperate tournaments. Since the tournament ends with 64 players. The other 32~64 participants can participate in another tournament. Since two tournaments are going on at the same time. It won't exceed the estimated time for a 64 player tournament to end.

This won't create confusion if there are two Moderators, each hosting one tournament.

The only thing I have to say about the issue of having slow internet is: tough luck. If some people won't be able to participate because of a bad internet connection or because they don't want to spam refresh for a minute, then too bad. You can please some of the people some of the time, but you can`t please all the people all of the time. That's the way life is. I think we should keep the tour's how they are.

 

[lilyhollow]

There's no reason to keep things the way they are unless you think "browser refreshing speed," "internet connection speed," and "# of free weekend days" are valid Pokemon skills (or interesting skills to test in any competitive game, for that matter). Allowing players to participate in only one tour per week evens the playing field by rewarding players who "get more rolls of the dice" (are able to consistently participate in back-to-back tours) a lot less, and somewhat alleviates the "refreshing for a minute straight" issue; it might not fix the problem entirely, but it's obviously better than what we're doing right now (to all unbiased parties anyway).

 

[Itsuki]

I've wanted to join one.

Should be fun.

 

[Morty]

all right im gonna prove that my win of a uu Tourney in the last tour was no fluke ;). I only played in one last time and won, so I'm exited to actually take this one seriously!

 

[matty]

If you're asking everyone to spam refresh then the only people that may make it would be those that were the fastest with the fastest internet connection (because slow connections effect refresh rates). Mostly those that are lucky would make it. While many others would be pissed that they cannot participate because of their internet speed, or bad luck not posting "in" fast enough.

I don't what's the best solution to this. But, You can have two seperate tournaments. Since the tournament ends with 64 players. The other 32~64 participants can participate in another tournament. Since two tournaments are going on at the same time. It won't exceed the estimated time for a 64 player tournament to end.

This won't create confusion if there are two Moderators, each hosting one tournament.

The problem then becomes that you need 96~128 people playing in the tournaments. Add onto that that two different tourneys run at the same time is gonna be quiet chaotic. Me personally as a host would hate to be walling with someone else there. It's just gonna get cluttered.

The way we have it right now is no better (I agree), but it has been working well for the last 8 times. Sure some people aren't going to get in for sure, but that is just the odds of it. 75 people to 64 spots is gonna create competition. Unless someone comes up with a solid idea, I'm not convinced it will get changed anytime soon :\

 

[kuja20]

Then maybe have the two tours one after the other, the first 64 get to stay in the first tour, then the people who posted late would have to wait until after the first tour is done. That way it should keep both the fast 64 and the slow 32/64 happy. This is just a suggestion but hey, it could work.

 

[WarriorPrince]

Can I sign up.

IF so....... where??

 

[Olie]

there will be a sign up thread posted at 8pm EST on Saturday and 2pm EST on Sundays. They fill quickly though (there have been tours fill up in 1 minute), so be prompt.

 

[Golden16]

how do we qualify? and do we need pokemon in all tiers?

 

[Olie]

it alternates between weeks. One week is OU, then UU then Ubers. You don't really need anything to "qualify", but you should probably practise a bit and make sure you sign up on time.

 

[Justinawe]

All you need to do to qualify is post as soon as the thread is made. They're will be UU, Uber, and OU tourney's depending on the week.

I would like to participate but I am going to have to find some way to get on Shoddy lol...

 

[Metal Gods]

Awesome I can't wait school ends tomorrow for me.

 

[Eternal]

The problem then becomes that you need 96~128 people playing in the tournaments. Add onto that that two different tourneys run at the same time is gonna be quiet chaotic. Me personally as a host would hate to be walling with someone else there. It's just gonna get cluttered.

The way we have it right now is no better (I agree), but it has been working well for the last 8 times. Sure some people aren't going to get in for sure, but that is just the odds of it. 75 people to 64 spots is gonna create competition. Unless someone comes up with a solid idea, I'm not convinced it will get changed anytime soon :\

I have another suggestion.

Whoever makes it in the tournament shouldn't be the people that typed "in" the fastest. That doesn't make sense at all. Its about Pokemon battling, not having a fast internet type tournament. So what can you do?

Simply give exactly 2 minutes for everyone to sign up. And when those 2 minutes are up, you close the sign up thread. Everyone else that failed to post "in" will not battle (since 2 mins is more than enough time for anyone to post "in"). If it exceeds 64 players, then you do NOT eliminate the players that we're the latest to post "in". You have all participants that posted "in" in a random match maker. The first 32 match ups the random match maker creates will be the qualifying match ups.

This should resolve the issue between those that are always one minute late to sign up and don't make it. I really don't have a problem with time, as I spam refresh and almost always make it in time. But, lets face it. Those people like me who always make it in these tournaments always spam refresh the fastest and make it. And so they're not going to complain on changing the method. While I'm posting this to give everyone a good chance, not the people that post "in" the fastest.

 

[alive]

i kind of disagree with that because there is a chance that someone could only be able to play once or twice throughout the entire tourny where as another player could play in almost every tourny even if they posted at the same time as the first player. the first come, first serve signups are at least something definate the people have a goal of sorts to achieve.

 

[Eternal]

i kind of disagree with that because there is a chance that someone could only be able to play once or twice throughout the entire tourny where as another player could play in almost every tourny even if they posted at the same time as the first player. the first come, first serve signups are at least something definate the people have a goal of sorts to achieve.

The definition of first come first serve is mocked upon when many factors contribute to signing up effects the speed of your post.

"there is a chance that someone could only be able to play once or twice throughout the entire tourny where as another player could play in almost every tourny even if they posted at the same time as the first player"

And there is a chance someone can NEVER be able to participate. And because of this I know that a huge number of people don't participate these tournaments at all. What is the point of trying to get in the Top 8 if you're not having a chance to stack up points by playing in all tournaments. When someone who does less decent then you is at a higher position because he is able to participate in every tournament.

Also, the above quote: "there is a chance that someone could only be able to play once or twice throughout the entire tourny where as another player could play in almost every tourny even if they posted at the same time as the first player." Compare my method to the current method. Everyone has an equal amount of chance to participate with my method. While only the fastest posters have the chance to participate in the current method. You think some people would have a lower chance in participating through my method than the current method?

 

[matty]

I have another suggestion.

Whoever makes it in the tournament shouldn't be the people that typed "in" the fastest. That doesn't make sense at all. Its about Pokemon battling, not having a fast internet type tournament. So what can you do?

Simply give exactly 2 minutes for everyone to sign up. And when those 2 minutes are up, you close the sign up thread. Everyone else that failed to post "in" will not battle (since 2 mins is more than enough time for anyone to post "in"). If it exceeds 64 players, then you do NOT eliminate the players that we're the latest to post "in". You have all participants that posted "in" in a random match maker. The first 32 match ups the random match maker creates will be the qualifying match ups.

This should resolve the issue between those that are always one minute late to sign up and don't make it. I really don't have a problem with time, as I spam refresh and almost always make it in time. But, lets face it. Those people like me who always make it in these tournaments always spam refresh the fastest and make it. And so they're not going to complain on changing the method. While I'm posting this to give everyone a good chance, not the people that post "in" the fastest.

I like this idea actually, but I'm sure many might point out that you could conceivably miss an entire tourney weekend to bad luck. Say you post 1st on both Saturday and Sunday. You are put into the lottery and both days you don't get to play. Then what? I guess your shit out of luck without a paddle. It doesn't seem totally fair to me.

Don't get me wrong, I actually like this suggestion and I think it has potential, but it still has flaws. If you could combine this with only playing in one tourney a weekend, then you give a fairer chance to everybody, but keeping track of that could be difficult as many others have pointed out.

Honestly, I don't have any say in the matter. Aeolus may or may not respond and he has the final word on this.

EDIT: Read your 2nd post; ya so basically you grasp the cons of the solution.

 

[Eternal]

I like this idea actually, but I'm sure many might point out that you could conceivably miss an entire tourney weekend to bad luck. Say you post 1st on both Saturday and Sunday. You are put into the lottery and both days you don't get to play. Then what? I guess your shit out of luck without a paddle. It doesn't seem totally fair to me.

Don't get me wrong, I actually like this suggestion and I think it has potential, but it still has flaws. If you could combine this with only playing in one tourney a weekend, then you give a fairer chance to everybody, but keeping track of that could be difficult as many others have pointed out.

Honestly, I don't have any say in the matter. Aeolus may or may not respond and he has the final word on this.

EDIT: Read your 2nd post; ya so basically you grasp the cons of the solution.

Yes, I am aware of that. But as you can see, everyone has the same amount of chance in participating. For example, lets say there were 80 participants that posted "in" in the two minute span. Only 16 players will be eliminated from that amount. So you have an 80% (64/80) chance of playing. Lets say you were the unlucky 20%. Try again the next day. Lets say the next day there were 100 participants in the two minute span. You have a 64% (64/100) of participating, or you'll be the unlucky 36%. If you were unable to participate on both days, then your luck would be in the 7.2 percentile (0.2 x 0.36). This is almost the same chance of getting a Critical Hit on your first attack. The game has a substantial amount of luck, and we all need to learn to concieve it.

 

[TONY MONTANA]

Can't wait, my first tour :O

 

[Wobby]

I tried and tried to get into one of these in the past, but after 20 seconds all the spots are filled =O. It's almost as if I open the link and 120 people are already pressing post!

It'll be my challenge to try and beat Loki in the posting (for the past tour I've always seen him post first!)

 

[Aeolus]

I have another suggestion.

Whoever makes it in the tournament shouldn't be the people that typed "in" the fastest. That doesn't make sense at all. Its about Pokemon battling, not having a fast internet type tournament. So what can you do?

Simply give exactly 2 minutes for everyone to sign up. And when those 2 minutes are up, you close the sign up thread. Everyone else that failed to post "in" will not battle (since 2 mins is more than enough time for anyone to post "in"). If it exceeds 64 players, then you do NOT eliminate the players that we're the latest to post "in". You have all participants that posted "in" in a random match maker. The first 32 match ups the random match maker creates will be the qualifying match ups.

This should resolve the issue between those that are always one minute late to sign up and don't make it. I really don't have a problem with time, as I spam refresh and almost always make it in time. But, lets face it. Those people like me who always make it in these tournaments always spam refresh the fastest and make it. And so they're not going to complain on changing the method. While I'm posting this to give everyone a good chance, not the people that post "in" the fastest.

I'm don't want to institute a policy that could randomly exclude a single player from ever playing in the Smogon Tour despite them always posting in a timely fashion. At least the way we do it now rewards people who are willing to pay attention and put in the effort to hit "refresh". I'm sorry if you have dial-up... join the 21st century.

Look guys, there is not a great way to fix this problem. I'm not willing to run parallel tournaments... that would be chaos. I'm not willing to expand beyond 64 users per tournament... each one would take forever.

We are going to try limiting players to one tour per week (either Saturday or Sunday) for the first three weeks. If that doesn't fix the problem, then we'll have to explore other options. To put it bluntly, nothing I can do will satisfy everyone... so please don't bitch at me for doing the best we can.

 

[Shiv]

lets do 128! or even 96!

before you say its not gonna happen, thats what everyone had initially said about 64, but that worked out great!

it'll be a whole lot of fun to do something like that imo!