Despite some... Oddly aggressive posts? The BW Moderation Team is paying close attention to the support of and discussions on BW Monotype and BW DOU. I'll do my best to discuss the format for this year and our plans going forward:
1x BW OU Bo3
2x BW OU
BW Ubers
BW UU
BW RU
BW NU
BW PU
BW ZU
BW LC
130k Credits
The format of BWPL has been successful for several years now, so the only change we'll be making right now is the inclusion of one Bo3 slot following the popularity of it in ROAPL. We are aware that this format will not include Monotype and DOU, but I hope our outline for the future can assuage concerns that we are simply ignoring a pretty notable outpouring of support.
Firstly, we believe that it's important for a tier to have a historic presence on the forum in some capacity, as after all, BWPL is meant to represent the BW community. Monotype and DOU having virtually zero presence is an issue we'd like to fix by introducing tours to establish that connection and build that playerbase. We think that "BW Monotype Open I" (subject to name change after complaints) is a great way to create continuity between our two communities and create a precedent for Monotype within BW, rather than a "Honey Pot" conspiracy. Eragon, the DOU community, and myself have also discussed the natural divide between singles and doubles, and have floated possible tournaments involving it.
This segues me into my second point, which is the possibility of a BW Lower Tiers PL akin to ADVLTL or ORAS Underground. We wouldn't be able to fit the tour in this year, but with the clear support displayed in this thread, we can plan to fit in a team tour with these formats for next year.
Finally, we think that the current format of lower tiers individually maintaining threads on both the BW Forum and their own forums has been a complete mess, resulting in many dead and outdated threads. We would like to have a much more organized and accessible Lower Tiers Hub, in line with ADV's:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/adv-lower-tiers-hub.3687816/
I very much appreciate those
civally discussing the formats for BWPL V and the feedback they've provided me. I hope that this is a sufficient plan of action for everyone.
(The tour will also be moved up a week, Manager Signups go up Aug 10th)