With the issues with non completion of battles in tournaments recently, I thought I would just go to the extra-patronising length of making a step by step guide covering the etiquette of arranging tournament battles. Since this has never really been set in stone before I got to base it on what I do.
If you have done all of this, then you have really made the best case possible for avoiding disqualification should you and your opponent fail to complete your battle. But really, that should be irrelevant as you should have no problem getting them done.
Have a nice day.
- Send your opponent a PM as soon as you see your pairing.
- If your opponent has not sent you a PM already then you should inform him of the times you will be available to battle. Try to offer a wide variety of times you can be on, but you don't need to include times that might inconvenience you at this point. If there is a problem then you can work that out later.
- If you have received a PM from your opponent, then reply with a specific time within the timeframe your opponent has suggested. If you cant be on at these times, reply explaining why you cant be on and what times you can be. From here it is up to you and your opponent to work out a compromise that allows you to get your battle done. No matter how different your timezones may be, there is no reason you should not be able to find some point before the deadline to complete your match. If there is just no possibility of you scheduling a match then you will need to talk to the host. Explain why you were unable to come to an agreement and then he or she will come to a decision, possibly an extension or a disqualification or whatever.
- Give your opponent at least 24 hours notice.
- Be reasonable. Make sure you can be available enough of the time that you can complete your match. If you only have a 20 minute window once a week in which you have to complete your matches, then dont sign up for tournaments.
- This bears repetition: schedule a specific time. Some of you might not mind waiting on shoddy for 6 hours for your opponents to turn up, but I do. This way you can avoid the "my opponent didnt show up" "yes I did I waited for an hour" argument.
- It is perfectly acceptable to ask for extra time to prepare should you need it. But it is a good idea to leave yourself enough time to schedule another battle should unforeseen circumstances prevent you from completing your match at the arranged time.
- Whoever sends the first PM gets to choose what timezone the match scheduling process will use. This is a somewhat minor incentive to send your PMs fast. If you really cant understand your opponents timezone then perhaps ask them nicely to change, and hope they are feeling generous.
- Give your opponent a decent chance to turn up. I usually wait a good half an hour. With real life and the unreliability of pokemon servers, sometimes it can be hard to be at a place exactly when you said you would be. Keep this in mind while scheduling a match. Dont just give yourself a 15 minute window if you can avoid it. And if you cant avoid it, make sure your opponent knows the urgency of his or her arrival.
- Keep the tournament hosts informed. If your opponent hasnt replied to your PM, and you are concerned about the deadline, post in the tournament thread. Otherwise how do you expect them to make availability decisions for substitutions or disqualifications.
- Show up ffs.
If you have done all of this, then you have really made the best case possible for avoiding disqualification should you and your opponent fail to complete your battle. But really, that should be irrelevant as you should have no problem getting them done.
Have a nice day.