5v5 ladder

[bl3dbl4k]

I'm reposting this in the General section for dckx to see how many people are interested.

"Hi guys. I have been discussing this on the whatsapp group, but since many of you are not part of it, I thought I would share this here.

I would like to organize a simple ladder system with three or four teams maximum, comprised of MisFits and non-MisFits players. The idea would be to play early, around 10pm EST. Each team would play the other teams once a week, on predefined days/times —that means that if we have three teams, each team would play 2 games per week, which I think is manageable. The teams would be created by me with the help of whoever is interested in helping, and would be balanced. The ladder would have a predefined duration (e.g. 3 months), after which new teams would be created. Different from pugs, I think this could create a sense of rivalry which could make this games very exciting. Below are the game details:

Teams: 3 ideally
Players per team: Around 8
Game format:
4v4 min., 6v6 max.
Timelimit (not fraglimit). This will keep scrim durations fixed (e.g, for timelimit 20 and 2 maps, the scrim lasts around 90 minutes). That is sometimes how long it takes to play one half of a map in a fraglimit scrim.
Maps would be predefined per week (e.g. week 1 v2 and hunt; week 2 v2 and renan). Teams would do a small fight at the beginning (we used to do a 5v5 bash, but could be a 1v1 sniper similar to what we do to pick captains) and winner chooses first map and starting side (axis or allies).
There will be a google doc with game stats (scores, frags per player, etc.) similar to what I did with the pugs, to foster competitiveness among players.
IMPORTANT: Games would be EARLY (around 10pm EST) to both not compete directly with the pub server, and to not go to bed too late, as it happens with pugs."


We're trying to make "squads" 5-8 per team. If you are interested in being a leader of a squad. Let us know. And make a name for your squad. Then put it on the end of your name, along with your fellow squad members. Example; The Untouchables -<MisFits>- bL3d [TU]

Use it in the main server so I can smack talk your scrub ass team and create a rivalry, challenge us to a match.

Or just reply here if you're interested and we'll find a squad for you.

Deuces!

[RAPT(+)R]

I'm interested but skeptical.

[Adams]

Sounds great, Im in! What do you folks need from me? Anything? Where do I sign up?

OGL mods? Or same game experience already on your match server?

You know me, Im awful cynical, a tad narcissistic, and eager to lead lol. Ill be a team leader if I may.

Love the idea Bled! Lets make this happen!

[bl3dbl4k]

I hear ya Rapt!

I have a team, we're ready to play.

Adams, if you're interested in being a squad leader. Ask around if anyone would want to be on your team. That's basically what I did. And come up with a squad name, etc. So we can make it official.

[RAPT(+)R]

So Bled, correct me if I'm wrong but the teams were not supposed to be put together by the individuals but by the ladder "host" so to speak. That's what I understand from the initial post. We are supposed to find out who is interested and then have teams designated by the adder to keep everything fair. Am I missing something?

[bl3dbl4k]

It can be done either way. But as you see, not many replying. We can't rely just on responses from the forum. Otherwise we'd have 3 people. Lol. When we need 15-25. So what other way to do it? I just ask around. But yeah, def want to keep the teams balanced. Otherwise no point in the ladder.

[AriFeannor]

If this was tried 3 months ago or more than maybe, but you hit a dead spot.

[High on Death]

We have our ups and downs, but even in a bear market we still have a decent amount of regulars.

If it were me, I'd come up with a format that doesn't require so many people at once. Pulling 10-12 people at one will usually kill the server for everyone else. Maybe pulling 8 or less keeps it going? Definitely will make it easier to get everyone showing up for matches, which is the hardest part of a ladder.

[bl3dbl4k]

It's probably not gonna happen. Server at an all time low last couple weeks. But oh well. I didn't come up with the idea. Was just reposting for dc. But even he is not playing. Only keeping stats for the ladder.

4v4 is fine. But then we need more teams. Would be boring 4v4 ladder with 2 teams. Maybe 4v4 with 4 teams.

Either way you cut it. We need roughly 20 players interested.

I can get 10 or so. Others need to ask friends, players in the server.

Come up with a team basically.

[dckx]

To add a little context to this idea:

I am more into scrimming and pugging than into playing on the public server. The issue for me is that we pug and/or scrim too late. Sometimes, the very idea of pugging is thrown there at 2am. Otherwise, people suggest it earlier but then takes one or two hours to get into the server, and then maybe 30 more minutes to make the teams. Or worst: the idea of pugging is mentioned several times, but then nothing happens at all. None of the above works for me. I would ideally like to play at an early time, and make the process of pugging both reliable and efficient.

I thought that a possible solution would be to have two teams and organize an ongoing scrim once or twice a week, early in the night BEFORE the public server starts getting people. The idea was to have two fixed teams comprised of regular players from our server who enjoy pugging. Why fixed? Because I thought it would create a little rivalry which would make the whole thing more fun and therefore, more likely to succeed. Why early? So I could play, but also to avoid killing the public server. Other ideas to make this attractive included having a spreadsheet with stats, a server setup to make games both shorter and more competitive, etc.

Talking about this on whatsapp, it seemed people were interested. However, no one could commit to play early. That was the end of it for me. Still, I tried to get this going. Bled jumped in with the idea of having squads, which I thought was great. Some thought differently, suggesting we should've had a draft. They may be right. I don't really care about that sort of thing. Whether we do a draft or recruit, the result is basically the same: two teams. I think that when people want things to happen, they can figure these details out... but that doesn't seem to be the case around here.

To move this thing forward: two teams are enough, at least to start. Teams could be 6 or 7 people each, aiming to have 4v4 or 5v5 games. I'm sure that if these teams are able to sustain the games a couple weeks, e201 would put up a team too. And then maybe there would be a few more guys out there who would do another team. Without the restriction of having to play early, I think this would work even better (for you, of course, not for me). I think this would simply be a matter of setting up a day and an estimate time two times a week, and then having the players make some friggin' time in their schedules. If planning ahead like that doesn't work, then having a tentative time and scheduling one or two days in advance using a preferred communication channel —steam, discord, whatsapp, facebook, etc. (although it seems some are not even willing to agree on that), would probably work.

Bottom line, this was my idea. It no longer is and I will not participate due to how late these games would occur. I am still very happy to put up the stats (if that helps bringing people in) and/or help in any other capacity. Like most things in life, no one will move a finger (not even to reply a simple message) until the thing is working and running. Then, they will come. There is nothing bad with that, but it's just the way it is. I'm sure there is enough people to pull this... what I'm not sure about is whether people are willing to simply talk and agree on some basic things (e.g. how to make the teams), and then just give it a shot.