Greetings Admirals!

With the Vassal Summer 2017 Tourney winding down (1 semi and 1 final left to play), it's time to think about the NEXT tourney:

The cleverly named Vassal Autumn 2017 Tournament!

I have learned some valuable lessons from both the Summer Tourney and the preceding Freshman tournaments, which should make this tourney run even more smoothly. And with fewer concessions (although we can never reasonably hope to completely eliminate those).

Nothing is set in stone yet, but here are my ideas:

• FAQ-compliance. Yeah, we'll actually comply with the new FAQ this time
• We'll do a 2-zone (Euro/NA) Swiss, followed by elimination rounds (or maybe a separate 3-rounds swiss?).
  • The zone split should make initial matchups easier
  • I quite liked the 4 round format, but maybe it takes too long and players lose interest, so the 3 rounds is better?
  • I'm currently thinking top 3 from each zone, plus a wild card (top MoV in any match).
  • Another option would be top 6 from each zone, plus 2 wild cards (top MoV and a sort of 'congeniality' entrant).
• I'm thinking 2 weeks per round. If it drags much beyond that we run into the problem of ppl losing interest.

Comments?

Official thread (organized play sub):

REGISTRATION/FLEET SUBMISSION FORM

I like the idea. 2 zones is definitely better. I assume the full of wave 6 is legal, amd if so, do we have accurate arcs for the new ships?

I'm interested, but I'll have to know when it's expected to begin. I'm unavailable 10 days mid August, and if it gets into October (as I think it will), I may have to be a bit more limited in time slots available for games.

6 minutes ago, Visovics said:

I like the idea. 2 zones is definitely better. I assume the full of wave 6 is legal, amd if so, do we have accurate arcs for the new ships?

Wave 6, yes. And the new FAQ (+ a tourney FAQ for outstanding questions).

I need to get hold of the new ships, and scan this ship tokens. That will happen no sooner than the week after next, probably a bit later than that.

So startup maybe mid-august?

With start-up mid-August:
Round 1 finishes start of September,
Round 2 finishes mid-September,
Round 3 finishes start of October,
Round 4 finishes mid-October.

. . . I think I can do it. Round 4 may have the aforementioned limitation, but otherwise I think I can fit the rest in.

Suggestion: take a page from Major League Baseball.

In the MLB, there are two leagues and 3 divisions in each league (west, central, and east). When the playoffs come around, the two highest winning teams in each League that aren't already in the top position of their division have a lightning round winner-take-all game for the wild card. This addresses the issues of players dropping out because of a single loss.

In this case, have 2 Leagues with 3 divisions each based on time zone availability (Americas, Euro, Pacific). The top player in each division makes it to the playoffs. The top 2 remaining in each league (based on MOV perhaps) has a winner-take-all game for the wildcard position. This leaves you with a top 8 cut. Two games later, you have your final table.

If you make the first 4 games 2 weeks each, then the wildcard and subsequent games 1 week each, you end up with 12 weeks or almost exactly 3 months. Just enough time to get everyone a chance to start and the winners to quickly end.

Oh, and definitely sign me up!

I'm in (and thanks for running the last one!). I get so few IRL games, so these tournaments are awesome! One caveat: mid-August is Gencon, so I won't be available until after that.

21 minutes ago, Paindemic7708 said:

I'm in (and thanks for running the last one!). I get so few IRL games, so these tournaments are awesome! One caveat: mid-August is Gencon, so I won't be available until after that.

If you can give me a date, we can start AFTER Gencon.

8 hours ago, ForceGhostofNobodyInParticular said:

With start-up mid-August:
Round 1 finishes start of September,
Round 2 finishes mid-September,
Round 3 finishes start of October,
Round 4 finishes mid-October.

. . . I think I can do it. Round 4 may have the aforementioned limitation, but otherwise I think I can fit the rest in.

If we do 4 rounds. If we do 3, then we finish a bit earlier.

5 hours ago, Green Knight said:

If we do 4 rounds. If we do 3, then we finish a bit earlier.

Yep. Either way, it means I can likely make all 4 rounds. Less rounds and the probability increases for me, so I'm in.

Oi... I really want to play...

But I probably shouldn't...

But I really want to...

Hmmmm...

3 hours ago, Ardaedhel said:

Oi... I really want to play...

But I probably shouldn't...

But I really want to...

Hmmmm...

That's the most long-winded "I'm in, I'm just working out how to tell the SO" I've seen yet. Also, I'm in.

I'm in with the caveat that I will be traveling to NoVa for a weekend. Also, I'm holding off deciding on a time zone as my schedule may change between now and the start date.

I'm in...

5 hours ago, Ardaedhel said:

Oi... I really want to play...

But I probably shouldn't...

But I really want to...

Hmmmm...

You stole the words out of my mouth!

I'm not even going to tell the SO.

I'm in.

if you are going for wild cards, I'd go for highest MoV total of not qualified people. From one game is too prone to ridiculousness (tabling someone with superior positions without taking any hits yourself type thing)

I'm in

I'll join, whenever this gets started

7 hours ago, gothound said:

I'll join, whenever this gets started

First, I'm in.

Second, gothound, we still need to play a practice game when you get time! Pm me next week so we can work out some bugs before the tournament starts!

Once I find a new crutch to prop up a fleet.... I'm in.

I'm in too.. .I just don't know which time zone group will be the least bad...

Count me in. Not sure about which group I should be in. I'm in Pacific time zone and work most evenings and weekends. Sometimes during the day for that matter but usually have more free time weekdays.

2 hours ago, emfrank72 said:

Count me in. Not sure about which group I should be in. I'm in Pacific time zone and work most evenings and weekends. Sometimes during the day for that matter but usually have more free time weekdays.

I find that due to my hours (I work from 4 in the afternoon until after midnight plus commute time, including on the weekends) I typically play well vs either European or Australian players. Your profile says American west coast, so pick Europe if you want to play in the morning and Australia if you want to play after getting home from work.

And if you get home after midnight, keep an eye out for me.

Unless I am missing something, Cactus made basketball sound complicated. Any chance of a diagram?