Posts:
542
Registered:
May 9, 2002
From:
Northeast USA
Tournament Administration Options?
Posted:
Oct 15, 2009, 3:26 AM
Perhaps this already exists, or perhaps it might be easy to develop this idea -- or perhaps not...
I like the tournaments here, but a major cause of disgruntled players and complaints comes from the endlessly long rounds where players are unable to coordinate a time to play their matches.
I propose the following fix: Create the ability to set up a tournament with precise playing times.
For example: Tournament Tuesday -- This tournament begins on the 1st Tuesday in January. Every Tuesday evening, all players will gather to play their next round match. The Tournament Lobby will open on Tuesday at 8PM EST (or EDT) (for example). Both players must report to the tournament between 8PM - 9PM by entering the tournament lobby, entering create a table (if not already created), and Sit and press Play. Players who have reported may not leave until after 9PM (unless they have already completed their match). Ability to Enter the Lobby will close at 9PM. Any player who has not reported during this time period forfeits their match -- no exceptions. If neither player reports to the tournament, a double forfeit is scored. If, after 10PM, one or more sets have been completed and have all ended in draws -- players can agree to continue immediately for another set or postpone their match until the next day -- in this case, the match would be continued at the same time on Wednesday evening. This process can continue until the following Monday, where the match must be played to completion or someone must forfeit (since the next round WILL begin the next day, Tuesday).
It is every player's responsibility to clear their schedule for the entire tournament. Using this style, every round will complete in one week and the entire tournament can be played within a couple of months. Other options might include twice a week, twice a month, daily play and so on.
In addition, because this might actually increase the number of forfeits at first, I think there should be additional consequences for forfeiting matches -- players that sign up for tournaments with little or no plans to play their matches need to be weeded out. First, it's probably advisable that players be AT LEAST established players -- and they probably should log in to the main site at least once for 3 consecutive months before being eligible to sign up for a tournament. In addition -- tournament attendance should be tracked within player accounts somehow -- for example if the number of forfeits exceeds the number of played matches at any point -- they will be ineligible to play tournaments for a couple months or so. In addition, two forfeits in a row should also have a similar consequence.
With these two concepts developed, I think you'll find Tournaments here to run much more successfully and interest in them will grow over time.
