Feedback and moving forward
After putting out our initial seedings yesterday we've received feedback from players expressing their own opinions about both seedings and player restrictions. The following is the thoughts around the decisions made:
SEEDINGS & DIVISIONS
We have received multiple enquiries about our return to a two division league which was last seen in Season 2 of ozfortress Highlander and Season 10 of RSL Highlander. Taking into account other factors relative to the administration of the league and the skill groupings seen, a two division league which has been successfully run in these seasons past has been our best compromise. A 3 Division league has been discussed while seedings and restrictions were being considered. It is, unfortunately not feasible given the signups of Autumn ’24.
Ahead of each season, feedback from the end-of-season poll is reviewed including comments made regarding a number of aspects of league management, which does partially form the basis for decisions made in future seasons. One aspect criticized through the poll was the perception of 4-team divisions, first introduced with partial success in Season 4, and retained in the Premier division in Spring ’23 (Season 5). There was a upward trend towards a preference of larger divisions from 30% to 39% between the most recent polls. This coupled with the inherent risks of a team disbanding and wide skill gaps within small divisions reduces our confidence in small team divisions for the ongoing health of the league.
The value of playoffs being minimized when four team divisions occur has also been raised, as a guaranteed playoffs match has been cited as a reason to ‘care less’ or provide less effort over the season until the playoff matches themselves. It is hoped to bring back an in-season level of competitive play and value to weekly matches, with each week able to be played against a different team in-season to broaden the match experiences. The return to a two-division league is not a permanent fixture, and it is recognized that the presents of an Intermediate division has been very healthy for the competition in the league for a good number of seasons. An intermediate division will be absolutely be returned to in future if the skill divisions and signups allow us.
A common theme brought up is that the teams seeded at the top of the main division are much better than teams seeded towards the bottom. With smaller divisions, the potential skill range is inherently smaller, and returning to wider divisions does mean a wider skill range in a division becomes more permissible. While we could move the top teams up into a 'middle' division with the 5th and 6th seeded teams in the current Premier division, this still causes new issues to arise. To produce a 3 division league, two teams would be removed from the Premier division and the upper teams of the current Main division would retained; In this case this does not necessarily represent the middle seeded teams based on administrative challenges related to these teams.
Firstly, with fewer teams in Premier the competition does become more stale with the 1st and 2nd seeded teams having greater levels of skill comparative to those seeded 3rd and 4th seed. However, via including the 5th and 6th seeded teams the 3rd and 4th seeded teams have better competition and more variety in their matches. The impact on the Premier division would be a 4 team division still retaining significant skill disparity, and which has lead to a significant loss of skilled player base over both seasons in which it has been present.
As for the other end, if we were to take the 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th seeded teams in main and pushed them into an 'open' division, even with extreme restrictions, the 6th and 7th seeded teams would be greatly out matched due to the overall experience of the 4th and 5th seeded teams. If we looked to bring down the 1st, 2nd and 3rd seeded teams in main and gave them harsh class restrictions in an open division the same issue would present as their skill would greatly outweigh those in the 6th and 7th seed. Conversely, the impact on the open division would lead to significant restrictions on intended core players of the 1st seeded roster with other restrictions on intended core players within the division. We aim not to restrict players off their core intended classes but instead adjust seedings so teams may play as they intend to. However this can become necessary in both 6’s and Highlander when a division is considered specifically to cater to newer players.
This season we do have some newer teams competing in the main division. Both Maddie's House Highlander and rat gaming have a variety of newer players who will be playing in our league for the first time. In future seasons, if we have enough teams sign up comprised of newer players, the goal would absolutely be to facilitate competitive growth and development between these teams. Unfortunately with the low number of team sign ups this season this is not possible for the Autumn competition. But until that point these teams will be playing in competitions with players with more experience. We understand this will be challenging for them but we hope with the support of the community as well that of our staff and mentors that they will grow and enjoy competitive tf2 as much as the rest of us do.
PREMIER
Main
PLAYER RESTRICTIONS
Due to feedback from the last season of Highlander we have changed our approach to player restrictions. While we will still be restricting players who would be far too great in skill to play certain classes in the main division (including locking to medic players competitive in high premier HL who are on lower seeded rosters), we also want to provide players opportunities to learn and improve on classes they may have otherwise not played or played much of in highlander. A common issue we face is the dreaded sixes players... We want to allow these players to learn Highlander on classes that we think their mechanics would not be overly oppressive on in the Main division. Even so, if a player could compete in the Premier division on a class without being significantly worse than those who are currently rostered on teams in said division then that is where we have/will restrict players.
AMENDED AND ADDITIONAL PLAYER RESTRICTIONS
You can find the full list of player restrictions here
Wergy Added Scout Restriction
If you have any questions or need any support please reach out via our Discord's support channel #admin-support.
Post authored by Sperkle & Kai.
Join our Discord
Follow us on Twitter
Support us on Patreon
Subscribe to us on YouTube
Join our Steam Group
Like us on Facebook