ozfortress Experimental Cup 2

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Experimental Cups are back with Experimental Cup 2!

The second iteration of our Experimental Cup has arrived, Experimental Cup 2! As in the past, we will use this cup to test larger gameplay changes to our seasonal leagues, this iteration again being solely focused on Sixes.

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Signups

You can sign up for Experimental Cup 2 from Thursday the 7th of September, up until Thursday the 14th of September 2023. We aim to have seeding out by Friday the 15th of September. The tournament starts Saturday the 16th of September 2023.

Please see the signup agreement at the bottom of the page for further information on helping us out with seedings!

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What are we testing?

Over the past year or so, you may have seen RGL make use of the "Pro Ruleset Timer" plugin within their Sixes league in North America. This is no small feat for Team Fortress 2, as only two years ago, most leagues were not running any Round Timer plugins whatsoever. In the last six months, we've heard interest expressed from those within the highest divisions of ozfortress, wanting us to test this change within (or only with) certain divisions and caliber of players, but as you have probably noticed in the past, when we make a change, we like to make sure everyone is involved and has access to that change.

In that spirit, we wanted to run an open, multi-week tournament where anyone can sign up, allowing us to collect feedback from all skill levels and to see if this is truly something the community at large wants. However, there are certain caveats you should be aware of with the Pro Ruleset Timer plugin.

What changes would the "Pro Ruleset Timer" plugin bring?

There are a few changes that would need to be made to our Sixes seasonal league ruleset if we were to accommodate its usage within a season, most of which we will be seeing in this tournament.

Golden Cap

This one is likely more apparent to those who are a bit more versed in the Sixes format, but with the introduction of this plugin, it would mean the removal of Golden Cap as if certain conditions aren't met by the time the map timer ticks down, the match is continued.

Changes to the Map Timer, Round Timer, and Scoring

Perhaps the biggest changes this plugin makes, which will also better explain why we no longer need Golden Cap, is to the Map Timer, Round Timer, and Match Scoring.

Most current competitive rulesets found globally for the 5CP / Control Point gametype include a Map Timer which sets a hard thirty-minute limit on matches. Even with the current implementation of the Improved Round Timer plugin we have used for the past year, matches have often ended up in stalling out the clock, killing off comeback potential, and causing anticlimactic endings. We've paraphrased the description on the Pro Ruleset Timer plugin page as we feel it describes the issues we see with the existing Improved Round Timer plugin aptly. What the Pro Ruleset Timer plugin aims to introduce is a dynamic win condition, where the Round Win Limit gets reduced to the current highest score from either team +1 once the Map Timer runs out, so if the score was 2-3, the Round Win Limit would be set to 4, allowing the match to continue until one team meets that Round Win Limit. This change aims to implant more exciting comeback potential in matches and eliminates the need for Golden Cap scenarios entirely by allowing the match to continue until one team wins out the match via the Round Win Limit.

Schedule, Format, and Pick/Ban tests

Along with focus testing the Pro Ruleset Timer plugin, we're experimenting with a few smaller schedule and format changes, along with Pick/Bans for every round. We're testing these purely to poll player interest for future seasons and/or tournaments.

Initially, we had plans to test more extreme changes to our Sixes seasonal league in this tournament, but we will look to refine and test those changes in upcoming seasons.

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Reminders

• During Experimental Cup 2 we plan on conducting random demo checks to ensure players are recording POV demos. Please ensure that you are recording match demos in order to avoid punishment.
• If you are unsure of whether or not something is considered a game exploit, contact a League Administrator for clarification. Ignorance is not an excuse.

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