This will be an ongoing 1v1 (and sometimes FFA or SP) competition that will start now and a champion will be announced at the end of the year. I'd like to try this since we've struggled with players leaving in the other tourneys (1v1 stalled in the semi's and the 2v2 stalled in round 2).
There will be an estimated 6 stages to the competition with a new map being used approx every 6-8 weeks. So think of it as a 6 round tourney.
Obviously, players who participate in every stage have greater chances of being the champion but players can always bow out and miss a stage and then come back. Participation in each stage is up to you. New players can also join during the year. In order to be eligible to be champion you must have played in at least one game from stages 1-5, and then play and win your stage 6 match. This final stage will put the #1 and #2 ranked players against each other (even if they’ve already faced off during the year). The winner gets crowned 2010 AoW1 Champion. Several consolation games will be played during stage 6 too.
Rule 3 - Availability and reliabilityRemember to post and communicate and there won't be a problem. Some games may be sent to a panel of judges to determine a winner if they are taking too long. We may only have to do this on the stage 5 games so we’ve got all the scores tallied going into the final stage.
You are required, and a have a responsibility, to keep your tournament games at a good pace. You HAVE TO log each turn (posting only 'ts' will do*). By not logging, you are subjecting yourself to tournament warnings, which may disqualify you.
Unless notified in thread, turns should be sent out once every 48 hours (at minimum!) from the last time your opponent logged. Please be reminded that its your own responsibility to keep track of the turns.
If player does not comply: For the first time, the player may receive a tournament reminder if he/she is late and hasn't given notice. This reminder will be accompanied by an email. If player does not respond within 24 hours to this email, he/she will receive a tournament warning.
Reminders will only be sent out once in a tournament round. After this, subsequent lateness will result in a tournament warning.
Not responding (in thread or by email) after a tournament warning within 48 hours may result in this player being forced to forfeit the game. Three warnings will automatically mean a disqualification.
With notice, a 7 day period of absence is allowed. However, without notice, your game will be forfeit through the above-mentioned cycle of reminders and warnings.
If a game holds up the tournament for too long (as decided by the judges), a game may be decided by studying the latest save-game and declaring a winner. This may be the case if 80% of the other tournament games are finished.
APPEAL: The communication rules are applied automatically. If you believe you had valid enough personal circumstances which did not allow you to communicate (e.g., post one message saying you will be late), you can appeal. The judges will take your reasons into account and see if the decision can be reversed.
Jan tbd – Stage 1 starts (1v1 game)
Mar 5 – Stage 2 starts (FFA game)
Apr 30 – Stage 3 starts (tbd)
June ?? – Stage 4 (single player summer sizzler???)
Aug ?? – Stage 5
Oct 29 – Stage 6 starts, ends by Dec 31, 2010.