Okay, folks. First off, if you're wondering about SML09 Playoffs, the details are in this news post. The tiebreaker procedures are here.
The regular season is wrapping up, so it's time to start discussing what changes you would like to see to the rules for FL09.
Sign-ups for FL09 will open in just under a month. If you might be playing in Amateur next season, or if you are concerned with the well-being of the Amateur League, I would like to hear your feedback.
I don't anticipate many changes to the rules for FL09.
One rule I would like to propose is that forfeits are not allowed to be reported until after week 5 of the season. Some rookie teams are caught unaware that the season has started and might need to reschedule their games for the first week or two of the season. I think that unless you have the permission of an Admin, you should not be allowed to report a game as a forfeit until the makeup week.
Anything else on your mind? Neutral Host? New maps? Suggestions for forfeit factories? Tiebreakers? Rules for who gets placed in Amateur, who gets placed in Pro?
I think Neutral host should remain optional until the final 4.
I can agree with that forfeit rule. But wouldn't people just ask for admin permission after every response they don't get? I can see that being an issue.
I don't think the rules for Ammy/Pro should change beyond what they are. I think teams like Red Ray and Green Army could have stayed, but moved up. That kind of decision making works too. If that last sentence even makes any sense...
Do you really want us to stay in Amateur? We just finished 8-2 and clinched a spot in the pro league playoffs. We would destroy 95% of the teams in Amateur. There should be some kind of reasonable competition in the Amateur leagues.
To explain a bit further: There isn't really a reason to submit a forfeit until the last week. Teams are allowed to postpone games until the makeup week if they have a problem showing up on a certain game night. But if a team can't make it on the scheduled game night, it is their responsibility to work around the other team's schedule to make sure the game gets played. If they can't, the team that postponed gets the forfeit loss.
The only reason why you would report a forfeit early is if the team is a genuine forfeit factory (or if the admins disqualify the team, like last season). If they are making a good-faith effort to play their games, they shouldn't get the loss until week 6.
A good example is Sword and Shield in Division 1 this season. I haven't heard at all from their captain, even after sending him messages on RT and XBL. But I did see that they played two games this season. So I held out giving WaMC the two forfeit wins until just a couple days ago, in case they finally contacted me and wanted to play.
I don't know how the Ammy/Pro split will work next season. Not that scheduling isn't a problem in the Pro league, I think it's fair to allow the admins to "encourage" questionable teams to join the appropriate league, as is what happened this season. We could write up rules (ie: No more than one player who has previously played in Pro/Legacy/Elite can play on an Amateur team, etc), but I don't think we have to.
the only problem i see with not being able to submit a forfeit until the 5th week is a team not even making an attempt to play a game for a few weeks... then all of a sudden chime in and say hey, we wanna make up all the games we missed. that happened to my team It's All Relative this season. had a game scheduled with a team, none of their members were online. two weeks later they say hey, we wanna play now. now just so you know, we are a laid back group of guys and if they would have said anything to us before the game started (or hell even 14 mins after the game was supposed to start) we would have set things up for a different time.
now if a team A contacts team B and says they can't make it today... they shouldn't have gotten a forfeit against them at all. that and if they actually are trying to play games, i agree with giving them a chance.
Well this may be a dumb question but I have searched the site and I can't find where to make a new team for FL09. I think I may be premature in trying is my guess but I would like to make sure I'm not missing the link. Thank you for your help if someone has an answer for me on how I do this.
only if they have enough players which that one hawk has stated multiple times before the season started that he did not have enough players to play pro until right before this season started
