So I'm thinking of setting up an online tournament separate from ROOT, and I want to get the forum's feedback before I proceed.
Why am I doing this? To provide more games for those who love the competitive structure of ROOT, but would like to play more than 1 game per week (or 0 if ghosted).
Why would someone play this instead of pick-up games outside of ROOT? Fair question. I'll provide prizes to make it competitive and keep players interested. I also remember the fun that was Challenge games and Bonus games; I'd bring those back if players are interested. They reward players for playing games after all.
What would the prizes be? I think I'll start with $15 first place/$5 second place and see if that is worth players' time. The first one will be maybe 6 weeks, and if there is still interest in this after that, I'll pick it up again.
Will you be participating? Nope. I'll try and run the tournament just like Prof U (and others) have done with ROOT. I'll track scores, post the matchups, track eligibility for Challenge games, finance the prizes, etc.
What is your plan right now? 6 weeks of Swiss games, with 1 per week. Scoring will be 6/4/3/2/0 (standard scoring times 2, just to make the math easier for Challenge and Bonus games). Challenge games and Bonus games will be optionally available for additional points. Winning your Challenge game will be worth 3 points; no points for losing a Challenge game or winning your opponent's Challenge game. Bonus games (limit 2 per week) will be worth 1 point each. Each player has the potential for 11 points each week. The Swiss game (the only mandatory game) will still represent the lion's share of points.
Each player may, once per week, issue a "Challenge" to another player. Winning a "Challenge" game only gives 3 points to the challenger, and only if he/she wins. The challenged player should post on the thread to acknowledge the challenge. If you lose your Challenge game, neither player receives points. You may not challenge a player that you have already challenged, but you may challenge a player that you have played a Swiss game against (even if your Swiss game is the same week).
Additional points can be earned through Bonus games. Bonus games are 2/1 point each for win/loss, and can be played against anyone in the tournament. They do not need to be scheduled in the tournament thread. The games will still be reported on the thread so that I know who played. 2 points will be the limit on Bonus game points.
I am thinking of shortening the time limit for games as well, since some players will be trying to play 4 games a week (5 if they are in ROOT). I was thinking 1 hour fifteen minutes, maybe even just 1 hour. I'd like to hear feedback on this.
Also, any games played for ROOT cannot qualify for points for this tournament. (i.e. your Swiss ROOT game cannot count as a "Bonus" game for this)
*****
Thoughts? Anyone interested? (Please note that is NOT designed to be any sort of competition against ROOT; if it affects ROOT participation and/or ROOT ghosting, I'll have to drop this.)
