72 replies to this topic

[Dirk Le Daring]

Homeless Bill, on 02 March 2015 - 06:50 PM, said:

the current set of competitive teams is extremely well-established. There have been no instances of cheating in competitive leagues that I'm aware of, and I can guarantee you any fresh roster that starts winning will be scrutinized closely.

If there's ever suspicion, we launch an investigation and call on PGI for assistance. In the meantime, it's definitely not something I'm worried about based on years of empirical evidence.

I'm just thinking Lance Armstrong, I know not the same amount of money involved, just pointing out obvious reasons. Call me cynical, but I will always see that someone will cheat. I would suppose that after being around the block a couple of times has, made me aware of the way people can be.

Just an honest take, no flaming intended.

[Homeless Bill]

Prize pool is up to $1715 after the first day of donations. HYPE HYPE HYPE

[Dino Might]

Homeless Bill, on 02 March 2015 - 06:50 PM, said:

LORD JORDAN ggclose

Though I know most people would prefer humble, relatable heroes that epitomize sportsmanship, it's just not always the case. The best are sometimes the cockiest and loudest. It turns some people off, but I always need a character to hate. Someone has to be the villain, and I think arrogant players provide that. Some people like to play mind games, and I think it's legitimate at a high level. Not that I'm endorsing douchebaggery or talking **** to scrubs - just giving some perspective on an issue where most people seem to revile arrogant, combative players.

LOL - someone ought to get that handle in MWO - would be pretty hilarious.

That being said, while it happens a lot in real life, given that this is a game where you can be anyone you want, I'd much rather be Doc Holiday than Johnny.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dF8r3DhudHM

The quiet professional is much more intimidating in my mind.

[lpmagic]

First things first.

This is awesome.

Second, for whomever is asking about cheating? I'm pretty unaware of anyone having been caught, or even honestly accused with any kind of reasonable surety. With streaming going on it is very unlikely that this will ever be an issue.

Someone should start a thread about forming teams from teamless folks, or guys that do not have enough team mates, there are probably enough people out there that would get together to form a couple of teams that should be able to compete fairly well, then we should ask PGI to sticky said thread.

Someone else is complaining about Heim? thats just stupid, weather you like the guy or not the money still spends if you can take it . This tournament, other then the fact that he is a driving force to getting it started, has nothing to do with him personally, get off your high horse and go play for some money and pride.

I would love to see this top the original PGI tourney (52 teams if I remember correctly) it would be tough to do because of the time zone thing, but it could do it if everyone gets going. My suggestion would be to push back the date a bit to get teams together and practicing, but thats just an opinion.

[Karpundir]

For those looking for a team to play with in this tournament, I will be reprising my role as Team Captain (think back to Comstar Titans of Rage or Death Meta Band) in the formation of a new competitive team for those who are STRONGLY interested in competing for a prize position..

I have a core group of dedicated and skilled teammates from QQ Mercs and I am only looking for freelance COMPETITIVE MechWarriors with a high degree of skill or specialization by chassis (eg. Light 'Mechs, Sniping, etc.) to round out the team roster. It is not mandatory to switch from your current unit to participate with us.

These are requirements for what I am looking for:

• Available for practices and/or match 3 nights a week from 8:30pm-11:30pm ET (min. 2 hours attendance within this window)
  
• Use of ONLY Tier 1 or 2 fully mastered 'Mechs with a 2.0 or greater KDR in these Mech (100 drops or more)
  
• Must unlock and own level 5 Weapon Modules for the required builds
  
• Enough cash on hand for consumables and further module unlocks
  
• Ability to follow orders of the Drop Commander
  
• Ability to handle combat at all ranges

Drop commanding, deck building and loadouts will be determined by QQ Mercs, but input from Mercs are always welcomed.

If interested, send me a PM here or e-mail me at karpundirqq@gmail.com.

[Impossible Wasabi]

The Space Pope approves of this glorious tournament.

[Homeless Bill]

Update #1

It's been a little over a week since the Major League MechWarrior tournament was announced, and in that time we've received a ton of feedback and support from the community. Our prize pool is up to $1825, a logo has been chosen, we're in contact with PGI, the plan for shoutcasting is nearly solid, and some changes have been made in response to suggestions.

Shifting Dates

There was concern that the dates were a bit rushed, so they've been pushed back to allow teams more time to get organized. The new registration deadline is Monday, April 6th, and the new tournament start date is Monday, April 20th. You are free (and encouraged) to submit your roster early and make adjustments up until the deadline, though it should be noted that sharing players is not allowed.

Speaking of Rosters

The limit on members per team has been increased from 18 to 24. Some teams suggested that it would be difficult to have 2/3 of their guys showing up for any given match, so hopefully this will alleviate that issue. For anyone wondering why we don't just allow unlimited rosters:

• If PGI helps us seed Elos, that means some dude hand-checking scores. We have to limit it to a reasonable number.
  
• It makes it that much harder to check for shared players.
  
• If a team can't get half of their members to show up once a week, that's on them. 24 is a reasonable limitation that gives teams a deep bench to take advantage of.

Scheduling Conflicts

EU and Oceanic teams voiced concerns that they would run up against a **** NA team that refused to fight outside of the NA Primetime window, thereby forcing a forfeit. I really want players from all timezones to be interested in this and feel they have a legitimate chance.

Because of this I've changed the rule to be more like MRBC where Sunday 3pm-6pm EST is the fallback date for teams that cannot agree on a schedule. That was the best window that I could think of for everyone to have a reasonable chance of attending, but I'd love some feedback - particularly from EU and Oceanic teams - about how that window would work for you or if there's something better. Nothing is going to be ideal for everyone, but I want it to be as fair as possible.

Sign-Ups

As you might imagine, first-week sign-ups are slow since everyone's still talking to their own players and seeing who's in, but we still have a fair number of commitments already:

* Antares Scorpions
* Steel Jaguar
* QQ RageQuit
* Clan Kodiak
* House of Lords
* EmpyreaL

We've reached out to a number of other teams, and we'll continue to update the list as more teams get back to us and express their intent. In addition, we now have a section where teams can pick up new members and solo players can look for or form a new team.

Find a Group or Player

Check out this new page. It's ******* awesome. After seeing a considerable amount of interest from unaffiliated players, we decided to facilitate an easy way for teams and players to get together. Heim threw it together in the last couple days, and we hope it encourages new teams and diverse rosters.

Casting Cast

I'm working to make this event a highly viewer-oriented experience. I want people to see the competitive potential of MWO, and the best way to get people interested is quality shoutcasting. The tentative plan is to make a spreadsheet each week with all the scheduled games where NGNG, MWOLN, and others can mark themselves down to cast a match.

I only got a chance to bug NGNG last night, but they've done a great job casting in the past; I expect at least a couple of matches will get some love from their team. Heimdelight, in the mean time, has assembled a roster of shoutcasters for MWOLN including himself, Siriothrax, ROFLWaffle, Magician, Adiuvo, Karpundir, and me.

For anyone else interested in casting, stay tuned; there will be plenty of matches, and I'll post details about how all that will be handled as the tournament's start gets closer.

Questions and Comments

There's still a lot to take care of, but we remain committed to making this the best tournament in MWO's history. I've got a couple surprises planned in the coming weeks, I'm working on more official support, and I hope at least a few of a you are as ******* stoked as I am. I'll do my best to address any feedback or questions in the comments.

Edited by Homeless Bill, 10 March 2015 - 03:06 PM.

[Impossible Wasabi]

Nice, the slight shift in dates seems like a good idea and the Space Pope hopes he will continue to see updates.

[Homeless Bill]

Another week has passed, and it’s time for another update on the Major League MechWarrior tournament. I was hoping for this one to be brief, but we’ve hit a bit of a speedbump that calls for redoubled efforts (though there is a TL;DR). Before getting into the fun details, I’d like to thank those who have contributed to getting this league off the ground:

• Jeirheart - He’s the dude that made our logo, and he did a pretty awesome job. If PGI decides to advertise this event in any official capacity, it’ll look a hell of a lot better than my MS Paint backup logo.
  
• Farpenoodle - He’s trying to put us in touch with XSplit’s marketing department about a possible sponsorship opportunity. Whether or not it pans out remains to be seen, but without him, the opportunity wouldn’t exist.
  
• Donors - The several people that have contributed to the prize pool thus far have my sincere thanks. As per /u/SuperGroverMonster’s suggestion, I’d like to recognize every donor regardless of the amount. If you have donated or do so in the future, feel free to send me a reddit message or an email at majorleaguemechwarrior@gmail.com with your name (as it will appear on Paypal) and how you would like to be credited (full name, first name, username, nickname, or whatever).
  
• Siriothrax, ROFLWaffle, Adiuvo, TheMagician, and Karpundir - They have volunteered along with Heimdelight and I to cast as many competitive matches as we can. Good shoutcasting will be key to expanding the competitive scene, and I appreciate their time.
  
• Paul Inouye - I exchanged a couple messages with Paul, and I appreciate him being a voice for competitive players inside PGI. He’s pushing Solaris hard including the features competitive needs like proper ranking and tracking, and beyond that he’s promised to push for official support and help from PGI’s Marketing department.
  
• Tina Benoit - Though she hasn’t made her Outreach debut, she’s working in the background to get community resources and events the exposure they deserve. I’ve had the chance to talk to her over the past week about getting PGI involved as well as helping the MWO League Network casters use the spectator feature, and I think she’ll do a great job once she gets more comfortable.

The Bad News

So, remember that $1500 prize pool? It turns out that $1000 of that basically dropped off the face of the Earth. The initial prize pool was $500 of Heimdelight’s money and $1000 from another competitive player. As of yesterday, we have been unable to establish any sort of contact with the other player in two weeks. He has not been online in-game, no one from his unit has seen him, he won’t respond to emails, and as far as I’m concerned, he realized he couldn’t deliver and bailed out.

The reality is that I ****** up. When I was approached to run the tournament, my impression was that the prize pool was solid beyond a doubt. I assumed that in the week after I announced it, I could just send a couple emails, get the money consolidated, and have everything go smoothly. I was wrong, it was naive to think that, and I take full responsibility.

Why didn’t you announce this news right away?

Because uncertainty was the last thing I wanted to inject days after the announcement. Part of me really hoped he’d come through, and I certainly didn’t want to kill the league’s momentum with an unsettling update that was no more than, “We haven’t heard from this guy in a few days, and we’re starting to get worried.” I decided instead to set a cutoff date where it was reasonable to assume he won’t be reappearing. That time has now passed, and it’s time to adjust course where necessary.

A Sincere Apology

I’m truly sorry for messing this up. I should have been more thorough right off the bat and delayed the announcement until the funds were consolidated. I foolishly assumed - like I almost never do - that things would just fall into place, and as a result, I may have shaken the faith of some people watching this tournament’s progress.

Having said that, I remain committed to making this tournament totally badass. I’ve got the other $825 in my possession, I’m pitching in $100 of my own money (bringing the current prize pool to $925), and we’re coming back with a vengeance to make up as much lost ground as we can.

**** It, We’ll Do It Live

This Saturday starting at 3pm PDT, I’ll be hosting a 24-hour live stream on my Twitch channel to spread the word and rake in donations. I’ll play as try-hard or as pants-on-head ******** as viewers want, I’ll keep things ultra fresh with some no-HUD, 3PV action, I’ll break out the flamer Spider, I’ll ruin someone’s day with my Cheese Whale, I’ll try to kidnap a few guests, and I might even shoutcast a couple of PUG matches after the sleep deprivation has really set in. Stop by and get to know the charming man behind the proverbial beard.

I can’t change what happened, but I won’t let it stop me from making this tournament the best it can be. If you have suggestions for what you’d like to see on the 24-hour stream, please let me know in the comments. I’m not exactly the world’s most experienced streamer, but like Major League MechWarrior itself, I aim to make it a viewer-oriented experience.

TL;DR: $1000 of the prize pool left, there’s $925 remaining, I’m putting on a 24-hour live stream this Saturday, and thanks to everyone that's helped out so far.

Edited by Homeless Bill, 17 March 2015 - 11:54 AM.

[Impossible Wasabi]

That's a shame, but the Space Pope still thinks that $925 is a pretty impressive prize pool for the first cash prize tournament of MWO, so onwards to glory!

[Adiuvo]

Prize pool is now at $2250 $2750

Edited by Adiuvo, 26 March 2015 - 01:39 PM.

[Morgana]

Curious as to how many of the Shout Casters have access to the Spectating Cam.....other than NGNG.

Edited by Morgana, 27 March 2015 - 06:44 AM.

[Homeless Bill]

It's time for another one of these updates, and this time it's pretty much all good stuff. The prize pool has expanded massively after our initial setback, PGI has pledged $1000, we're adding lower-tier prizes, the 24-hour stream was a success, and the registration deadline is closing in fast.

Remember that it's just one, hour-long match per week with flexible scheduling. There's almost no reason not to compete for prizes or at least claim your free stuff. Register today on this page.

Prize Pool and New Prizes

After a series of amazing donations and PGI's own pledge of $1000, we are now at $3750 for the total prize pool. I would like to sincerely thank everyone that's contributed to a prize worth fighting over.

Because that's a lot of money and I really want to encourage fresh blood to jump in, I'm leaving $2000 of that to the main prize pool and dedicating the rest to participation and lower-tier prizes.

I'm still working with PGI to figure out exactly how to make this happen, but here are a few ideas:

• Mechbay, Premium Time, or whatever for every player that participates
  
• Cut Teeth Award (MC packs or basically whatever I can afford with the left-over) that is randomly awarded to a team that loses their first round
  
• Staying Alive Award (MC packs or basically whatever I can afford with the left-over) awarded randomly to any team that makes it past the first two rounds

I need your feedback on this. Do those sound enticing? What other awards could we offer that would make fresh blood more likely to join up? I've heard rumblings that there's no point in participating if you're not at the top, and I want to make sure that's not the case.

Disclaimer

I just figured I'd mention it now so this doesn't come as a shock to anyone trying to siphon free stuff: you won't receive anything if your team doesn't participate in your two matches or loses intentionally.

Registration Deadline

The registration deadline is on April 6th, so you need to get your roster in soon. If you absolutely need an extension, email majorleaguemechwarrior@gmail.com with your situation, and I'll work with you.

TL;DR: The registration deadline is coming up fast, we've got one hell of a prize pool, and we're adding lower-tier prizes so that everyone has a reason to compete. Get registered!

[Homeless Bill]

I probably should have just waited and rolled all of this into one update, but I wasn't sure how long it would take to nail down the prizes with PGI. Yesterday evening, we got all that sorted out, so here's the final update before the registration period ends.

Prizes

I would like to again thank PGI for backing this effort. Though it took a while to get coordinated, they've been very supportive and made it simple to award these alternate prizes. I ultimately decided that participation prizes wouldn't scale well or be nearly as fun as alternate awards.

• Winner's Prize Pool - $2750 - This amount (and any future donations) will be divided between the top four teams as originally intended (1st - 45%, 2nd - 30%, 3rd - 15%, 4th - 10%). That's over $1200 to the winning team!
  
• Morituri te Salutant - 2000MC per player - Awarded randomly to one of the first teams eliminated.
  
• Going Down Swinging - 2000MC per player - Awarded to the losing team that kills the most enemy 'mechs in the first week's match.
  
• Dapper Dropdeck - 2000MC per player - Awarded to the team with the best paint scheme.
  
• Charm out the Wazoo - 2000MC per player - Awarded to the team with the best attitude as voted by the other teams.
  
• Miscellaneous - 20000+MC and 125 Mechbays - MWOLN shoutcasters will have additional prizes to give out to players and viewers alike, so play hard and tune in.

Registered Teams

I keep forgetting to include this list to shame a few teams into action, but here it is. I expect a few last-minute signups, but at this point, you have a better chance of winning something than you do not winning something just by showing up. If you've submitted your registration and aren't on this list, get in touch with me at majorleaguemechwarrior@gmail.com.

Registered:

• Steel Jaguar
  
• MarineMechs
  
• Isengrim
  
• 228th IBR - Black Watch
  
• Antares Scorpions
  
• Apocalypse Lancers

Committed:

• EmpyreaL
  
• QQ RageQuit

So if you like free money and fun competition, get your registration submitted by April 6th or get in contact with me ASAP if you need an extension.

Rules and Website Updated

The website has been updated to reflect the new prizes, and I also added a couple new rules. If you have any feedback on those, let me know in the comments.

Time between Rounds

This league's format is crafted to facilitate quick, exciting matches that can be prepared for ahead of time. As a result, there will be a 10-minute time limit between drops. Come prepared, have your 'mechs built ahead of time, and figure out who's running what. While I will make reasonable exceptions, know that if you run over the 10-minute limit, you risk forfeiting that particular game.

No-Shows and Throwing Matches

Intentionally losing a match will result in immediate disqualification from the tournament and any prizes. Failing to appear for matches will typically be treated as a loss, but if no apparent effort is made, you will be disqualified from other prizes. For instance, you can't just show up to compete for best paint job and refuse to play.

[Fate 6]

The rules you posted in this thread are vastly different from the ones on the MLMW website.

Things not on the website rules (aka the official rules):
Weight class restrictions (3/3/3/3)
12v12

Also, there is no mention of a minimum tonnage for Skirmish anywhere, meaning we could bring 12 Firestarters and just swarm the **** out of your life. Good look fielding the efficient firepower to deal with that many lagshielded death machines.

[heimdelight]

Fate 6, on 01 April 2015 - 04:32 PM, said:

The rules you posted in this thread are vastly different from the ones on the MLMW website.

Things not on the website rules (aka the official rules):
Weight class restrictions (3/3/3/3)
12v12

Also, there is no mention of a minimum tonnage for Skirmish anywhere, meaning we could bring 12 Firestarters and just swarm the **** out of your life. Good look fielding the efficient firepower to deal with that many lagshielded death machines.

There is no minimum tonnage for the Skirmish drops, you are correct. But have fun trying to kill heavier 'Mechs boating streaks or players who specialize in direct firepower

[Impossible Wasabi]

12 Firestarters in a comp match equals 12 dead Firestarters in a comp match.

[Dettmam]

People... I had sign up my unit (INEX) yesterday night and would like to have some kind of confirmation. How will it be?

[Homeless Bill]

The registration deadline for Major League MechWarrior has come and gone, and we now have 24 teams signed up to compete. There is also a 25th that may submit a roster in the next couple days. The total prize pool is now up to $3850, of which over $1250 will go to the winner.

I sort of apologize for the delay, but I've been on vacation since Thursday. Now that I'm back, I'm in the process of getting everything caught up.

Registered Teams

I spent a lot of yesterday spreadsheeting all of the rosters and making sure I have everything I need. I encourage all the teams to check this spreadsheet to ensure everything is correct including primary/secondary captains and spelling/capitalization of in-game usernames. If you notice something out of place, let me know at MajorLeagueMechWarrior@gmail.com. I have to submit this to PGI soon so they can rank teams for seeding, so it's in everyone's best interest to get it right the first time.

As of now, these are the 24 teams that have registered to compete:

• 228th IBR - Black Watch
  
• 228th IBR - Swamp Foxes
  
• 2nd Federated Suns Armored Cavalry
  
• Antares Scorpions
  
• Apocalypse Lancers
  
• Comstar Irregulars
  
• Death's Hand Brigade
  
• EmpyreaL
  
• Inferno Express
  
• Isengrim
  
• MarineMechs
  
• Mercstar Axis of Ignorance
  
• Mercstar Turret Drops
  
• New Texas Mercenaries
  
• Night Watch Mercenary Coalition
  
• Phoenix Company
  
• QQ Mercs
  
• Ransom's Corsairs
  
• Restless Adder
  
• Seraphim: Rising Storm
  
• Smoke Jaguars
  
• Steel Jaguar
  
• Stratagame Mercs Corporation and Affiliates
  
• Tikonov Commonality Armed Forces

Get Pumped

I'm in the process of getting the website updated now (Webs is all sorts of terrible), /u/snafets of the always-badass Snafets Quirk List has offered to assist with making bracket displays for the Major League MechWarrior website, and I'm working out what weeks the winners' bracket will have off so we can get a concrete schedule hammered out.

Once I get the rankings from PGI, I'll plug in the teams and we can get the first week of matches scheduled. Once teams start scheduling things, I'll try to keep the website updated and work with NGNG and MWOLN for shoutcasting. Remember that in addition to prizes for competitors, Twitch viewers will have a chance to win codes for Mechbays and possibly MC prizes, so be sure to tune in to matches.

The tournament will commence the week of April 20th; keep your eye on the MWO League Network website or follow us on Twitter for schedules, replays, and shoutcasting.

[Homeless Bill]

Major League MechWarrior's first week of matches gets started tomorrow. This week, the bottom 16 seeds will play the first round, so it should be an interesting set of games. Matches this week will be a best-of-three series on Frozen City Night. In other news, the website has been updated, the bracket has been posted, and MWOLN will be shoutcasting whatever we can.

Seeds and Bracket

Though I'm working with /u/snafets on a custom bracket display for the website, I can't guarantee that's going to work at this point. In the meantime, this will be the official place to view the bracket: http://challonge.com...ueMechWarriorS1

And while you're there, be sure to make your prediction for the Winner's bracket before the first match is entered in (at which point you will no longer be able to make one). There will be a 2000MC prize for the closest bracket, and possibly prizes for runners-up. For anyone that just wants to see the list of seeds (based on aggregate Elo of the top 15 players on each team), here you go:

• EmpyreaL [EmP]
  
• Steel Jaguar [SJR]
  
• Clan Smoke Jaguar [CSJx]
  
• 228th IBR - Black Watch [228]
  
• Antares Scorpions [AS]
  
• Mercstar Axis of Ignorance [-MS-]
  
• 228th IBR - Swamp Foxes [228]
  
• QQ Mercs [QQ]
  
• Seraphim: Rising Storm [SRPH]
  
• Comstar Irregulars [CI]
  
• Mercstar Turret Drops [-MS-]
  
• Tikonov Commonality Armed Forces [TCAF]
  
• Restless Adder [(RA)]
  
• Night Watch Mercenary Coalition [NWMC]
  
• Stratagame Mercs Corporation and Affiliates [SMCA]
  
• Phoenix Company [PC]
  
• Isengrim [ISEN]
  
• MarineMechs [MM]
  
• Inferno Express [INEX]
  
• Apocalypse Lancers [APOC]
  
• Ransom's Corsairs [RC]
  
• 2nd Federated Suns Armored Cavalry [FSAC]
  
• Death's Hand Brigade [DHB]
  
• New Texas Mercenaries [NTEX]

Updated Website and Schedule


Check out http://MajorLeagueMechWarrior.com for the tournament schedule and a couple of updated rules. Week 1 - 5 will be best-of-three and Week 6 - 11 will be best-of-five, and the designated map for each week has been finalized.

Shoutcasting

Heimdelight and I are working on getting as many matches as we can shoutcasted by either MWOLN or NGNG. Stop by http://mwoln.com for upcoming match schedules and past broadcasts. We will be giving away 125 Mechbays and 20000+MC over the course of the tournament to players and viewers alike, so be sure to tune in!