The Sengoku Jidai League Discussion Thread

[TinCow]

The Sengoku Jidai League

Welcome to the Sengoku Jidai TWS2 Multiplayer League!

Season 1 is now open for play. It will close on Monday, July 18th at 00:01 GMT.

Information on the League and how to join can be found in this thread. Do not begin playing matches yet! We need a good base of players before play commences, so the League will be open for sign-ups only for a little while (perhaps one to two weeks). An announcement will be made when this sign-ups only period is over, and play commences. The season will then last one month from that date.

Please go out and recruit your friends and clanmates to join this League. The League will only be as good as the players in it, so getting quality players is essential. If you know anyone that you would want to compete against, tell them about the League and try and get them to sign up. We need players who are not only skilled and mature, but also active. Players must be capable of playing at least a couple matches per week. If you are only capable of playing a few matches per month, this is not the League for you.

Rules are semi-finalized, which means that I am happy with their current state and feel comfortable running the League with them as they stand. However, there is still time before play actually begins. If you would like to see further tweaks to the rules, please do discuss them now so that the changes can be made before Season 1 play begins.

If you have any questions this is also the place to ask them. I'll do my best to answer all your questions.

[AggonyKing]

well I'm ready

[servezza]

rdy here!

[Marshall Louis-Nicolas Davout]

I'm ready

[Emperor Arcturus Mengsk]

Joined and created the 1st open challenge for the opening day of the ladder,

are you ready?? YEAAAH!
Let's go!

:)

[TinCow]

Direct access to Steam IDs has been added to the ladder's rank display to make it easier to find your opponents. On the ladder, simply click the steam icon () next to a player's name to get a pop-up which will let you access their Steam profile.

Please note that the following players have not added their Steam IDs to their accounts:

Jack The Snake
AggonyReborn
][GERUDO][ Harba
Zilverzamp

We will not accept any matches played by these people until they are properly registered. If anyone knows the proper Steam IDs for these people, you can PM it to me and I will add it in manually.

[AggonyKing]

i can tell reborn ^_^

[AggonyReborn]

added steam link

[TinCow]

Direct Challenges can now be made directly through the utility, they do not have to be done via the Gamemasters. This information has been added to the tutorial section, but I will repost it here as an additional notice:

To Create a Direct Challenge:

1. Go to the Ladder that corresponds to your current tier. For all players in Season 1, that Ladder can be found here.
2. Left click on the name of the player you want to challenge. You will see a pop-up box that looks like this:
   
   Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

   
3. Click the Challenge Player option.
4. You will now see something that looks like this:
   
   Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

   
   
   Fill in each field with the proper information as you see fit.
   Challenger: This is you, you cannot change this field.
   Opponent: This is the person you challenged, you cannot change this field.
   Date: Enter the date and time you are available for the match here. This is not set in stone, you can negotiate it with the other player later and there is no penalty if it is not fought at exactly that time. This exists mainly to make scheduling with others easier. It is highly recommended that you discuss the date and time with the person you challenge over the Org Forums or on Steam.
   Proposed Changes to Rules 9 to 15: If you are interested in modifying anything between Rules 9 and 15, you can state so ahead of time in this field. For example, if you are interested in using Veterans instead of just Classic Mode, you could write, "Will fight with Vets". The person you challenge does not have to agree to these rules, but this is a way of letting that person know in advance that you would be willing to do something different.
5. Hit Challenge Player. (Bottom right corner.)
6. If you look at the Upcoming Matches tab, you will now see your Direct Challenge listed as a scheduled match against the person you challenged.

[TinCow]

A request was made to be able to start match play a few hours early due to time conflicts over the weekend. Since we're less than 12 hours away from the start, this seemed like a reasonable request. As such, I hereby declare Season 1 of the Sengoku Jidai League to be open! Let play commence. Season 1 will close on Monday, July 18th at 00:01 GMT.

As always, contact a Gamemaster if you have any questions or problems. Good luck!

[AggonyKing]

^_^ anyone that wants to challenge me, please know I'll be on vacation on the next 2 weeks and out of the country, so after July 3rd, then we can play.

thats if anyone wants to challenge me ;)

[TinCow]

A lot of people seem to be a bit confused by the time/scheduling system that the automated ladder utility uses. To be clear, you do NOT have to fight you battle at the exact time specified in the challenge. I expect there will be a lot of issues with arranging times to play due to the fact that we have players from all over the world. Do not worry about completing a battle at the precise time listed. If you have to, you can fight the battle even weeks later, as long as you're making an honest attempt to schedule the match. After all, you can fight as many matches as you like whenever you want, so there's nothing wrong with delaying one match due to scheduling problems. You're still capable of fighting other matches while waiting for that one to complete.

In addition, there's been a (rather intelligent) request to make the challenge system offer a bit more information about when a person is available to play. I cannot change the actual time/date listing mechanism, so instead I have added an additional comments field to the challenges. The field is titled Extra Time and Date Details, and it works just like the Proposed Changes to Rules 9 to 15. Simply enter whatever information you want about the time/date you are available to play. I'm not sure if this field will be available for challenges that have already been listed, but at a minimum it should appear for new challenges that you make.

[JCDC]

I have made an open challenge, and got no customers yet, nobowdy wanna fight me?

also, aggonyking, have no fear, i wish to challenge you.

literally, have no fear, i dont play classic battles much.

[TinCow]

I have made an open challenge, and got no customers yet, nobowdy wanna fight me?

Several SJL players seem to hang out in the STW2 MP Foyer group chat on Steam. It's become a sufficiently standard gathering area that I tend to idle there as well when I'm online. I recommend that all SJL player hang out there while on Steam; if we all gather in one spot while we're online, it will be much easier to set up a match.

[JCDC]

Lol, made that post too early, i got swamped with battles today.

i was on the wrong end of some the results :(, but i had a lot of fun, way more than i would have in MM. Im really impressed with this league so far, i think the atmosphere is so much more like it should be, players chat to me and are polite before the game, wait until everyone is ready to start and other small courtesies missing in MM usually. the games were seriously competitive, and the tactics were honourable if really nasty sometimes! in the one instance where one of my opponents did something unintentionally that may have infracted the rules, he paused the game and rectified it voluntarily, never seen that before.

And then after the game, regardless of the result people are polite and complimentary and in all cases have stayed around for a steam chat to discuss the results and swap friendly advice and points. all in all, this is how competitive games should be played and are in real life so its great to see it here.

Congrats and respect to all my opponents, defeated and victorious, and to the guys who took the time to make the league.


EDIT. oh one thing, rice fields, we need to expand our horizons, i know its the fairest map, but god is it dull when you have to play on it all day!!!! i know the rules allow people to choose, and that is excellent, but people so far invariably choose rice fields...... its literally putting me off rice.

[TinCow]

EDIT. oh one thing, rice fields, we need to expand our horizons, i know its the fairest map, but god is it dull when you have to play on it all day!!!! i know the rules allow people to choose, and that is excellent, but people so far invariably choose rice fields...... its literally putting me off rice.

LOL. Well, we may have a tool to help people pick more interesting maps in the near future... but it's still in development at the moment.

[TinCow]

We've been made aware of a bug which could potentially impact the League, and I'd like to discuss it. As reported to me, in classic battles, if you pay for one chevron, it actually gives you two without charging for the second one. Then, paying for two chevrons doesn't give any extra benefits above and beyond one chevron. So, paying for one chevron is giving more of an advantage than it should, and paying for two is actively wasting money. A couple points on this:

1) Is this true? I cannot find any discussion on it elsewhere (though the .com has been down for a while) and have not had time to go and test it myself.
2) If so, what should be done about it, if anything? One solution is to ban the use of 1 chevron, which would nullify the impact of the bug. However, that seems very nitpicky and this is also an exceptionally minor bug. It would be very easy for someone to forget this rule and get themselves in trouble for using a single chevron and gaining what is, at most, an extremely minor advantage. Another solution is to simply make sure everyone is aware of it when building their armies. If we all know that one chevron gives the benefits of two, and that two chevrons is a waste of money, then presumably everyone would be on even grounds again without the need for an additional rule.

Thoughts?

[AggonyDuck]

Two cents. 1) Chevrons are generally rather ineffective considering their price and getting two for one is only making chevrons a viable option, not breaking the game. 2) You don't really have to do anything about it. Players are aware of it and the advantages if there are any are minimal.

[Bobba-Job]

Really good job on this ladder fellas, an excellent system =)

[TinCow]

Really good job on this ladder fellas, an excellent system =)

Thanks! Now we just have to get more of those 0 game people active so that I don't have to purge them.

[UglyJun]

what are Chevrons ???

[TinCow]

what are Chevrons ???

They're the symbols that are used by the game to represent veteran status. One chevron is the equivalent of one 'rank' of veteran status, and the stats of the units improve with each chevron added. They are commonly used in many military organizations to demonstrate rank:

[Cu'Roi]

this isn't a criticism but shouldn't there be a default game type for ladder matches? if there is one already then sorry i'll try reading better next time.

if not though may be good to set something to default, and to also include the proposed game type in the challenges.

also, what stops people from just dodging someone by declining their challenges? like accepting all others but declining from specific players? at least maybe when someone declines someone it should be made very obvious to others IMO.

i accept all challenges and will play any game-type, but not all players play like me :).

i also agree that the chevron thing hardly matters, i'm not sure it is a bug btw, i don't really know i never use them, but in ETW and NTW the first chevron would give a morale increase the 2nd wouldn't, the third would.

[TinCow]

this isn't a criticism but shouldn't there be a default game type for ladder matches? if there is one already then sorry i'll try reading better next time.

Rules

I think what you are talking about is covered by rules 8 through 15 of the SJL rule set.

also, what stops people from just dodging someone by declining their challenges? like accepting all others but declining from specific players? at least maybe when someone declines someone it should be made very obvious to others IMO.

Players cannot decline a Direct Challenge. Not only is it impossible to do inside the utility, the rules specifically state that players do not have the option of refusing a Direct Challenge:

Direct Challenges - Players may challenge a specific person in the same tier. The other player cannot refuse to fight the battle, though negotiations on scheduling are permitted.

If a player uses scheduling issues to dodge a Direct Challenge (and it is clear it's an attempt to avoid the match instead of real time problems), the other player will receive a technical victory. This is also in the rules:

Inactivity - The lack of effort to arrange and complete Battles before any assigned deadline will result in a forfeit of the Match. The competition's Gamemaster(s) will evaluate effort according to the available evidence of attempts to arrange the battle, including posts anywhere on the Org, PMs, logs of Steam chat conversations, etc. A technical victory will be awarded to the team which made a greater effort, or both teams could be forfeit, if neither is considered to have done enough. An extension will only be awarded if both teams show good efforts to arrange the battle, and it is likely to be fought in the near future.

[Cu'Roi]

i see you are on top of things :)

excellent.

by the way very impressed how the ladder system takes steps to automate the actual scheduling process itself. I haven't been using that but it is very good, and will be worth a great deal if/when the .org begins to host team tournaments. although it could be modified to be better by making time ranges for every day of the week for each player, and possibly repeating (as week to week many players will have the same period free) as a starting point.

like basically i have a rough draft of a step by step method for rationalizing a scheduling process among any given number of participants. which is useful (and in some cases pretty essential) towards getting games scheduled among people in possibly different parts of the world in the most efficient and hassle free way possible.

among adults willing to put in the effort and with a little common sense and living generally in close time zones with one another in 1 v 1, a methodical approach to scheduling is hardly needed. but you start to remove some of those assumptions or increase the format to 2s and 3s games, and a streamlined process becomes more useful.

[JCDC]

Really good job on this ladder fellas, an excellent system =)

Not surprised you like it, you are bloomin winning!!! and the only one who defeated me 2-0..... :(

[Miotsu]

Indeed, the structure, the automated system.. it all makes for a ladder that progresses itself with little Admin involment.. .so no hand holding by anyone.. well done.!!!

I agree with the "hang out on steam"... rather than go through the scheduling etc... I have changed my online name to "Miotsu Jidai league" just for the purpose of letting everyone know I'm in the league and quickly identifiable. I also friended everyone in the league so they can also see me as a league player in their friends list.

So many positives about the league but if I had to pick one negative and this isn't a league issue.. it's a game issue..... it's having to play against the same faction. Once melee starts, good luck differenciating between your units and those of your opponent. If they would have had a "quick banner colour change" option.. it'd have helped a lot.!!! maybe not my game.. lol. but at least the appreciation of knowing who's on what side.

Thanks again TinCow for all that you do...

*bows*

[TinCow]

As per this post on TWC, how would people feel about changing the 'default' map every week, to keep things a bit more interesting? Something like:

Week 1: Rice Fields
Week 2: Alpine Hills
Week 3: Wood Settlement
Week 4: Flood Plains

[angelofwar12]

i think there is a bug in the ladder when 2 player submit score about the same time the system somehow bug out and 1 player need to submit the score again

[TinCow]

I'll look into it. In the meantime, if you think a score has been bugged like this, just tell any GM. We can all submit the scores manually, which will fix the problem.