Squadron Challenges

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Squadron Challenges is a proposed method of squadron competition under the new reorganization. It involves two squadrons matched up against each other each month, with people in those squadrons allowed to issue challenges to the other squadron twice per month.

Possible benefits include greater squadron communication, unity, and improving one's skills in particular areas.

Challenges

The overall goal of the challenges would be for one squadron to win against another by collecting more challenge points.

How it works

  • Each month, every person gets 2 challenges that they can issue to the other squadron.
  • The other squadron must field an opponent, or the challenger wins by default.
  • This opponent may be anybody from the other squadron, and the other squadron may choose this person however they wish - probably volunteering will be the usual method.
  • The challenges last for the entire month, or until they are answered.
  • Challenges may be issued up until the last week of the competition - i.e. no more challenges when 7 days from the deadline is reached.

Types of challenges

  • 1 singleplayer mission: both compete an unlimited number of times on a single-player X-Wing, TIE, XvT, or XWA mission. A competition administrator selects this mission, to prevent an unfair advantage of one person knowing the mission first.
  • 1 multiplayer match or mission: both compete in a 1v1 multiplayer match, any feasible game. If applicable, players must play on both hosts to ensure equality (in other words, follow ORW3 rules)
  • 1 competitive sim: short, administered by a GM from ABG
  • 1 fictional story (categories: Ground combat, flight combat, stealth). Write a short story, under 500 words. A competition judge awards the better-written and more-accurate fight. e.g. ground combat: "You must defeat an opponent with a superior gun. This setting: Trandoshan on planet Dantooine."

Full list of possible challenges:

There is no limit to the challenges in which one may participate in a given month, except that every person may only issue 2 total challenges per month to the other squadron. So, someone could issue 2 XvT SP challenges and answer several more from the other squadron.

Scoring system

A scoring system will be created on the website that tracks all of these points in real-time.

Individuals

  • 5 - win
  • 3 - win by forfeit
  • 3 - loss
  • 0 - loss by forfeit
  • 0 - draw, or mutual forfeit
  • -2 - at end of month, if no challenges issued or answered by a person

Squadrons

  • +5 - All challenges followed through by a squadron (no forfeits)

Goals of the scoring system:

  • Actually playing a match and losing is rewarded more than forfeiting.
  • No points are needed for draws, since they don't affect the overall squadron head-to-head record.
  • Won't punish "no challenges participated" too much in case someone prefers to participate in other ways.

Forfeits

We encourage all players to participate in all challenges. Good faith should be maintained above all - we're here to participate with our fellow RSers, and the challenge system enables that.

We recognize that forfeits will happen occasionally, for whatever reason, so herewith are some guidelines. If a challenge only involves both parties making a submission at their leisure, then forfeiting will be simple and obvious: the person who did not submit loses the forfeit.

If, however, the two people must meet for direct competition (multiplayer or a sim), the matter of forfeits will become more complex. The two people should work out between themselves who has earned the forfeit victory, or if a draw should be had. If this decision proves intractable, there will be a forfeit review period from the 1st through the 5th of each month, during which the forfeit review board will hear appeals from both parties if the automatic ruling of a forfeit is challenged.

The board will look for sufficient effort undertaken while attempting to meet up for multiplayer. The challenger can even lose by forfeit (i.e. the forfeit is reversed) if they fail to make arrangements to show up, and the other person does show up. Matchups, unless otherwise arranged, should be made via IRC; other people (and MrBot) can verify if both people were present and ready to participate.

After this 5-day period, the board will decide, and update the scoreboard accordingly.

Important note: The review board is a last resort, and should not be needed - indeed, it may even be cranky about being summoned. Members should complete their challenges against each other - and if that's not possible, should work out between themselves who deserves the win by forfeit, or whether it should be a draw. This is a friendly competition and the board should not need to resolve disputes, but exists in case members are unable to sort things out themselves.

Season

The squadron matchups would take place over a season, during which squadrons compile records against each other. Each matchup would be one month long, and run from (say) the 8th of the month until the last day.

A championship match would occur at the end of the season, matching up the two squadrons with the best records.

  • For tiebreakers to get into the championship match (if squadrons have the same record):
  1. head-to-head record with tied teams;
  2. cumulative margin of victory;
  3. overall points earned in the challenge for the year.

A season starting in April would then look like this:

  • Month 1: April 8-30, 2011
  • 2: May 8-31
  • 3: June 8-30
  • 4: July 8-31
  • 5: August 8-31
  • 6: September 8-30
  • 7: October 8-31
  • 8: November 8-31
  • Championship match (top 2 squadrons): December 8-31

Overall winner for the year crowned on January 1.

Note: In a full year, all 12 squadrons will match up against each other once (for a total of 11 months), with December being reserved for the championship match.

Rewards

Some suggested medals at the end of the season:

  • Top 3 squadrons (all earn uniform-visible medals)
  • More ideas?

Example schedule

Round 1 (e.g. April 2011)

Round 2 (e.g. May 2011)

Example challenge

Let's say FireClaw is matched up against Red Dragon in a given month.

FireClaw:

  • Kirghy does two XvT challenges, 1 SP, 1 MP. Adam Mieter loses SP challenge, Sconn wins MP challenge.
  • Licah issues an X-Wing challenge, but no one responds; RDS forfeits. Licah challenges XWA MP, Adam responds, but they are unable to get the Internet connection working. It's a wash.

RDS:

  • Adam issues two XWA challenges, both SP. Kirghy responds 1 SP challenge and wins, but not the other, and forfeits.

Total:

  • 16 FireClaw (13 Kirghy, 3 Licah)
  • 14 RDS (9 Adam, 5 Sconn)

...so FireClaw picks up the "win" for that month.

However, if you factor in people who didn't participate,

  • 4 FireClaw (-12, 6 people did not participate)
  • 4 RDS (-10, 5 people DNP)

..it's a tie!

Implementation details

To be decided:

  • Proposed squadron schedules through December 2011. 8 total matches, then December is championship month
  • Personnel of review board
  • Personnel in charge of assigning SP missions (Platform Coordinators?)

Webpages to be built

The following is for Internet Office use and can be safely ignored by most people.

We perhaps don't need to keep an all-time ladder of individual members' efforts, as RS Ladder would be a better venue as it allows unlimited entries instead of a few per month. There are some good leaderboards and standings that would be enjoyable to have, though.

List of pages:

Navigation bar (/challenges/nav.php - include only)

  • Home (index)
  • Schedule (schedule)
  • Standings (standings)
  • Issue challenge (issue)
  • Report (report)

Home (/challenges/)

  • At top, personalized message about the logged-in user's status
    • "No challenges are currently running; your next opponent is Red Squadron, from March 8-31."
    • "Your opponent is Red Squadron. You have 2 challenges available to issue. There is 1 unanswered challenge to your squadron."
  • Current scores: (always display squadron with top score on left; for draws, alphabetical A-Z on left)
14 Red vs. 6 Gold
6 FireClaw vs. 3 Resurrection

Schedule - 2011 (/challenges/schedule) default to current year

  • Schedule: List through the end of the year of when squadrons face against others
    • Can click on squadron name and it shows that squadron's schedule for the year, including past results

Match - FireClaw vs. Red, March 2011 (/challenges/match?id=1)

  • Match-up page: available for each squadron match-up, show detailed matchup information

Standings (/challenges/standings)

  • Squadron standings: rank, overall W-L-T, margin of victory, total points, challenges issued/answered/total, individual W-L-F
  • "By type" statistics: number of challenges (issued, answered, total) of a certain type of challenge (available by individual and by squadron)

Issue challenge (/challenges/issue)

  • Challenge page:

Report (/challenges/report)

to be continued . . .

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