Try To Quad

Sunday, November 13, 2011 at Acme Bowl

The entry fee is $10

The qualifier begins at 11:00 AM. Players must be present and have their entry fees accounted for by 11:30, or they will not be permitted to qualify. We mean this: if you are sufficiently late, we will have to turn you away due to time constraints.

Bracket rounds will begin once all players present have had a chance to qualify.

The tournament will be played using ITG 1-3, Rebirth, and a tournament pack being prepared specifically for this event, which is available for download here: http://pwrsrc.net/~laura/Try to Quad.zip. The pack ranges from 8's to 14's, with an emphasis on the 9-11 range.  The pack consists entirely of songs which are already installed at Acme.

Qualifier

The qualifier round will consist of 2 songs. The qualifiers will be selected randomly from the allowable packs. Both songs will be played on Expert; one chart will be a 9 and one will be a 10. No long songs will be allowed as qualifiers.

Players will be ranked on each of the two qualifiers separately. The two rankings will be added together, and this total will be used to build an overall ranking, with the highest seeds being those with the lowest total scores. Ties will be broken by comparing the lower of each individual's song ranks - for example, if one player is ranked 8th in both songs and another is ranked 7th and 9th, the first player will win the tiebreaker - thus giving the higher rank to the player with more consistent performance. In the event there is still a tie - continuing the previous example, a third player was ranked 9th and 7th respectively, thus tying the second player's 16 point total and lowest rank of 9th - then the tied players will play a randomly selected 9 on Hard as a tiebreaker. No long songs will be allowed as tiebreakers.

Players will be seeded by their cumulative rank on the qualifier into the bracket as described below; in the unlikely event that there are more entrants than the bracket allows, the qualifier will also be used to trim the pool of entrants.

Bracket Format

An experimental tournament format will be used.  The organizers are using this bracket in an attempt to encourage a wider range of players to enter by keeping the highest seeding players out of matches until a few rounds into the tournament. This gives the lowest seeding players a chance to compete with players more closely matched in skill, rather than immediately facing the highest seeded players.  Most importantly, this format does not completely segregate players

The tournament will consist of two divisions, each using a double elimination bracket. There will be an 8 player championship division and a 16 (or 32, if more than 20 players enter) player main division.  The top 4 seeds will be placed directly into the corresponding top 4 slots of the championship division, with the remaining four slots filled by the top four players from the main division.

The main division will end before all rounds are played. Once 4 players remain (that is, 2 in the winners bracket and 2 in the losers bracket), these players will be seeded into the championship bracket. The two winners bracket players become the 5th and 6th seeds and the two losers brackets become the 7th and 8th seeds; the ranking within each of these pairs is determined by players' qualifier rankings.

The championship division begins once the main bracket ends and will be a standard double elimination bracket.  The two players from the losers bracket of the main division will still require two losses to be eliminated from the championship bracket, even though they already lost one match in the main division.

At the beginning of the final round, the finalist from the winners bracket will have no losses, so the challenger from the losers bracket must therefore win two consecutive matches to be declared the champion; if the challenger loses either match, then the tournament immedaitely ends and the challenger takes second place.

Given the amount of time between the qualifier and the start of the championship division, the top 4 seeds will be allowed to warm up immediately before the championship division begins; these players may opt to play a single song alone or to pair up with another top seed and play 2 songs.

Match Format

Matches will be scored as best 2 of 3 on charts played by both players, head to head. Both players will provided a card and asked to prepare a list of 3 song/difficulty pairs to present to the other player. One player will then select one option from their opponent's list to be played; after the first song has been scored, the second player will present their card to the first player, who will select one to be played. If there is a tie after 2 songs, random charts will be chosen from the allowable tournament packs until the tie is broken; subsequent tiebreakers will be played until a winner can be determined.  Rules regarding the selection of charts for cards and the difficulty of tiebreaker songs are specified under "Difficulty of Charts".

Songs will be scored by the default machine scoring formula - your score is exactly what the game says it is. In the event of a tie, the match moves on to the next song with neither player awarded a partial or complete win.

At the beginning of each match, the higher seed will select their preference regarding either
- What side of the machine they will play on
- Whether they present their song card first or second.
The lower seed will then make a choice regarding the remaining preference.

Arbitration of Pad Errors

If there are concerns about machine errors, alert the organizers immediately after the song ends - if a player stops halfway through a song due to errors, there is no way to properly arbitrate and the song will be scored normally.

The pad arbitration rules involve two separate recalculations. The first gives 3 points per disputed step (equivalent to alternating between Excellents and Greats); if this recalculation gives the affected player a win, that player will be awarded the win immediately.

If the affected score is not a winning score after the first recalculation, the second recalculation will be done, treating each error as 4.5 points, rounded down (equivalent to alternating Excellents and Fantastics, with the first error being an Excellent). If this recalculated score beats the opponent's score, then the match will continue to the next song, ignoring the results of the current song:
- If the disputed song was player selected, then the rest of the round will be played normally until the one random tiebreaker has been played. Should neither player have won two songs at this point, the card containing the disregarded song will be presented a second time, and one of the remaining songs will be selected by the other player. In the unlikely event that all three songs from a card are thrown out due to errors, a random tiebreakers will be used from then on.
- If the disputed song was a random tiebreaker, another random tiebreaker will be chosen.

If the second recalculated score is still a losing score, then the opponent's win will be maintained.

If both players claim pad errors, the recalculations will be done simultaneously.

Players are asked to report all errors, even if they don't effect the outcome of a song, so that the organizers can repair the pads when deemed necessary.

During the qualifier, errors will be recalculated as 3 points.

Charts Selection

In response to frequent disputes regarding what difficulties should and should not be allowed in a tournament, the following rules were created and subsequently tested at the Sakuracon 2011 ITG tournament. Organizers' observations as well as discussions with entrants indicate that this format was well balanced and enjoyable all around, without changing the outcome significantly from what was expected, so it will be used again with only a few minor tweaks.

If you think the rules sound neither fair nor fun after reading them, then please do not enter; nobody is being forced to enter, and previous impressions of this format have proven very positive.

(1) At all times, all charts from the allowed packs are selectable with any difficulty from Easy to Expert (Novice charts are not allowed), regardless of rating.

(2) Each round of tournament has a point value set. The three song/difficulty choices that a player makes must add up to this point value exactly; for example, if point total is 26, so players may pick two 9's and an 8, two 8's and a 10, or even a 12, a 13 and a 1, or any other set that sums to 26. Players will be given a card to write their set on and tournament staff will validate the set before the opponent sees it; if the sum is incorrect, the player will be asked to replace a single selection to achieve the correct sum.

Some charts, for example, those from ITG Rebirth, have been rated differently in different versions of the pack. The rating of a chart as it appears on on the machine will be considered correct; if a card is found to use erroneous ratings, the player will be asked to replace the erroneously rated chart with a chart which actually carries that rating - the other selections may not be changed in this situation. The organizers reserve the right to rerate charts selected for the tournament pack, but always use caution when exercising this right and will no longer do so once the tournament pack has been published.

Some long songs are included in the tournament pack. To keep the tournament moving at a smooth pace, a player may only write one long song on a given card.  If a player writes more than one, they will be asked to replace all but one will standard length songs of equal rating.

(3) The point values are set per round; each round in a given bracket has a higher point value than the last, though a player moving into the loser's bracket may play the same point total in the loser's bracket as they did in their last winner's bracket match. The lowest point total will be 26 (24 if the main division requires a 32 slot bracket) and the difficulties will progress as follows:
- The main division winners bracket starts at 26 (24 if a larger bracket is used) and increases by 2 points per round; the last matches are therefore set at 30 points.
- The main division losers bracket starts at 27 (25 if a larger bracket is used) and increases by 1 point per round, the last matches are therefore set at 30 points.
- The championship division winners bracket starts at 31 points and increases by 1 point per round; the last match is therefore set at 33 points.
- The championship division losers bracket starts at 31 and increases by 1 point per round; the last match is therefore set at 34 points.
- The final round of the championship division is set at 35 points for the first match and 36 points for the second match if one is required.

(4) Tiebreaker difficulties will set according to the current round's point value as well. The tiebreaker will be set at one third the point value, rounded to the nearest whole number - this means the the first two rounds of both brackets use 9's (8's if a 24 point round is necessary), tie breakers for the final matches of the main division will be 10's, and the final round of the championship bracket will use 12's as tiebreakers.

Each time a tiebreaker is being chosen, each player will be allowed to veto one of the random songs that appears; if multiple tiebreakers are needed for a match, the players will both have exactly one veto for each subsequent tiebreakers regardless of whether they have vetoed any songs previously. If the random song is on either players' card for this round, it will be skipped automatically.

Only one long song may be played as a tiebreaker in a given round - the organizers will automatically skip any subsequent long songs that come up.

(5) A player may not write a selection down multiple times; not only must the three choices on a given card be unique, but that player may not reuse any of those three song/difficulty pairs in any later tournament round; selecting a song on multiple difficulties, either on the same card or in different rounds is allowed, as the specific chart (song/difficulty pair) is what must be unique.

(6) Players may not put either qualifer on their card in any round, this rule does not apply to charts used as tiebreakers during the qualifier, and any player may pick those tiebreakers in tournament rounds so long as the remaining rules allow it.

(7) "You pick it, you pass it" - if a player writes down a chart on their card and their opponent selects it, the player must pass it. If a player fails their own selection, it is an automatic loss regardless of the two players' scores or whether their opponent passes or fails.

General Rules

Sandbagging - that is, intentionally playing under one's known ability to alter the sequence of tournament matches or the seeding order - is not allowed at any point during the tournament. Sandbagging is unsportsmanlike at best and a form of cheating at worst, thus sandbaggers will be automatically and immediately disqualified if caught. This is admittedly hard to determine, so this rule will be applied with extreme caution, but it is an insult to both the organizers and the other players to try, so a severe penalty is justified.

After finishing a song, players must not clear the results screen until the organizers tell them to do so. Any player who does so once will be warned not to do it again; if a player continues to clear the results screen without permissions, the cleared scores will be ignored and that player will automatically lose the song.

Players are to report to the tournament desk for their matches during the immediately previous match to provide time for players to make their selections and to ensure a smooth and timely progression through matches; players must report for a match before the end of the immediately previous match. If the current round has other matches remaining, then the players in the subsequent match will be found and asked to go first if present; if the missing player(s) are not found by the end of the first song of this match, then the missing players will be immediately disqualified. If players are missing for the final match of a given round, they will be disqualified immediately upon the end of the previous match.

During the first round only, players eliminated during the qualifier, if there were any, will be offered a chance to replace disqualified players. Such players will be offered the chance to do so according to seeding order upon the disqualification of another player.

Information about the order of upcoming matches will be made as visible and accessible as possible to entrants so that they can report for matches in a timely manner. If players need to or want to leave the arcade before they have eliminated from the tournament, they are responsible for knowing when they need to return for their matches; tournament staff will do their best to estimate the time until a player's next match, so that a player can have a reasonably safe idea of how long they may leave the arcade, but these estimates are not considered binding and cannot be used to justify a player's failure to report for a match.

Matches will be scheduled to prevent players from playing in consecutive matches as often as is possible, but the final few rounds of a double elimination bracket do require consecutive matches to happen. Players will be allowed up to 5 minutes of rest between consecutive matches if desired, but resting players are asked to report to the tournament desk to prepare song cards as soon as possible after their previous match - the 5 minute rest period will be considered to include time spent preparing song cards; completing a card does not automatically end the rest period, so a resting player may complete their card at any time without forfeiting remaining rest time.

Finally, and most importantly: players are expected to know the rules to a reasonable degree - ignorance of a rule does not excuse violation of the rule. Some rules only apply in specific circumstances, so the organizers will be understanding of confusion as it arises, but it is expected that all entrants have a general idea of what is and is not acceptable and/or required during the tournament. There will be a printed copy of the rules at the tournament for arbitration purposes and to provide entrants the opportunity to read them for clarifications as necessary. There will be no admissible reason for an entrant to not have a reasonable understanding of the rules as written; the tournament organizers will be happy to offer clarifications if a player is confused about some part of the rules.

The tournament organizers reserve the right to make changes to the rules as necessary before and during the event, but will only do so following discovery of either major inconsistencies or easy opportunities for a player to exploit the rules and achieve an unfair advantage. Unless one of these situations arises, the rules are finalized as written.

The tournament organizers additionally reserve the right to disqualify or refuse entry to any entrant or potential entrant for any violation of the rules above or behaviors deemed sufficiently inappropriate, disruptive, or unsportsmanlike; the appropriateness of disqualification is left to the sole discretion of the tournament organizers.

Prizes

All entry fees will go straight to the prize pool, which is to be divided among the top four entrants based on the following structure:

1st: 40%
2nd: 30%
3rd: 20%
4th: 10%

Re-rated Charts

In general, the organizers have  changed the ratings of some charts in the tournament pack; ratings are hardly an exact science, so changes were only made when a chart was thought to be decisively misrated. The following charts were found to need a rating adjustment:
-After Hours: 10 => 11
-Jingo Dance: 9 => 10
-Presto: 10 => 11
-Quasar: 10 => 12
-We No Speak Americano: 9 => 10