Looks like were part of the shuffle this time.
By Bort
Hey all, I know you've been waiting on some info about the league restructure. I've been debating with a few folks about a couple aspects during the last few days, and what we're trying to do is to schedule a moderated chat or thread of some sort sometime in the next couple days so I can answer questions in a more structured format with easier to find answers than a 500 page thread of various people talking about various things.
Since we're not quite set up for the Q/A session yet, but I really wanted to pass on some info to those teams who will be involved, here's the basics so you can get started thinking about recruiting:
The general gist: Instead of trying to force the number of capped teams to fit into our league structure, we will instead be forcing the league structure to conform to the number of capped teams. This will make it more fluid and allow us to add and remove leagues to fit demand much more easily.
First of all, all leagues below AA will be removed from the pyramid structure, and will instead exist in a "cloud" of leagues like the D Leagues or Casual leagues currently are. They won't be called A or BBB, etc. They will be called "Lv13 Minor League" etc.
The level cap tiers that we will be using (you should be familiar with these by now):
13 - 16 - 21 - 24 - 28 - 31 - 34 - 38 - Uncapped
At the end of the season, in these capped leagues ONLY:
- The two winning teams (conference champs) will fast track up 3 caps, and will receive a cash bonus for winning, based on what tier they are going to, to help them in their new league.
- All playoff teams will move up 2 caps.
- The non-playoff teams except for the bottom two teams will move up 1 cap.
- The bottom 2 teams in each conference will remain at the same cap.
- Teams will not move from a cap lower than 38 to the pyramid, even if they win in level 34. They will spend one season at the cloud "uncapped" tier first.
- The bottom two teams that would normally demote at the bottom of the pyramid (in AA) will demote to the uncapped minor league, but they cannot demote to a capped tier unless requesting it through support.
- CPU teams are removed and sent back down to lv 13.
- We take all the teams at these caps and we shuffle them together as evenly as possible, filling in gaps with CPU teams.
- Playoff teams in the uncapped tier will be move up to AA in the pyramid to fill for promoted and demoted teams, using the promotion formulas we've been using. When they do, they will receive $6MM as a bonus to play in the big boy leagues, since the pyramid leagues will have been receiving endorsement revenue. If there aren't enough playoff uncapped teams, we'll take from lv 38 playoff teams.
Example:
- Take a L13 cap league.
- The two teams in the playoff game get a cash bonus for winning and go to cap 24.
- The other 14 teams in the playoffs go to cap 21.
- The bottom two teams in each conference stay in cap 13.
- The rest of the teams go to cap 16.
This season, we will be starting this with the currently capped teams in the A/BBB levels, with a couple differences:
- Normal promotion will still happen for all uncapped leagues, one last time. So, those teams in the current uncapped A's who have won will get to move up, and the losing squads in AA will get to move down.
- The currently uncapped A leagues WILL BE GETTING SHUFFLED this off season as well, after that initial promotion, just like we did with the other leagues last off season. I wasn't sure we'd need it last season, but it looks like a necessity now.
- Once all the teams are shuffled into their respective caps, those who are in the uncapped cloud tier will be eligible to promote to fill in for demotions and CPU's. We will sort by playoff wins and records, points scored, etc, as usual.
Casual teams will follow this same method, and are already in a good position to adopt it right away. We will be doing this with casual leagues for a couple seasons until we have enough uncapped regions that we can form some AA's, and then we'll promote teams from there the following season to make AAA's, and then a Pro.
One question I have had asked so far, that I wanted to clarify:
Q: Jumping 3 caps for winning seems like a lot! What about the "entrenched" teams already in the league?
A: It may seem like that's a big jump, but with this system, there is no such thing as moving into an "existing league" with entrenched teams. You will always be moving into a league entirely comprised of other promoting teams who should match up quite well with you, until you get to the uncapped tier and pyramid. For example, let's take a look a who will make up a level 24 league:
- Winning teams promoting from L13 leagues
- Playoff teams from L16 leagues
- Non playoff teams from L21 leagues
- Bottom of the barrel teams from L24 leagues
The only "entrenched" teams are the bottom of the barrel teams, who obviously couldn't keep up with the other teams they promoted with for whatever reason. Now, lo and behold, comes a new set of teams for them to go against, whom they are probably better suited to match up with now.
Finally, I know you guys will have a bajillion other questions about this stuff, but please just hold them and compile them (maybe chat with your team mates too!) to submit for our moderated thread later. We are hoping it will make it MUCH easier for us to compile a FAQ and and make sure we get all the questions answered in an easy to find format.
Thanks!
By Bort
Hey all, I know you've been waiting on some info about the league restructure. I've been debating with a few folks about a couple aspects during the last few days, and what we're trying to do is to schedule a moderated chat or thread of some sort sometime in the next couple days so I can answer questions in a more structured format with easier to find answers than a 500 page thread of various people talking about various things.
Since we're not quite set up for the Q/A session yet, but I really wanted to pass on some info to those teams who will be involved, here's the basics so you can get started thinking about recruiting:
The general gist: Instead of trying to force the number of capped teams to fit into our league structure, we will instead be forcing the league structure to conform to the number of capped teams. This will make it more fluid and allow us to add and remove leagues to fit demand much more easily.
First of all, all leagues below AA will be removed from the pyramid structure, and will instead exist in a "cloud" of leagues like the D Leagues or Casual leagues currently are. They won't be called A or BBB, etc. They will be called "Lv13 Minor League" etc.
The level cap tiers that we will be using (you should be familiar with these by now):
13 - 16 - 21 - 24 - 28 - 31 - 34 - 38 - Uncapped
At the end of the season, in these capped leagues ONLY:
- The two winning teams (conference champs) will fast track up 3 caps, and will receive a cash bonus for winning, based on what tier they are going to, to help them in their new league.
- All playoff teams will move up 2 caps.
- The non-playoff teams except for the bottom two teams will move up 1 cap.
- The bottom 2 teams in each conference will remain at the same cap.
- Teams will not move from a cap lower than 38 to the pyramid, even if they win in level 34. They will spend one season at the cloud "uncapped" tier first.
- The bottom two teams that would normally demote at the bottom of the pyramid (in AA) will demote to the uncapped minor league, but they cannot demote to a capped tier unless requesting it through support.
- CPU teams are removed and sent back down to lv 13.
- We take all the teams at these caps and we shuffle them together as evenly as possible, filling in gaps with CPU teams.
- Playoff teams in the uncapped tier will be move up to AA in the pyramid to fill for promoted and demoted teams, using the promotion formulas we've been using. When they do, they will receive $6MM as a bonus to play in the big boy leagues, since the pyramid leagues will have been receiving endorsement revenue. If there aren't enough playoff uncapped teams, we'll take from lv 38 playoff teams.
Example:
- Take a L13 cap league.
- The two teams in the playoff game get a cash bonus for winning and go to cap 24.
- The other 14 teams in the playoffs go to cap 21.
- The bottom two teams in each conference stay in cap 13.
- The rest of the teams go to cap 16.
This season, we will be starting this with the currently capped teams in the A/BBB levels, with a couple differences:
- Normal promotion will still happen for all uncapped leagues, one last time. So, those teams in the current uncapped A's who have won will get to move up, and the losing squads in AA will get to move down.
- The currently uncapped A leagues WILL BE GETTING SHUFFLED this off season as well, after that initial promotion, just like we did with the other leagues last off season. I wasn't sure we'd need it last season, but it looks like a necessity now.
- Once all the teams are shuffled into their respective caps, those who are in the uncapped cloud tier will be eligible to promote to fill in for demotions and CPU's. We will sort by playoff wins and records, points scored, etc, as usual.
Casual teams will follow this same method, and are already in a good position to adopt it right away. We will be doing this with casual leagues for a couple seasons until we have enough uncapped regions that we can form some AA's, and then we'll promote teams from there the following season to make AAA's, and then a Pro.
One question I have had asked so far, that I wanted to clarify:
Q: Jumping 3 caps for winning seems like a lot! What about the "entrenched" teams already in the league?
A: It may seem like that's a big jump, but with this system, there is no such thing as moving into an "existing league" with entrenched teams. You will always be moving into a league entirely comprised of other promoting teams who should match up quite well with you, until you get to the uncapped tier and pyramid. For example, let's take a look a who will make up a level 24 league:
- Winning teams promoting from L13 leagues
- Playoff teams from L16 leagues
- Non playoff teams from L21 leagues
- Bottom of the barrel teams from L24 leagues
The only "entrenched" teams are the bottom of the barrel teams, who obviously couldn't keep up with the other teams they promoted with for whatever reason. Now, lo and behold, comes a new set of teams for them to go against, whom they are probably better suited to match up with now.
Finally, I know you guys will have a bajillion other questions about this stuff, but please just hold them and compile them (maybe chat with your team mates too!) to submit for our moderated thread later. We are hoping it will make it MUCH easier for us to compile a FAQ and and make sure we get all the questions answered in an easy to find format.
Thanks!
