All right gentlemen. Having viewed the Four tournaments from last year, the least supported with the highest rate of dropout was the Para-Drop/Glider League. So that will be going the way of the dodo. It will be replaced with a PTO League. I do have a small list of people who indicated they wanted in on the VASL Leagues this coming year, I will contact them as best I can. I have the email for most of them. I will also be advertising on the Facebook Forums. First I will contact those who have expressed interest in getting in and players from past years before going out on Facebook. This years tournaments will be in:
Night
Deluxe
Desert
and our new entry PTO
PTO isn't all that esoteric, but OTOH, it certainly does have enough scenarios to keep people entertained by now. The PTO tournament is NOT grandfathered in as there are no previous years with it running.
For those unfamiliar with the format from past years. These tournaments hold 16 participants each. Format of play is live VASL via Skype. PBEM is not an option unless both players agree. If two participants can arrange to play each other live, either at a live event or just due to proximity, that is an allowable way to play a game in a round. If Skype is not what you normally use for voice AND the other player is willing, another voice program is fine to use. Where there are rules disputes, please run them through me. If I can't help, I do have others to reach out and between us, we can figure things out.
As for prizes, Redheaded Tee shirts provided the prizes last year. Some cool, customized tees and mugs for the winners. I will be reaching out to Tim again this year, to see if he can assist again.
There are four rounds in each tournament, which with 16 players gets us to a final 2 for each tournament. Each round is 3 months, except for the round that falls over the course of the Christmas/New Year Holidays, which is 4 months. Last year we went with four month rounds and that seemed to hurt more than help. Three months should be sufficient for completion of a round, save for the Holiday round. There is no scenario list, rather players select the scenarios they want to play by mutual agreement, but the scenarios need to be from the theme of that tournament. No day scenarios in the night tournament, etc.
If you lose a game(s), you are not out of the tournament. These tournaments are as much about playing, if not more so, than about winning. Players may play all four rounds regardless of record and are in fact expected to, if otherwise possible.
If you want in but really don't know if you will have the time, please, the considerate thing to do for your future opponents and yourself is to just pass this year, there will be other opportunities. There has been about a 1/3 drop out rate in the tournaments, sometimes higher, in past years and I would prefer you only get in if you are sure you can commit the time. Obviously, "real life" will have a way of intervening sometimes and there is nothing to be done about that. However, if you can look ahead and predict issues, please take that into consideration.
I will be sending out emails to past participants today who finished last years last round and will then open up the tournaments and the PTO tournament to all by the weekend.
If you played in the last round of a particular tourney last year and did not get notification this year, shoot me an email at chnogueira at Aol.com A.S.A.P. and I will place you in. If you want in, please upon receiving the email, respond that you are going to be participating this year and please pass along your Skype connection so I have it in case of communication issues.
One last word of caution, there apparently has been an idiot who takes pleasure in going into peoples VASL rooms and wrecking their games. They apparently change user names, so I highly recommend locking your rooms as you play. It is unfortunate, but a reality.
That said, I hope to see you all soon. Emails go out today and then I will make an official announcement opening the tournaments and the new PTO tournament for remaining slots on Saturday. The people above who have indicated that they want in will also be included in these emails as there is enough room for that. Separate emails will go out for each tournament. I will also check my past GS messages for people who have indicated interest in the past.
Thank you gentleman,
Carl