RULES FOR THE DOUBLES LADDER
Last update: June 5, 2009
(new changes in red)
I. Ladder
The ladder is a ranked listing of all the currently participating teams.
- The ladder shows the following information for each team:
- The team's rank on the ladder
- The team name
- The team status (all teams are Active unless stated to be Inactive)
- The PSN names of each player on the team, along with their respective countries (e.g. Feisar31[US])
- The team's win/loss record
- The team's rating
- Each team has a status of Active or Inactive. Teams that do not play a match for 3 months will be changed automatically to Inactive status. Inactive teams that do not play a match for 2 months will be removed from the ladder. That is, a team will be removed from the ladder if 5 months have passed since its last match.
- Teams are ranked on the ladder according to their ranking scores (or "ratings"). The Doubles ladder uses an Elo rating system, like the one described on this page. Each team starts with 1500 points, and will be unranked until it has played 1 match. After each match, the ratings of the two participating teams are updated according to this Ranking Calculator. The lowest possible rating for a team is 1000.
- All match races will be in Wipeout HD at Phantom speed with weapons on. If there is enough interest, separate Flash/Rapier ladders may be created.
II. Challenges
Eligibility:
A team may challenge any other team on the ladder to a match, under two conditions. Team A may challenge Team B if:
- Team B is within 500 rating points of Team A
AND - Team A has not played Team B before OR 2 months have passed since the last match between Team A and Team B.
Challenge Protocol:
- All challenges should be coordinated through the WipeoutZone Private Message system. All messages about the challenge should be sent/copied to all members of both teams.
- Challenges should be made at least 3 days in advance of the intended match.
- Teams that have been challenged should give their response within 48 hours.
- Teams may decline a challenge for any reason.
- Pay attention to the countries of the members of the team you're challenging (so you don't challenge someone to a match at 3:00 in the morning in their time zone). You can use the Time Zone Converter to help you figure out a good time.
The challenge process is as follows:
1. Initial Challenge
The initial challenge message should contain:
- The name of the challenging team (e.g. Team A)
- The PSN name of the host (one of the members of Team A)
- Proposal for the match format (8-FWD, 8-REV, 8-CUS, 12, or 16 races)
- At least two possible times for the match, including dates and stated time zone.
2. Response
One member of Team B should reply with their decision to accept or decline the challenge. If Team B accepts, the reply should include:
- A confirmation of the match format (including custom track selections if necessary)
- A confirmation of one of the offered times, or the suggestion of an alternate time
More messages may be needed for both teams to agree upon a time. Once the match time has been agreed upon, we get to ...
3. Final Confirmation
One member of Team A replies, confirming one of the original times or Team B's suggested time. If necessary, the message should list the final custom track selection for the match (including Team A's choices). This message should be sent/copied to yeldar2097 OR a member of Team A should post an announcement for the match in this thread. The scheduled match will be added to the list of "Upcoming Matches".
Each team should notify yeldar2097 of any match cancellations or postponements, so that he can keep an updated list of scheduled matches.
III. Matches
Matches consist of one or two tournaments in Wipeout HD with the following settings:- Speed: Phantom
- Weapons: On
- HUD Weapon Hints: On or Off
- Opponents: Invite-only
- Barrel Rolls: On
- Pilot Assist: Off
- Laps: 5
The winner of the match is determined by summing all the points earned by the players from each team: the team with the most points at the end of the tournament(s) wins the match. Matches may be 8, 12, or 16 races. (Each match counts the same amount towards a team's ranking—the number of races is simply a matter of preference.) The match options are:
- 8-race Forward: One tournament of all Forward tracks, raced in order from Vineta K to Sol 2 (or vice versa).
- 8-race Reverse: One tournament of all Reverse tracks, raced in order from Vineta K to Sol 2 (or vice versa).
- 8-race Custom: The challenged team (Team B) selects 4 tracks in its response message. Then the challenging team (Team A) selects the remaining 4 tracks in its final confirmation message, such that each track is represented by one version. (If Team B chooses Metropia Reverse, Team A cannot choose Metropia Forward.) The races are played in one tournament in the order they were listed, with Team B's tracks first and Team A's tracks second.
- 12-race: The challenged team (Team B) selects 6 tracks in its response message. Then the challenging team (Team A) selects the remaining 6 tracks in its final confirmation message; Team A may choose any track version not chosen by Team B. (If Team B chooses Metropia Reverse, Team A can choose Metropia Forward.) The races are played in one tournament in the order they were listed, with Team B's tracks first and Team A's tracks second.
- 16-race: One tournament of all Forward tracks and one tournament of all Reverse tracks, each raced in order from Vineta K to Sol 2 (or vice versa).
Match Protocol:
- A member from each team should login to WipeoutZone on the day of the match in case the other team needs to cancel.
- The match host (from Team A) should start an Invite-only room at least 5 minutes before the agreed match time and invite the other three players. Someone should also start a text chat room and invite the other players. If both players from the challenged team (Team B) have not joined the game within 15 minutes of the scheduled match time (or they have not communicated their cancellation to Team A), the match is forfeited by Team B.
- When all players have joined, the host should begin with one single race to ensure that there are no connection issues for any of the players.
- After the single race, the host should set up the tournament agreed upon beforehand. Using text chat, the host should confirm that everyone is ready to start. Once all 4 players are ready, the host may start the match.
- For 16-race matches, a 5 minute break should be taken between the first and second tournaments.
- In the case of a tie after the normal number of races, an 8-race tournament (all Forward tracks) should be held immediately to determine the match winner.
- Within 24 hours of the match, the match results should be posted in this thread by one of the teams and confirmed by a member of the other team. If possible, players should take photos at the end of the tournament(s) to record the final scores; these images can be posted along with the results or sent by PM to Feisar31.
Network Trouble:
- If a player disconnects or is disconnected during the match, the tournament should be stopped immediately and the host should set up a new room. If the player is able to rejoin, the match may continue; the host can be switched to Team A's other player if that might help. The teams may resume the match from where it was left off if someone has kept track of the scores; otherwise the tournament must be restarted.
- If the disconnected player cannot rejoin, or if he or she becomes disconnected again, the match should be rescheduled.
- If the same team has disconnections during the rescheduled match, that team forfeits the match, receiving a loss. The other team is awarded a win.