Yeah, the divide between high invite and low invite would still remain (perhaps even more pronounced) but 9 invite teams would allow for perfectly balanced schedules (assuming no teams die l0l)

um. boy that's going to make a lot of really disgustingly gross ugly massacres for next season.

A 6-team LAN would be bad unless the prize pot is at least doubled. You'd either have to give a large chunk of prize money to 6 teams instead of 4, which would likely result in each team barely making back travel funds (or not at all), or you'd invite 6 teams and only pay out to 4, which would be terrible as well.

this upcoming season would be the first season that i think a 12 team invite season would actually be interesting. if 6-7 of the current invite teams stick together and 3 get moved up from im then thats 10 right there. there are also a couple invite teams trying to form which could be competitive too. i don't know if thats what killing was referring to in his dumb cryptic message but i think it could actually work out next season. i think increasing invite to 10 and still having only top 4 make lan would be good too. would make it a lot more competitive and teams would really need to earn their spots for lan. tf2 main is cool too though.

the fuck is that flag

jeez tagg get with the times
http://teamfortress.tv/forum/thread/6889-those-of-you-with-quebec-flags

how was I the last person to hear about this?

are we even going to have 6-7 living invite teams? everything i hear about next season's lineups is that FT, CC, XEN are done so we'd be sitting on 4 survivors in bp, mix, ag, vector. throw in Mad Men, that xalox/anonemouse team, the hypothetical br0 reform, we're at 7, and then pull up dun's team if they come back with their predicted new roster, i guess you're moving up r5, the ducks, and ostrich poachers to hit 11, and then we're looking at big mangachu's squad in invite for the 12th spot.

i think a 12 team invite would be pretty reliant on another 2 teams to be made out of the recycling bin of tf2 players and i still don't know if it would generate all that much competition or kill team's spirits even more. it's interesting to think about, at least. i think a main would be better as an option to make divisions competitive beyond the top 2 but who knows really

I hope that there is a main division instead of a larger invite division.

I have always felt like there should be a main division, but never have a thought that invite should be larger.

The gap between the top few teams to the lower invite teams is pretty big, and it would only make it bigger. Also, there are a lot of individual players that don't like going to LAN and spending the money and the commitment if they aren't confident that they will do well, and having more teams go to LAN I think will only make it worse.

Like Smaka said, the prize pot needs to be increased even more if we want more LAN teams. Unless The Chess Club gets 1st or 2nd we are losing a good chunk of money out of pocket; even with the prize money and the donations. When I placed second with Classic Mixup two seasons ago, I barely broke even... from my seasons of invite I have lost more money then I have earned and that is with a second place finish.

killing put my team in invite pls thanks

DJC best invite pocket.

Also, Marmaduke really really really wants to be invite. So much so that he wanted us to reschedule to when blank's computer died to play them 5v6 in playoffs. True story... Please killing, if trekkie gets in, marmaduke has to get in.

wat

Looking forward to the Mighty Ducks reform

#believe

if you think i embarrass myself with my rocket aim now, y'all mofuckas ain't seen shit yet

hahaha

It's a sign we're growing, and that's amazing. Slowly but surely, it's still something.

i don't see why we can't try to have a 9 team invite scene, and around the same amount of teams in IM plus a main division if possible. whatever works i guess.

If the argument is to be made for Main then we need a stronger IM division first, if there isn't a big enough talent pool to keep Invite close to even where would we get people to fill another 12-16 teams in Main?

Also, if Invite is expanding, this would be the perfect time for teams to go out and find a sponsor...

I agree with a main division, myself. When you look at open, it's fairly top heavy as well. If we can figure out a way to balance out these divisions so there are more than 2 real contenders, it'd be nice.

Open was decent this season with maybe.. 10 solid teams, but when you look at IM/Invite, it's not very pretty.

no matter how many fish you add to the pond

lan will still be enigma vs b4nny

T-minus 12 days.

http://i.imgur.com/SMk7oes.jpg

wait we are done?

fuck

also ft dead hmmm news to me

dammit djc, you weren't supposed to reveal the secret plans ;<

A main division would benefit the community a lot more than making a larger invite division. I understand that invite players would welcome a more diverse player base in invite to prevent the stale nature that playing against the same people over and over tends to result in. I get that. However, there is a divide in the top 5 teams in this game and the rest.

There is also a huge divide in IM. Unfortunately the top teams in IM are not even close to the level of the top invite teams (Madmen is the obvious exception, I have no doubt that if they were moved up this season they would be attending lan). A main division would have results that would not only impact IM but also Open. Instead of the new generation of players fighting through re-roll teams in open just to make IM and encounter teams that are well beyond their immediate reach, why not move the upper tier of IM into a main division. It would make the open division what it should be, a beginner league, with players either too casual to compete at high levels, or newer players that need to be seasoned longer against more equal competition.

This model has worked in the past with the other valve games, and I understand the obvious flaw of player/team base with making a parallel to cs. However, just because we have a smaller player base doesn't necessarily mean that the same model wouldn't work. It would just mean aninvite and main division that separates the top tier players from the great players and the great players from the good players and the good players from the new players.

An invite poll would still work, new teams reforming or putting back together a team with the intention of competing at a high level should be put in the same skill bracket. The winners of the poll get moved up, the losers get put into main.

Keep the invite division the same size.
Create a Main division a similar size, maybe a little bigger than the invite division.
Turn the intermediate division into a developmental division, with the top tier teams getting moved to main to keep the cycle going.
Keep open the same in turns of move ups.

Having a four league tf2 season would enable us to have leagues that are more defined in their cumulative skill level.

I'm not a high level player, this is my opinion, it is obviously a little biased based on my tier on the ladder.

The biggest problem with our current design, is that IM isn't actually intermediate. It is a competition between eight or nine teams for the rights to get stomped in invite, most likely reform in open, and continue the cycle season after season.

didn't you guys raise $1000 in donations? i don't see how you could be losing money out of pocket. $2200 should easily cover flights if they cost ~$300 each. you would also still have like $300 left for hotel rooms. you should be able to break even or atleast come close. im not counting food or anything like that into your totals because you would be paying for that anyway even not at lan. i know you have some canadians but they should be driving to the states and getting a flight from there like a lot of them do. if you're not then that is why you're losing money.

*edit* ah i see you guys only raised $500 something. still you should be able to come close to breaking even if you come 4th. it also gives you all the more incentive to come in 1st so you end up making $$$.

Invite Level Budgeting.

This is an option is you live in southern ontario. Everywhere else, not really.

we got around $620, and yes our Canadian players are flying from Canada but even the cost is in the low-mid 400's for each of those flights.

We will probably end up with a total of like $450 that we will have to split up 6 ways. So yeah, if we got second or first we would make money, otherwise we are losing money out of pocket (which doesn't even include food)

IM isn't stable enough for Main.

Sorry