Season 11 conclusion

[LivE.SworD]

I'm sure its not a surprise at this point that I would say the season didn't exactly go the way everyone had hoped. We had good activity, yes, but one of the lessons I learned was that a ladder system and prize pool don't mix well. Players being disqualified is not something anyone likes to see. And there was a lot of other questionable activity from nearly everyone in the top 10. But I don't blame the players; they responded to the money incentive which was the intent. I'm sorry that I didn't organize this better and/or listen to the calls to require a tournament from the very beginning as some had suggested. The last tournament didn't go well and I foolishly thought that having one again would only complicate things, but it turns out that nothing could have been more wrong.

In any case, its time to move on. In the future, any seasons with prize money will be required to have a tournament in some format.

Xtre-X is the winner of SCW11 and has been paid $500.

There will be a bit of a break until the next season. I will need some time to reflect and think how to run things better.

[tonyG]

i may not always agree with you, but i do appreciate the time/effort/money you put into the league! thank you sword and congrats xtre-x

[RJBTV]

You did a great job. It is tough to account for people scheming and breaking rules. Tough to deal with people trying to push their boundaries and exceeding them. This is made all the harder on a medium that provides individuals anonymity.  The season may have been a bit of trial and error, but the outcome will be improvements for future seasons. SCW saw a huge spike in activity and in high quality games. It had exposure to an important target group too.

[insaNe]

Firstly, thank you Sword for championing the activity and growth of our community. You're a real one.

You are right that there should have been a tournament in this case. I think there are potential situations where a tournament doesn't help, but this is definitely a time when it would have. And you're right to stave off the urge to host a tournament in response, given that it would be too reactionary at this stage in the game. It needs to be communicated ahead of time for the perception of fairness on your part, so it's wise to handle it like this.

I think the best way to challenge the type of cheating we've faced this season needs to be implemented in your algorithm that determines points, particularly with repeat players to the extreme that we've had it. I think anything left to human subjective reasoning is going to be flawed enough to stir controversy and it will challenge the perception of integrity of this league.

I also think it'd be worth some development time to create something that can automatically flag statistical anomalies for review. This could prompt you, or someone from your team, to check match histories and make sure all games are being reported.

Additionally, it would be wise to require games be played on USWest if you're able to determine that with your replay parser. I know the data exists in the replay file, but it might not be cost-effective to find it.

I think all GM gamers who truly love the game and strive for honest, competitive play with the highest level of integrity appreciate what you're doing for this community. You're one of the best FMP commissioners we've had in the 15+ year history of competitive FMP play.

[Xtre-X]

I started a fast map because of scw.

When I first did scw, I only did zerg.

You made Starcraft more interesting.

Thank you for SCW/UGL.

[FaINeR]

Congratulations to the winners and give thanks to sword for having a competitive league fastest .

[Prolific]

I'm not satisfied, I think xtre-x should be disqualified and Kokanee given the money, and jose bumped to #2, im sick of these Koreans abusing our league just because theyre broke and don't have a real job they think theyre entitled to winning the money every season just for being Korean. How about EARNING the money by beating the BEST players we have, not finding someone you can bash and avoiding the challenging player. It's really unfair.

[Chronicsavage]

I don't wanna say i told you so but this was bound to happen with a winner based on an acculumulation of season points alone. Best preventable measure to cheating/abuse would be a final tournament. Hopefully we can move forward with more fairness. I don't blame the players either, this was bound to happen given the cash incentive

[SaGaN]

I'm not satisfied, I think xtre-x should be disqualified and Kokanee given the money, and jose bumped to #2, im sick of these Koreans abusing our league just because theyre broke and don't have a real job they think theyre entitled to winning the money every season just for being Korean. How about EARNING the money by beating the BEST players we have, not finding someone you can bash and avoiding the challenging player. It's really unfair.

(Q_Q)

[Alex]

Congratulations Xtre-X

[Prolific]

I'm not satisfied, I think xtre-x should be disqualified and Kokanee given the money, and jose bumped to #2, im sick of these Koreans abusing our league just because theyre broke and don't have a real job they think theyre entitled to winning the money every season just for being Korean. How about EARNING the money by beating the BEST players we have, not finding someone you can bash and avoiding the challenging player. It's really unfair.

(Q_Q)

wanna (Q_Q) 1v1 me bitch....

[Prolific]

free tears available to haters go 1s bitch?

[Prolific]

go bo25?

[Prolific]

yea I don't see you fuckers talking now

[AlbaLoving]

Thank you sword for making every League possible