Hey,
In light of yesterday's Sceptross sellback I think it's finally time to pull the trigger on this touchy subject. This is something we've discussed among the TDs before, but we couldn't come to a consensus and we were fearing that the player base wouldn't support removing an element of SPL that's been part of the tournament forever. However, given the response to the recent WCoP format thread I am instilled with a renewed sense of optimism, so I might as well try for this change as well.
As it stands we already have a very much devalued mid-season stage compared to previous years. The week off has been removed, there are no All-Star type of activities and you can't sign up for the mid-season auction if you didn't also sign up for the original auction (and this change is permanent, so please don't argue going back to the old system), which leaves the pool of options extremely limited. The current system allows managers to sell back cancerous or inactive players on their team in order to replace them with one of the undrafted players from the original auction. This change would remove sellbacks as a whole, but still leaves managers with the option to report players for cancerous behavior or excessive inactivity with the same consequences being attached to it as are now to sellbacks; perhaps a tournament ban could even be considered.
Speaking as Sceptross' manager, he'd never be reported if there wasn't 3k to gain. He's been an incredibly nice team mate throughout the first few weeks of the tournament that got dealt a rough hand irl. He himself reached out to me notifying me of his future inactivity and incredibly even recommended me to sell him back instead. I know the sellback itself isn't in question, but I'd argue that the managers don't need the protection of a mid-season and that they can draft accordingly in the auction to ensure their team has the depth for a full SPL season, as well as perhaps steering away from known activity/ban risks during the draft. This is what substitutes are for, right? It worked fine for SSD this year, too. Not to mention the fact that if one of your big guns goes awol you're fucked regardless of there being a mid-season draft. The current system is messy and crammed into two weeks that are already exciting and filled up as is.
Changing the sellback rules to a case-by-case basis with regards to infractions and such is a slippery slope as well, because that's something the hosts would have to take the players' word for. Let's keep it simple and remove the mid-season altogether. Should someone need to be reported, then the hosts can check the respective team's server for a player's activity and behavior for a ban with a set punishment. No excuses. What are we really protecting still?
In light of yesterday's Sceptross sellback I think it's finally time to pull the trigger on this touchy subject. This is something we've discussed among the TDs before, but we couldn't come to a consensus and we were fearing that the player base wouldn't support removing an element of SPL that's been part of the tournament forever. However, given the response to the recent WCoP format thread I am instilled with a renewed sense of optimism, so I might as well try for this change as well.
As it stands we already have a very much devalued mid-season stage compared to previous years. The week off has been removed, there are no All-Star type of activities and you can't sign up for the mid-season auction if you didn't also sign up for the original auction (and this change is permanent, so please don't argue going back to the old system), which leaves the pool of options extremely limited. The current system allows managers to sell back cancerous or inactive players on their team in order to replace them with one of the undrafted players from the original auction. This change would remove sellbacks as a whole, but still leaves managers with the option to report players for cancerous behavior or excessive inactivity with the same consequences being attached to it as are now to sellbacks; perhaps a tournament ban could even be considered.
Speaking as Sceptross' manager, he'd never be reported if there wasn't 3k to gain. He's been an incredibly nice team mate throughout the first few weeks of the tournament that got dealt a rough hand irl. He himself reached out to me notifying me of his future inactivity and incredibly even recommended me to sell him back instead. I know the sellback itself isn't in question, but I'd argue that the managers don't need the protection of a mid-season and that they can draft accordingly in the auction to ensure their team has the depth for a full SPL season, as well as perhaps steering away from known activity/ban risks during the draft. This is what substitutes are for, right? It worked fine for SSD this year, too. Not to mention the fact that if one of your big guns goes awol you're fucked regardless of there being a mid-season draft. The current system is messy and crammed into two weeks that are already exciting and filled up as is.
Changing the sellback rules to a case-by-case basis with regards to infractions and such is a slippery slope as well, because that's something the hosts would have to take the players' word for. Let's keep it simple and remove the mid-season altogether. Should someone need to be reported, then the hosts can check the respective team's server for a player's activity and behavior for a ban with a set punishment. No excuses. What are we really protecting still?