9.95
Noob
Summary posts from UMK.com
Dark_Rob said:Ok gents. One of the things Id like to do before Winter Brawl is plan out exactly what we are going to do and how we are going to handle things.
NEC was the biggest MK tourney we have run to date and as a result the first day was kind of a clusterfuck. We did much better on the 2nd day because before we did anything we all got together and talked and planned out what were going to do and as a result the 2nd day was much much smoother.
So a few things I would like to bring up and see change from NEC.
1. MK2.
MK2 was BADLY mishandled on Saturday at NEC. Those guys hardly got to play any casuals(if any) at all before the tournament itself. Being as the MK2 tourney will also be held on Saturday at WB, one of the first things we should do Saturday morning is see to it these guys have a dedicated MK2 setup to play on.
It wasnt right that these guys got shafted at NEC. Alot of guys from CMK are coming again to WB and this time we need to show them that they're game is important to.
(Im not blaming anyone for NEC here, it was a clusterfuck. Shit happens. Lets learn from it and move on)
2. UMK3
After we see to it that the MK2 players are good to go we can focus on UMK3 casuals.
We should have two dedicated setups if possible.
One setup dedicated to your standard Mk stick and pad setup and another more flexible setup that we can mish mash with standard controllers and other peoples more custom/oddball controllers (read Marvirrasta's stick lol)
Also I believe Storms is bringing his mega cab again which has since been upgraded with all new Happ sticks and buttons.
UMK3 is casuals all day that day so in some regard we should try and be more sensitive to the MK2 players needs on that day.
3.MKDC.
Yes I know we hate it lol. But the players are once again coming out for it. So we need to find a spot for them to set up.
This wasnt handled to badly at NEC, however I think we should avoid trying to run MKDC on the same day as UMK3. Therefore I think we should run it on Saturday after MK2. We have the time to do this if we focus on getting the MK2 guys set up early so they have plenty of time to play casuals, enabling us to have the MK2 tourney fairly early.
We can have the MKDC players up and running at the same time and run the MKDC after MK2. Maybe in the late afternoon early evening.
Sunday should be exclusively dedicated to UMK3. And we need to start way earlier than we did at NEC. If we want to make the stream we need to get down to Top 8 far faster than we did at NEC. Shock brought up a good suggestion about having a 2nd setup of UMK3 to blow through losers bracket matchups that dont really need to be recorded. This is one of the biggest things that I think will help us blow through these matches.
Planning and smart use of our resources will win the day at Winter Brawl. We can do this. Its just with the MK tourneys getting bigger and bigger we are going to have to plan more to make it go off without a hitch.
We will need the practice anyway because come MK9 we are really going to be neck deep in it.
Anyway this is how I see it. Feel free to make any changes or recommendations guys. If we all work together to plan this out ahead of time we can pull this off without a hitch.
Also anyone with a laptop/PC capable of running mame flawlessly should bring it if they can. The more setups we have the more flexible and speedy we can be.
Shock said:Goals for Saturday:
Get two tables.
MKII on PS3 with a good TV/flat screen, 2 pads, 2 sticks.
UMK3 main setup on my TV, with 4 sticks, 2 PS2 pads, and 2 X360 pads.
UMK3 Megacab for extra casuals.
MKvDC setup will most likely be taken care of by the 3D guys. We should try to maybe use one of the Magic TVs for them since it's likely Check will record onto his computer and a TV with video out makes it easier for him. I will talk to DanCock about maybe picking up Check this time around unless Phil has the ability to pick him up and drop him off, or at the very least drop him off.
Any other MK setups will be a bonus. I don't expect to do much more than that on Saturday. One of the tables will be used for the laptop we run the brackets on for MKII and MKvDC, or KI if we decide to run it.
Goals for Sunday:
UMK3 is the dedicated game, if any MKII or 3D players are still around, we can try our best to make sure they have something to play but we have to make sure we have enough stations for 2 UMK3 tournament set ups and a laptop to run the brackets. I would love to be able to have a laptop with a chat open so we can communicate live with people as we're running non streamed matches. We most likely will not have 32 players this time around, but if we do I welcome it. I expect 24 currently, and with that, we'll use the main setup again, and have an auxiliary set up with two sticks and two pads, and perhaps any pads that are extremely specific button configs. This setup can be run on a PC or Laptop with a flat screen. It will be used for the matches that do not need to be recorded.
When the tournament starts, we can probably blow through 10 sets in 20 to 25 minutes, and I would advise anyone who is helping out to get cell numbers of all players so we can contact them, we should probably dedicate a phone for that purpose, and also finding players in general is a big deal. Sometimes players don't want to give out their cell numbers. We do have a lot of them already so it should be easier this time around. No need to wait to move onto Losers bracket if we have two setups either. The secondary setup will eventually be dedicated to Losers Bracket matches once the first round Winners Bracket is complete.
With 24 players I don't really see any first round winners bracket matches not containing a player worth recording, but chances are all but 1 or 2 Losers bracket first rounds will not be record worthy. The goal is to get to the top 8 by no later than 6PM so we'll need to get the tournament going by about 3PM, and that means taking signups between 12 and 3PM. With two stations we can achieve that, one station it would take 4 hours to get through 16 sets of UMK3 tournament matches. We also need to establish rules, and match counts. For now we need to consider:
Winner repick is allowed but must be announced by winner before the loser picks, or if the loser picks too quickly they may repick if winner doesn't want to stay.
Robot Smoke changing to Human Smoke mid match is not permitted and Human Smoke must be selected through his portrait.
Noob Saibot banned until further notice.
Normal Rounds 2/3
Winners Semis 3/5
Losers Semis 3/5
Winners Finals 3/5
Losers Finals 3/5
Grand Finals 4/7
We use to record everything but that's when there was no live footage of MK games really to be found. Now it's no longer necessary to record each and every match. Mandatory recording would be definitely 3rd round winners and 3rd round losers on, and likely several second round winners and losers. With two setups, the added matches to Semis shouldn't make a huge difference.
So for example:
R1 Winners
Hubbs
995
\
/
BlueIX
DarkRob
These are optionally recorded matches but,
R1 Losers
Hubbs
BlueIX
Obviously since neither player practices the game, its unnecessary to record and can be played as soon as the extra setup and players available, while other higher profile matches are going on. I've always tried to make all players in UMK3 tournament feel special and in the hotseat, but in any tournament I've ever played in otherwise, I've generally felt like I was on the side/inconsequential so I don't think anyone will mind playing on the auxiliary setup while other matches are going on. I guess it's just due to the fact that we're starting to need more than one setup.
However
R2 Winners
995
DarkRob
Would be a mandatory recorded match.
Also speaking of recording, on Saturday STORMS and I, along with some others, are going to do a round table interview (I believe) so we're going to need to dedicate some time to that.
Again I must stress, two setups and diligence will be completely necessary to ensure we get through to the top 8 in time for the stream, and when I say get to top 8 by 6:30, I mean so if we can't do top 8 and need a half hour to play through to top 4 by 7 we'll have it. I, or Phil will talk to the stream guys to determine the time frame, but they have come to us and asked where our brackets stood at ECT2, Summer Jam, and NECXI during the tournaments themselves. So, if you're on the staff (we'll go over that next) and you see the extra station is not being used for tournament, and then look at the brackets and see a match can be done, get that match going and let me or Phil know. Just make sure nothing is going to waste.
Staff:
Shock
9.95
DarkRob
Summoning
AC1984
All of us will need shirts.