Is the magnitude of hate directed towards Sigafoo unnecessary? Yes. But is the response from this decision unwarranted? Absolutely not.

If RGL wants productive feedback, then perhaps individuals shouldn't isolate the exact audience that RGL needs to cater towards. The decision to separate players from playing in one team because they are dominant in recent history is the antithesis of what a competitive league should stand for. One thing I should point out is that RGL is completely within their right to do this as it is their league, but that does not mean we just have to accept it and go along with the decision. Earlier in the thread, Sigafoo debunked dominant teams not separating players in professional sports, pointing out the fact that they were under the effect of a Salary Cap.

What they have apparently failed to realize in avoiding to enforce an actual Salary Cap is the actual intention of what a salary cap is supposed to do. In the current method of roster changes and a player worth in the TF2 scene, no player has an attached value and players are free to transfer between teams in regards of their localized league's rules to prevent hijacking. Because players do not have a monetary value attached to them, the idea of a salary cap does not work with the rule that RGL have put forward. The rule's goal is similar to a salary cap, which is the prevention of a dominant team to encourage more competition but fails to realize that the method put forward prevents any team from establishing themselves.

I understand that froyotech is a unique case because of their strength and dominance over the past 3 or so years if not more, with Se7en being the only team that can really challenge them. But I don't see that as an issue that requires breaking apart an established team because of that. RGL have shot themselves in the foot and have created a problem that, if they are not careful, will cause them more harm then good in the future. There are so many clauses and loopholes that would have to be addressed without the rule being seen as nothing more than an artificial handicap towards the other teams in the League. For example:

• What defines someone as the best player in their respective class? Who determines that?
  
• What about roster changes mid-season? What would happen if you don't have enough teams without more than one froyo member on each team?
  
• What would label a team in RGL only as a Super Team? Is this rule only for froyotech or is it for any team that establishes themselves as dominant? If Cat Noises win the next few seasons, would they be broken up as well?

Also I want to address some points that RGL have brought up in their updated post.

• What you believe is 'more interesting' should not be a determining factor when making decisions for your League, but rather an objective view as to whether or not the decision would be a benefit to your league, both in viewership and participation.
  
• You have established this rule only to say you will never use it again most likely, making it seem like the rule is only being made since you don't like froyotech being as strong as they are, almost like reverse favoritism.
  
• You use the latest ESEA season as an example, but forget that the teams distributed themselves naturally and through choice, not the League forcing them to do so.
  
• You acknowledge that your rule is harsh but apparently made no effort to find a rule that would encourage (not force) a competitive atmosphere or be at all compromising to the players that it would affect the most.

Finally, I wish to address the responses to criticism. Whilst I understand that some of TFTVs users can be narrowly-minded about certain topics, having been on the side that is criticised, but Sigafoo's criticisms have been nothing short of dismissive. Rather than address the issue, it seems that he has adopted the method of debating their criticisms or straight up bringing up points to delegitimize their complaints (e.g. Pointing out when dominant teams in professional sports have had salary caps when that wasn't even the point being made.).

It definitely in no way shape or form damaging to RGL's reputation when you label an entire group of people as being on the wrong side of history by linking a thread discussing toxicity and sexual harassment when the vast majority of people were against the comments made by those individuals, as well as comparing that thread to this one.

It would be in RGL's best interests to abandon the rule, acknowledge that they made a bad choice, and work with the teams, players and perhaps even other leagues as to how best you should approach the issue of dominant teams like froyotech. Because I can say with absolute sincerity that this decision will be far more damaging to your League than having froyotech win another season.

I might as well throw my hat into the mix.

No shade to anyone at Essentials, but I sort of was thrown into a situation I was neither prepared nor planned for. With Heny stepping down from regular Head Admin but saying he should be the Tournament Lead for iSeries we were planned to go ahead with Heny leading and me shadowing him, doing most of the basic admin expectations; reporting scores, resolving match disputes etc.

However, Heny stepped down from Tournament Lead as he was not able to attend, so being the only other "official" Essentials Admin, I took up the reigns that were left behind. In a small frame of time (which should have been much bigger and plans are in the works to resolve that) I had to cover all the bases that would have been done by someone far more experienced than I. I ended up getting Aoshi on board since he was keen to help again this year and he is someone that I have tremendous respect for and faith that he would help cover areas in which I was more inexperienced. However, I did not expect him to "carry" me and I needed to put as much effort into this as everyone else was. Upon retrospect, it may have been better for Aoshi to lead and me to shadow but at the time the way we were doing it seemed the most appropriate given the circumstances.

Because of the small time frame that we were given to prepare for this, certain aspects needed to be rushed. Case in point, the ruleset. The rules format was a combination of the old League of Legends iSeries ruleset and our monthly cups ruleset where all game specific rules were covered. In an ideal scenario, I would have rewritten the whole ruleset by hand, but the rules covered most of the disputes that would occur. However, at no point did I relay or go through the ruleset with my other Admin which led to decisions that were allowed by one but not by the other. Again, as Aoshi had said, we had separated into two different areas due to an oversight by the event organizers causing our communication to be quite inconsistent.

There is a lot of things that could have gone better, and I'll be the first to admit that some of it is on me. Information should have been far more transparent and easy to get than it was. I cannot speak for production, but I concur on all of DanS' points. We will be having a post-mortem on production and discussions are already happening on how Essentials will be working for the future so for next year we can have a production and event both attendees and viewers at home can be happy with. We aren't aiming to throw on a show as extravagant as i55/58, but we aim to make a production that is sustainable, yet demonstrates the best we have to offer.

In the beginning post in the i63 thread and a few posts in said thread, I published a schedule. Whilst it is a bit crude, it shows the times. LAN.tf has been promoted on all our social media and threads relating to iSeries and the NA Monthly was promoted by contacting team leaders and promoting through our twitter threads, although it is clearly evident that even if we did promote the events everywhere that the format itself is problematic and requires rethinking how Essentials runs tournaments.

We now have completed our Online Qualifier with Ora Elektro, Timed_out, and The Bus Crew all qualifying for the Invite Division at iSeries. The #iseries-general Discord channel is now only available to Team Leaders of attending i63 teams that have signed up to our tournament page. All teams must sign up here:

https://www.toornament.com/tournaments/1631514046444314624/information

If your team has been signed up and you are the team leader, join the Discord and DM me with your Tag and we will give you the rank. I cannot stress this enough: If your team is attending iSeries and have not signed up to the Tournament Page by the time signups close on Friday, you will not be able to compete.

Rosters have also been extended to 8 players if you are expecting that you will need a Substitute within the tournament. Any iSeries-related question should be relayed to the #i63-24th-27th-august Discord channel.

We have new information to give out, mainly surrounding how we will communicate at the event as well as the current schedule. I do apologize for lack of information surrounding the Invite Qualifiers as my main aim was to make sure the matches are played, efforts are being made to try and stream these matches.

New Information

• If you are competing in the tournament, communications between the Admins and teams will be done through our Public Discord in the #iseries-general channel. This channel is now open for teams to ask questions about anything regarding the tournament or event.
  
• The public schedule for when matches are being played are here (Note: This is subject to change)
  
• Slight changes to the rules have been made to the Tournament page. These include the removal of Screenshots as a mandatory requirement for results submission and clarification on Pause rules. Please ensure you are familiar with the rules.
  
• There will be a special i63 episode of the Essential Intelligence Podcast featuring Staff that will be attending iSeries for a Q&A on Sunday the 19th @ 22 CEST. Details as to where to ask questions will be posted soon.

Discussions are currently open for the implementation of cp_prolands_b5 or b6. Please let us know in this thread or in the #i63-24th-27th-august channel in the Public Discord.

This is correct, on our schedule it is a bit earlier since we need time to set up etc, but the TF2 Grand Finals will be on the main stage at that time.

Invite Qualifier Applications have been closed and we have 5 teams competing for the remaining 3 slots. They are:

• Ora Elektro
  
• The Bus Crew
  
• Velocity EU
  
• Quaint Gaming
  
• Timed_out

Some of their matches will be cast over the next few days on the Essentials Twitch. They will be a Bo2 match with points awarded for each map won, similarly to how the main season of ETF2L is run. The top 3 teams after all matches have been completed will qualify for the Invite Division for i63 whereas the other two will have to compete in the Open Division.

Official statement from our Leadership Team at EssentialsTF: https://essentials.tf/news/20

For the Online Qualifiers, we would be following the rules of the Monthly Tournaments. In terms of the mercs, if opponents agree teams are allowed to bring in max 2 mercs that are not on the tournament roster. Your tournament roster would be the team that you would be expected to play at LAN with.

In terms of dates, once I have a more settled schedule, I would like to have team leaders in a voice call to discuss how we go about completing the qualifiers.

As far as I am aware, the servers are going to be LAN.

Sorry for being delayed with these announcements, been a bit busy with IRL stuff.

New Updates

• Invite Group Stages will be BO1 with all teams playing in one Round Robin Bracket. Changed from two groups playing BO2. This means that the number of matches is going up to seven on the Friday.
  
• Five Teams have automatically qualified to the Invite Bracket, and any other teams will have to apply to play in an Online Qualifier.
  
• Froyotech, Se7en and SVIFT automatically qualify to the Invite Bracket due to performances in their regional Leagues.
  
• Ascent.EU and Faint Gaming EU automatically qualify due to their recent performance in the EU Monthly.
  
• Online Qualifiers dates are not fixed as of yet, but will most likely take place over the coming weeks. The top 3 Teams from the Qualifiers will qualify to the Invite Bracket.

Again, please post any questions here or in the Essentials Discord. DM me on Discord if you want to make an application to compete in the invite division, with your roster and any information that you think may be relevant (e.g Logs or recent performances in your Regional League)

Correct, that has been added to the page.

At this point in time, I believe that the format you see on the Toornament page is accurate and is not subject to any changes. BO1 Round Robin Open, BO2 Round Robin Invite, BO3 Playoffs. Invite features 2 groups of 4 and open features 4 groups of 8.

Times and number of rounds etc are dependant on signups and certain details we are waiting on like specific time for main stage.

We will be making an announcement regarding Invite Teams very soon. Just need to finalize a few details, won't be more than a few days.

Essentials have had nothing to do with ESA Rewind from the start AFAIK, so I do not know what you are insinuating here.

Also, I believe people are concerned with Rewind not being a thing due to it being an NA LAN and, last time I checked, Copenhagen isn't in the US. Perhaps flights are not as expensive to Denmark from the US as I previously believed, but without Rewind there really isn't a prominent equivalent to iSeries for NA, regardless of who is running it.

Yeah, that should be what the config runs. In terms of the map version quote, I'll update that text, many thanks.

That was the intention, however, I believed that the ETF Tournament System was not in a state where I would be confident in using it at this level and while Toornament can be finicky, it is reliable when actually running. As well as that, myself and the other tournament admin have previous experience with using the site.