Team Fortress 2. I’ve played this game since beta, and seven years later, I’m still enjoying it. I’ve played in a quite a few tournaments and met so many amazing people. The community has grown so much and it’s crazy how far the game has come. However, I’ve noticed one thing in particular that the game lacked: an amazing community LAN.

Being the tournament director of the GXL LANs, I’ve ran some of the previous Team Fortress 2 tournaments. They were filled with competitive players looking to have a great tournament and a fun time. For a long time now, countless people have asked for a worthwhile North American Team Fortress 2 community LAN. I’ve had the desire to really take the tournament a step further. So, here I am, taking it a step further. I have every intention and aspiration to make this the best possible LAN and Team Fortress 2 tournament possible. With the help of eXtelevision and the support of all of you, it will be.

eXtelevision and I present to you: The GXL Team Fortress 2 Invitational

To the best of my ability, I am going to make this desirable for everyone to attend. I donated $500 out of my own pocket into the prize pot. My contribution brings the prize pot to a current total of $2000, including eXtv’s contribution. Because this is a buy-in tournament of $20 per player, if 16 teams sign up (and we currently have enough players signed up to make 16 teams), then that will bring the prize pot to a combined total of $4000, making this quite a nice prize for any of the top contenders. However, don’t feel discouraged if you’re not a top contender, because I will make absolutely certain that every single player on every single team gets something. Even if you get eliminated in last place, you will still get something cool, and it won’t be a keychain worth 25 cents. Obviously, the better you place, the better prize(s) you’ll receive. It could be cash, unusuals, gaming peripherals, crate keys, or a handful of other things. Don’t worry about the possibility of us running out of prizes due to so many people going, because if I need to go buy more prizes at last minute, I will. No one is leaving empty-handed. However, you must participate in the tournament to get prizes!

Oh, and if you didn’t know, European players are already paid and confirmed.

We are currently in the middle of getting more sponsors on board, but if you’re interested in sponsoring the tournament, feel free to send me a private message on here or send me an email at TheFragileTF2@gmail.com

Come out and play in what will be the biggest North American Team Fortress 2 LAN to date. Meet new friends, talk to some of your favorite players, get cool prizes, and play the game we all love.

eXtv Statement:

eXtv is proud to announce our support for GXL LAN 2014. We will be bringing out the best casting and coverage TF2 LANs have ever seen. Our producer dashner is teaming up with Lange to produce and broadcast the event, using methods usually reserved for the most prestigious and publicized of tournaments. We will be bringing you every moment of the action, both on and off server with dedicated videographers and photographers capturing all the drama of North American TF2's biggest LAN event ever. As part of our dedication and commitment to the TF2 community, eXtv is contributing $2,000 to the prize pool in order to entice bigger and better teams to travel to Philadelphia this fall. All the staff at eXtv is eXtremely eXcited to be bringing this coverage and sponsorship to TheFragile and our other friends at GXL. Together with the TF2 community, we will make this a LAN that North American TF2 will never forget.

Information

The information below may be updated at any point.

What:
The GXL LAN Team Fortress 2 Invitational

Where:
Greater Philadelphia Expo Center
Oaks, PA 19456

When:
October 10th-12th, 2014

FAQ – Event:

Q: Where can I register to buy my ticket?
http://www.thegxl.com/civicrm/event/info%3Fid%3D2%26amp%3Breset%3D1

Q: What are these extra options that I can choose while registering?

• Premature LANer -- The LAN will open at noon on Friday to everyone, but if you buy premature LANer, you get in as early as midnight of Friday.
• ThickPipe -- Get a gigabit (10/100/1000Mbps) port on the network (only 40 available). This option does NOT give you better internet speeds. It makes it so you have more speed on the network. For example, if you download a file from someone else's computer at the LAN, it'll go much quicker. (DC++ is popular for file-sharing at these events)
• Spy Option -- Access behind the stage area and staff lounge, as well as a behind-the-scenes tour given at 02:00 AM on Sunday (only 20 available).
  
  

Q: Can I go to this if I’m under 18?
Yep! You just need to have your parents sign a parental-consent form and bring the form with you to the event.

Q: How does seating work?
You can’t pick your seating online, but there will be a section specifically set aside for TF2 at the event. I will also make everyone space out enough so teams will sit together and not be spread apart. Just show up and sit down with your team.

Q: What is the closest airport to the venue?
Philadelphia International Airport - PHL

Q: I’ll be flying out to this event, will there be a computer for me to use?
We are exploring ways to have computers for players traveling long distances, but nothing is set in stone yet. In the meantime, try to find people attending who might have a spare for you to use. No matter how you’re traveling, please bring your computer if you are able to. I don’t want to give everyone the false impression that you will automatically be taken care of if you don’t bring your computer.

Q: What are the details on the hotel?
The Hampton Inn & Suites Valley Forge/Oaks will be the unofficial GXL hotel.

It's only a mile away from the venue and in the same plaza. There is no code that needs to be applied or anything. If you plan on getting a room, please book with this hotel, just so all of us can be in the same place. Their free breakfast is pretty good, too.

Q: But what if I can’t afford a hotel room?
Splitting a room with a bunch of people should make it out to be really cheap, but if that is still an issue, then you can sleep at the event. People tend to bring sleeping bags or inflatable beds and sleep near their computer.

Q: Can I play in other tournaments?
You may only play in other tournaments if and when you’ve been eliminated from the TF2 tournament. Keep in mind that the TF2 tournament is only on Saturday, so anything you wish to do on Friday is up to you. There are no tournaments on Sunday.

Q: Will I be able to stream?
Probably not. We need to be careful with bandwidth to make sure eXtv, other tournament streams, and everyone else get all of the bandwidth they need.

FAQ – TF2 tournament (DETAILS TENTATIVE):

Q: Will there be a buy-in for the tournament?

There will be a $60.00 entry fee per team (or $10 per player) and 100% of this fee will go towards increasing the $2,000.00 base prize pool (less PayPal transaction fees). You can pay for yourself, pay for teammates, or pay for your team as a whole.

You may create a new team or join an existing team here.

This is basically the same process as if you were signing up for the CEVO online league. The only thing you need to take note of is that you must sign up under the same email address as you did on TheGXL's website. If you have a different email address already registered with your pre-existing CEVO account, you can change your email address on your CEVO account instead of creating a new account.

Q: How can I play in the tournament?
You'll need to find a team if you haven't already found one. Keep in mind that the tournament will be 6 vs 6. This thread will have plenty of teams looking for players, so make sure to post here (and don't forget to include what class you play). If you can't find a team, there will certainly be pick-up teams made while at the event.

Q: What will the prizes and payout be?
1st Place: 50% of total prize pool
2nd Place: 25% of total prize pool
3rd Place: 15% of total prize pool
4th Place: 10% of total prize pool
Anything below 4th place: Will still receive a prize such as an unusual hat, keys, games, mice, keyboards, and things related.

However, no matter what place you finish in (even last place), you will still get something as long as you participated in the tournament. Obviously, the better you place in the tournament, the better prize you’ll get. But again, you must participate in the TF2 tournament to be eligible. The idea of this format is going to make it so lesser-skilled players still feel like they are coming out with something and don’t feel like their buy-in to the tournament is wasted. I do not want anyone to worry about there not being enough prizes for everyone. If I find that there are more teams than we have prizes allocated for, I will go out and buy more prizes myself. Just sign-up for the tournament and have a good time, please. :)

Q: When is the tournament?
The entirety of the TF2 tournament will be on Saturday. It will start at 9:30 AM.

Q: What is the format of the tournament?
6 players per team. Group stage followed by double elimination.

Ideally, we want to have 16 teams heading into the double elimination bracket. This means that if more than 16 teams sign up, there will be some kind of elimination to get to 16 teams. If less than 16 teams sign up, we might use the Swiss-system to determine seeds quicker, but this isn't for certain. We'll have a better idea of what we will do closer to the LAN.

Every single match at any point will be best out of 1 map, except for grand finals.

Q: What are the rules?

• Class-limits (NA rules)
  • 2 Scouts
  • 2 Soldiers
  • 2 Pyros
  • 1 Demoman
  • 1 Heavy
  • 1 Engineer
  • 1 Medic
  • 2 Snipers
  • 2 Spy
• Time-limit / win-limit (EU rules)
• 30 minute time-limit
• If a team is leading by 5 rounds, the map is over immediately.
• If the score is tied after the time-limit has been reached, a decider round (golden cap) will have to be played. If no team has won the round after 10 minutes have passed, the win will be awarded to the team controlling the middle capture point.

• Weapons allowed (NA rules)
  • The current ESEA whitelist (at the time of the LAN) will be in use for the weapons that will be legal.

• cp_badlands
• cp_granary
• cpprocessfinal
• cpgullywashfinal1
• cpsnakewaterfinal1
• cpyukonfinal
• kothproviaduct_rc4

FINAL UPDATE

Please read all of this, and then pass it on to your teammates and/or anyone else you know that will be attending.

========

QUESTIONS

A very common question that I'm asked is if you need to bring anything with you to registration. You can bring the confirmation email but it's not really necessary. It might speed things up a little but I wouldn't worry about it.

Speaking of common questions, I really should have emphasized this a long time ago, but please read the FAQ. I would say over half of the questions I receive are questions that are easily found with a ctrl+F in the FAQ.

========

SEATING

There will be a TF2 section that will start on one end of the row of tables and we will fill the row from one side to the other. CS:GO will fill in on the opposite side and eventually will meet in the middle. Everyone will space out enough so teams will sit together and not be spread apart. Just show up and sit down with your team.

At every table, there will be a quadbox to plug your power strip into. It's logical to share the quadbox with the table you're sitting across from. There should be roughly five people per two tables, so someone will need to daisy chain power strips. BRING A POWER STRIP.

========

TOURNAMENT STUFF

We have a bunch of players signed up along with a lot of teams created, but only a couple teams with all six paid. Please, have all six members of your team paid BEFORE you come to the event. If you try to give us your entry fee while at the event, we have to manually go in and edit it for you, and we will be extremely busy with numerous other things at the event. On top of that, in the scenario where the internet is really slow and you're having trouble with Paypal transactions, that would also suck. So please, do everyone (and yourself) a favor and pay before the event. Don't wait until the last second.

I know I haven't mentioned much about the CEVO rental computers, but I know I've said this before and I'll remind everyone again: The rentals are packed and should not be considered an option. You should find alternative ways to get a computer to play on. We don't have too many rentals to play with, as the rentals will mostly be used by CEVO players and the European team, and we need to get this tournament done in one day. The reason I brought up that the tournament needs to finish in one day is that if everyone is trying to use these rentals, it will put massive delays on tournament progress. CEVO mentioned there also might be a fee to use them, but I haven't heard anything about that in a while. I cannot promise the availability of rentals to literally anyone except the CEVO players and the European team. Again, one last time for emphasis, you should not consider them a reliable option.

Speaking of tournament progress, this is also something I need to be very strict about right now. As I just said in the last paragraph, this tournament needs to finish in one day. We cannot afford to deal with any kind of extended delays because people are randomly missing. PLEASE SHOW UP BEFORE 9 AM ON SATURDAY. If you want to go to your hotel quickly or go grab some food, please ask dr.shdwpuppet or me first on how much time you'll have. Everyone needs to have excellent communication here, because I will not hesitate to forfeit a team because people are missing. I will not play favorites or make any exceptions for anyone here. I really don't wanna be that guy to forfeit you, but at the same time, you shouldn't be that guy (OR GIRL) who disappears for too long and makes your team take a forfeit. Exchange phone numbers and be on the same page, and your team will (hopefully) be just fine. I want this tournament to be on schedule as much as possible, and the guys that we have to think about the most here are the casting/streaming desk. These guys will be working all day, practically nonstop. These delays make their day of work that much longer. Please be respectful to everyone, and show up to your matches on time.

Also, for the duration where you haven’t been eliminated yet in the TF2 tournament on Saturday, you cannot play in any other tournaments until you’ve been eliminated / the tournament is over. This is just a cautionary thing I’m enforcing to make sure there aren’t tournament delays.

========

MAP SELECTION

For those who haven't seen, cpyukonfinal and kothproviaduct_rc4 have been added to the map pool.

This brings the final map pool to:

cpbadlands cpgranary cpprocessfinal cpgullywashfinal1 cpsnakewaterfinal1 cpyukonfinal kothproviaduct_rc4

For the map selection process, the entire tournament will be map elimination between the two teams. The order is decided by a coin toss or Rock Paper Scissors. The winner picks whether they want to eliminate first or if the other team will eliminate first. The team who eliminates first also gets to choose what side they play on. In example of Team A vs Team B:

Team A wins the coin toss, and they decide to eliminate maps first. Team A eliminates Badlands. Team B eliminates Granary. Team A eliminates Process. Team B eliminates Gullywash. Team A eliminates Snakewater. Team B eliminates Yukon.

The map that remains is Viaduct, which will be the map in this match.

Also, because Team A eliminated the first map, they will also choose on what side they play on for the selected map (Viaduct). If any of this is confusing, please post.

========

GROUP STAGE

The teams are really starting to pile up, so here's what I'm likely going to do for group stage.

-As mentioned previously, no matter how many teams sign up, there will be a total of 16 teams after the group stage is over with to continue to the double elimination phase. The amount of groups and amount of teams in each group will be determined on the number of teams we have on October 10th (Friday night).

-We have limited resources on how many servers we can run at once. Some of your groups (and/or matches) might be delayed a little bit to make certain we don't overload our resources.

-The CEVO-qualified teams will have their seeds based on how they finished on Friday, therefore making them exempt from the group stage. Let me explain my idea behind this, with the first two reasons being of massive importance:

• Makes the group stage go quicker. It is going to be incredibly hectic with so many matches happening at once, so to have less matches going on will help alleviate the flow of the schedule.

• It frees up the rental computers when people might need them the most (but again, no one should rely on their availability). It also lets the European team hammer out their matches quicker with more available computers.

• It gives teams more of a shot at making it out of their group.

• It gives the CEVO teams a bit of rest from playing all day on the day before. Not a really relevant reason to anyone else, but I think they might appreciate that a bit.

• The insomnia LANs (namely i49 and i52) do something similar like this, with basically an "Invite" group stage where no one gets eliminated from this group, as it's used strictly for seeding.

========

LAST BIT OF STUFF

Lastly, we should have a large mumble for teams to use. You can create your own if you’d like, but the option is there.

That’s basically all I have. Again, please send this to everyone you know and make sure all of this information is common knowledge. I’m really excited to see everyone in less than a week.