Others have mentioned this, but the key to 'sustain' the esport in EU is not the highest level of play or even the average. Instead its the bottom level of comp play, those that are interested in taking the game more seriously but immediately hit the wall of "How do I start?".

Some areas of improvement that would go a long way to promoting longevity include:
- Encouraging and promoting a welcoming environment for new players
- Guided Games (Think Newbie Mixes, Coaching, etc.)
- Methods of playing regular matches against similar skilled players outside of league play/scrims (newbie & open-only)
- Same as above but a more blended experience (open-mid) not reliant on circlejerks and niche communities

I've held the belief that accessibility is one of the biggest problem areas of the scene since it stops fresh faces joining, and as people leave the community doesnt have others to replace them.

Memes aside, I believe something similar was tried around this with very short round timers and the more capture points you held when time expired the more 'points' you got (So 1pt for Mid, 2pts for 2nd, 3-5pts for Last; First to 20?, iirc). There was some discussion but ultimately I think the feedback was in the negative.

The issue with many people's suggestion of 'fixing' 5CP or 6s is that the solution they come up with is far too complex or adds newer, harder to fix, issues - I myself have had my fair share of 'solutions' that have had this problem. Complex fixes only makes accessibility into the space harder which is a major issue in a stagnant scene such as ours, and any issues as a result would create a vicious cycle of creating problems in the attempt to fix existing issues.

If eliminating dead time is the goal, why create such a convoluted method as opposed to something far more simple, like a GG plugin? Teams themselves then get to decide when a match is over. If abuse of the plugin is a concern, then the platforms (ETF2L/RGL) can implement punishments for those that do. The best approach to 'fixing 5CP' should be slow changes to ensure that A) everyone is playing the same format (no halves/halves etc) and B) quality of life fixes to make the biggest issues...less big (5 min round timer etc), not massive overhauls of the entire way we play competitive. At that point it would be more effective to just try other existing gamemodes, like Payload or other A/D maps.

Shoutouts to everyone on Brew Crew (nash, GardenFungus, Sodium, mackey, and sin) for the games
Shoutouts to eepily, gubbins, cuppers, twiikuu, and samus for the hype grand finals watchalong
Shoutouts to wG and TF2easy for one of the best finals I've ever seen, especially on LAN. GGs
Shoutouts to Aoshi and Mia for the long discussions on LANs, lots of great ideas
Shoutout to Chiers for hosting us and doing a lot of work behind the scenes
Shoutouts to production for the great show as usual
Shoutout to DCS for holding down adminning most of the weekend, not an easy thing to do
Shoutout to Turbo for abusing his powers to keep the bar open
Great to meet everyone, hope to chat with more of you next time

Quick reminder for teams that have signed up or plan to sign up, please make sure you are in the ETF Discord so that we can get Team Captains access to the tournament channels.

Apologies in the delays of getting these photos out! There is a significant amount of photos to go through and the ETF team, particularly in the creative/media area have numerous projects - TF2 and IRL - they are working on. I promise you that we haven't forgotten them and work is being done to have them published ASAP.

I understand this is a late change, and this was something that we did communicate in the major announcement a week or so ago - that there was the potential (and likelihood) that the event could extend to the three days. The simple reasoning as to why the decision was made now was down to simple logistics.

For us to have the access to the freeplay area for use of a Turn-Up and Play style event for TF2 whilst still covering the range of games ETF is doing it was planned that the tournament would take two days, extending into the night. However this presented us with potential issues with the area being open after expo hours, which would require additional staffing by DH. To remedy this, we had to extend the tournament to run over the three days of the event but contained within the hours of the expo. If this was solely run through the BYOC, this would not be an issue but players fed back to us that BYOC is difficult without rentals or alternatives.

DH Atlanta was always promoted as a three-day event, as outside of the tournament we would still have activities/smaller tournaments planned for people to take part in, its just the main tournament who's duration has changed.

Quick update, we have expanded the tournament duration to the entire three days.
Friday: Check-In and Group Stages
Saturday: Final Group Stages, Tiebreakers, Playoffs
Sunday: Playoffs and Grand Finals

There should be PCs available in the freeplay area apart from our allocated tournament PCs so outside of your matches you should be able to play in mixes/scrims, depending on availability.

For those travelling, matches/check-in will be around 2pm-ish so if you are attending I would very much recommend you try to get to the venue in the morning since the queues are expected to be quite long.

We have a few teams signed up now so if you or your team are interested in attending please try to register ASAP. If there is some information you want/need before you officially attend etc please don't hesitate in reaching out to me or on the ETF Discord.

Registration is Live!
SIGNUP HERE -> https://play.toornament.com/en_GB/tournaments/6150112853910372352/

The current format of the tournament is planned to be the following, but this is subject to change (i.e. the tournament may extend to the full three days):
Day 1 - Group Stages (4x4-Team Round, 3 BO1s); Tiebreakers and Seeding Matches for Playoffs
Day 2 - Group Stages & Playoffs
EDIT: Day 3 - Playoffs (4-Team Double Elimination, BO3 with BO5 GFs)

Ruleset:

• 30 min map timer
  
• 5 min round timer
  
• Winlimit 5
  
• 10 min Golden Cap when needed

Map Pool:
cp_gullywash_f9
koth_bagel_rc5
cp_metalworks_f4
cp_snakewater_final1
koth_product_final
cp_process_f11
cp_sunshine

If there is sufficient demand we can push for more resources to expand the tournament size and duration. A formal schedule will be sent out as soon as we get confirmation from DreamHack.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

We have been working over the past two weeks to secure some more logistically simple ways of playing in the tournament than hiking your PCs cross-state. Due to supply issues, there will not be PCs available for rental in the BYOC area. The option could be made available but this could potentially cost in excess of $400 which is not reasonable.

Despite this, we have secured a 'Turn-Up and Play' method that should make playing at this event easier (and cheaper!). We have secured PCs for players to use without the need for a BYOC ticket. This will be accessible in the Freeplay Zone and have been guaranteed for TF2 for the entire event, however this is a limited number. The tournament will be adjusted to reflect this capacity and work is being done to ensure that everyone who needs access to a PC has one.

Therefore there are a few details you need to be aware of:

1. YOU CAN PLAY IN THE TOURNAMENT WITH JUST A 3 DAY FESTIVAL TICKET, NOT A BYOC! This is currently priced at $89 and can be purchased here
   
2. If you have already paid for a BYOC and intend to use your own computer, you will still be able to compete.
   
3. The tournament is first-come-first-served with a tournament capacity of 16 teams. This can be expanded with high demand.
   
4. The guaranteed PCs will only be used for Tournament Play, you would need to use one of the other freeplay PCs any time you are not allocated a tournament PC unless otherwise stated.
   
5. Signups will be going live this weekend, if you intend to sign up please do so ASAP! The more teams that signup the more likely we can increase tournament capacity.

Direct any questions here or on Discord, updated the main post additionally.

We'll be pushing Atlanta details very shortly but can answer a few queries right now.

Yes, Atlanta's 6v6 tournament will have a pool of $10,000. Splits to be confirmed in the next week.

To my knowledge, Premium/Ultra are seated in a separate area to the regular tables. I can confirm this with DH, but for now I believe they are separate.

Right now, rentals are not confirmed although we have worked on securing PCs that anyone with a spectator ticket can use as opposed to the BYOC ticket. Full details of how this will work and who will get access to them should come after we have determined the final situation with having rentals. I know for many this is the key thing stopping them confirming their attendance, so this will continue to be our biggest priority.

I admit personal fault that the promotion with the Clash tournament was not up to our usual standards. Despite a couple of tweets and a bumped thread, the gaps in time between the promotions left some time for it to get missed. Rest assured, we'll be communicating a lot over the coming weeks about Atlanta details and improving how you as players can keep up to date with details about ETF events. But for now, the three key areas to check should be:

1. EssentialsTF Twitter - https://twitter.com/TF2Essentials
   
2. EssentialsTF Discord -https://essentials.tf/discord
   
3. This thread.

If you have any questions continue to post them here or reach out to a team leader on Discord. We have a couple of events happening in the meantime, with the playoffs of the Community Clash this weekend plus our Jump Tournament
and clip competition as a part of DreamHack Beyond: https://essentials.tf/beyond

Rest in Peace

A quick reminder for people that the deadline for signups for the 6v6 tournament end Friday 7th @ 23:59 EDT, please be sure to register ASAP especially if you intend to play Invite.

https://i.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/facebook/000/022/819/ilived.jpg

This is an ongoing discussion, and one where we hope to have some answers soon. We have alternative solutions in the works so there should be something available for people who don't want to bring their PCs cross-state. Details to come shortly.

cu@ LFT