The International Clan League (ICL)

[MNDuke]

I really like the idea, but man 21 sets per month is going to get crazy fast, especially for the captains who have to send in/create all the games.

I am not to sure if you will be able to get 36 clans to that kind of commitment, especially in the first season, so you may end up with about 4 teams per division.

But keep running with it, this could turn out to be an extremely fun thing to be in.

Well the schedule will be produced ahead of time, so captains and teams will or should have plenty of time to prepare. Depending on interest and feedback, the season size could be reduced. This is just what I have set up, but I am open to all options.

I have updated the front page with the rules and general info and am looking for clans to volunteer to participate or to semi-commit and see what kind of participation level I am looking at.

[Leehar]

Are you in the CLA Duke? I assume so, so have you scouted out who over there is interested?

[TheMissionary]

I would be interested in this, and if it goes through, MM would likely participate (note i said likely). I would be willing to help out with anything as well.

[MNDuke]

Are you in the CLA Duke? I assume so, so have you scouted out who over there is interested?

I am in CLA but I am not our clan rep. This just started coming together and I really hadn't even thought about it. Might not be a bad place to start.

I would be interested in this, and if it goes through, MM would likely participate (note i said likely). I would be willing to help out with anything as well.

Awesome. I'd appreciate any help in getting the ball rolling or any help really. I have somebody interested in helping to run it, yeah anything you could do would be a help. Even if its ideas on how to improve things.

Names for Divisions:

Legends
Heroes
Conquerors Drunks
Emperors
Warlords
Kings

Fify.

I like your thinking dan, but I don't think we need our own division.

How's this:

Premier Conference: Divisions - Heroes, Champions, Pioneers
Elite Conference: Divisions - Legends, Kings, Titans

[MNDuke]

I would like to thank and announce that IcePack will act as the first League Organizer or Commissioner. He contacted me and expressed interest in running/organizing the league or helping. Since I have never ran, nor organized a tournament, I welcome his help and am excited to have him on board. He's already provided plenty of good feedback and advice.

Currently he is on vacation and will be back in April. When he gets back, the plan is for him to help coordinate the first steps for the ICL (sign ups etc as needed).

show: Sample Schedule

[Finsfleet]

If you wanna do it, by all means, do it. However, keep in mind that unlike USA, most of the world sports are organized in league/cup formats, so I`m sure this would never work. Not to mention that we already have a system that works.

How do you think that USA leagues are run? There is a league and the a playoff afterwards. If you called the playoff a cup, then it would be the same.

I do not think, I know how USA leagues are run.

And no. We are not talking about the same thing. By European standards, what you are talking about is league. Cup means bracket, cup means knockout system only. If you`ve got 90% of the games in the regular season, it`s called league. Your competetion cannot be league and cup in the same time.

But it doesn`t really matter, what matters is do you have enough participants. I just wanted to be clear with the terminology.

[Chewie1]

I think you have the begginings of a great idea, but agree with the huge commitment it would be for the clans rep to undertake makinfg all the games etc...
Especially for some of the smaller clans. We (DBC) would in principal probably want to participate but as we are only a small clan It would get too hectic with games as we would like to continue other clan wars all year round as well as tournaments and general fun games.

If your looking for a lomger type league set up then you could have the sets go out every fortnight to break it all up and even have a months break from timt to time.

[eddie2]

i like the idea duke count aka in.

[MNDuke]

I think you have the begginings of a great idea, but agree with the huge commitment it would be for the clans rep to undertake makinfg all the games etc...
Especially for some of the smaller clans. We (DBC) would in principal probably want to participate but as we are only a small clan It would get too hectic with games as we would like to continue other clan wars all year round as well as tournaments and general fun games.

If your looking for a lomger type league set up then you could have the sets go out every fortnight to break it all up and even have a months break from timt to time.

Well the way I am planning it is having the season schedules given out ahead of time so clans will have plenty of time to prepare. Having the schedule for the whole season should give you time to prepare for matches well in advance. I'm not looking to start it til June when things die down a bit more. I planning for the season to last about 4 months. The playoffs would coincidentally coincide with MLB playoffs.

I really wouldn't want it to start and stop. The idea is for this to be like a professional sports league. You play an intense and competitive season for the rights to a playoff spot and shot to win it all. I understand this might be lot, but this is supposed to be a competition. The best athletes and pro teams are working hard for it; all competing because they want to be called the best or Champion.

And that's the idea behind this. The idea isn't for this to be a pissing contest. It's a competition. It should be a hard fought contest with the winner being able to declare they are the best of the best, the Champions of CC. Much like their is a Conqueror, there should be something like it for clans. That is this. This is no half-assed challenge. It will show who can win night in and night out.

[MNDuke]

i like the idea duke count aka in.

Done. I'm glad to have you guys in.

[bragsie]

You can count the MAgnificent Bastards in on this war, there is no limit to the wars we play, we fight we win or lose but mostly we learn to win more another day.
on a side note if you want a volunteer to help keep a league going or help out I will do it, certainly have the skill sets to do this.
just let me know.

[MNDuke]

You can count the MAgnificent Bastards in on this war, there is no limit to the wars we play, we fight we win or lose but mostly we learn to win more another day.
on a side note if you want a volunteer to help keep a league going or help out I will do it, certainly have the skill sets to do this.
just let me know.

Awesome. I'm willing to take all the help I can get. Let me know what you can or want or are willing to do.

[OleCowboyHippy]

Sounds great to me...Let me know if I can help you put it together...OCH

[ViperOverLord]

Great idea. If MNDuke or whoever is putting in the work, I support it. Man. D. is in if you make it a go.

[IcePack]

MN Duke will be creating the set up and gaining initial interest and feedback.
Once I return April 1st we will make the official announcement & sign up thread with a June start date +/-. I'll have plenty of time to set up schedules, talk with each rep about theirs and keep on top of teams as their games come up.

Like Duke said there will be plenty of time to plan games and see your schedule, you can plan the whole season or just take a week @ a time.

I will help him clarify some of the rules etc as we go so that we're ready to begin.

Cheers,
IcePack, ICL Commisioner

[MNDuke]

Sweet. I'll add Man D to the list.

OCH, is Mythology in? And what kind of help did you have in mind.

[cookie0117]

Will check with SOH but provisional interest is definatley shown.

Can I just check on what the game load may be. If its 3-4 sets of 4 games per week, it will mean up to 16 per week during the competition, possibly 20 if ties are needed.

[lordnex]

Hi, I'll be primary contact from Otpisani regarding this competition. It does sound interesting and you may put us under "considering".

However there are a lot of things to discuss before starting the league.

First of all, talks about conferences and divisions are a bit premature. Let's just see, first, how many teams are interested and we can go from that to divide divisions later. Maybe leave that number of 36 as maximum, but I wouldn't mind if first season starts with 12 or 18 teams. NBA/NFL/MLB haven't started with 30+ teams either - it took 'em years to get there.

Even having divisions might be unnecessary - in pro sports there are made to minimize traveling with having geographically close teams playing more together.

On the other hand, what should be set as soon as possible is the length of season - number and dynamics of games played as it may factor greatly in clans' decisions to join or not. NBA, in example, have 82 games in season. There are 82 games now with 30 teams, and there were 82 games 45 years ago, when there was 12 teams. I think we should, too, find that optimal number of games and length of season and stick to it whatever there will be 12 or 30 teams.

That said, I think 84 sets in 4 months might be a bit overwhelming. Most clans will likely play their clan wars, conquer cup, clan league at the same time, and having 5 more sets a week will prove difficult to handle. I'd say 2-3 sets a week (10-12 a month) would be more of an acceptable schedule for most clans. Even example in the first post (which looks good) have 15 games in a month. On a 4-month season that should make for something like 48 sets. Maybe go up to 60 at max, but not more.

Other things to consider might be - determining maximum number of times each map can be used, min and max number of games each player can play. Tracking those might get tough.

Also I don't like a bit and idea about having a tiebreaker to determine each set. Some games may take a weeks to finish, I wouldn't like to have to track all few weeks old sets to see if another game is needed. It's a league - nothing wrong with having a tie.


OK, that's all from me at the moment
Some thoughts, hope you consider it.

[IcePack]

Lordnex - these r a few things I'm hoping to address tonight w MNDuke and a few others.

[Dibbler]

I like the idea and will put it to the rest of my clan, I will very likely be the contact should the Pigs want in. I am also a little concerned with the number of games in a 4 month span. Though it would certainly encourage clans to spread the games around it could also force smaller clans to stay away just cause they can't handle all the games with other commitments.

I agree with Lordnex that ties are not bad and that during the regular season should be allowed. However if there are only a small number of games per set there may end up being too many ties. Since there is going to be a home team and an away team, why not make an odd number of games per set to eliminate ties? Its not like both sides need to be made equal. The home team decides all the games anyway.

[MNDuke]

I like the idea and will put it to the rest of my clan, I will very likely be the contact should the Pigs want in. I am also a little concerned with the number of games in a 4 month span. Though it would certainly encourage clans to spread the games around it could also force smaller clans to stay away just cause they can't handle all the games with other commitments.

I agree with Lordnex that ties are not bad and that during the regular season should be allowed. However if there are only a small number of games per set there may end up being too many ties. Since there is going to be a home team and an away team, why not make an odd number of games per set to eliminate ties? Its not like both sides need to be made equal. The home team decides all the games anyway.

It can definitely be looked into. A possible solution could be to play 1 dubs, 1 trips and 1 quads. That eliminates one game from every set and gets rid of the tie. Thus decreases the demand and the work lord. I absolutely hate ties. They belong in tee ball and soccer. I like having a definitive winner. Ties bog things down. I think this would probably be the best solution. I also don't want to get into a points system. I want this to be pure win and loss record.

[PROFITS]

I'll post it in our forum and see if any responses.

[JP007]

if you can get it all the logistics worked out it sounds great.

Count the Devil's Brigade IN!!!!

[MNDuke]

Thanks. That makes 8 so far. Rest assured, that we will continue to tweak this thing until we have a format that works for everybody. This is going to be a very well thought out and planned/organized league.

[Dibbler]

I think an odd number of games would be the best way to eliminate ties as opposed to tie-breakers.

On another note, is only 3 games representative enough a sample to give a win? Certainly since this is a long term multi-set event you don't want too many games but 3 seems small. Would 5 be too many? I know going higher would reduce the importance of one of the formats, either doubles, trips or quads but it would also legitimize to a slightly greater degree the wins and losses.

Just discussing.