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With the release of final tiers of this upcoming 6vs6 season we would like to announce some changes to the config & rules. We would also ask the community to start thinking about what they think of wallbugs.

Please check out your bracket for season 53 now!

Config changes

For this upcoming 6s season there have been 2 changes made to the config.

1. sv_wallbug 1 added to all etf2l configs.
2. added sm_class_ordered_spawnpoints 1 for all 6v6 configs

Valve recently removed wallbugs by default in the most recent halloween update. Since this change happened right before the next 6s season and during the current highlander season, we have decided that pending a discussion within the competitive community over the future of wallbugs as a whole they will be enabled for now. We are asking the community to start discussions and give us feedback on the future approach us and the other leagues should have on wallbugs.

We are also experimenting with Class ordered spawns this 6s season. For more info on this see: https://www.teamfortress.tv/53683/twiikuus-technology/?page=2#49

Class Ordered Spawnpoints

When enabled with `sm_class_ordered_spawnpoints 1`, the spawnpoints on last will each have a class assigned. This will make Medic and Demoman always spawn in the same location, while Soldier or Scout always spawn in one of two locations, and which location should not change during the match unless either reconnect.

Rule Changes

Over the past year we have been working under the new 2.7. Player Experience system instead of the previously used skill contribution system. After multiple seasons of internal review and comments from team leaders and players in the community we identified a couple issues/gaps in the ruleset. To fix/mitigate the found issues we would like to announce the following changes to Rule 2.7. Player experience

Previously the rule read as follows:

2.7. Player Experience

Player experience determines both default mercenary and late joiner eligibility.
A player’s experience is based on their current team in the active season, or their highest division played in the last 3 active seasons, whichever is higher.
A season is “active” if the player has played at least 3 matches.
Participation in higher tiers counts toward that tier and below.
Playoff matches count toward the tier above; 3+ playoff matches or a Grand Final appearance counts as one full tier higher.
A player’s experience in one gamemode is considered one tier lower when applied to the other gamemode.

Examples of cross-gamemode experience:
Last 3 seasons: HL Mid, 6s Low, HL Mid → counts as HL Mid and 6s Low
Last 3 seasons: HL D2, 6s Low, HL Mid → counts as HL D2 and 6s Mid
Last 3 seasons: HL Open, 6s Mid, 6s Mid → counts as HL Low and 6s Mid

For the lowest tiers (Open/Fresh/Division 6) matches played from all seasons count towards player experience. Experience in other leagues (RGL, ozfortress, AsiaFortress, etc.) also counts and must be disclosed in relevant situations. Failure to disclose may result in removal from a team or withdrawn merc permissions. Cups (pre-season, one-day cups, Nations Cup, etc.) do not count toward experience. A player’s past experience from last 3 active seasons decays by one division for every two full years since the last official in the season it was earned.
The lowest possible tier after decay is Low/D5. Decay progression is based on the tier set of the division originally played:

Premiership → D1 → D2 → D3 → D4 → D5
High → Mid → Low
Note: High = D1/D2, Mid = D3/D4, Low = D5, so if a player decays from D1 → D2 they would still count as High.

Examples of decay:
Player played D1 four years ago → counts as D3/Mid (D1 decays twice: D1 → D2 → D3).
Player played D3 two years ago → counts as D4/Mid (D3 decays once: D3 → D4).
Player played High eight years ago → counts as D5/Low (High decays twice and not further: High → Mid → Low).
Player played Premiership six years ago and Low last season → counts as D3/Mid (Premiership decays three times: Prem → D1 → D2 → D3).

The rule now reads as follows instead:

2.7. Player Experience

Player experience determines both late-joiner and default mercenary eligibility. A player may not late-join a team in any division below their experience and is not an eligible default mercenary in any matches in those divisions. A player’s experience is defined to be the highest division from:

• The division in which that player is rostered in the ongoing competition of that gamemode
• The player’s previous three active seasons in any gamemode

A previous season is active if the player played at least three matches in that season. Cups (pre-season, one-day cups, Nations Cup, etc.) do not count toward experience. Players may not leave and rejoin rosters to circumvent the default mercenary clause before playing their first official of the current season.
Playoff matches count toward the tier above. Seasons with three or more playoff matches or a Grand Final appearance count as one tier higher. A player’s experience in one gamemode is considered and converted using the charts below when applied to the other gamemode:

Examples of cross-gamemode experience:

Last 3 seasons: HL Mid, 6s Low, HL Mid → counts as HL Mid and 6s Low Last 3 seasons: HL D2, 6s Low, HL Mid → counts as HL D2 and 6s D4/Mid Last 3 seasons: HL Open, 6s Mid, 6s Mid → counts as HL Low and 6s Mid

For the lowest tiers (Open/Fresh/Division 6) matches played from all seasons count towards player experience. Experience in other leagues (RGL, ozfortress, AsiaFortress, etc.) also counts and must be disclosed in relevant situations. Failure to disclose may result in removal from a team or withdrawn merc permissions. A player’s past experience from the last 3 active seasons decays by one division for every two full years since the last official in the season it was earned. The lowest possible tier after decay is Low/D5. Decay progression is based on the tier set of the division originally played:

• Premiership → D1 → D2 → D3 → D4 → D5
• High → Mid → Low
• Note: High = D1/D2, Mid = D3/D4, Low = D5, so if a player decays from D1 → D2 they would still count as High.

Examples of decay:

• Player played D1 four years ago → counts as D3/Mid (D1 decays twice: D1 → D2 → D3).
• Player played D3 two years ago → counts as D4/Mid (D3 decays once: D3 → D4).
• Player played High eight years ago → counts as D5/Low (High decays twice and not further: High → Mid → Low).
• Player played Premiership six years ago and Low last season → counts as D3/Mid (Premiership decays three times: Prem → D1 → D2 → D3).

2.7.1. Dropped teams & Leaving & Rejoining rosters

If a player has played two or fewer officials in the current season and their team has dropped from the competition, they may late-join a team based on their experience as determined purely by their last three active seasons. Their default mercenary eligibility is based on Rule 2.7, as outlined above, and any official matches played that season with the dropped team, whichever is higher.

2.7.2. Premiership Grand Finals Experience

Players who have played in a Premiership Grand Final within the last two years are considered as having experience one tier above Premiership for default mercenary purposes. Hence, these players are not eligible as default mercenaries in Premiership. However, these players retain their late-joiner eligibility for Premiership during this period. RGL Invite Grand Finals are deemed as equivalent to ETF2L Premiership Grand Finals.

This season we are also experimenting with removing Golden cap in the group changes and allowing for draws to happen on 5cp maps. The rules & point system are changed accordingly to reflect that. To facilitate this this season will be run on a base 2 system for map points instead of the typical base 3 system for map points.

2.2. Maps

5CP (Adjusted)

The time limit is set to 30 minutes (mp_timelimit 30) and the win limit to 5 rounds (mp_winlimit 5). The round timer is set to 4 minutes. The first team to reach five points, or the team with the highest amount of points once the map timer runs out, wins the map. During the group stage, if the map score is tied once the time limit is reached both teams will draw. During playoffs teams are supposed to run infinite overtime. See section below.

Infinite overtime during playoffs (NEW!)

The Progressive Ruleset incorporates this plugin that creates a dynamic win condition. The 5CP round win limit gets reduced to the current highest score +1 when the match timer runs out. For example, if the score is 1-2 when the map timer runs out, the win limit will be set to 3 and round continues.

The specifics of the progressive ruleset playoffs will look like this:

• The map timer for 5CP maps will be 25 minutes.
• The round timer for 5CP maps will be 4 minutes.
• If a team scores a total of 5 rounds before the end of the map timer, they win the map (winlimit 5).
• If neither team has scored a total of 5 rounds once the map timer runs out, the round winlimit is set to the current highest round score +1. The match continues until one team reaches the new round winlimit.

You can activate this ruleset by exec’ing etf2l_6v6_5cp_prog.cfg.

3.7. Skill Contribution

REMOVED. This rule had been deprecated as the current system of a partial roster lock has succeeded it.

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