New calendar schedule system

Today we introduce a new calendar system on our website. Previously, one team leader had to enter the match date and time after both teams had agreed on a date. This lead to some problems now and then with users entering dates without having the opponent’s approval. For the admin team, this was hard to track. Therefore we have created an approval system for the calendar.

From now on this system has to be used for all matches.

This is how it works:

1. A leader of team A enters a desired date into the calendar. (This works in the same way as you were used to entering dates into the calendar)
2. A leader of team B sees the proposed date and can either accept or reject it.
3. If the date is accepted, it gets added to the calendar and the date becomes final.
   If the date is rejected, the leader of team B (or the leader of team A) can propose a new date, which the opposing team leader can accept or reject.
4. This goes on until a date is accepted.

Seeing new schedule proposals

There are several places where you can see if a new schedule proposal has been made by one of your opponents.

This new sidebar widget positioned above the sponsors list, will appear whenever you have 1 or more new schedule proposals waiting for you.

Note: Unanswered ladder challenges will from now on also be displayed in the same place.

On the calendar page you will find a new section Schedule proposals, directly under the Add Event section. Here you can accept/reject any proposed dates. In the example below you can see that Moose suggested to play this match on 4 November, but that was rejected. Instead, Albert suggested to play the 15th. Moose can now choose to accept or reject this date.

As a final note: this system is meant as an addition to contacting your opponents to talk about a match date and not a replacement.

VAC Bans:

Our new policy of banning those with a VAC ban on their Steam account is now being enforced, affecting over 80 players. As we said previously, to prove that you can play on a secure TF2 server, and therefore in the ETF2L, please contact an AC admin by the “!acrequest” command. Those banned will not be eligible for any ETF2L events until November 2011.

The list of VAC banned players who haven’t contacted us to verify their account should be available here soon.

More Cheaters Banned:

It is again with disappointment we add some new names to the list of known cheaters:

• Forci – Aimbot
• Izi8, a.k.a. LoiceLight – Wallhack

Each of these accounts will receive a 2 year ban.

Today marks ETF2L’s second birthday, and we’d like you to join us in celebrating all that we have achieved together in this time.

Whether it’s a public server, a group of friends forming a clan, or a team of volunteers trying to build a place for people to play, online gaming and e-sports enterprises are notoriously fragile and short-lived.

So, it’s with a great degree of humility that we realise that none of this would have been possible without all of you reading today, and those who once played here but have moved on to different games, and that we say we’re very proud to see our organisation progress from strength to strength to become the biggest TF2 league in the world.

In two years, ETF2L has hosted 33 competitions, ranging from pyro paintball, to highlander, to showcasing the very best competitive TF2 has to offer in our leagues and cups. 51 teams signed up for our debut season, and we now accommodate 330 in our on-going sixth season.

Of course, the journey hasn’t been easy – we’re not afraid to admit that we’ve made as many mistakes as we’ve had successes – that’s part of the process of running an organisation like this. If there’s one lesson that we’ve learnt from this project, it’s that with a little bit of inspiration and a lot of hard work, we as a community can achieve whatever we put our minds to.

It’s our goal to build on the success we’ve enjoyed so far, and to continue to nurture and grow not only ETF2L itself, but even more importantly, the game we all love so much as well.

Here’s a word from dAyKiLLeR who has been head admin from the first day:

The whole staff, but especially ST8 and me, are very proud of reaching ETF2L’s 2nd birthday. When we first started this project, it was our goal to realise a well organised and community based league with a division format, something which was totally missing from those early days of TF2. We never planned to become this big, but we’re very happy for all the great feedback we have received from the community. Thanks for your support and making us the biggest TF2 league worldwide!

We are looking forward to the upcoming weeks, months and hopefully years, and will keep improving the project with new, fresh ideas.

Also, here are some facts about ETF2L:

• 33 competitions
• 100+ different countries represented
• 238 published newsposts
• 2,517 registered teams
• 5,829 submitted results
• 6,183 active players
• 14,458 registered users
• 115,550 forum posts

Team YoYoTech vs Team Dignitas

Team YoYoTech will be looking to make a statement in Division 1 tonight and recover from an early season setback against Illegal as they take on reigning back-to-back ETF2L champions Team Dignitas.

YoYoTech are the only team that can boast a good record against Dignitas, handing them their only map loss of Dignitas’s previous ETF2L season, and more significantly, beating them over two sets and five maps to win the coveted EMS crown this summer.

Looking to build on that success, YoYoTech have selected Turbine as their map pick. Dignitas may struggle here considering they only just managed to scrape an overtime win versus FakkelBrigade in Week 2 of this season on Turbine.

We can look forward to what should be a highly competitive Gravel Pit as well. Gravel Pit tends to bring out the best in Dignitas, with all of their chemistry, talent and versatility usually on full display on this dynamic map.

How will the teams fare tonight? Tune in to find out!

Coverage

• The game starts tonight at 21.15 CET.
• Check out Resupply’s match preview for a detailed look at the game.
• lvl^TV will be hosting a livestream of the game. Tune in for live commentary and insights into the game from nvc and Pure.
• FakkelBrigade SourceTV relay: fakkelbrigade.eu:27100

Match Overview
TCM Gaming vs Relic
Week 4 (Division 1)
Thursday, November 5th 20:15 CET
SourceTV: fakkelbrigade.eu:27100

ctf_turbine

7 - 8

cp_gravelpit

0 - 2

OVERALL
TCM Gaming [0:6] Relic

Norway vs Finland

As the finals of the ETF2L Nations cup are drawing closer one more great match will be played. Meeting in the semi-finals are   Team Norway and   Team Finland. The teams will play on the maps Badlands and Granary with the possible decider map being Gravelpit.
The winner of this match will go on to the finals where they will face  Team Sweden. Our prediction polls showed Finland as the clear favorite with 90% of the votes, will Norway be able to cause an upset and reach the finals? Make sure you don’t miss it!

Coverage

Be sure to follow this match tonight at 21:15 CET. You can watch this match either on the sourceTV relay provided by Fakkelbrigade, or watch the live video broadcast from QuadV with the caster(s)  A_spec and possibly AcidReniX.

• Source TV: fakkelbrigade.eu:27029
• Video coverage: [link]
• Article on Resupply: [link]

Match Overview
Finland vs Norway
Semi-Final
Wednesday, November 4th 20:15 CET
SourceTV: fakkelbrigade.eu:27029

cp_badlands

5 - 0

cp_granary

5 - 4

OVERALL
Finland [2:0] Norway