Regarding LR #1 (4/5/2025)

Hi All,

This doesn't really fit in the main tournament forum post, so I'm making a separate one.

During the course of LR #1, I witnessed a few players exhibit some behavior that I would perhaps call unsavory. There are also a few times when people expressed their opinions in a not so professional manner, so I would like to discuss these instances in this forum thread in order to ensure that this opinion doesn't happen again.

Map Pool

I understand there are some frustrations regarding the Map Pool and selection process for this tournament. However, I would like to call attention to the fact that, directly after losing a match, calling the map pool "f***** stupid" and blaming your loss on the map is perhaps rather poor sportsmanship, and probably doesn't put you in the best light in the eyes of the community. Similarly, I have seen many comments today calling the map pool bad/garbage/etc but, at the same time, have heard no actual reasoning whatsoever as to what makes the maps bad (with the exception of Prestige, of which a tournament-legal edition rework is already planned). I am aware of the criticism regarding this map and there's no point beating it into the ground anymore because everyone already understands the issues.

I am inclined to believe that most people are criticizing the map pool due to 2 sea maps being included in the pool. Overall, it seems like many people were fine with a majority of the other ground maps, and that sea were the two being most complained about. This potentially means a few things:

• ZK Sea balance is bad.
• ZK Sea balance is good, but just unfun.
• People are simply unwilling to play sea due to personal preference.

In any of these cases, the problem is not with the map pool, but rather with either the game or the player (very inclined to thing of players on this one). Thus, unless someone specifically identifies issues to do with Izki or Shimmershore, both of which are MM support maps for 1v1 queue, I cannot accept this as a reason why the map pool is bad. If someone has actual issues with these maps, and I mean real issues that make them unfair, broken, or in some way not fit for tournament use, please comment them below.

Please note that I welcome criticism, but I will only listen to those who give factual reasons and evidence to back up their complaints. Saying "I think this is stupid" in the comments will not affect my decisions. Similarly, I do not take excessive swearing about anything to be a sign of intelligence, so please demonstrate civility in your feedback.

Player Behavior

For the most part today, player behavior was fairly decent. However, I would really rather not see the following things:

• Jeering/Harassing someone after they were eliminated (this one I didn't see a particularly strong example of, but I would like it if it didn't happen in the future).
• Blaming your losses on other factors (map, hardware, factory RPS, etc) - these are things you have some degree of control over or that are related to skill.
• Assorted other behaviors that made various members of our community appear slightly uncouth.

Remember, tournaments are a test of skills, preparedness, and endurance. If you lack in these things, they will show - and it will not be anyone's fault but yours.

If you have thoughts concerning changes you would like to see, comment below.

Thanks!

Qrow

Aquanim, thanks for the post.

quote: At the same time I think that people are not obliged to provide objective reasons in order to be allowed to dislike certain maps or to vocalise that they dislike them.

They definitely aren't allowed to not dislike them, but when 1-2 people complain endlessly for the map to be removed from the pool, to the point of insulting tournament organization (and in some cases TOs) and everyone else is fine with the map being there, I would expect a fairly good reason for such outrage.

quote: When I manage the matchmaker map pool, or when I have chosen map pools for tournaments in the past, I see my job being (primarily) to pick maps that people will enjoy playing on. There doesn't have to be anything obviously objectively wrong with a map for it to be unsuitable; being disliked is enough.

I agree with this point, and to some extent this is the real reason I was rather confused today. For the first two seasons of LR, we had a lot of these maps in rotation and zero people complained (excluding Izki, which has always been a divisive map). Then today, suddenly multiple maps that I would deem as "safe" and that have also been played before were met with much criticism. Potentially it is just a change in player base, but it certainly seemed like overreacting to me.

quote: The map pick/ban system in a tournament contributes to enjoyment as well. In the tournaments I ran I felt that having a small, distinct map pool for each round resulted in better variety. I haven't followed the LR tournaments in enough detail to know how the current pick/ban system is working out.

Unfortunately, today's tournament had quite a few people who had simply not read the rules, so today's reaction to the LR ruleset might be skewed. However, it is the same tried and true ruleset we have used for countless other LR tournaments, so can't be that bad.