ONLINE FORUM OPEN CUP (tournament)

[Manjovovic]

FIFA 09 XBOX LIVE WORLD OPEN

Fellow EA Sports FIFA gamers

This is a unique online competition where the rules, format etc of this competition will be chosen by all of us. I will include our suggestions below and based on all your feedback we can adjust and amend each before the competition begins. Please enter all your own suggestions in the PLAYER ENTRY FORM (see below in the Rules post).

This is a free competition run out of our passion for the game without financial assistance. Hopefully this will be a regular tournament that can finish in a maximum time of a month, and then after a three week rest (off season) we can commence with Season 2 and the following seasons until FIFA 2010. Each player is welcome to join and drop out whenever they want.

Do note that the rules and format are now set.

Regards
Manjovovic
A fellow FIFA gamer

[Manjovovic]

FORMAT

Remember we can adjust these rules based on demand

*All times indicated here follow Central European Time (CET) but players from all over the world are welcome. So do state your preferred times in the entry form section (see below). We will try to accommodate all time zones.

1. After adjusting details with your feedback the format and rules will be set in stone by December 10 for Season 1.

2. Season 1 fixtures will be drawn up and posted on Thursday December 11. Season 1 will start on Monday December 15.
* All players can also be alerted about their next fixture with XBOX LIVE messages if they've added gamertag Derdocar as a friend. But its ultimately each players responsibility to know their own fixture time.

3. Entrees are now closed. We are considering late entrees as wild card replacements (if anyone drops out before the competition begins).

4. See page 5 or page 6 of this thread for group stage format.

5. There are two group stages followed by the quarter final.

6. In both group stages if teams have the same points then the team which won the head on fixture between them will be placed in a higher position. Do note that if the match went to a penalty shoot-out then its regarded as a draw and goal difference will be taken into account, followed by the team which scored the most goals. If the stats are still the same then the team which won the penalty shoot-out in the head on game between the players will be placed higher.

7. All those players lalalalalaached the Second Group Stage will be invited for automatic entry into the draw for Season 2. The rest of the players will need to enter as usual on a first come first serve basis for the rest of the first 50 spots like Season 1’s structure. And then the others for the qualifiers. These spots for Season 2 will be open immediately after the winner of Season 1 is named.

8. During the competition both players of each match are welcome to write in a match report of their online game including scorers, assists, any match facts as you wish and your feelings about the game. You can keep up to date with the draw, fixtures, results etc on this thread.

[Manjovovic]

RULES

- Remember the rules are subject to change before December 10, based on player feedback. Once the competition begins the rules are set in stone.

1. Both group stages are 6 minutes per half. All matches from the last eight knock out stage to the final are 8 minutes per half.

2. Players are free to choose any controls they wish (assisted, semi or manual)

3. December 24, 25, 31 and January 1 which will be rest days. To accommodate players in Australia those matches will start around 1pm Central European Time. See the fixtures on page 5 or 6 for the schedule. Wherever possible based on seedings/rankings we placed a few Australians and Americans in the same group respectively to help with time zones.

Both players of a match are welcome to come to an arrangement and reschedule their fixture as long as it is completed before the day of your next match. If one player wants to stick to our scheduled time and the opponent cannot make it then the ready player will receive three points for the win and the unavailable opponent will receive zero points. If both players agree to change the time of their match or day of the match, they must confirm those details with us so that we can first update the fixture list.

After that and once again if an opponent doesn’t show up then he receives zero points and his opponent gets three points. If both players don’t show up then both players receive zero points. For a failure to attend your match no further punishment will be given and you can participate in your next match.

4. Players are free to choose any team they wish, based on either default squads or Adidas Live Season. No created custom teams or created players are allowed. All matches should be played as a ranked match online, but if you're unable to create a ranked session then you are also allowed to play your opponent as a friend (unranked).

In order to create a session the home team must create a session for ranked game with "20 percent DNF or less" chosen. For the rest of the variables "any" is chosen. The away team will search for this exact session and find your opponent in the ranked game. To learn how to do this contact us. If you still don't know how to do it then add your opponent as a friend and invite him to a game which will probably just be an unranked match. But it will count as an official result for this tournament. You could also play a match from the ranked lobby section if you want.

5. You are only allowed to enter one team in the competition. We mean you cannot enter yourself more than once. But you can change teams (such as Spurs or Leeds) from match to match if you wish. Of course this means we can have Barnsley vs Barnsley if so desired.

6. All matches are played on world class level.

7. Lag Rules

Due to different servers all over the world lag is beyond our control. If there is lag in your game then matches will still have to be completed.

After the match you can report the lag to Derdocar on Xbox Live or to Manjovovic here. Explain how this effected you in your match. Also take note of your opponents DNF rating. Opponents with bad connections, DNF ratings of over 15 percent will be made note of. Those over 20 percent will be vulnerable to complaints. Each case will be treated uniquely as we don't want a system to be abused. However players will NOT be subtracted points for lag. Knock out round results will be final with or without lag.

If you have a DNS stat of over 20 percent please inform us before your match about the problem. Note this relates to your connection speed and disconnections. We will discuss the circumstances. If you haven't contacted us before the tournament or your match then you are at a disadvantage.

8. If this points system is too complicated for you to understand. This is what you must do:

All you need to do is play your match until the end, until there is a winner. You just report back your exact score to us, by telling us whether the match was won in normal time, extra time or penalties. We will calculate the points correctly. You don't have to worry about anything else.

This is how we work out the points (you don't have to understand):

Unique Fair Points System in the Group Stage

Win in normal time: 5 points
Win in extra time: 4 points
Win on penalties: 3 points (this will be regarded as a draw)
Lose in normal time: 0 points
Lose in extra time: 1 point
Lose on penalties: 2 points (this will be regarded as a draw)

As you can see in the group stage if the score is tied after 90 minutes then matches will go to extra time. If the scores are still tied the match is considered a draw. Since penalty shoot-outs are an important skill in the game then we will play the shoot-out with the winner receiving a bonus point (as already stated in the points system above).

If both players have not read these rules and stop their game at either full time or after extra time without playing a penalty shoot out. Then the following will occur:

Draw stopped after 90 minutes: both teams get 1 point
Draw stopped after extra time: both teams get 2 points
No further punishments will be given, because by not completing the match or playing penalties you are already punishing yourself.

Here follows the points system with effect of walk overs and withdrawn gamers:

There is concern over the unfairness of a gamer receiving five points for a walk over or withdrawn player, while a rival received four points for a hard fought victory earlier in the group. The single point difference could decide the fate of progression or elimination. For this reason we've added this section which only comes into place if there is a walk over or withdrawal of a gamer. The rule is that if there is a withdrawal or walkover then the gamer still benefits with 5 full points. However players who had earlier beaten that player in extra time and received 4 points will now receive full five points for that win. This doesn't apply to penalty shoot outs because those are regarded as draws even if you get three points it will remain as three points. This rule is to revert to an actual victory whether its in extra time or normal time to be equal in a case of a walkover and withdrawn player. Hopefuly such a complication never arises and all gamers play all their matches. Withdrawals which leave groups in controversy will be banned for the next season.

9. The knock-out round follows normal rules of extra time and penalties in one eight minute match.

10. If a match is disconnected due to a poor connection then both players should arrange to reconnect their match. If you had 15 minutes remaining, just play the first 15 minutes of the next match. If the score was 0-0 before 30 minutes is played, then replay the whole match. You have an extra day between matches to find a solution. If you are unable to reconnect and a solution cannot be found, both players should contact us with their version of what happened (a reported complaint) and we will decide how to award points for this match. If both players had connection problems due to their server, we will consider rescheduling the match later in the same group stage during one of your break days.

We recommend inserting your email address on your profile online to instruct XBOX LIVE to email reports of each match. This will be handy in case there's a dispute about the score. If you don't know how to do this contact us for help. False reporters (saying you won when you actually lost) could be banned or subtracted points. You can all report a player to us for any reason and over the season we can pick up on repeated offenders. If a player is deemed to cause repeated problems with opponents then that player can be disqualified from the competition. That player can appeal and a final decision will be made before his next match. This disqualified player will also receive an automatic ban for the next season. So he can rejoin the following season in the qualifying round (but not the proper group stage). We encourage sporting behaviour and honest reports of your matches. If you want you can record your matches for video evidence if there's a serious problem. Note that we do get automatic updates of your goals as they're happening. Hopefully we won't have troublemakers in this competition.

11. If an opponent offers you to fix a match, asks you to score or concede a goal, offers you to play for a draw, win, lose or fix a particular scoreline or any type of match fixing scenario - this is what you must do:

Ignore all his requests. Complete the match as usual. After the match this opponent must be reported to Manjovovic on private message here or to Derdocar on Xbox Live. We will investigate this matter using feedback from all opponents who came up against this player and other evidence. Match-fixing is going to be taken very seriously in this tournament and under our discretion a player could be disqualified or deducted points depending on the nature of the incident. It is also possible for both players to be disqualified or deducted points if it's found out that they planned to fix a match together.

12. Each player will be ranked/seeded for this competition so we can draw balanced groups. As tournament organiser we will draw the groups. All players are seeded but just the top 16 are viewable. The groups are created based on the seeds who are then placed into pots and drawn into groups.

Knock out round fixtures will also be drawn before the competition begins (similar to how a World Cup draw is made) and unlike the Champions League where the draw is made after the group stage.

Each entrant is recommended to answer the following questions in the PLAYER ENTRY FORM (see below) for us to determine his rank/seeding. If you leave any question blank then it will be assumed you are a below standard player in that section and it could cause your seeding to be lower. The exception will be for players who confirm their high rank or level.

See Player Entry form directly below

[Manjovovic]

You don't have to fill in everything. Only identification is compulsory


PLAYER ENTRY FORM

IDENTIFICATION:
Enter your gamertag id, nickname, age, country, the team you will usually use (you can change this any time)

a. Your online ranking and online level (if you do have them).

b. If you don’t have an online ranking or online level then what (amateur/world class etc) level do you usually play the game?

c. Even if you have a low online ranking, how often do you play offline/unranked matches and if you were able to play online ranked regularly what do you think your ranking could be?

d. How long have you been playing EA Sports FIFA games?

e. If you’ve participated in FIWC or other tournaments do indicate your positions/last round if you want to boost your ranking here. If at any time it is proven that any player has provided false information with regard to these details to boost his rank/seedings then the player in question will be disqualified from the current Season. But he/she can re-enter next season in the qualifying round.

f. How many seasons of manager mode have you played on FIFA 09 and what were your best achievements with which team?

g. How many console teams you believe you cannot beat offline (against the computer) on world class level? Can you beat all the computer teams on legendary level?

h. What is your win-lose ratio online?

i. What is an approximate win-lose ratio offline against human teams? How many different human players have you played off line?

j. This question is no longer applicable.

k. Do you want to change the format and rules in any way? Enter your suggestions here.

* For Season 2 all players seeding will be based on their performances during Season 1 plus their already established ranking/seeding for Season 1 OR the noted experience for new players. Performances over the season will be the most important indicator for returning players. However the other factors will obviously be important for first time entrees in Season 2.

[jamielfc89]

tag: jamie lfc 89, rank = 1245 or something?? im a good fifa player thats all im guna say im not answering all them questions lol its like having a job interview

count me in though

[ali-lfc]

can someone do a ps3 one?

[Manjovovic]

Originally Posted by jamielfc89

tag: jamie lfc 89, rank = 1245 or something?? im a good fifa player thats all im guna say im not answering all them questions lol its like having a job interview

count me in though

Yes. Welcome. You don't have to answer all the questions but those who do can have a higher ranking based on their answers. You don't have to take it that seriously.
Remember to stipulate whether you want to participate in both competitions or one only.

option 1 - use any controls Open competition (includes assisted, semi, manual or any combination)
option 2 - only use semi and manual controls (no assisted allowed) Semi Manual Cup
option 3 - play in both competitions

[clifford-1984]

yeh im in i use inter, ranked like around the 900 mark or there abouts.
open compitition ill enter. offline pretty much just play BAP hey . so all single matches have been online.

xxcliff1984xx

[xxNos4r2xx]

this will get moved to online leagues shortly

[PlaySteiner831]

PLAYER ENTRY FORM

IDENTIFICATION: Godziruh and I'll use Tottenham

a. ?

b. World Class

c. Mostly play friends

d. 4 years

e. N/A

f. N/A

g. I do OK in World Class. I can be competitive regardless of the matchup.

h. 3-1

i. 3-1

j. Open

k. I like everything except the 5 minute halves. It's not enough time IMHO. What about 10 minute halves?

[daz343]

PLAYER ENTRY FORM

IDENTIFICATION: daz343
age: 18
Country:England

a. rank 6364 level 15

b. Legendary

c. All the time against online players, computer and friends

d. 8

e. N/A

f. 5 seasons man u won every cup every season

g. yh i reckon i cud beat every team on legendary i fear nobody

h. 182-78 i think not certain but its close to that

i. 12-0

j. Open any contoller one

k. I think its fine in my opinion cant wait to play

[AnfieldG8]

PLAYER ENTRY FORM

IDENTIFICATION:

gamertag: Sheppy01,
nickname: Shep
age: 17
country: Australia
Team: Liverpool or Bayern Munich

a. Your online ranking (if you do have one).
ummm not sure, dont really check that stuff out.

b. If you don’t have an online ranking what level do you usually play the game (amateur/world class etc)?
Professional

d. How long have you been playing EA Sports FIFA games?
Few years

f. How many seasons of manager mode have you played on FIFA 09 and what were your best achievements with which team? 1 - won everything

g. How many console teams you believe you cannot beat offline (against the computer) on world class level? Can you beat all the computer teams on legendary level?
Could do most on world class but not legendary

h. What is your win-lose ratio online?
Online stats can be found here...EA SPORTS™ Football World - Sheppy01's Game Stats

i. What is an approximate win-lose ratio offline against human teams?
wins 52
losses 16

How many different human players have you played off line? two

j. Do you want to participate in the Open (any controller) competition, Semi/Manual settings only competition or both competitions? OPEN

k. Do you want to change the format and rules in any way? Enter your suggestions here.
no its good.

[Manjovovic]

Originally Posted by clifford-1984

yeh im in i use inter, ranked like around the 900 mark or there abouts.
open compitition ill enter. offline pretty much just play BAP hey . so all single matches have been online.

xxcliff1984xx

welcome. cheers

[Manjovovic]

Originally Posted by PlaySteiner831

PLAYER ENTRY FORM

IDENTIFICATION: Godziruh and I'll use Tottenham

a. ?

b. World Class

c. Mostly play friends

d. 4 years

e. N/A

f. N/A

g. I do OK in World Class. I can be competitive regardless of the matchup.

h. 3-1

i. 3-1

j. Open

k. I like everything except the 5 minute halves. It's not enough time IMHO. What about 10 minute halves?

Hi. If there are more people who want longer halves then I will change it. More people need to make suggestions for rules and format.

Welcome

[Manjovovic]

This thread only started at midnight. It's still morning and we have 8 entries.
As I said entries could close in about 2 weeks time. By then we should get the minimum of 16 players to start Season 1. Hopefully we can get about 32 for a nice World Cup/Champions League size competition.

Ciao

[Manjovovic]

Originally Posted by AnfieldG8

PLAYER ENTRY FORM

IDENTIFICATION:

gamertag: Sheppy01,
nickname: Shep
age: 17
country: Australia
Team: Liverpool or Bayern Munich

a. Your online ranking (if you do have one).
ummm not sure, dont really check that stuff out.

b. If you don’t have an online ranking what level do you usually play the game (amateur/world class etc)?
Professional

d. How long have you been playing EA Sports FIFA games?
Few years

f. How many seasons of manager mode have you played on FIFA 09 and what were your best achievements with which team? 1 - won everything

g. How many console teams you believe you cannot beat offline (against the computer) on world class level? Can you beat all the computer teams on legendary level?
Could do most on world class but not legendary

h. What is your win-lose ratio online?
Online stats can be found here...EA SPORTS™ Football World - Sheppy01's Game Stats

i. What is an approximate win-lose ratio offline against human teams?
wins 52
losses 16

How many different human players have you played off line? two

j. Do you want to participate in the Open (any controller) competition, Semi/Manual settings only competition or both competitions? OPEN

k. Do you want to change the format and rules in any way? Enter your suggestions here.
no its good.

Even though one doesn't need to answer them. I appreciate the answers. It helps me with the rankings. Thanks. Cheers

[B1gBat3s]

IDENTIFICATION:
Gamertag: B1gbat3s, nickname: Bates/Batesy, 16, England, i usually use man utd or aston villa oh and aldershot town (ohh yee!) but i not using aldershot for the tourny cos i got a mental blacklist of teams i dont play with em and im sure some ppl will pick the teams on the list

a. Your online ranking: 750 atm but i can get up to 500 without problems.

d. How long have you been playing EA Sports FIFA games? since fifa 2003 but i onli got online (live) september this year

f. How many seasons of manager mode have you played on FIFA 09 and what were your best achievements with which team? Half way through first season not had any "achievements" because i prefer to play online

g. How many console teams you believe you cannot beat offline (against the computer) on world class level? Can you beat all the computer teams on legendary level? i think i could beat em all on legendary because i am big headed haha, daz fears nobody (except me obviously) lol

h. What is your win-lose ratio online? hmm like 180:40 (180wins to 40losses)

i. What is an approximate win-lose ratio offline against human teams? How many different human players have you played off line? lotsa wins little losses

j. Do you want to participate in the Open (any controller) competition, Semi/Manual settings only competition or both competitions?i want to participate in same one as daz343 lol

k. Do you want to change the format and rules in any way? Enter your suggestions here. yee winner gets bragging rights cos i love to boast wen i win a hard match, but i dont boast against ppl who i like and i dont boast unless the person im playin is offensive or disrespects me, if they do i boast cos it annoys em lol

[Manjovovic]

All,

Do note that I changed the frequency of matches. Instead of a two day break between matches, there's now just a one day break because this is the holiday period. Perhaps when we go back to the school/university calendar for Season 2 or Season 3 we can have two day breaks.

One might reason that we could fit three fixtures or more per player per day. But the space between your fixtures are to allow time for server, connection problems and rescheduling of fixtures where there might have been a valid reason to do so.

[Manjovovic]

Originally Posted by B1gBat3s

IDENTIFICATION:
Gamertag: B1gbat3s, nickname: Bates/Batesy, 16, England, i usually use man utd or aston villa oh and aldershot town (ohh yee!) but i not using aldershot for the tourny cos i got a mental blacklist of teams i dont play with em and im sure some ppl will pick the teams on the list

a. Your online ranking: 750 atm but i can get up to 500 without problems.

d. How long have you been playing EA Sports FIFA games? since fifa 2003 but i onli got online (live) september this year

f. How many seasons of manager mode have you played on FIFA 09 and what were your best achievements with which team? Half way through first season not had any "achievements" because i prefer to play online

g. How many console teams you believe you cannot beat offline (against the computer) on world class level? Can you beat all the computer teams on legendary level? i think i could beat em all on legendary because i am big headed haha, daz fears nobody (except me obviously) lol

h. What is your win-lose ratio online? hmm like 180:40 (180wins to 40losses)

i. What is an approximate win-lose ratio offline against human teams? How many different human players have you played off line? lotsa wins little losses

j. Do you want to participate in the Open (any controller) competition, Semi/Manual settings only competition or both competitions?i want to participate in same one as daz343 lol

k. Do you want to change the format and rules in any way? Enter your suggestions here. yee winner gets bragging rights cos i love to boast wen i win a hard match, but i dont boast against ppl who i like and i dont boast unless the person im playin is offensive or disrespects me, if they do i boast cos it annoys em lol

Thanks for all the details. It will help with your ranking and since I know you're from England I could place you in the same time zone with your group opponents if necessary.

Good luck

[B1gBat3s]

can u add my gamertag cos i wont always be on these forums so u could inform me on live ;P

[Manjovovic]

Originally Posted by B1gBat3s

can u add my gamertag cos i wont always be on these forums so u could inform me on live ;P

You're in mate.

As I said the first 50 entrees are automatically in the draw. The rest will fight for 14 places in the qualifying round, if necessary.

[B1gBat3s]

Originally Posted by Manjovovic

You're in mate.

As I said the first 50 entrees are automatically in the draw. The rest will fight for 14 places in the qualifying round, if necessary.

ahh ok id prefer to be in the qualifying round but meh its easier for me and less work

[Manjovovic]

I also want to hear opinions on whether we should allow Live Adidas squads in this tournament together with the default squads? I don't really mind either way. At the moment both are allowed.

[Sledge82]

IDENTIFICATION:
Gamertag: kamal6666, nickname: kam, 26, Saudi Arabia, I use Juventus and Inter Milan.

a. Your online ranking: none at the moment but I was something 8830 I guess.

d. How long have you been playing EA Sports FIFA games? 2008 i'm still new to fifa.

f. How many seasons of manager mode have you played on FIFA 09 and what were your best achievements with which team? none. Never tried manager mode.

g. How many console teams you believe you cannot beat offline (against the computer) on world class level? Can you beat all the computer teams on legendary level? I don't know coz I really don't play offline.

h. What is your win-lose ratio online? not sure but maybe something like 170 wins 65 lose.

i. What is an approximate win-lose ratio offline against human teams? How many different human players have you played off line? I win and lose mostly got same ratio for both.

j. Do you want to participate in the Open (any controller) competition, Semi/Manual settings only competition or both competitions? in the open competition.

k. Do you want to change the format and rules in any way? I think it would be better if the first 4 teams qualifies from each group so you 32 teams play in groups again. and then you get the first 2 teams of each groups and they would play knock out matches.

[dabigblast]

IDENTIFICATION:
Enter your gamertag id, nickname, age, country, the team you will usually use (you can change this any time) Da Big Blast, DBB, 16, N.Ireland, Man Utd

a. Your online ranking (if you do have one). 550 or thereabouts

d. How long have you been playing EA Sports FIFA games? Since Fifa 2002

f. How many seasons of manager mode have you played on FIFA 09 and what were your best achievements with which team? 3 - Winning EPL with Man Utd probably (not that its difficult to do that :s)

g. How many console teams you believe you cannot beat offline (against the computer) on world class level? Can you beat all the computer teams on legendary level? Yes and Yes

h. What is your win-lose ratio online? 8.12 wins to 1 loss (203 wins, 25 loss)

i. What is an approximate win-lose ratio offline against human teams? How many different human players have you played off line? Won 5 Lost 0, 1 person

j. Do you want to participate in the Open (any controller) competition, Semi/Manual settings only competition or both competitions? Open Competiton

k. Do you want to change the format and rules in any way? Enter your suggestions here. Only thing i'd change is rather than top 2 from each group of 8, make it top 4 and then make it the top 2 from that and then do a knockout stage from last 16 on.