FML Ryder Cup Report

A while back now I wrote about a new idea I had for an inter federation competition. A version of the Ryder Cup competition that I had seen introduced in a number of game worlds. I also said that I would see how it went and publish the results, something which I never actually done. So here is the long awaited report.

Quite frankly it didn’t go well. I’m a member of the CFA and everyone (the active ones at least) in the FA said it was a good idea, something different from your normal inter federation competition, something fun for a change. So I suppose it was a sort of success on the CFA side of it.

However, the second week of the season (the pairings) became a disappointing AI fest, with most teams either not being around or choosing to let their AI play their games. After this, I knew that the third week would be a nightmare. The third week would host the match play, 8 qualifying teams from both FA’s facing each other in a one off match. Of course the most fair way to do this would be to have it as a two legged affair, but it’s tough enough as it is to get one game played, let alone two. Anyhow, I instructed the managers to mail me the match links so I could check the games and update the scores. It all looked good when I received 3 match links by the second day. That was it though, no more were to come all week. The only way I could get the games sorted and finished was to create quick plays, but seen as the game won’t let you create a 2 team competition, it had to enter myself in.

So a success or a failure? Failure I think in it’s first season, although EFA’s massive inactivity contributed largely to that, and so did my format of the competition. The problem with it is that it lasts the entire season. A lot can happen between the start and the end of the season, teams can become inactive or even end their sub. It’s one thing entering the qualifying competition, but it’s another matter being there in the final week for the match plays. When it came down to it, we had an EFA team who’s manager hadn’t signed in for over 2 weeks and also only had 10 players. A prime example. That point was of course awarded to the CFA.

I still think it’s a good idea though, so we have decided to run it again this season, although this time the CFA are up against the DFA. The two most active FA’s in Lemerre against each other, it should produce more live games than AI but I suppose we shall see. Reports on how it went to follow.