IMPORTANT: Change to match format in Wed-Fri matches

We've heard plenty of feedback from our players in the Skirmish Command tournament, most of which has been overwhelmingly positive. However, we do understand that the format of our matches was unusual, because it featured two player duking it out on 4-player maps. We also decreased the victory point ticker from 500 to 250.

The reason for the map choice was simple: we must broadcast the finals on Tournament TV. Company of Heroes does not feature a spectator mode, and we are thus required to use two admin players as spectators. Because the final match myst be played in this manner, we felt it was only fair to format the entire tournament in this way, rather than spring it upon the players in the final match. In turn, we felt that the matches may get too lengthy with 500 points on the ticker, and chose 250 as a result, after some intensive testing. We did receive some pre-tournament feedback from one player regarding the format, but chose to keep it in place for the sake of consistency.

Please recognize that GameSpot is not a traditional tournament site. We want our tournaments to appeal to both serious players as well as casual ones--and we want them to be enjoyable to watch for our viewing audience. We also don't use a single game or single genre for our tournaments. Skirmish Command is the tournament team's first PC RTS, and while we tested the game a good deal, we also recognized that there could be unforeseen circumstances, and that we would need to adjust.

One of those circumstances is that for the most part, reducing the victory point ticker favors Axis players. This was considered when deciding our format, but we felt based on our playtesting and other feedback that the advantage was too slight to require a format change. However, we have come to the conclusion that continuing the tournament with a 250-point ticker favors Axis players enough that we must slightly adjust the format.

Starting with the Alpha round, the remainder of this tournament will be played as published, with one exception: the victory-point ticker will be changed from 250 to 500. We feel this makes the Rails and Metal map far more balanced, and therefore does not favor either player.

It is our hope that this makes our tournament enjoyable for everyone involved, and I apologize for any inconveniences the mid-tournament change may cause you. If you have any questions regarding this change, please email gameadmin@gamespot.com, or me personally at kevinv@gamespot.com. I am grateful for all the player feedback we have received for Skirmish Command.