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Effective immediately following week 3 matches.
Only players who have zero TWL matches played for weeks 1-3 and have not already been on a frozen TWL roster for 2 weeks are eligible for roster expansion spots. Expansion Players are free to join and leave a TWL Roster for weeks 4-6, or until the player has played at least 1 TWL match, at which point the Expansion Player becomes a permanent member of their TWL squad, and the expansion spot is becomes a permanent roster addition.
Immediately following Week 6 matches will be the traditional HARD LOCK, and no further roster movements can occur*
Squad Veto Votes
Each squad will have 1 Expansion Player veto. The veto will initiate a vote to all squads to vote yes or no on allowing the player to go through as an Expansion Player. The squad who initiated the veto, and the squad who added the player are ineligible to vote, meaning the squad who requested the veto does not automatically count as a ‘no’ vote. All other squads will have 1 vote. A simple majority vote is required to pass. Squads can choose not to vote. If all squads choose not to vote, the veto will be denied. Once a squad has used their veto, they are no longer eligible to initiate an Expansion Player veto but can still vote in all future vetoes. Squad Veto votes will occur after rosters are frozen each Wednesday at 11:59 PM EST / EDT.
*Unique cases waiver
I fully realize things happen, and I do not want to unilaterally say no to any unique or special cases that may arise. Should a unique or special case arise during the regular season, (i.e. someone gets axed after the hard lock and wish to join and help a lesser-talent squad) captains from the target squad's remaining opponents will vote to allow or deny the waiver. A 2/3 supermajority vote is required to pass the waiver request. Captains can choose not to vote. If all captains choose not to vote, the waiver request will be denied.
Decision / Ruling Change Reasoning
Look, I realize the "taboo" around changing rules mid-season, but I've said from the get-go I am very open to increasing flexibility and changing things based on community suggestions and feedback. The original intention of the 13-roster limit was to promote a more-competitive season by restricting squads from straight up super-stacking their rosters & benches. However, I do agree this restriction introduced a very negative side-effect limiting the flexibility of each squad's ability to handle no-shows and lagouts after week 3. If nothing changed, this restriction greatly increases the chances of match forfeiting, having squads play a man down, or just downright boring matches. With a 9 week regular season + 3 week playoff and how easy it is for squads to make the playoffs, the negatives of doing nothing are not what I want to happen for this TWL Season. 12 weeks is a very long time for players to endure these negative effects, and only reduces overall player-interest in Trench Wars on Sundays. While I do believe this restriction helped limit some of the super-stacking squads, it's very obvious there are still some pretty-stacked squads. The intention of this rule change is to increase roster flexibility and utility after week 3, and not greatly increase a squad's roster talent, hence the inclusion of the Squad Veto clause. If a stacked squad wants to add a highly-skilled player to their roster between weeks 4-6, every squad has the chance to say no. If a squad drops a player from their TWL Roster who still has their Expansion Player eligibility (see attached screenshot) with the intentions of re-adding them back after Week 3, every squad has the chance to say no.
Another deciding factor was pointed out by Mouse, in that there are a handful of interested players NOT (or have not) already been on a TWL Roster, are interested in participating, but there are no TWL Roster spots left for them to fill.
This rule change increases roster flexibility after week 3, reduces the chances of forfeitures and extremely boring matches, but still gives squads a chance to weigh-in and allow or deny impact players joining this late in the season. I can't please everyone, and this may not be perfect, but this rule change will help captains add utility to their roster, allow more players to participate, and provide opportunity for a more-competitive season overall.
General Notes - Please read
Violence's original suggestion only included the single restriction condition of allowing players who had never been on a frozen TWL Roster for weeks 1-3. I took this a step further and looked at players who were on a frozen Week 1 roster, but did not play a Week 1 match (screenshot below), and used this to slightly lower the restrictions for Expansion Player eligibility. Players highlighted REDplayed a match during Week 1, are not eligible for an Expansion Player spot, and must be on a TWL Roster by week 3 to play the rest of the season or request a Unique Case waiver. Players not highlighted are currently eligible for an Expansion Player spot starting week 3, so long as they are not on a frozen TWL Roster for weeks 2 OR 3. As a reminder, TWL Roster rosters freeze again this Friday, 11:59 PM EST.
Lastly, I am reading everything, and I mean everything. I intentionally did not respond in vio's thread (thanks for pointing that out, Geio
) because doing so would have hindered the ongoing community feedback to vio's suggestion. I promise you I'm not sitting by idly ignoring player-feedback. That, and fuck me do I love some TWL drama.
There are no intentions to adjust the Expansion Player period (weeks 4-6) or Expansion Player spots (2 spots for all squads). Feel free to discuss the ruling change below.
Edit: I've added this Ruling as the new Section 4.04 (replacing the old / retired 1 Week Waiting Period rule) in the TWL Rules
- All TWL squads will receive 2 Expansion Player roster spots
- Weeks 4-6 TWL Rosters will be frozen Wednesday's at 11:59 PM EST / EDT, and unfreeze after that week’s matches
Only players who have zero TWL matches played for weeks 1-3 and have not already been on a frozen TWL roster for 2 weeks are eligible for roster expansion spots. Expansion Players are free to join and leave a TWL Roster for weeks 4-6, or until the player has played at least 1 TWL match, at which point the Expansion Player becomes a permanent member of their TWL squad, and the expansion spot is becomes a permanent roster addition.
Immediately following Week 6 matches will be the traditional HARD LOCK, and no further roster movements can occur*
Squad Veto Votes
Each squad will have 1 Expansion Player veto. The veto will initiate a vote to all squads to vote yes or no on allowing the player to go through as an Expansion Player. The squad who initiated the veto, and the squad who added the player are ineligible to vote, meaning the squad who requested the veto does not automatically count as a ‘no’ vote. All other squads will have 1 vote. A simple majority vote is required to pass. Squads can choose not to vote. If all squads choose not to vote, the veto will be denied. Once a squad has used their veto, they are no longer eligible to initiate an Expansion Player veto but can still vote in all future vetoes. Squad Veto votes will occur after rosters are frozen each Wednesday at 11:59 PM EST / EDT.
*Unique cases waiver
I fully realize things happen, and I do not want to unilaterally say no to any unique or special cases that may arise. Should a unique or special case arise during the regular season, (i.e. someone gets axed after the hard lock and wish to join and help a lesser-talent squad) captains from the target squad's remaining opponents will vote to allow or deny the waiver. A 2/3 supermajority vote is required to pass the waiver request. Captains can choose not to vote. If all captains choose not to vote, the waiver request will be denied.
Decision / Ruling Change Reasoning
Look, I realize the "taboo" around changing rules mid-season, but I've said from the get-go I am very open to increasing flexibility and changing things based on community suggestions and feedback. The original intention of the 13-roster limit was to promote a more-competitive season by restricting squads from straight up super-stacking their rosters & benches. However, I do agree this restriction introduced a very negative side-effect limiting the flexibility of each squad's ability to handle no-shows and lagouts after week 3. If nothing changed, this restriction greatly increases the chances of match forfeiting, having squads play a man down, or just downright boring matches. With a 9 week regular season + 3 week playoff and how easy it is for squads to make the playoffs, the negatives of doing nothing are not what I want to happen for this TWL Season. 12 weeks is a very long time for players to endure these negative effects, and only reduces overall player-interest in Trench Wars on Sundays. While I do believe this restriction helped limit some of the super-stacking squads, it's very obvious there are still some pretty-stacked squads. The intention of this rule change is to increase roster flexibility and utility after week 3, and not greatly increase a squad's roster talent, hence the inclusion of the Squad Veto clause. If a stacked squad wants to add a highly-skilled player to their roster between weeks 4-6, every squad has the chance to say no. If a squad drops a player from their TWL Roster who still has their Expansion Player eligibility (see attached screenshot) with the intentions of re-adding them back after Week 3, every squad has the chance to say no.
Another deciding factor was pointed out by Mouse, in that there are a handful of interested players NOT (or have not) already been on a TWL Roster, are interested in participating, but there are no TWL Roster spots left for them to fill.
This rule change increases roster flexibility after week 3, reduces the chances of forfeitures and extremely boring matches, but still gives squads a chance to weigh-in and allow or deny impact players joining this late in the season. I can't please everyone, and this may not be perfect, but this rule change will help captains add utility to their roster, allow more players to participate, and provide opportunity for a more-competitive season overall.
General Notes - Please read
Violence's original suggestion only included the single restriction condition of allowing players who had never been on a frozen TWL Roster for weeks 1-3. I took this a step further and looked at players who were on a frozen Week 1 roster, but did not play a Week 1 match (screenshot below), and used this to slightly lower the restrictions for Expansion Player eligibility. Players highlighted REDplayed a match during Week 1, are not eligible for an Expansion Player spot, and must be on a TWL Roster by week 3 to play the rest of the season or request a Unique Case waiver. Players not highlighted are currently eligible for an Expansion Player spot starting week 3, so long as they are not on a frozen TWL Roster for weeks 2 OR 3. As a reminder, TWL Roster rosters freeze again this Friday, 11:59 PM EST.
Lastly, I am reading everything, and I mean everything. I intentionally did not respond in vio's thread (thanks for pointing that out, Geio
) because doing so would have hindered the ongoing community feedback to vio's suggestion. I promise you I'm not sitting by idly ignoring player-feedback. That, and fuck me do I love some TWL drama.There are no intentions to adjust the Expansion Player period (weeks 4-6) or Expansion Player spots (2 spots for all squads). Feel free to discuss the ruling change below.
Edit: I've added this Ruling as the new Section 4.04 (replacing the old / retired 1 Week Waiting Period rule) in the TWL Rules
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