Hi everyone,
You might remember a month ago we mentioned we would be launching a new competitive community CQC tournament, and I just wanted to confirm some of the details of how the event will work. There’s a lot of information in this post, but we think it’s really important to be as clear as possible. There will also be an updated FAQ on the post below, so feel free to ask your questions and we’ll be sure to check in and answer them as often as we can.
The tournament will be broken down into three phases:
Phase 1: Preparation & Celebration
Phase one starts now. Players need to be sharpening their skills and unlocking the upgrades they want to use on their accounts. You will be using your own accounts for the qualifying periods, so getting the unlocks you want for then is going to need to happen now. In addition, to help you out we’ll be running a series of community events to get you ready for the tournament.
We’ll have pro tips from the best players in the community and Frontier, an opening ceremony held during our 24-hour Charity Christmas Livestream as well as some practice sessions and events to get involved in!
During this time we’ll be running a competition to find some community shout casters for the live final so keep your eyes open for more news!
Phase 2: The qualifying heats
The qualifying heats will start early next year. We’re still working on the final dates but we’ll make sure to let you know with plenty of time to spare.
Each month there will be a separate qualifying heat. You will have three weeks of practice matches and one qualifying period of a week. There will be four heats over four months.
The tournament will be run in Deathmatch mode. We might run future tournaments in team-based matches too, but that’s not for now.
The top four PC/Mac players and the top four Xbox One players over that week (16 PC/Mac and 16 Xbox One players by the end of the qualifiers) will win the following prize:
-A seat at the live final and a chance to be an overall winner
-Travel to and from the event
-Accommodation during your stay
-Food and drink at the event
-A winner’s goody bag
How do I qualify?
Players will be ranked and given a tournament score for that week. The score will be generated using a complex system which uses a number of factors, such as XP gained over the period, battle rating and other stats. These are designed to lean heavily towards skill, but there is also a requirement for you to play regularly through the week in order to have the best chance at qualifying.
We will be keeping the maths behind the scoring a secret to avoid players trying to engineer or game the system. We will be running practice qualifiers during the off weeks in order for players to get used to their scoring and get their eye in.
Each winner will go through a rigorous anti-cheating and fair play check. It will include fair play best practice such as ensuring that players complete a high percentage of their games, as well as deeper anti-cheating checks which we won’t talk about. Players that we find to have cheated in the past in any way will not be eligible for a seat as part of our fair play policy.
There will be a reserve list created for those close to qualifying. If someone is unable to attend or drops out with enough notice, we will use this reserve list to find a replacement (if possible).
Phase 3: The live final
Once the qualifiers are finished we’ll be holding a live final. The full 16 PC/Mac and 16 Xbox One players will then attend the live final.
On the night there will be a host of activities streamed live for everyone to watch and get involved in. These will include things like live exhibition matches against some of the best Frontier staff, pre and post-game interviews and of course the tournament finals themselves.
There will be two separate tournaments and the $15,000 USD prize pot will be split between both tournaments. This means both finals will have a prize pot of $7,500 USD. To be able to play in both tournaments you will need to qualify in the top 16 of both the PC/Mac and the Xbox One qualifiers.
All the equipment for the games in the live final will be supplied. You will not be able to bring your own equipment. The Xbox One tournament will be held on Xbox One consoles with gamepad. The PC set up will be with a choice of HOTAS Joystick and throttle (using Saitek X52s), mouse and Keyboard, and Xbox gamepad. You will be using a fully unlocked account in the final which has been specifically set up for you. You will not be using your own personal account.
Both the PC and Xbox One tournaments will have 2 live semi-finals where the top 4 from each semi will progress into one final.
There will be a live crowd at the event and more news on how to get hold of your tickets, dates and location will be available closer to the time.
Supporters and partners
We’re delighted to say that during the tournament we will be supporting SpecialEffect. This charity do fantastic work, helping those with disabilities to enjoy video games. It’s a charity that is well-loved within our community and is always present at Elite Dangerous community events.
We will also be looking to work with other partners through the event that would be keen on adding more to the tournament experience. This could take the form of prizing, promotions or any other forms of support which make the event even better! Again, we’ll have much more on this as soon as possible.
FAQ
Post your questions in the forum and we’ll keep an updated FAQ of all the answers. We will also be updating this with full terms and conditions prior to the event going live.