FFA Modifications

[Ratchet]

In recent times, there has been a great discussion over the most efficient method of choosing FFA teams. I have been working towards a solution to that for the last month or so, and I've finally gotten a (relatively) finished product. I could polish a few more things, and I'll work on doing that as I get a chance to.

My proposition to fix the issue: FFABot

In the first FFA we had settled for using a Google Docs Spreadsheet. This worked as well as it needed to, but it was a hassle. I had to baby each captain in teaching them how to use a spreadsheet, and then I had to gather email addresses from all captains to add them as an editor. Then, while we were picking teams, we had to work with a relatively buggy way of chatting with each other. Overall, it took a great deal of dedication and work just to get the tournament running. Perhaps that was because it was the first time the tournament was proposed.

Now, I've programmed an IRC Bot to automate a lot of the process.
Information can be found at the following links:
General Documentation
Usage Instructions
Detailed Command List
Example Run

Why is this better than using a spreadsheet?
This is better simply because there is a lot less hassle involved, a lot less running around. Almost everyone that wants to be a captain will have IRC installed and if they don't they can simply use the online client on hashpickup. The amount of dedication from an event organizer is very, very minimal. No gathering emails or sending out links to the spreadsheet. Everyone simply shows up in the #armagetron.tourneys channel.

What exactly does an event organizer have to do with this bot?
Hardly anything! All you need to know is the proper syntax to add the players and captains to the bot. I have the bot running on a VPS to make it conveniently accessible for everyone. I have made a detailed list of instructions which is documented on the wiki. I will need to add you as an administrator to the IRC bot, so I'll need the event organizer to PM me their IRC nick to be added as an administrator.

What is the limitations of functionality?
Well, I made the bot with ease-of-use in mind. The entire process is straightforward:
1. Enter the list of players and captains
2. Initialize the picking process using $start
2b. The bot will automatically assign a picking order to the captains and will begin prompting the users one at a time for their pick.
3. Captains pick players using the $pick command
4. When all players have been picked, the final teams are outputted
5. Bot automatically resets for the next FFA

Will it actually work??
Yes. Nanu, Peat, and I have tested it. There were a few things with functionality that I had to iron out, but now it is fully functional. It was relatively fast-working, and very painless (for both the administrator and the captains, but primarily the captains).

What role do captains play?
Captains simply show up to the IRC channel. Once the initiation process has been started by the administrator, captains use "$pick <player>" when the bot prompts them for their pick. VERY straightforward.

Can you make it do "X"?
If you have a good suggestion, perhaps post it here or PM me. I'll consider it.


**To accompany this change, captains are required to sign up with an IRC nick as well as their tron name and GID. The wiki instructions have been updated**

[Monkey]

This is a very good start Ratchet.

As we discussed, I think it shouldn't be too difficult to provide a source code archive file for *BSD and MAC OS X too. I can certainly help test on OpenBSD (we have mono on OpenBSD).

[takburger]

A lot of work done here. Congratulations, that is a dream of mine that comes true. Thanks

[Ratchet]

**IMPORTANT**

A very important update:

Rather than requiring the event organizer to host this on their own computer, I thought there may be a more convenient solution: I have set up a cheap VPS for the sake of hosting the bot. Now all everyone has to do is show up in the channel! The instructions will remain relatively the same, minus the organizer having to obtain an executable of the bot.

**This means that event organizers need to PM me their IRC nick so I can add them as a bot administrator**


I need to update the wiki accordingly, perhaps keeping the current page/method of using the bot handy for when my year of VPS runs out. But, for now, I will host the bot for everyone.

[takburger]

I'm sure you could've found a server owner that would agree to add your bot to their process list.

[Ratchet]

Maybe. It requires the installation of mono-complete. I don't mind, though. Maybe when it runs out

[kyle]

Maybe. It requires the installation of mono-complete.

Yuck