North-Atlantic Fortress Tournament

North American Fortress Tournament
The North American Fortress Tournament (NAFT) is a competition that is designed to provide a unique Fortress Tournament whose teams are based on geographic location. The idea has been tried before, but the format of this tournament is somewhat different than any held before. The following is a list of the features of this tournament.

When it will take place

 * It will take place the Second Sunday of the month, the week after the Ladle
 * Same time that the Ladle takes place, since the vast majority of players will be Ladle Participants.

Teams will be based on the location where players live

 * Team Western USA (Fun Team Name Here)
 * Team Central USA (Fun Team Name Here)
 * Team Eastern USA (Fun Team Name Here)
 * Team Northern Europe (Fun Team Name Here)
 * Team Southern Europe (Fun Team Name Here)
 * Team Eastern Europe (Fun Team Name Here)

Servers

 * Each team will have a home server that will be available at least 2 weeks before the competition so that teams have the opportunity to practice.
 * The servers will use current ladle settings with appropriate rights for team leaders of every team, and administrator rights for select members in their home server.
 * The servers will use a unified naming scheme to make them easy to find on the master list.
 * All server owners will keep log files of every match played for at least one month after a tournament, in case there are problems that need resolved.

Bracket Design and how each round of the tournament will be played

 * In the first round, each American Team will be pitted against a European team. Except for that, the selections of the first round will be randomized.
 * Double or Single Elimination? (Needs to be voted on)
 * A script will randomly determine which home server a given match will start in. The second round will be played in the other teams home server.
 * The third round, if necessary, will be played in the home server in which a given match started in.
 * Either first to 100 points wins a round, like in the Ladle, or a 20 minute match, like in FPL. (Needs to be voted on).

Rules and Administation

 * To keep the timing of the tournament from being delayed, five minutes after the assigned start time, the match will begin, whether teams are ready or not!
 * If a team is not in the server at that time, they will forfeit the match!
 * It is highly recommended that all teams be arrive at least 10 minutes in advance to get organized and ready to play.
 * There will be at least 2 Tournament Administrators available in the first round and 1 in subsequent rounds to prevent problems and intervene only if necessary.
 * Tournament Administrators may at any time modify rules if they deem necessary, i.e. decide to give a bit of mercy to the 5-minute start rule.
 * Tournament Administrators have all final authority to make decisions to keep the tournament going, and keep gameplay fun!
 * Tournament Administrators will be chosen by the people that participate in the planning process for each tournament.
 * This is intended to be self-organizing as the Ladle is. Therefore, as few rules as are needed to keep gameplay fun will be implemented.