Introduction
After running Season 3 for over a year, 200cc Lounge staff is happy to announce the start of
Season 4, which is right around the corner! We understand this has been a long time coming, and we greatly apologize for that. Simply put, there wasn't much of an ideal time to prepare for (and run) another season. There was also little incentive to begin another season, given that we did not have the capabilities to efficiently implement new features, such as squad queue, for example.
Fortunately, with recent developments, along with the need for changes in a few areas, we have decided that now is time for a new season. This thread will detail all of the changes we'll be making, along with other things you should be aware of, prior to the beginning of the season.
Lounge Adjustments
MMR Reset
Similar to past seasons, there will be an MMR reset of sorts. The reset works as follows:
- Those whose MMR lies below 1000 will be brought back to 1000 MMR.
- Those whose MMR lies below 7000 will see a slight increase from their Season 3 MMR.
- Those whose MMR lies above 7000 will be brought back to 7000 MMR.
Rank Changes
While some of the MMR ranges for certain ranks have been adjusted, one of the most notable changes we'll be seeing is the implementation of the Iron rank. We've seen many requests for this from lower-ranked players, and with the modifications we are making this season, we think it'll work out just fine.
The ranks, along with their MMR ranges, include:
Iron: 0-1499
Bronze: 1500-2999
Silver: 3000-4499
Gold: 4500-5999
Platinum: 6000-7499
Diamond: 7500-8999
Master: 9000-10999
Grandmaster: 11000+
Tier Changes
Accompanying the aforementioned rank changes will be some adjustments to the tiers as well. These adjustments are as follows:
Tier A: Diamond + Master + Grandmaster
Tier B: Gold + Platinum + Diamond + Master + Grandmaster
Tier C:* Iron + Bronze + Silver + Gold
Tier D:* Iron + Bronze
* Indicates placement tier.
The first thing you may notice is that we've renamed the tiers, using the alphabet instead of numbers. This is mainly to make things easier once we move to a more automated system, not to mention that having more consistency between all of the lounges never hurts.
In addition to the renaming of tiers, we have also
tentatively removed Tier All. We understand this may be controversial, however, we feel like it is a necessary step that needs to be taken. We tried it before, seeing some success, however, it was clear that it would not be sustainable long-term. Now that we are welcoming a new season, we would like to give it another shot. If it turns out that lounge ends up being rather inactive with the removal of Tier All, we will consider adding it again in the future.
Squad Queue
After continuing to reject the possibility of this for the past year, we're happy to declare that we'll finally be able to run squad queues! For those who are unaware of what squad queue is — squad queue is essentially the same as any other lounge event, except you can choose your teammate(s), with no restriction of who you can play with. A few of these events will be held throughout the week, and we're hoping that it makes up for the loss of Tier All.
Channels will be set up in the server to accommodate this newly-added feature, and we hope you'll enjoy its inclusion!
Rule Changes
We will be following suit with many of the rules 150cc Lounge recently implemented. These changes are as follows:
-- Re: the nickname policy, players can change their nickname once every 60 days. They will not be permitted to change it again during that period.
b. If you would like a specific nickname for the scoreboard and Discord server, you can ask for that too. If you already have a rank and would like to change your name, you can request nickname changes by creating a support ticket. Players can change their lounge nickname once every 60 days; nicknames cannot be reverted during the 60-day period between changes.
i. Nicknames may only contain letters (at least one), numbers, spaces, periods/full stops, hyphens or underscores. They must start and end with only letters or numbers, and must be between 2-16 characters. They also may not contain any vulgar language or impersonate another MKC user. In most cases, if your name can be used as a Twitter username, you can use it in lounge. Exceptions may be granted on a case-by-case basis.
-- Hosts must wait two minutes before opening the room for any event.
I. Once a host has been decided, the host must wait 2 minutes after posting their friend code to accept friend requests before opening the room. If the room is opened early, the late penalty comes into effect after 7 minutes of the friend code being posted. Should players request the room to be reopened if opened early, the host must do so or else receive 1 strike.
-- Instead of ten minutes, players will only have
five minutes to join the room for any event. This will apply to squad queue events as well.
a. Once a room has been opened, players will have 5 minutes to join the room.
c. If a player still has not joined the room 5 minutes after the penalty time, they will receive -100 and a strike and must be replaced by a sub as soon as possible. The mogi should not be started with less than 12 players under any condition.
-- Identical to what we used to do, we will again be requiring hosts to provide a clip of a disconnection, should one occur.
k. Hosts that start the room with less than 12 players, close the room for no reason, or otherwise cause unnecessary disruptions will receive -50 and a strike, and may be prohibited from hosting in the future. In a mogi, hosts must take a 30-second clip to prove that it was unintentional (streaming archive is also allowed). Typing !hostban in any channel will show the list of host-banned players.
-- Rules for squad queue can be found in the ruleset under IX.
Conclusion
The season will begin on Sunday, May 1, 2022. As per the case with any new lounge season, we'll be closing lounge a day before to ensure we have enough time to make all of the necessary changes efficiently. We hope you'll bear with us for that time.
Thank you all for your continued support of the lounge -- it wouldn't be what it is without all of you.
- 200cc Lounge Staff