Thank you for your interest, the info below was my first venture into eSports and it was a very fun crash-course learning project. Thank you to all who helped and participated along the way!
#GoodAsGold NA/EU are suspended indefinitely starting Monday, August 27th. There are more BSG level tournaments on z33k.com, please head there and show your support for an awesome site! Also please direct any questions to me on Twitter: @OrD_SC2
We hope to see you all again for Heart of the Swarm! And don't forget, gl and hf out there.
NA: New Tourney everyday Monday-Friday at 2100 EST on NA /
Games are streamed & casted Mon-Thurs by OrD [and/or rotating cast]
EU: New Tourney everyday Monday-Thursday at 2100 CET on EU
2v2 Tourney every Friday at 2100 CET on EU ONLY!
Games are streamed & casted Mon-Thurs by Jay and Ryuk
--- We are looking for more admins only on EU. NA is in need of admins and casters/streamers - in order to cast any #GoodAsGold you MUST be trained as an admin first. Please contact OrD if you are awesome enough to be interested in helping!
Open to:(Bronze, Silver, and Gold)
This tournament is based on the current Blizzard Ladder Map-Pool (blmp) to give us Gold-plated folk an opportunity to practice our skillz in a competitive atmosphere where a loss doesn't mean falling down the @#%#$&% ladder.
We want to provide a competitive environment that aids in overcoming "ladder-anxiety."
The hope is for participants to be provided a constructive and courteous environment to improve and continue on their journey up the ladder as quickly as possible! Absolutely no *BM or trolling will be permitted [auto-ban]. Thanks for your help in this.
Ask for help with anything [tournament related], especially if you are new to online tournaments.
To Reiterate: Bad Manner (BM) is not tolerated in any form and will result in a ban to ensure a positive tournament/growth experience
Rule Details/FAQ's:
*If you are ever in doubt, contact an Admin*
Sign-ups - Are open up until the Bnet time flips to 9:00pm EST (or 2100 CET) - No Late-comers are permitted - Admins can assist you in registering if there are any issues
Gameplay - Please make every effort to contact your opponent - If you cannot contact your opponent let an admin know by chatting with one of them directly - If your opponent has not shown up after a 15-minute grace period your admin will adjust the brackets accordingly - NEVER update a match result as a forfeit yourself [or else...] Contact your admin privately - It is the match-winners prerogative to update z33k.com with match results AND replays - z33k.com brackets must be updated before the next round begins - Disconnects must be replayed if the game is still in the first 5-mins. If more time than that has elapsed and the players cannot decide between themselves who the victor was/if a regame is required they must contact an admin who will make a final decision
Map Pool - All maps used MUST be Blizzard ladder map-pool variants (often referred to as LE for "ladder edition") - Map-Veto's are not permitted - Map-Picking is not permitted, currently the Tourney is set up to force players to practice on all of the maps in the ladder-pool - Again, all maps must be the Blizzard-variant (it is a map pool tourney)
Races/League - No race-picking - You may change your race up till the tournaments official start time - Games played with a race that does not match 33k.com check-in info will be registered as a forfeit - If you get promoted beyond Gold after registering, gratz! Please let us know and we'll be happy to do up a highlight segment of you! Sadly you cannot play in the tourney - please unregister and/or inform an admin
Details for the NA "Tournament of Chompions":
Prize Details: "1st and 2nd Qualify for Chompions Cup"
The winner and runner-up for all of the "Good as Gold" tournaments held between will receive invites to play in the "Tournament of Chompions" against each other to crown the new Chompion. (if they cannot attend weekly performance and placement of other competitors will be assessed and a replacement will be selected for each competitor).
More details will be forthcoming, but here's some of the highlights: - Double Elimination - Bo3's with Bo5 semi's/finals - Map picking and veto's "enabled"
When? --> Prizes? --> TBD by sponsors
The more people viewing the better prizes will become available in future weeks!
Thanks for reading, looking forward to casting this! ;D
And one last time, if you have feedback or questions please don't hesitate to contact us! Comments below are appreciated and will be read daily - PM is also ok if other sources of contact (i.e. Twitter, Facebook, comments below) have been tried first.
We're excited for all of us to grow and to grow this tourney, gl and hf. ;D
kop977, Thanks for your interest! Sadly I'm not available to organize the tourney on Fridays. As I gain a larger staff of admins that is something I want to look into. If it happens I'll be sure to post! (and update this thread of course)
Or come watch the stream: http://www.twitch.tv/or_d - and don't forget about Sunday's "Chompions Cup" where this weeks 1st and 2nd place winners will be going head-to-head Starting at 3pm EST!
The late starting time is the main reasons why I wouldn't play in this. But of course making it earlier will put you right into the BSG Daily time slot.
But I'm on the east coast so, your time caters more to the west coast crowd. It's probably good to have an east coast BSG tourney and a west coast Good as Gold tourney, as far as time goes.
WarEagle you make a very valid point about both a west and east coast bsg. (I am indeed on the west coast)
Shadow_orc, :D
LeeDawg, you know you can. *wink* But that is definitely one reason I'm examining the change, many people seem to have these odd and time-consuming things called "jobs" and/or "school" ;D
After playing this tournament once I find that I will not be participating again until what a what I feel is fair rule is put in place. As per OrD's request I am leaving my feedback here and so here I am.
Allow me to begin with a lengthy quote from the most recent Good as Gold tournement page:
...This tournament is based on the current Blizzard Ladder map-pool to give us Gold-plated folk an opportunity to practice our skillz in a competitive atmosphere where a loss doesn't mean falling down the @#%#$&% ladder. We want to provide a competitive environment that aids in overcoming "ladder-anxiety." The hope is for participants to be provided a constructive and courteous environment to improve and continue on their journey up the ladder as quickly as possible! Absolutely no *BM or trolling will be permitted [auto-ban]. Thanks for your help in this.... (http://www.z33k.com/games/starcraft2/tournaments/7207-good-as-gold-33)
At my first, and only, match I held a DT rush and proceeded to, through some gold mistakes, lost the game to a base race I never really should have engaged in. I fully acknowledge my loss, that's the first step in getting better, right? But after checking my oppenent's ranking I come to find that he was a platinum player in season 5.
See, I'm here requesting that a rule be put in place that players in the last two seasons, as well as the current one, have to be gold in 1v1. I feel like one season, or even two with their shortened length, isn't enough time to prove that the player has fallen to a gold level, which is entirely counter-productive the to goals outlined in the above quote.
This all may seem silly, coming from a gold player regarding a, frankly, currently minor tournament. However, I feel like this isn't merely unfair to me but unfair to other paticipants especially after bringing this issue up to OrD through a PM in which he stated that other players had the same issue.
I sincerely hope that I, and many more, can progress past the gold level but in the mean time I have to make due what I've got and Good as Gold simply doesn't do it for me. Again, a silly rant/feedback post about a currently small tournament (I bet you pros out there are laughing at me right now), but I hope any other players can feel like they are facing truly gold and under players as I would hope the same.
WingsOfGlory's concern is valid insomuch that we have several "incognito" admins for the tourney who assist in determining if a player is smurfing. Please report any suspicion of this to OrD or another admin directly and we promise to look into it.
As for banning pp who were previously platinum? No. I instead applaud their decision to attempt to improve and regain that lost glory despite the damage to pride from demotion. Having these players participate (and they only occasionally do) heightens the competitiveness of the tournament and thereby its effectiveness as a training tool.
StoneTalon: Currently we are NA only (thanks for the question OP has been updated). Though we are looking for admins to expand to EU - any interest? ;D
Thanks everyone for feedback! Please keep it coming.
*EDIT* More specific guidelines to help control smurfing are being added to the OP for each Tourney as yet another measure to eliminate any and all smurfing.
So Redditers brought up some great points and I wanted to share some of them here and hopefully make it clear that "Good as Gold" is extremely serious about catching and preventing Smurfs:
[–]LinuxUser4Life 1 point 4 hours ago I have a really really bad feeling there are going to be multiple smurfs at this tourney due to the prize pool. Smurfs always ruin the fun.
[–]OrD_SC2[S] 1 point 152 milliseconds ago This is of course a big concern for BSG tourneys, there are some simple ways to establish suspicion and "Good as Gold" has a staff of 4-6 "background-checkers" to hinder this possibility. When a smurf is detected their account is reported to Blizzard/Battle.net, across z33k.com's tourneys, and to similar sites. This turns continued smurfing into a very expensive habit. (Also, the top EIGHT all get money!)
Does the tournament only go on during the day. or does it continues throughout the week. Cuz I wanna sign up for #36 on today but I am unsure if that means I'll have stay up late or not.
Telekenunes, the tourney start time is at 9pmEST - after that your time commitment depends solely on how well you do! (the more games you win, the longer you're up/online and playing)
Hope to see more and more pp there b/c "Good as Gold #36!" starts in ~4 hrs and....
I've got interesting new filler content and a new overlay. Don't forget to have your friends and family watch you play on: http://www.twitch.tv/Or_D
Bombadil, we'll be here! There will be more Tourney's with prize pools in the future, as well as coaching/swag offered as prizes for other days. GL and HF out there
Some details for the reinvigorated "Tournament of Chompions":
Prize Details: "1st and 2nd Qualify for Chompions Cup on June 24th"
The winner and runner-up for all of the "Good as Gold" tournaments held between 28 May and June 21st will receive invites to play in the "Tournament of Chompions" against each other to determine the monthly Chompion. (if they cannot attend weekly performance and placement of other competitors will be assessed and a replacement will be selected for each competitor).
More details will be forthcoming, but here's some of the highlights: - Double Elimination - Bo3's with Bo5 semi's/finals - Map picking and veto's "enabled"
When? --> June 24th, starts at 1pmEST Prizes? --> Your gamer tag/handle/name in our sponsor, PJ Schnyder's book (www.PJSchnyder.com) Tell her how awesome you think this prize is (and tell her I sent you): @PJSchnyder
The more people viewing the better prizes will become available in future weeks!
Thanks for reading, looking forward to casting this! ;D
The 41st Good as Gold starts in 90 min - I'm casting tonight but won't be on the 6th, 7th, or 11th (so next casted tourney will be the 12th, but Good as Gold will still be played on all of those days!)
I'm excited to announce the addition of a Friday "Good as Gold" on NA servers! Friday will not be casted sadly, but the awesome competition will still be there, so don't miss it!
One hour left till tonight's Good as Gold (#51) - and we have brand new super-sexy overlays courtesy of Bentheck! Only 3 chances left to qualify for this Sunday's Tournament of Chompions, sponsored by: http://www.PJSchnyder.com
Really cool tournament, even if I had to forfeit yesterday in the semis See you next time! I really encourage everybody in gold or below to participate, it's a lot of fun
ill join in whenever i can, love those tournaments for the not masters players. thanks for organizing! at work right now, but.. will sign up when im home
BaCon, Commodore, and Kiwi - thank you for your interest, and for leaving feedback! The response on the EU side to #GoodAsGold has been phenomenal so far - 40 people today and its only been live for a week. Ya'll are awesome! :D
I'll be scheduling some SC2 towards the end of the week and on Saturday. I'll be keen to join - I just need to work out the timezone to NZ to see if I can play. How long does the tourney normally run for?
Awesome Tournament I'm glad I was able to participate and take home first place in the Good as Gold #58! Thanks to OrD for hosting and great job casting, even though some of the games were long and passive. I'd like more info on the "Tournament of Chompions" if you can PM me that would be great OrD! Thanks!
Big thank you to all who tuned in to the EU stream www.twitch.tv/jaykelvik To watch and play in the Good as Gold the tourny is growing at a very fast pace and we are increasing in numbers daily, however were are all my protoss players allways zvz in the final exception of yesterday were it came down to an ace match
allso one monthly show match current standings are:
EU = 1 NA = 0
Heelirantant taking a 2-0 victory over former NA champ Benfreak (my apolagies if the names are wrong)
Hi guys Just wanted to say HELLOOOOOOOOO to everyone, im the new trainee admin of the europe tournament I'm looking foreward to have a great time with all of you
The EU side is doing great and though Bentheck let me down some... TT I believe we can pull it back! Sign up: http://www.z33k.com/games/starcraft2/tournaments/7716-goodasgold-60-happy-independence-day
I don't fully understand how to join the EU gold tournament... I'm new to stuff like this. The page on z33k.com is for NA only? I'm not looking to join an actual tournament yet, would like just a couple of days practice
[edit] OK I see the EU link. When's the next EU one after tonight/last night? Also what's the whole process for joining?
I'm assuming it's something like: 1) sign up 2) come online 15 mins before the game 3) message opponent and play 4) message admin results
what happens after that? how will you know when your next match is etc if you won the first?
I've been participating in the Good as Gold for several weeks now and I do admit that it is a very fun tournament with helpful admins and a great atmosphere. More importantly, it is managed by a great caster and hardworking man- OrD!!!
Awesome tournament, anyone in gold or lower should come and try it out
Also we would like to know if there's any interest in making a tournament on Fridays as well, please pm me ingame (Miserie.265 EU) and/or reply with your thoughts!
Hey, just to say I think this is such a great idea and I love that you guys are bringing competitivness to low ranked players, good job! I will definitley be entering!
Really enjoyed the tournament tonight. I always feel like tournaments like this are so integral to the future of this sport: you start off here, get used to playing with a different type of pressure and learn to adjust; before long you're at a higher skill level and playing in Playhem isn't a big thing. Who knows? You could be the next Violet, rocking Playhem and moving on to crushing everyone's faces in majors.
Watch this tournament folks - no, you're not watching the best in the world but it's still very enjoyable play, the casters are fun and interact with you, and you may very well be able to look at a pro a year from now and go "I remember seeing that guy in Good as Gold."
And to reply to Prophanity, these tournaments are ment to be for players that want to improve but maybe aren't that fond of laddering (I could totally understand why, ladder anxiety). Also, we provide a casual environment in where these players can play their matches and get feedback from others.
Some highlights include: Playhem co-caster, z33ktv co-caster, well known participant co-casting, and prizes include cash, a RAZER Kabuto Mousepad, #GoodAsGold swag, and a special surprise
I love this tournament. I only got 2 complains though. The casters simply dont have enough insight on the game, that maybe because they are only bronze silver. The second complain i got is, its supposed to 2 casters but i only hear jay (the other caster is matt) I would love to hear more from him. Otherwise this is proberly one of the most awesome Bronze-Silver-Gold freindly tournament I've ever seen and been a part of. The casters are awesome. The admins are help full. So the only problem is the casters being too shy or having too little knowledge which can be fixed by giving the other caster a chance and play the game more
Anyway, there is another one tonight! At this time we already have 64 sign-ups, and we would like even more to make Good As Gold one of the greatest lower league tournaments!
After our record breaking turnout of yesterday (60 checked-in players, 76 signups) we would like to see more again Tonight's tournament starts at the usual time (21:00 GMT +2) and check-ins start 30 minutes beforehand.
If you have any questions, feel free to pm me ingame (Miserie.265 - EU) and join our channel on bnet: ord
Bret987, LucoxP, Vibro, DizzSC, InfFluffy, Energyboost, and of course Miserie - I very much <3 you all! :D
Thank you for your feedback, your concern, your continued dedication AND for bringing this thread beyond 100 comments. The NA side of things has downsized some over the last week and that's because of some admin slip-ups and stream coverage mis-steps, don't worry these things happen sometimes and:
IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN HELPING #GoodAsGold by being an admin/caster/cocaster on NA and/or EU plz contact me (OrD) on Twitter ( @OrD_SC2 ) or through z33k.com
The EU side is going strong and we want to be able to see expansion to Friday's and we want to see Tournament of Chompions begin - if you'd like to see awesome prizes and an extended series double-elimination monthly "Chompionship" on the EU side plz leave that feedback here and everywhere you can!
Hey i'd just like to say a comment on the casters for the eu division, it seems they dont really know the game very well. They are both really nice guys but in some intances it seems they dont know what is happening, I thought Redjam was a verry good caster though. When watching the stream I often see them mistaking the words Macro and Micro, They would be saying stuff like "Look at that stutter step macro" its just small things but if they work on it they could become both very good casters Maybe if you brought in a higher level player (diamond-gm) to cast for a night and give the casters tips and tell them about the meta game Sorry for the negative feedback but I just want to help
I was thinking a few days ago that a gstl style tournament would be reeeally cool for low level players, lets say plat and under for a wider variety. You would have to make a league out of it though and depending on how many teams enter it could go on for a few weeks. You would have maybe 5 players on one team and do Bo9s to have the maximum amount of players to play I think it would be really cool and it wouldnt take up too much time depending on how many games you do per night and needless to say would be reeeeally fun :D admins please say what you would think of it
a GSTL kind of tournament would be fun, we are running 2v2 games on Friday on EU though. Anyway, your idea seems great, we ought to talk about this with all admins and ofc master Ord
Hello, I would like to ask about tournament GoodAsGold. I am currently 1v1 gold ranked, but in party ladders im above (plat in 3v3, diamond in 4v4). Can I enter this tourney? Or do i have to be max gold in all ladders?
rumcax, with Good As Gold team ladders don't matter, well the 1v1 good as gold anyway. As long as you are gold or under in the 1v1 ladder you can play,even if you are higher then gold in 2v2,3v3 or 4v4 ladder Good Luck!
Hey guys could you think about changing the map pool to versions of the ladder maps where there are neutral supply depots at the bottom of the ramp? Very annoying to lose to and especially in Bo1s ty
I know that if you sign up to a tournament and get promoted to Plat in the meantime, you can't play, but what if you get promoted after qualifying for that champion cup? Seems to me that if you take a player good enough to win a BSG tournament who is Gold, and give him a few weeks after that tournament to ladder, he's gonna end up in Plat a good amount of the time.
The GSTL-style idea is interesting, but extremely difficult to regulate and to ensure players show up for something live, there may be a way to do something along these lines the way MCSL was run (players have a week to arrange matches and the "show" is cast from replays)
On August 14 2012 01:30 rumcax wrote: Hello, I would like to ask about tournament GoodAsGold. I am currently 1v1 gold ranked, but in party ladders im above (plat in 3v3, diamond in 4v4). Can I enter this tourney? Or do i have to be max gold in all ladders?
ty for answer
You may enter the tourney - but please be aware we check through accounts in an attempt to ruthlessly weed out potential smurfs. My guess is, if you're willing to ask this question, you're good to go.
I hope you are playing already, and if not, see you soon! :D
On August 04 2012 11:29 Banja wrote: On average how many NA players are there?
Banja, I've been tracking the averages and may post them in this thread so people can see. The EU side has shown particularly explosive (and awesome!) growth.
In July NA averaged at just below 30 participants, our biggest day tends to be Wednesday where we get 50-60 signups.
NEWS FLASH: NA #GoodAsGold needs to be put on a temporary hiatus until Monday the 20th while all focus and effort goes into the upcoming EU Tournament of Chompions.
Details can be found about the EU Tourney of Chompions in the OP and by clicking the spoiler below:
This Chompions Cup is for every player on the European server from Bronze all the way up to Gold. The Platinum players are on invite only from our former Good as Gold tournaments.
This is a 2-day tournament; on August 18 we will play most of the winners and losers bracket all the way up to (currently) round 9. On Sunday August 19 we will play the rest of the tournament (finals etc). The tournament will be seeded; the seeds will be decided by the admins through current standing in the ord group on Z33k.
As for maps, we have the same ones as we normally would use in a Good as Gold tournament, but the amount of games played per match has changed. Winner bracket is Bo3 all the way up to the finals where it then will be Bo5. Loser bracket is Bo1 all the way up to Losers Winners match which is Bo3.
Also, the Losers finals, Grand Final and Winner Bracket finals have a different map pick system. The first map is chosen by us, afterwards is loser picks.
For the winner of this tournament we have a stunning amount of 20 pounds, the runner-up is 10 pounds. Also, there will be a surprise announcement in regards to the prizes!
During the tournament we will have giveaways, including stuff like keyboards and some other awesome things!
The hope is for participants to be provided a constructive and courteous environment to improve and continue on their journey up the ladder as quickly as possible! Absolutely no *BM or trolling will be permitted [auto-ban]. Thanks for your help in this.
All communication about the tourney should be conducted in chat-channel "ord" on Battle.net and your admins are: Miserie.265 and TenaciousDMN.861
You know, I just signed up for TL today, and I'm glad I did. This actually seems like a really good idea for me. I'm stuck in midrange silver because every time I try to ladder, I get so nervous that I lose horribly, or I do so well that my first loss after a streak makes me tilt. Those ladder points, they scare me, man
Just got back into Starcraft 2 after my getting a new computer. This seems like a great program. I just have one question. Am I still eligible to participate if I my highest rank was Platinum but I am now Silver? I played my 5 placement matches a couple of days ago and was placed in Silver. Thanks and I look forward to the 20th!
I know that if you sign up to a tournament and get promoted to Plat in the meantime, you can't play, but what if you get promoted after qualifying for the chompion cup? Seems to me that if you take a player good enough to win a BSG tournament who's still in Gold, and give them even a couple of weeks after that tournament to ladder and practice, they're gonna end up in Plat a good amount of the time.
On August 16 2012 05:23 Desura wrote: You know, I just signed up for TL today, and I'm glad I did. This actually seems like a really good idea for me. I'm stuck in midrange silver because every time I try to ladder, I get so nervous that I lose horribly, or I do so well that my first loss after a streak makes me tilt. Those ladder points, they scare me, man
Can't wait until the 20th!
Desura - happy you found us! (but how is the question that makes me most curious...) Jay is exactly right, this is the tourney for you. Our goal is to help plyrs overcome "ladder anxiety" and keep improving - can't wait to see you in chat channel: ord on bnet! (don't forget to make a z33k.com account and sign-up!
Salivanth - Emporium is correct, and looks at it the right way! The point of the tourney is to improve player skills on ladder maps and thereby help plyrs overcome "ladder anxiety" Come play with us and discover that Tal'darim is historically the most balanced map in the game! (surprising, but true)
Salivanth - In answer to your second query: this is indeed true and is part of what we want to encourage. If we tell players they can't participate in our "ultimate" tournament b/c "they're too good" that would be directly counter-productive. Trust me, if you win Good As Gold you've got a shot against Plat plyrs (and we've had silvers win before!)
NewbieOne - thank you!
Rovskagg - heck yes! :D
Tune in to: Twitch.tv/Jaykelvik in 12 hrs to watch the epic 2-day "EU Tournament of Chompions"
Thank you all for your comments, we're always happy to engage ;D
Jay and Ryuk are still going strong as they wrap up the quarter-finals! The most exciting games of the weekend will be coming up soon, don't miss out: Twitch.tv/Jaykelvik
Many thanks to everyone who has helped make this event a success already. From just the Chompions Cup Jay/Ryuk's channel has gathered over 3,000 views and climbing!
Signed up for the 'Good as Gold' mini-tourney tonight. I was a Platinum 1v1 in the very first season ever of SC2, but I haven't played in about a year and a half outside of 2v2, and while I'm a quick study the whole game seems to have changed a lot. I was pretty surprised (and demoralized) when I ended up in Bronze out of my qualification matches. What was worse is that I started losing to Bronze players, too, and even though I thought I would immediately jump out of Bronze I still find myself toiling away there.
I wish I had more time to practice, but a tournament like this should be fun.
It was pretty disappointing that the tournament didn't happen last night, or if it did the admin was extremely late. I was there well past 9 PM EST and then just didn't wait anymore. I assumed that it was cancelled.
PhoenixM - unfortunately the NA side is undergoing a revamp in scheduling. Please check back here to see what we decide to go with for the fall/winter to prevent this kind of thing.
Don't worry folks, I'm still alive, and we're still planning to come back - the testing for HoTS beta is taking much longer than expected (/waves goodbye to Warhound) so I'm beginning to organize a once weekly version of the Tourney that may incorporate up to Plat.
If you have an opinion on the matter, please let me know!
OrD, I'd love for Good as Gold to return and help out where I can on the admin/player side! :D
It would be cool to have up through platinum players allowed to participate, because many players have been promoted since they've played in the tournaments in the past, but it might be unfair for lower level players such as bronze or silver.
EPT![[image loading]](http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/12671_250651681729277_951732118_n.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/RaGFB.png)
![[image loading]](http://cdn.z33k.com/matchsets/8019/logos/wide/d5fa250a95242dbe489e86cb09ee57a5.png?1342803773)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/Keuhb.png)
(Bronze, Silver, and Gold)
See you next time! I really encourage everybody in gold or below to participate, it's a lot of fun 
thanks LucoxP 
