Hi, I’m Sunnyy. I’ve climbed through HL divisions the last few seasons and have some strong opinions on offclassing rules & restrictions. Although I’ve mainly played HL, these suggestions fit all formats of RGL. There are four main points I would like to go over, and this is no means of me saying “this is how things should be” but more of a conversation starter. I won’t mention any names in this post, but may refer indirectly to teams, this is not to slander teams, but only to give examples and strengthen my points.
The first main point I would like to make is there needs to be better rules set in stone about off classing across all divisions. Right now it feels like class restriction rules are very blurry and every class restriction is to admin discretion, which leads to big differences in what is allowed and what isn’t across all divisions. This of course needs to be discussed further, but an example of a more fixated rule would be: If you placed in the top 50% in the last 3 seasons in a division on a class, you can not drop down to the division below on said class. You can not drop down two divisions under any circumstance. There are going to be more rules I suggest in my other points, but I would like to emphasize having stronger guidelines for class restrictions first. Subs and players who are rostered for over half the season should not be an exception to these rules. My last point goes into more depth about top divisions.
The second point I would like to discuss is about what classes need restrictions. I have a controversial opinion here and think all classes should be equal when it comes to restrictions. Sure certain classes don’t make as much of an impact in games, but they still are part of that team, and can make differences in multiple ways. An example that is possible now is an advanced level player could play medic for an intermediate team, main call, and can greatly change the strength of a team by the knowledge & calls they bring mid game. There are also examples of players winning a division, then being able to play in that same division without restrictions, because they were not playing a “power” class. This combined with the first point, should make restrictions no longer a guessing game for both players and admins.
The third point I would like to make is about how many class restrictions a player and team can have. With the current lack of solid rules around class restrictions, there becomes the opportunity for full teams to be off-classing in a division below their actual skill. Not only does this create a worse environment for other teams in the lower divisions, but it doesn’t encourage players and teams improving. There should be guidelines for how many class restricted players can be played in a match, to the same, or near the same extent of how many ringers are allowed to play in a match. (currently 3 for HL, 2 for 6s & PL). This would encourage less sandbagging, and teams not encouraged to pick up multiple sandbagging players. Having players follow the same guidelines as teams, based on classes, should also encourage personal improvement, and create a more healthy competitive environment.
For the last point, it is required to understand that I am of the firm belief of round robin being the better system over swiss. I think both the highest division & second highest division should be round robin formatting, with both having qualifiers. With this in mind, I think that there should be only class restrictions on the top 3 teams ( of 8 ) of these divisions. Any team that would want to drop down would still be playing qualifiers of the division they played before. If those players lose qualifiers and did not play the same classes they played in the higher division, they would be restricted from playing the classes they played in the division above. An example of this goes as follows: A team made of all invite players from the previous season would like to offclass in advanced. They would still play invite qualifiers on whatever class they want, but if they did not play their invite classes in qualifiers, and did not qualify for invite, they could not play those invite classes in advanced. If they did play their invite classes, and did not qualify then they would be allowed to play those classes in advanced. These teams also would be exempt from my third point of how many class restrictions a team could have. This would make more sense than complete admin discretion in the top divisions, and would allow top teams/players to shake up rosters & classes without worry.
Reminder, these are meant to be invitations for conversation around class restrictions. I’ve said my piece but would also love to hear yours. No disrespect to the RGL staff that has tried their best throughout every season around this topic, but I think it could be easier for both players and admins with stronger guidelines in place.