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As some of you may be aware or not,MGM is working in conjunction with Celeris/Steve Chaplin in creating a tourmode or career mode for VP4.Mal Clarke sent him an email recently asking for some more detail on it.

Heres the reply

We are going to put a Pro Tour Career Mode into VP4 and one of our own players is working on it.
MachineGunMurrow has been the key designer and shall be the main coder for the Pro Tour.
The plan is to get real pro players, given we can get them to sign up and do the legal.

 For any further detail on the above I suggest you ask MGM when hes in the lobby

Theres some good info coming through from Steve Chaplin as regards of what he has in mind for the new tourney system,although things are a little sketchy at the moment and nothing is a definate.

What Im  attempting to do is to keep those of you who are interested as up to date as I can about whats happening.

Tds will be able to advertise their planned tourneys and you as a player will receive info on them  on your profile page for example if you like a particular game say 8ball pub and theres an upcoming tourney,youll get info on it posted to your profile page.

There will be a facility to post recordings of finals matches for people to view later.

There will be an upcoming events page (as well as your own profile page to which youll receive tourney info on)

There will be a regular newsletter as well as a news page

Not sure about prize tourneys or cash tourneys yet,but theres mentions on VPD,(i think is an abbreviation for Virtual Pool Dollars)which was an idea suggested to Celeris as a way of awarding virtual cash to players and allowing them to accumulate a bankroll which you can spend,perhaps on merchandise or perhaps on improving your memebership priveledges(this is pure speculation on my part reading between the lines)

Theres the social networking side of things that virtual Pool 4 will introduce to facebook etc and as a way of promoting the game and communication between players.

So far as has been mentiond there will be as follows.

Super Admin

Events Admin

Tournament Directors

The Super Admin will be the comparative to the Gamespy Admin or rather like Angel who is  a paid senior admin with gamepsy,The SA  as we shall call them will be the the overseer to all in the vp4 lobby and be in control of  granting or setting authorisation to who can be authorised Td priveledges.they probobly will also admin the chat lobby and deal with the nastier side of things like those that misbehave and need sorting out.Any escalations will be through them I suspect.

The Events Admin looks after the tourney system as well as authorising Td status

The Tournament Directors host their tourneys as advertised.Also the Tournament Director is the referee to their own tourney and is the sole referee as far as disqualificarion goes From what Ive read the tourney system will be more automatic than what exists at present 

All of the above is a brief if not speculative idea of what might be going down for VP4 and the tourneys etc and much of it might be wrong,but you know me and I know that int he end I wont be far off the mark in my thinking as no doubt youll all find out in the end.

All of the above is subject to change and not existing at all so be flexible in what you take from this or simply ignore it.

STEVEMARTIN as you may know him or Palmi Gunnersson from Iceland as you also may know has passed away,he was only 45.

As many of you know and those that ever spoke to him he always came across as a happy and cheeerful guy that would do anything for anyone and probobly more,but was suffering quite a serious illness and had been for some time and frequesnt hospital visits over the last few months have kept his visits to VP3 few and far between.

The last time i saw him  was only a few weeks ago when we had a frame of snooker together,I didnt think that would be the last id play vp3 with him.

Im sure the rest of the VP3 community would like to express their condolensces to his family,we will miss him a lot

R.I.P

As of this Sunday and for the duration of the World Cup at Least,9balldotcom will not be scheduling any tournaments as he is taking a break.

So unless any other Td takes the schedule on,please do not assume that Friday night 9ball or Sunday Snooker will be available.

I know very little about the hosting or who will host tourneys on vp4,but I do know this.

I have not been hosting VPHQ tourneys and applying the rules written down for us TDs as I should have been and thats been made clear to me.

I beleive also that Steve Chaplin wants tourneys run not professionally but with respect for all and that chat standards and behaviour of participants and prospective participants be of a standard that makes it enjoyable for all. I do not beleive I have followed those to the letter either and would be first to hold my hands up and admit that.

As of today my tournaments will be hosted according to the VPHQ rules and ill intepret them to the letter.

If VP4 is to work then it is not up to just Tds to make it work in the lobbY it will be up to all those in the chat lobby to work at it too.

If what Ive heard is true then the Administration of chat standards in the VP4 lobby may well be a shock to a number of people bearing in mind that chat standards in gamespy although present are simply not administered by the proper authorities.

I think youll find that thats going to be one big change youll notice in VP4 chat.

Youve all been to other gaming lobbies where one step out of line according to whoever the Admin is and your kicked or muted and ves I have found that out in the Poolstars lobby.....I wasnt even swearing or abusing I was criticising their game......muted.

So if you want to take part in my tourneys in the vp3 lobby please be aware that you need to follow the rules like everyone else for it all to work for us and for you to be included.

TOURNEY RULES

Please note that these rules apply to each and every tournament hosted.

In our efforts to provide a smooth and well run tournament system, we have chosen to post the "BASIC" rules here that each and every tournament hosted will follow. These rules are set with the fairness of all players taken into consideration. As you play in your tournaments, you will find that each Tournament Director will select his own specific game rules while the ones listed below will remain firm for all tournaments. Should you have any questions or suggestions on the following, please contact: Ladyhwk@vphq.com

*NOTE* Please keep in mind that in this time of changes, the Tournament Director will announce which version of VP3 will be used for this specific tournament as once the new patch is applied, the versions will no longer be compatible.

1. Tournament settings are given by your Tournament Director prior to the tourney commencing, you will also find the settings listed on the sign up page for each tournament.
2. You must be visible in the lobby 5 minutes prior to the Fixtures being drawn, if you are not the Tournament Director has the choice to remove you from the signups and thus reducing the likelihood of forfeits.
3. When you are setting up the room for your match, please always list BOTH players names in the room name in case we need to locate one of you. You must also use the same profile name you used to join the Tournament system. This too means there will be less confusion trying to identify you.
4. Person with the LOWEST GSA rank always breaks first rack except in Cowboy, Snooker, Cribbage and Straight. In these 4 games, the person with the LOWEST GSA rank has the choice as to who breaks.
5. A link to the fixtures of each tournament will be posted for you, by your Tournament Director, in the chat lobby. So please make sure that you watch the chat closely when its time to start. Please consult with your opponent as to who will set the game as this also saves confusion and unnecessary delays.
6. As soon as fixtures are drawn, matches must get underway immediately, if you and your opponent are having problems setting a room, please let the TD know ASAP!! They will do what they can to help solve the situation, and if necessary, will have someone else set the room for you.
7. Please be patient between your matches and remember watching another match is ok as long as you are quiet and do not disturb the other players. We do ask that you have permission to watch another players match prior to do so out of common courtesy.
8. If you are booted during your match, there is a ten (10) minute boot rule which provides that if you do not return within 10 minutes, you will forfeit your match. Also being booted 3 times in the same match results in automatic disqualification in order to try to keep the tournament moving smoothly. Please save your game if your opponent gets booted. The ten (10) minute rule does not mean you can have a 10-minute break between matches! This rule applies ONLY to legitimate boots from the game. You must be available to play at all times during a tournament and readily available. Should a TD be unable to locate you because he/she has no clue what room you are in, they have the right to disqualify you. The ten (10) minute boot rule does NOT apply if you’re watching another match. Always advise the TD if you’re going into another room to watch a match.
9. Please report to the TD, the result of your match clearly and wait till you have your result confirmed and acknowledged prior to leaving the lobby.
10. Playing VIP Ladder or any other competitive matches is not allowed during VPHQ Tournaments.
11. Always inform the TD of your whereabouts!. For example, if you are in a warm-up room or if you are going to play a match in the same room as a prior match, again this helps the smooth running. If you have to leave the lobby for a few moments, again, please advise the Tournament Director.
12. IMPORTANT!! If you have to forfeit during a tournament for any reason, you must inform the TD immediately. The match that your currently playing will be voided if its mid-match and your opponent will be advanced. If you forfeit after you have just beaten an opponent, this opponent will be not be advanced in your place having lost his required match, therefore the next opponent in line will be advanced to next round.
13. And most importantly, every player is asked to treat each other with the utmost respect and common courtesy required in good sportsmanship. While we realize that some people do get upset should they lose their match, we do not tolerate bad sportsmanship. Should you become verbally abusive, our Tournament Directors have the right to disqualify you from the tournament and even ban you from future tournaments should it be deemed appropriate. Also keep in mind that even if you are NOT in that specific tournament but act up inappropriately, you can still be banned from future events. So please, help us make each and every tournament fun for everyone.
14. If you have a problem with an opponent during your game play, please take a screenshot and quietly inform your Td. They will deal with it on your behalf, and make the appropriate decisions. (To take a screenshot press the PrintScrn button (located immediately to the right of the F12 key), then open up paint and go to edit then paste your screenshot. You can then save it as a jpeg and send the file to your Td.) Every TD will be happy to give you their email address on request.
15. Should you have a problem with your Tournament Director or disagree with a call made by them, you are welcome to report the event to: Admin@VPHQ.com. Please include the Tournament Directors name, the date, the time, the time ZONE and the type of tournament along with details explaining your problem. The situation will be investigated by the appropriate staff and you will be contacted regarding our findings.
16. We hope that you have a great time in your tournaments of choice and we look forward to hosting more for your playing pleasure. And should you have any requests for a specific game to be played or suggestion to make your tournament experience more fun, please don’t hesitate to advise your Tournament Director as they do pass the information along to all the others.

FINALRESULT

                          9balldotcom    (Scotland)   14    v   18   Albinario (Sweden)

Its planned to play the final over 4 sessions.

3 sessions of 8 frames and a final session of a possible 11.

The first session will be around 2 pm Sarurday 29th May and the evening session around 8pm

The third and 4th sessions the same time slots on the Sunday

Albinario made it to the final by overcoming ReelPolandPower by 17 frames to 13

9balldotcom becomes the first Scot to reach a major vp3 final and he did it in emphatic style by hustling and grinding his way all through the final session,while his opponent daombre seemed to lose his way and made some crucial mistakes which were punished.

9ball was at one point 9 frames to 6 behind in the second session,he won the last 4 frames of that session and the first 4 of the final session today to make it what in retrospect was a match winning 8 frame run

From a shaky overnight lead of just 10 frames to 9 and after having just lost the second session of the match,9balldotcom produced a surge of frames to start the Sunday afternoon final session and raced away to a 14 frames to 9 lead before daombre could respond with a frame in return.Dao then won another to claw it back to 14-11,was there a comeback on?

Alas for the nornally heavy scoring daombre his challenge was snuffed out and died and 9balldotcom forged his way on  winning the  next 3 frames he needed for victory.Final score daombre 11 9balldotcom 17

When asked after the match for a response 9balldotcom said

"Theres more ways to win a snooker match than 100 breaks"

Sky To Televise World Snooker Shoot-Out

Sign ups for Qualification group stages of this years championships will start on Saturday 15th May,the tournament itself will start on July 17th.

There is something important to remember,there will be places for 64 players in this years tournament and there is no options for extra numbers,so if youd like to take part make sure your name is in asap.

Remember also that sign ups are pending on an email check first prior to your confirmation of sign up.

For all your infornation on how it will work and what you need to do to qualify click on the link below

Here are the 8 seeded players for this years Championships,they will not meet one another in the first round of the tournament

1. daombre84
2. Albinario
3. tonysam1
4. LarryL
5. 9balldotcom
6. Media Slave
7. Sn00zehughes
8. rocket

These seedings were not chosen by me,they were from an indepensant source.

This saturday Night 9ball with 9ball,the sign ups will be as normal,however once I have all the names in the sign up Ill add them to a league format already explained below on this page.

This means that all entrants will play a number of matches not just lose one and  your out,the eventual winner will be the one with the most points.

If you would like to be part of the AI list of players to be included to VP4,then Celeris are accepting your photos NOW

there isnt usually a big window of time for this as its not been mentioned but Id get my pic sent in ASAP if i were you.

This is what Steve Chaplin has requested

Portrait photo, light background or shot of down on a pool shot with good look at the face. Will crop to shoulders head, that should be at least 256x256 if possible.
Send to vp4@celeris.com

Im only interested in people who will be willing to fulfill their commitment of matches,that is to say after one or two losses you up and quit as this does not help the league and in effect just ruins it.

So if you feel your someone like that...then dont bother joining.

Each match will be like the Premier League snooker on SKY

Matches will be of 6 frames and not to 6 frames.

You will need to set the game goal to 6 to allow for the 3-3 draw.

3 points for a win

1 point for a draw

Each player plays one another once

Frames for and againt will count in the event of a draw at the end of the league.

First league will be limited to 8 players only

Further details will follow...no names will be taken for now,this is only to see if theres interest.

If the League happens it will be after the VWSC in April

Here is the full first round draw for this years Championships which start Saturday Morning 10 am GMT 17th Apr

First round best of 19 frames

The forum security settings have been increased to fend off BOT attacks and  now user registration has been reintroduced.

Remember for all updates on VP4,the next generation game of the Best Billiard sim out there you will be able to follow on the Celeris forum,or if you have anything you want to say on Virtual Pool in general or have any problems you want to air,you can join by registering here

CELERIS FORUM REGISTRATION

VP4 is coming and you should want to be part of it and have your say and give any feedback and suggestions to Celeris about it.

Chocky has set  the highest VP3 tournament break and did it in magnificent style with a maximum 147 break in his second round  match of this years Virtual World Snooker Championships 2009  against srwest.

It now ties the record as the hignest break in online Snooker for Vp3  (Glen made a 147 in a friendly match against B11TME which is verified)and also for this tournament.

Congratulations to Chocky on a fantastic acheivement and   a terrific standard of play.

Here is a screenshot  of the moment and it sets Chocky into the record books...  

This is now the most recent version of the programme with a few additional tweaks

Polo has made a handy little programme which as long as you play vp3 in desktop window mode you can watch a streaming game of football like im doing and you can also see when its your turn to play  cos vp3 doesnt freeze up.The programme will overlap your game till its your turn to play then you can shrink it to your desktop.

If you would like to try the programme   you can download it from here  PoloMaxWeb.rar

This is from his updated version 2,as you can see you can now watch up to 4 different streams and also make the streams transparent so you can see the topcorner pocket behind it

Tournament Director Application

In order to complete this application, please copy and paste it into an email and complete the questions in the email. Once complete, please forward to: Ladyhwk@kc.rr.com

The information that you give here is considered to be "STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL" and therefore it will NOT be given to anyone outside of VPHQ staff  for any reason.

1. Your full name:
2. Your primary email address: (No yahoo or hotmail please)
3. Age:
4. Country and time zone:
5. Do you have a messenger you use such as MSN, AIM or Yahoo?  If so, what is your name/number for this?
6.How long have you played in Gamespy? And please list ALL the screen names you have played under.
7. Have you ever hosted Pool tournaments before? If so… when and where? (please give details)
8.What are the 3 main reasons you would like to be an VPHQ Tournament Director?
9. Why do you feel that you would be a good tournament host?
10. What do you think you will get in return from hosting tournaments?
11.How would your closest friends describe your personality?
12.What do YOU feel is your strongest personality trait?
13.Name 3 persons in Gamespy Virtual Pool that would recommend you for this position.
14. What days and times will you be available to host tournaments?
15. What suggestions can you offer right now that would make tournament play more fun for the players?
16. As a "VIP", we are required to conduct ourselves in an fair, honest and impartial manner towards all players, do you feel that you can achieve this?
17.As we also represent Gamespy as VIPs, do you have a problem helping anyone who has a problem with the game?
18. What is "common sense"?
19. If you are hosting and two players come out of a match each claiming the win, how would you handle this? (please explain in detail)
20. If you are in the middle of a tournament and players start telling you that VPHQ sucks, your tournaments suck and you suck, how would you handle this?
21. What time zone would you primarily host tournaments for?
22. Do you have any comments or suggestions that you would like to make at this time?

All new Tournament Directors will be expected to prove themselves as fair, dependable hosts for several weeks before VIP status will be requested. 

Thank you for applying for a position as Tournament Director with VPHQ.

VPHQ Admin.

There is now a section on the VPHQ forum dedicated to Polomints Router fix programme,you can find it here Polomint's Router Programme

If you are experiencing problems with your router and getting your version of VP3DL working,then it might be worth trying it out.If you have anything you wish to commernt on or suggestions please feel free to post them here.

Its often been thought that only VIP'D VPHQ Tournament Directors have the sole rights to run  tournaments for Virtual Pool 3.

This in actual fact couldnt be further from the truth.Gamespy actively encourages you to get involved and organise your own thing,should you want to do an event or tournament or run your own ladder,you most certainly dont need to be a tournament director to do so.

All you have to make sure is that your event etc is run within the gamespy rules and guidleines that have been set out for you.

So there is no excuse,if you want to do something go ahead and do it, 

Heres Gamespy's guide to running your own tourneys,ladders or events Guidelines for Tournaments / Ladders / Leagues in GameSpy Arcade