Host Guide

RANKMONSTER HOST GUIDE

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction

Helpful tools, links and emails (coming soon)

Welcome:
First of all we would like to welcome and congratulate you for becoming a Host for Rankmonster. We have developed this Guide to help you become a successful Host. Please take a few moments and read through this guide, as it will explain a lot about what is expected of you and explain everything you needs to know!

It might look and be a bit overwhelming at first but we are here to guide you through every step :) Please remember that it is very important that you as a Host always portray yourself in a friendly and professional manner as everything you do reflects back to Rankmonster and take that responsibility very seriously.

Hosting Staff Structure:
This is a brief discussion of different Staff member types and their respective roles and responsibilities.

Tournament Host:

- Always act in a friendly and professional manner.

- Create, advertise and administer tournaments.

- Answer player’s questions during Tournaments.

- Escalate problems, concerns, ideas or suggestions that are beyond the Hosts scope of control to the Sr. Staff.

Sr. Tournament Host:

- Keep Hosts on specific Ladder(s) organized and the tournament structure running smoothly.

- Participate in approval of new and removal of inadequate tournament Hosts.

- Help new Hosts become familiar with the tournament system.

- Assist in the resolution of problems or when a host is unable to complete their duty.

- Keep the league staff informed about the progress of the ladder and any changes or organized activities they should be away of via email.

- Sr. Host is the pillar of support for a particular ladder. Most issues that a Host can not handle should be resolved on this level. The Sr. Host will decide when further escalation is necessary.

Host Manager:

- Organize Sr. host meetings, hire/remove hosts / Sr. hosts

- Set goals for team, working closely with Sr. team

- Help recruiting new players and hosts

- Mailroom, answering complaints, questions, suggestions in regards to tourney issues

Rankmonster through the players eyes:

We will start on the menu bar (the purple bar located on top page)HOME will bring you back to the main rankmonster page (www.rankmonster.com) where you can check out all the gaming places and games that are available to you.

Beside that we have LADDER if you put your cursor on this word you will see a drop down menu appear.This menu will have a link for each game that you have an account with. Simply put your cursor on the ladder yahoo you wish to see and it will have another side menu. By you click on The directory you want (example yahoo dominoes) it will bring up the main homepage.

Here you can report a match, find player, see all tournaments, and visit the ladders forum.

Next in line is PREMIUM FEATURES by clicking on this link you will receiveinformation on rankmonsters bundles (premium memberships) Lots of neat stuff in there,that can be paid for in cash or tokens.

Under MANAGE ACCOUNT you can change your nickname, password, email address etc. The newest feature added to this link is the token lifeline. This enables you to donate some of your tokens to a player in need.Under token transactions you can see what has been added or removed from your token bank. and see how many tokens you have.

GET ANSWERS is the link that is full of anything you need to know about rankmonster. Can’t find it then simply email us and we will get the answer to you ASAP. You can do this by clicking on contact support.Under the our volunteers link, it will explain the procedure of hosting a tournament and how you can become one.

The ABOUT US link is still under construction :) will be coming soon

Welcome to Rankmonster! The newest gaming league to hit the band with.

Rankmonsters Hosting facilities are straight forward and easy to use.

When you first get approved as a new host for a ladder you will automatically be placed on vacation status. You will have access to your host tools but they will not be functional. Once trained by a member of the senior host team for that ladder you will be removed from vacation and free to host on your own accord.

Now getting started, You will notice and admin button added onto your menu bar on your Rankmonster homepage.

View Screen Shot

The admin link offers you 2 options in a drop down menu. HOME which will bring you to your admin homepage, or FORUM, which takes you to the host forum. By simply clicking directly on admin (and not the drop down menu) you will access your admin page.

View Screen Shot

Starting from the right hand side we will review what each link does.

GENERAL ADMIN TOOLS

Admin forum:

Allows access to the forum used primarily by the hosts, To discuss new tourney ideas, concerns, up coming tourneys etc.

User Lookup:

Allows access to view players info. (Email address, ladders, and notes) This allows us to keep track of players, joining, wrong doings, suspensions etc. You will have all links but depending on the level of staff you may not be authorized to use them.

Change Admin Info:

Allows you to change you host name, password, email etc. Please note your player info should match your admin info!

My Closed tourneys:

Once your tourneys are completed they will be assessable through this link for your own personal reference.

TOURNEY HOST TOOLS

Create a new tournament:

Will allow you to make a new tournament for the designated ladder. Easy steps to follow listed below.

1. Click on create tournament
2. Pick ladder which to host on
3. The calendar is set for the present day. If you wish to pre schedule tourneys click on the number of the day you want first then the time slot you wish to host at. Please make sure you chose correct time (am/pm). All times listed are Eastern Standard Time.
4. Once you have tourney page open you must fill in the appropriate categories. You can see the form here
   • Status requirements ( can be useful for invite only tourneys or used to select only premium members for this tourney) please make sure to consult with ladder srs before making any special tourneys
   • Title (anything you want must be suitable)
   • Tourney type - single elimination or Swiss ( s / e player losses once and they are out, Swiss players play every round win or lose until 1 person is undefeated. s / e top 4 players get winnings depending on prize distribution, Swiss winner gets 20% of pot and each winner gets tokens per win)
5. Teams can either be 1 VS 1 or 2 VS 2 (pairs). ***Pairs is 2 players, there is a setting for 4 players this is only used on certain ladders please acquire with your sr staff to make sure you are to be using this feature!
6. Start time can only be edited while you are creating the tourney. Once it has been created you cannot change the date or time.
7. Room - List the room the tourney will be hosted in. Generally the same room is used for all tourneys and games.
8. Max Players - standard set at 64, you will not need to adjust this unless you need to expand for more players. (We do not limit the amount of players that are able to play unless there are certain rules set forth by your host manager or SR hosts. (Applies to blitz days))The system will automatically adjusts the brackets as to the amount of players entered.
9. Entry Fee - can be any amount you chose. Keep in mind especially on newer ladders that players are only given 100 tokens to start. Please try and keep fees to a minimal. Unless there are prearranged rules set forth by your sr team.
10. Donate - you can fill in this section. All tokens that are added (max donation from this spot is 1000 tokens to donate more use the donation link on the players tourney page) to this section will come directly from your own. In the event the tourney is cancelled please send in a support ticket and your tokens will be refunded.
11. Prize distribution - Is there to determine how the payouts of the tourney will be processed. In general it is wise to keep payouts at 50 30 10 10, that way more players get tokens. Essentially it is your choice as to what you set it to.
12. Rules format - Plain text is default. If you are usinbag any form of html code in your rules you will have to switch to HTML, otherwise all the players will see is the html codes that you have entered.
13. Tourney Rules - Most ladders offer ladder specific rules, Please confirm those rules with your SR host or manager. Standard rules should include type of game being played, standard time for MIA's (standard time is 10 minutes per game), anything else you wish to add is on your own accord.
14. Once done click on create to make the tourney. You can view tourney instantly by clicking on continue or can access from the main admin page at the bottom. They will all be listed on your admin page with [view].

After you have successfully created your tourney you can click on continue to view your tourney. (As seen above) You can also access it from the main admin page at the bottom by clicking on the [view] at the end of it.

View Screen Shot

On the right hand side of the page you will see all the information that you have set your tourney to entail. Date, location, type etc.

On the left hand side are your tools.

BASIC TOURNAMENT TOOLS

Edit this tournament:

Allows you to make changes to all parts of your tourney excluding the date and time. Also once tourney check in is open, you will no longer be able to adjust the fee of the tourney.

View public tourney page:

Allows you to access the publics tourney page. On the smaller ladders, you are able to join your own tourney only in the even that you need a 3 player. Under no other circumstances are you permitted to do so.

View registered players:

Allows you to see the players that are registered and check in for the tourney. The player’s names will be listed according to the order they checked in. If they do not have a time beside their name, it means they have not yet checked in. At this point it would be customary to remind them if they are in the room.

TOURNAMENT ADMINISTRATION

This consists of 3 steps:

• Start the check in for this tournament:

  This will open check in and must be done no more no less than 30 minutes from the stated time of start. EXAMPLE: for the page listed above that tourney is set to start at 10:00am, you would open check in at 9:30 am

• Start this tournament:

  Once check in is open this link will appear. When it is the time to start the tourney click on this. You will then be asked YES or NO. Clicking on YES will start the tourney, NO will send you back to your main tourney page. Once the tourney has been started you will get a page with numbers and formulas. You can just disregard it, scroll to the bottom of this page and click on continue. You will then return to your tourney page and the brackets/pairings will be on the bottom of this page.

• Close this tournament:

  Once the final report of this tourney has been made you will see close this tournament appear in the place of the previous 2 links. By closing the tourney you withdraw the fees from the player’s accounts and distribute payouts to host and players.

Once tourney is closed it will appear for your viewing in my closed tourneys on the main admin page under create a tourney.

The last function on this page is cancel this tournament. If you are unable to run any tourney please contact members of your senior staff to notify them. If you do not have ample players (it takes 3 to run a tourney) then you can cancel. Please be professional and state the reasons why you were unable to complete this tourney.

While running the tourney, make sure to keep your players informed of the progress. Communication is the key to a well-run tourney. Announcing semi finalists, finalists, winners are not only great moral boosters for the players but it is also advertising at the same time. Remember to advertise your tourney in the lobby while check in is open.

If you are using a macro program please limit to 10-15 minutes apart, so not to cause a flood in the lobby. Also please be considerate of your fellow host and wait to advertise your own tourney after theirs has started.

You can advertise any room in yahoo, always be polite and answer any questions. Please be considerate of other leagues, you may advertise but keep it to 1 ad then leave.

The only other part of running a tourney is timing for MIA (missing in action) players. This can be cause from a freeze, boot if or if they are just not there. If a player invites you to their table, make sure to state how much time the MIA has and the current time you have (we suggest setting your clock as per rankmonster time that way players can follow along). If the player returns note on the table how much time is left. This time will carry on for the duration of that game. If the player goes MIA again then start the clock using the same procedure noting how many minutes.

At some point you will run into problems with irate players. The best way to handle them is to rationally talk to them; getting upset only makes things worse. Make sure to hear the whole story then base your decision based on the facts. If you are unsure of what to do, calling a SR host to help out would be in order. If none are available your next resort is to suggest to the player for them to file a ticket, and let management deal with the situation accordingly.That’s all that there is to it enjoy yourself and meet some great people along the way!GOOD LUCK!!!

IMPORTANT FACTS

• All hosts must present themselves professionally at all times.
• All hosts may purchase an explorer bundle or a ladder anchor bundle for 1 1/2 times the cost in all tokens to be given away for their 200th, 300th etc.. milestone tourneys.
• All hosts with 100 tourneys completed may purchase a bundle (per guidelines set in the host guidelines found under ladder rules) and pay for in full with tokens (this offer good for hosts only you may not purchase for someone else!)If you are removed as a host your tourney count starts over!
• All hosts must check their email daily for any important updates or newsletters involving special tourneys or meetings.

This is the end of your reading. Good luck please contact your sr host team for further training and guidance :)

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