[2021] Competitive Ruling - Spacestation Gaming

During a Semifinal match between Spacestation Gaming and Team Envy on April 25, 2021 an admin call was made during overtime in Game 3. Initially, Spacestation Gaming players and coach reported that Caden "Sypical" Pellegrin experienced a server disconnect caused by player connectivity issues and high ping.

After further review of player game logs, match data, server logs, and replay data (i.e. input detection) we conclusively determined that Sypical experienced a controller disconnect followed immediately by a player-initiated minimization of the game client (Alt+Tab). Sypical entered a controller input (full throttle acceleration) right before the game went into overtime, and before his controller disconnected, which carried over to the start of the overtime, making it appear as if he was experiencing high ping. Based on the belief that Sypical was experiencing high ping, a call was made that the play should stand as-is, resulting in Team Envy scoring and winning the game.

While the circumstances have changed upon further investigation, the review process was not up to our standards as a League. We always aspire to work with players and coaches on reaching resolutions in a way that is as fair as possible for all parties involved. An incorrect call was made. As a result, we will be awarding Spacestation Gaming an additional 70 points, or the equivalent of Second Place points in the North American Regional Event #3 (350 total points). In addition, we will be reevaluating our player/team dispute protocol to better deal with similar situations in the future.

Ruling

During their match on April 25, 2021, player Sypical experienced a controller disconnect which resulted in him losing all control of his car during overtime, followed by a player-initiated minimization of the game client. This resulted in an immediate administrator review of the play, in which a call was made that the play should stand as-is based on the belief that Sypical was experiencing high ping. This call was based on incomplete information, and, as a result, the call was incorrect. Psyonix will be awarding Spacestation Gaming an additional 70 points, or the equivalent of Second Place points in the North American Regional Event #3 (350 total points).

Relevant rule(s): 3.5.1 Disconnects, 3.5.4 Restarts

3.5.1. If a disconnect occurs during any stage of the Tournament, except for the Open Qualifier, the shorthanded Team will immediately notify the Tournament Administrators in the designated chatroom. The Tournament Administrators may pause the Game once the disconnect notification has been received, at their sole discretion. For specated / broadcasted matches, if Tournament Administrators identify that a Player has disconnected without being notified, they may pause a Match to allow the Player to reconnect.

3.5.4. Tournament Administrators may order a Game or Match restart due to exceptional circumstances, such as if a bug significantly affects a Player’s ability to play or the Game or Match is disrupted by a Force Majeure or other event.

Additional details can be found in the Official Rules: https://battlefy.com/leagues/rlcs/seasons/2020/rules.

Closing

We're always striving to improve league processes and how we administrate tournaments. We will be working with players, coaches, and teams to implement a more structured player/team dispute protocol in order to prevent situations like this in the future.