I finally redownloaded the Tournament.com application today after hearing about it from CS players. I was in the beta about a year ago but never really played much on it because there was just no one playing in it. The user base is better now with over 20,000 active players and there are quite a number of really skilled players there now. The concept of Tournament is very simple - players play online games like Counter-Strike Source and compete to win money and prizes. There are weekly tournaments and regular tournaments you can join.
1. The Download and Installation
Its pretty easy to get started and you do not need to pay to sign up and play. In fact, I was able to download and install the tournament program in a few minutes. After downloading it, you need to make a new user by hitting the register button. Make sure to fill out your username correctly because it will be your ingame handle too. There are some states that playing games for cash is not allowed so you might need to check this.
2. Getting Started
After installation and signing up as a member, you will need to verify your games by hitting the game tab and then joining a server. The tournament application will appear in the lower left telling you that your game is launching and will tell you when it has verified your Counter-Strike Game is valid and not modified. After that you can begin to play in their servers even with 0 dollars in your account.
3. Features
The GUI is pretty slick and easy to navigate. Tournament has a built in server lobby, chat, messenger, and friends system like steam for players to play in tournaments. There is also a good skill system based on a number of things from your win history, k:d ratios, and kills. You can chose to filter servers by player skills, maps, ping and location.
The free game rooms are the only ones you can join if you have no money to play in. They are usually all full but the prizes for them are a pot of $2.00 that the winning team shares after they win. To play in the regular tournaments, you need to deposit money with a credit card or paypal. You can deposit and withdraw money from your account at anytime. You do need to verify your age by emailing a photo sent in jpg to tournament. Its pretty quick. There is live support if you need help at anytime.
The top players in tournament.com usually earn thousands every week and are featured on the homepage with their player profiles for people to see. You can check out the latest top player profile this week here who has already earned over $1500 for pwning noobs in Counter-Strike.
Overall its pretty fun and adds a twist to competitive Counter-Strike with money involved. Teamwork is a must as well as player skills here. Tournament does have an active anti cheat system. One thing I did not like is the weird starting money and winning round bonuses with $2000 to start and like 50% of what you normally get when your team wins. Also your screen goes black when you die to prevent ghosting which is a good thing.
You can give it a try and see how you like it by downloading Tournament plugin now here.
Ratings:
Value: 4/5
Features: 5/5
Gameplay: 5/5 (Its Competitive Counter-Strike for Money)
World of Pwnage Rating: 90/100
Pig,
Would you think of this as a good training area to develop scrim skills? Reason I ask is that I do pretty well in pubs, but Im looking to develop scrim/competition skills now vs. just pub skills. If not, can you point me to areas, etc. where I can begin to learn these?
This is not as good as just hoping into vent with your team and finding a quick scrim through IRC. The players here are skilled and very competitive but the teams are random. Also your screen goes black so you can not spec others when you dies, not even your own teammates.