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User accounts Player rating Awards Badges
Events
Event format Event status Registration Pairings Ranking
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Users	User accounts Player rating Awards Badges
Events	Event format Event status Registration Pairings Ranking
Other	Messaging Permissions Security & privacy Contact us

User accounts

Account information

Editing your settings

Once you have claimed your account and logged in you may update your name, home region, password, and other account information using your Dashboard.

LSID number

Each user account is identified by a unique number. Your LSID number cannot be changed and can always be used to identify you even if you change your name or other settings.

Display name

Your display name is used by event organizers and other players to find you. To avoid confusion and ensure that games are linked to the correct account, you should be easily identified by your display name both online and in real life.

While not required, it is highly recommended that you use your real name.
Your display name may not contain special characters.
Your display name may not contain profanity.

Nicknames

Subscribers may choose to use a nickname. These appear as a higlighted section within your display name.

Your nickname may not contain special characters except #, @, $, €, £, ¥, and µ.
Your nickname may not contain profanity.

Get an account

Access an existing account

If you have ever attended an organized play event for one of the supported game systems, you may already have an account. If you find an entry in the user directory that matches you, click on the name and follow the instructions on the account profile to claim it.

An unclaimed account can be registered for events by an event organizer, but you must claim your account to register for events yourself, host events, or change your account information.

Create a new account

If you do not have an account and want to set one up, you can create a new account.

Policies

You may modify your account information as necessary to correct errors or reflect changes.
Names or nicknames that receive complaints or are deemed inappropriate may be removed or modified by the administration without warning. An account may be locked if an offense is severe or repeated.

Abuse of these policies is NOT tolerated.

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Player rating

By default, Longshanks uses rated events from the past year when calculating and reporting player rating (read about event types). The "data filters" option that appears on some pages allows you to adjust which events and games are included.

RPI

Player rating on Longshanks is based on the rating percentage index (RPI).

R	=	win/loss record
OR	=	average R of all opponents
OOR	=	average OR of all opponents

Game threshold

Each game system has a threshold set by that game's administrator. This threshold represents approximately half the number of games played by a typical competitive player per year.

Rating

To account for new and untested players, RPI is modified to favor more games being played. A Q-factor is calculated for each player based on the number of games played and the game system's threshold.

The Q-factor is very large when a player has played few games and disappears as a player approaches the game threshold.

e	=	Euler's number
T	=	Game threshold (20 for Infinity)
n	=	Number of games played

The rating of a player who has played fewer games than the game threshold is calculated by dividing that player's RPI by their Q-factor. Once a player has exceeded the game threshold, their rating is equal to their RPI.

Ratings below 100 are not stored by the system. These ratings are only displayed if viewing the player ranking or leaderboard pages for a player community or event tag.

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Player awards

Awards are for achievments in gameplay within the last year. Current awards appear on the ranking page and historical awards appear on a player's profile.

	Event champion These awards are given to the winners of various notable events. (Eg., National or world championships, major conventions, etc.)
	Faction leader The most highly-rated player within each Faction. (For game systems with factions. These awards require a minimum in-Faction rating of 500.)
	Devoted Initiate, Enthusiast, Disciple, Fanatic, and Zealot Play multiple games with the same Faction. (For game systems with factions. The number of games required per Faction is based on the game system threshold.)
	Dabbler Play multiple games each with several different Factions. (For game systems with factions. The number of games required is based on the game system threshold.)
	Collector Play at least one game with each Faction. (For game systems with factions.)
	Win streak Winning Spree, Rampage, Dominating, Unstoppable, and Godlike Win multiple consecutive rated games.
	Centurion Play 100 or more games. (If the threshold for a game system is 50 or greater, this award is disabled.)
	People's Champion Build the game community by hosting many players at events. (A combined total of 32, 64, 128, 256, or 512 registered players.)
	Host with the Most Show your event hosting prowess by running a single large event. (With 32, 64, 128, 256, or 512 registered players.)

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Player badges

Badges appear next to a player's name.

	Newbies Accounts created in the last 30 days.
	Venues Game store or other event venue. Contact us to add a venue badge to your account.
	Longshanks staff Site administrators and special contributors.
	Subscribers Subscribers of all levels help keep this site running and get access to advanced features.
???	Flair Subscribers can add up to three custom badges to personalize their account. Choose from your home nation or regional flags, favorite game logos, player community and club logos, and more!

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Event format

Event format is determined by three categories.

Rating

Rated

Games in rated events are included when calculating player ratings.

Rated events should strictly follow current game rules and any official tournament procedures. It is recommended that rated events have at least 8 participants.

Unrated

Games in unrated events are not included in player rating calculations. They can be more casual, less competitive, and even use alternate forms of play.

Unrated events are great for escalation leagues, thematic games, and convention side events.

Team size

Singles

Players compete individually in 1v1 games. Unless otherwise specified, all events use the singles format.

Doubles

Pairs of players cooperate in 2v2 games against other pairs.

Team

Teams of up to nine players face other teams in a series of 1v1 games between their players (based on the format used by the World Team Championships for Warhammer 40,000 and Warmachine & Hordes).

Style

Tournament

Tournaments are typical gaming events with players or teams facing each other.

League

Leagues are often less competitive than tournaments or run over many days or weeks, but they are managed the same on Longshanks. Use the term that you feel best describes your event to attendees and spectators.

Flex event

Flex events are designed to facilitate friendly play at a convention or other large gaming event. Players may choose to play competitively or casually and are not paired against opponents who choose the opposite. Players may withdraw and re-join a flex event at any time.

Demonstration

Demonstrations are events which focus on learning how to play or improve one's play. Eg: learn-to-play sessions or events to teach listbuilding or other tactical methods.

Hobby event

Hobby events focus on the non-gameplay aspects of the game. Eg: painting or modeling classes, artist meet-and-greets, or deep dives into game lore.

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Event status

Public (Open)

Visible to everyone.
Players may self-register.
Games have not yet begun.

Registration open

Public (Locked)

Visible to everyone.
Only event hosts may register players.
Games have not yet begun.

Registration locked

Private

Only visible to players with the event link.
Can allow players to self-register (Open) or require event hosts to register players (Locked).
Games have not yet begun.

Private

Ongoing

Games have begun.
Visibility set by previous public or private status.
Late players may no longer register for the event but may be added by the event hosts.
Automatically marked as finished on the Wednesday after their scheduled starting date (or ending date if entered) if not already manually finished.

Ongoing

Finished

Games have ended.
Registration and game results may not be modified.

Finished

Unpublished

Only visible to the event hosts.
Not included in any rating or award calculations.
Do not affect registered players in any way.
For events that aren't ready for the public yet or to practice using the event hosting tools.
Automatically deleted one month after their scheduled starting date (or ending date if entered).

Unpublished

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Event registration

Registering for an event

Players may self-register for Open events. To register for a Locked event, contact the event host.

The registration section on each event allows you to manage your registration for that event before it begins and drop from the event after it has begun.

Once you are registered for an event, you will appear on the event page. You can also see and enter the results of your current game on your Dashboard.

Communites

If you are a member of a player community, you may choose to represent that community when participating in an event. If you do, other members of that community will be treated as "friends" if the event host chooses to avoid friendly fire pairing errors.

If any communities are represented at an event, a tab appears on the event page which ranks all the represented player communities. Communities are ranked by their combined tournament points (TP), number of games won, number of draws, number of games played, and number of players. If communities are represented by different numbers of players, their total TP are adjusted to match the size of the largest community at the event.

Player capacity

Players may not self-register for an event once it reaches its player capacity (if one is set). An event host can always add or remove players, even after the event reaches capacity.

Waiting list

Event hosts that are subscribers may add a waiting list to their events. If a waiting list is added, players may continue to register for the event even after it reaches capacity. Players must be moved off of the waiting list by an event host and are never moved automatically.

Once any players have been placed on the waiting list, any new registrations are automatically placed on the waiting list. This is true even if there is space on the main event to allow the event host to maintain a registration queue.

Adding players to an event you host

You can register players to an event you are hosting using their LSID numbers. You may search for a player's LSID number using their name or email address.

Creating new player accounts

You can create a new account for a player who doesn't already have one. Please avoid duplicate entries by confirming that the player doesn't already have an account first. Double check spelling and alternate names.

Test players

Do not create "fake" accounts when testing the event hosting system.

There are sixteen test players designed for testing the system without using real people. The test players have ID numbers from 800 to 815. When adding players to a practice or test event, enter one of the test player ID numbers or search for "Test Player" and choose one of the options that appears.

Do not use test players in real events.

Events that include test players are assumed to be test events. Test events are automatically hidden on the Wednesday after their scheduled date (or ending date for multi-day events) and deleted one month after.

ID	Test player name
800	Test Player A #800
801	Test Player B #801
802	Test Player C #802
803	Test Player D #803
804	Test Player E #804
805	Test Player F #805
806	Test Player G #806
807	Test Player H #807

ID	Test player name
808	Test Player I #808
809	Test Player J #809
810	Test Player K #810
811	Test Player L #811
812	Test Player M #812
813	Test Player N #813
814	Test Player O #814
815	Test Player P #815

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Event pairings

Pairing methods

Game pairings are set automatically using one of the methods shown here. You may adjust the automatically-generated pairings manually if desired.

Swiss

Players are grouped by their number of tournament points (TP) and paired at random against another player in the same group. Players may be paired up or down if some groups have an odd number of players. If necessary, a bye is assigned randomly to a player in the group with the least number of TP.

Adjacent

Adjacent example
Table 1	1st versus 2nd
Table 2	3rd versus 4th
Table 3	5th versus 6th
Table 4	7th versus 8th

Adjacent pairing maximizes engagement by pairing players who are as closely matched as possible. (Also known as Monrad or King of the Hill pairing.)

The player in first place is paired against the player in second place and so on. If necessary, a bye is given to the player in last place.

Fold

Fold example
Table 1	1st versus 8th
Table 2	2nd versus 7th
Table 3	3rd versus 6th
Table 4	4th versus 5th

Fold pairing maximizes excitement by pairing strong players against weak players early on and leaving games between strong players for the later rounds. (Also known as Slaughter pairing.)

The player in first place is paired against the player in last place and so on. If necessary, a bye is given to the player in first place.

Slide

Slide example
Table 1	1st versus 5th
Table 2	2nd versus 6th
Table 3	3rd versus 7th
Table 4	4th versus 8th

Slide pairing is a middle ground between the Adjacent and Fold methods. (Also known as Cross pairing.)

The players are split into two groups based on their ranking, then the player in first place overall is paired against the top player of the second group, the player in second place overall is paired against the second player of the lower group, and so on. If necessary, a bye is assigned to the player in the middle of the ranking.

Random

Players are paired at random. If necessary, a bye is assigned randomly.

Bracket

Creates a fun experience for spectators to follow along with the event's progress.

A classic bracket structure in which each player's list of possible opponents can be predicted from the start of an event. If necessary, a bye is assigned randomly among the players with the worst record.

Bracket pairing must be selected for the first round of an event (or its top cut) and all subsequent rounds. If another pairing method is chosen in a later round, the bracket is cancelled.

Note	Bracket pairing requires specific numbers of players to function properly and is only recommended for highly competitive events. Due to this complexity, bracketed events require additional maintenance from the administration and may be hosted by subscribers only.

Byes

If an event has an odd number of players, one player will need to sit out each round. This player is assigned a "bye" for the round. Each game system handles byes differently, but they usually count as a win.

Seeding

The first round of an event may be seeded by ranking players using their Longshanks rating and then applying the chosen pairing method.

The following pairing methods may be seeded: Bracket, Adjacent, Fold, and Slide. All other pairing methods will randomize players in the first round.

Player elimination

Eliminating players before an event ends is only recommended in highly competitive events.

None

By default, players continue until the event ends or they choose to withdraw.

Single elimination

Players are eliminated if they lose a game.

Double elimination

Players are eliminated once they lose two games.

Double elimination generally requires at least one round more than a non-elimination event of the same size and may result in the final two players facing each other twice before a winner can be declared.

Pairing errors

Four possible errors can occur when setting the pairings for a new round of games. These errors are highlighted when setting the pairings for a new round.

If an unacceptable error occurs, you can refresh the pairings to try the automatic system again or manually adjust the pairings. If you discover an error after generating a round, simply delete the round and redo the pairings.

Rematch
	The opponents in a rematch have already faced each other. Rematches are avoided automatically.

Friendly fire
	The opponents in this pairing are friends or members of the same community. Avoiding friendly fire is not recommended after the first round, especially at highly competitive events.

Repeated table
	One or both opponents have already played a game at this table. You may wish to avoid repeated tables to increase the terrain setups that players see or to see different people at a streamed table. Repeated tables are avoided by default, but this can be disabled.

Pairing up & down
	Opponents with different numbers of tournament points (TP) facing each other is commonly called "pairing up" and "pairing down." Pairing up and down multiple times are both avoided by default when using Swiss pairing, but this can be disabled.
	The paired-up opponent has been paired up before.
	The paired-down opponent has been paired down before.

Note	Byes, seeding, player elimination, and pairing error options generally apply only to the current round and must be re-selected when generating pairings each round.

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Event ranking

Sorting method

Players and teams are ranked within an event based on their tournament points (TP) and then the chosen tie-breakers for the event (if any).

If two or more players or teams have equal values for all the ranking metrics and tie breakers, they are given the same ranking.

Tournament points

Players are given tournament points (TP) for each game they play in an event.

By default, one TP is assigned for a win and zero points for a loss or draw. Game systems can assign different tournament point values if required by their rules or organized play procedures.

Tie breakers

Up to three tie breakers may be applied to an event if desired and applied in any order (four for team events). If a game system has been assigned a set of default tie breakers, those will be selected automatically for all new events in that system but may be changed by the event host if desired. All supported tie breakers are listed below.

If you use tie breakers for an event, Longshanks strongly recommends selecting one of the strength of schedule (SOS) variants as the first.

SOS MOV Other

Strength of schedule (SOS)

Strength of schedule favors players that face more difficult opponents.

SOS variant – Average opponent TP

The average tournament points (TP) of a player's opponents during the event.
This SOS variant reduces the impact of byes and players dropping from an event by normalizing to the number of games actually played by each player.

N	=	player's number of games
∑	=	summation across all opponents
TP_o	=	opponent's tournament points
n	=	opponent's number of games

SOS variant – Total opponent TP

The total tournament points (TP) of a player's opponents during the event.

∑	=	summation across all opponents
TP_o	=	opponent's tournament points

SOS variant – Longshanks special

This SOS variant reduces the impact of byes and players dropping from an event by giving each player a minimum win/loss record of 1/3.
A bye game is recorded as an opponent with no wins (OR = 1/3 & OOR = 1/3).

OR	=	average win/loss record of all opponents
OOR	=	average OR of all opponents

Margin of victory (MOV)

Margin of victory favors players that score more victory points compared to their opponents.

MOV variant - Standard

A bye is recorded as a 0-0 win unless the game system requires a different score.
This MOV variant is mathematically identical to the one used by X-Wing Legacy, but uses a scale of -200 to +200 rather than 0 to 400.

∑	=	summation across all games
S_P	=	player's score
S_O	=	opponent's score

MOV variant – Winner only

The loser of each game gets an MOV value of 0 for that game rather than a negative number.
Reduces the MOV impact of a loss and prevents negative MOV values.

MOV variant – Percentage

Favors players that score a greater share of the total victory points per game than their opponents. This MOV variant is useful when game scenarios have varying maximum score.
A bye is recorded as a 0-0 win unless the game system requires a different score.
- If the game system use the standard 0-0 score for byes, a bye contributes an amount to MOV equal to the average MOV of all other games for that player.

N	=	player's number of games
∑	=	summation across all games
S_P	=	player's score
S_O	=	opponent's score

Other tie breakers

Victory Points scored (VPS)

Favors players that score the most Victory Points.
A bye is recorded as a 0-0 win unless the game system requires a different score.

∑	=	summation across all games
S_P	=	player's score

Auxiliary Points scored (APS)

Favors players that score the most Auxiliary Points.
Only allowed by game systems that use Auxiliary Points.
Calculated in the same manner as VPS.

Victory Points allowed (VPA)

Favors players who allow their opponents to score the least Victory Points.
A bye is recorded as a 0-0 win unless the game system requires a different score.

∑	=	summation across all games
S_O	=	opponent's score

Auxiliary Points allowed (APA)

Favors players who allow their opponents to score the least Auxiliary Points.
Only allowed by game systems that use Auxiliary Points.
Calculated in the same manner as VPA.

Top table (TOP)

Places the event winner's final opponent in second place regardless of other tie breakers.
Note: Regardless of the order of tie breakers selected for the event, TOP is always applied first.

Direct encounter (DEN)

If two or more players are tied after all other tie breakers have been applied, they are sorted by the number of games they have won or lost against each other (if any).
Note: Regardless of the order of tie breakers selected for the event, DEN is always applied last.
Examples

Individual W/L/D record (IND)

Only for team events
Sorts teams by the number of games won, drawn, and lost by their team members.
Has no effect on the individual player ranking.
Note: IND is automatically applied as the first tie breaker to all team events.

DEN Example 1

Players (A) and (B) are tied in 5th place at the end of a tournament. (A) won a game against (B) in round 1, giving (A) a DEN score of +1 and (B) a score of -1.

The players will now be ranked with (A) in 5th place and (B) in 6th place.

DEN Example 2

Players (C), (D), and (E) are tied in 3rd place at the end of a tournament. (D) won a game against (E) in round 2, giving (D) a DEN score of +1 and (E) a score of -1. (C) didn't play either (D) or (E) in the event, so (C)'s DEN score is 0.

The players will now be ranked with (D) in 3rd place, (C) in 4th place, and (E) in 5th place.

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Messaging

Direct messages

Users may send direct messages (DMs) to one another. DMs are sent as a message to the email address associated with the recipient's account. If enabled, any user may send you a DM at any time by visiting your profile.

The sender's and recipient's email addresses are never shown to the other party in a DM. Recipients must follow a link in the message to reply.
If you send a DM, the recipient will be able to reply even if you have DMs disabled.
All DMs are visible to administrators for diagnostic and security purposes.
DMs can be disabled on your Dashboard.

Automated event notifications

Event attendees may receive notifications when they are registered for an event by the event host or if their registration is removed.

Event hosts may receive notifications when players register or withdraw from their event.

Both types of automated event notifications can be disabled on your Dashboard.

Event announcements

Event hosts may send announcements to attendees to share information and updates about the event.

Announcements are sent to all registered attendees, even if they have DMs disabled.
All event announcements are visible to administrators for diagnostic and security purposes.
As an event attendee, receiving event announcements cannot be disabled.

Event questions

Users may send a message to the host(s) of an event to ask questions or request registration to a closed event.

Any user may send a message to any event host, even if the host has DMs disabled.
All event questions are visible to administrators for diagnostic and security purposes.
As an event host, receiving event questions cannot be disabled.

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Permissions

Your current permission level is shown on your Dashboard.

Normal

Users without one of the elevated or restricted permission levels are in good standing and have access to all normal Longshanks features.

Subscribers

Subscribers have access to additional features, including more detailed data analytics, the ability to add a nickname, and the ability to add custom logos and banner images to their events.

Elevated

Administrator

Administrators can modify account settings, games, and events created by other users.

Special contributor

These users test out and offer feedback on new features of the site before they become public.

Restricted

Warning

Users may receive warnings for certain unacceptable behaviors. These users retain all standard permissions but are flagged so that administrators can monitor their activity.

Locked

The accounts of users that receive multiple warnings or exhibit extreme unacceptable behavior will be locked. These users can attend events as normal but cannot host events, enter casual games, or modify their own account settings.

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Security & privacy

Email & password security

Your email address is never shared with other users or with any third party for any reason. System administrators occasionally use email addresses to contact users about their accounts.

While the direct messaging system uses email, the email address of one user is never visible to another user.

Your password is never visible to any humans (not even the site administrators) and is never stored as plain text. However, it is still recommended that you use a different password on Longshanks than you use for any other online accounts.

Hidden players

A player may hide their account if they wish to be anonymous. Hidden players:

Appear only by their LSID number and cannot be searched for by name.
May participate in games and events as normal.
Cannot send or receive direct messages.
Do not appear in the ranking.
Cannot earn most awards.
Cannot host events.

Data privacy

This system functions through the public sharing of information about games and gaming events. Some information is entered by users about themselves.

This may include information such as account name, nickname, home region, and friend list.
Users input their email address and create a password, but these are never shared publicly.
Users may hide their player account at any time. This removes personal information such as that users name, home region, and event attendance from public view.

Some information is collected and submitted by users about other people. This typically happens when registering players for an event or submitting a casual game to the system.

This may include information such as player names, event attendance, and match results.
Event hosts are required to obtain consent from a person to collect and display this information online before registering them for an event.

Deleting your account

You may choose to hide your account information at any time for any reason. This can be done from your Dashboard and is reversible.

If you wish to have your personal account information removed from the system entirely, contact us with your email address and LSID number (to verify account ownership). Doing this is permanent and irreversible.

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Contact us

Finding help

Before contacting us, please read through the Help pages. You may find the answer to your question here.

If you can't find what you need or require additional assistance, there are several ways to cantact us. Please choose one of the options here for any questions or requests.

User requests

Users may submit requests for changes, upgrades, or new features using the User Requests page. Other users can vote for and againsts each request, with overall score influencing when requests are implemented.

User requests page