so i posted this thread awhile ago: http://forum.twilightgaming.co.za/in...a-dota-league/

basically, i wanted to see if there was any interest from this community as far as a "league" goes, and it seems like there is. the official forums and vouch sub forum hasnt been made yet (ixmike is fairly busy), but he has added IXDL-Africa, an open South African league. for now, i'm the only actual admin, but that should hopefully change in the next few days. in fact i dont particularly want to be an admin, but we need one to actually get it running.

so, if you're a decent competitive player and want to try out the system then i'd highly suggest using the client.

How do I join IXDL?

All you need is a forum account and the IXDL program, which you can download here: http://ixdl.net/downloads/ixdl.zip
What is my username and password on the IXDL client?
Your username and password will be the same as your forum login name and password.

How do I join games?

Simply type .sign or double click a game on the Pending Game List when it is being created.
Once 10 players are in a game, the host can start the game with the .confirm command.
Lobby passwords are randomly generated and displayed in the lobby and game chat.
Lobby passwords can also be found with the .password command.

Where can I see all of the commands?

http://ixdl.net/index.php/topic/2-command-list/

How do points work?

At the end of a game, the team who wins will gain points and the team who loses will lose points.
Players with higher rating will win less points and lose more points.
Points can also be acquiried from streak bonuses and the Rapier.

Streaks:

Players with 5 or more win streaks will gain a percentage of their winnings as a bonus.
Opponents will gain bonus rating if they defeat a player who is on a 5 or higher streak.
Rapier:

The player with the Rapier will receive a bonus 10 rating per win.
If the player loses a game, he will lose 10 rating and the Rapier will drop.
When the rapier is unclaimed, anyone except the last Rapier holder can take it using the .take command.
The .rapier command will show who currently holds the Rapier.
If you hold the Rapier and do not play for more than 24 hours, the Rapier will drop.
Points can be lost from losing the Rapier, rating decay, or being truant.

Rating Decay:

Only applies to players with 1200 or more rating.
After 48 hours of not playing, you will lose 1% of your rating.
Every 24 hours after the initial 48 hours you will lose 1% rating.

Truant:

Truants can occur when you do not show up for the game in a timely fashion.
You are eligible to be truant when you do not show up for a game 5 minutes after its confirmation.
If you receive 6 truant votes, you are considered truant.
Truants result in a 7% rating loss and 4 warns, truants will also close the game.
How do warns work?
Warns are our way of punishing players, you can be warned from being truant, game ruining, excessive bad play, etc.
Warns decrease at a rate of 0.10 warns per game.
If you exceed 10 warns, you will be timebanned for 1 day per exceeded warn.

Basic rules:

Rules are subject to change and there are probably literally hundreds of issues that we can not account for. We reserve the right to issue warns and timebans however we please. These rules are simply a set of guidelines.

Hosting
Game password is generated by the lobby. Should always be hosted on correct server. Game starter is expected to host. Spectators enabled.

North American leagues should be hosted on US East.
Australia leagues should be hosted on Australia.
European games should be hosted on Luxembourg.
Southeast Asian games should be hosted on Singapore.
African games should be hosted on South Africa.

Captain
The captain of the team is the person with the highest rating unless that player does not want to be. If the highest rating doesn't want to be captain, that person may allow another person of their choosing to be captain.

The captain of the team is responsible for picking/banning during captains mode, as well as making calls during the game (including hero, lane and item assignments). Disobeying the captain will result in 3 - 7 warns. If you disagree with a call that a captain has made, suck it up and play to win. After the game ends, report it in the forum.

Forfeiting
Forfeiting is done by 4 out of 5 players typing 'ff' in all chat. Leaving before having enough forfeit votes will result in 4 warns.

Truants
If a player does not show up to the game after 5 minutes, then the player is truant. Typing .truant <name> to cast a truant vote on the missing player. Truants result in a drawn game, 4 warns and 7% rating loss. Truants are not used for acknowledging bad play and are not appeal-able.

If game is not hosted within the first 5 minutes, then the host is declared truant.

Pauses
Pauses should be no longer than 3 minutes total per team.
If a player unpauses the other team's pause before the 3 minute limit has expired, they will receive 4 warns.
Under no circumstances that a pause can be used for flaming. "Flame pausing" results in 6 warns.

Bad Play
Bad play can result in warns from 1-10 warns. This includes, but is not limited to:
Not buying courier / observers when you are required to
Lack of knowledge of basic game play (pulling, stacking, what spells do, hero roles etc)*

*Regardless of the league being open, you are required to understand basic game play. You are encouraged to play matchmaking and learn the fundamentals of each hero before playing ixdl-Open.

Game Throwing/Rage Quit
Game throwing or rage quitting can result in 10 - 15 warns.

Steam Names
Your steam name should be recognizable from either your username or the Steam Name feature in the client. If it is hard to identify you, it will result in 5 warns.

Multi-accounts
NO MULTI-ACCOUNTS. Ban + unvouch on sight. This includes account-sharing. Both offenders will be unvouched + Banned.

Language
English ONLY.

Manners

Everyone is required to be well-mannered during their games and in the lobbies. There will be no tolerance for flaming. The ixdl staff will ultimately be the judges for flaming offences.
First flaming offence: 4 Warns
Second flaming offence: 7 Warns
Third and after flaming offence: 10 Warns

*As there is no way of receiving team chat via replays - you will be required to take the necessary screenshots and post them

If a player is bad, do not flame them. Instead, make a post on the forum under warn request. Keep in mind that the league is open

This really is just a trial period. We will have to see how many players can:
A ) show interest
B ) follow all the rules (including the manners one especially)
C ) be able to download and use the client efficiently

But, if we spread the word and actually get some information out there to the public we might be able to create a genuinely positive environment for south africans to thrive and learn in. I hope that one day we can have more than 4 clans who are formerly sponsored and playing at the top level, and that we can have multiple new clans forming from playing together in an in house league. I've seen many highly skilled individuals in SA pubs who are just unknown and lack a team, this may very well be the platform for them to not only improve but also meet other players who want to improve, create a clan, or even just play in non-stacked SA pubs.

I won't be able to admin it that much this weekend as I will be partaking in the dota 2 tournament at oc. But let's hope this gets some exposure and some good feedback.

tl;dr

ixdl-south africa has been hosted
download the client
click "africa"
follow the instructions on this page or on the ixdl forums
play dota2!