Mask (subZero) and Fox3,
I'm sorry to hear that you've both decided to leave the IDFL. Personally I hope you reconsider your decision.
The IDFL is intended to be about fair play, and you can expect that from the Administrators/Referee's here. Secure Falcon is an Electronic Referee, not an anti-cheat program. If anything, HyperLobby is where you have to worry about your opponent's setup since there is no referee and no gaurantees about their setup.
As you already know from your personal life, there are many types of personalities in this world and you have to learn to live with them. The same is here in the IDFL. At the IDFL there is only one rule of conduct,
Please enjoy yourself here and remember that everyone else is here for that same reason. Whilest you have to earn respect, you are entitled to expect courtesy.
As with any sport, it is not unusual to use psycological tactics before, during, and after matches. There is an English saying "Don't take it too seriously." So just ignore the taunts.
I would like to address some of the specific things that have been mentioned above:
Arranging Matches
Since the league is International and matches are planned not random, it can be expected that it will take some effort to organise things. In addition to the Time Zone problem, each competitor has a personal life they need to live (eg. work, family, holidays, etc.). It is important that people understand this, and also understand that the league is a league with rules and not a free for all.
The IDFL
Are working on ways to make organisation of matches smoother. As you are both new to the league, you will not have had a chance to experience the improvements made so far (eg. "Make Challenge" function that sends an email to the person being challenged). There are more improvements being worked on, so hopefully it will become easier in the future.
The competitors
Also have a responsibilty towards making these improvements.
The IDFL is not able to make people show up to matches ontime.
The IDFL is not able to make people read the announcements, though you will see that we have made the effort to have them translated into various languages.
You will also notice that the IDFL is
strongly recommending that people use ICQ since it is used by the majority of competitors and also allows you to leave a message even when the other person is off-line (not possible in MSN).
Widescreen
Mask, I see that you've posted about this problem in
Frugals. I would read the post that
DUNC made.
I'm sorry but we can't help you anymore with this issue than what is mentioned in the responses to your question. Perhaps Lead Pursuit can?
Secure Falcon
According to the rules,
SF is required to be used in matches unless all competitors agree not to use it.
If there is no such agreement, and a player still doesn't want to use it, they must default their match.
There is very little that the IDFL can do to enforce this rule since it's not possible for an IDFL admin to be present at all matches. But you, as the competitor, have the option of contacting an Admin if you need to.
Cockpits
LP have encrypted the cockpit data files. Thus, it is not possible to alter the official cockpits, and thus it's not necessary for SF to check them. If you have a concern, please contact me and explain to me.
HiTiles
Since the HiTiles addon doesn't change the altitude of the terrain, SF doesn't need to check these. The only problem I can see is if the terrain is made transparent and you can see through mountains. But if you do that, you have to be careful not to fly into them. Again, if you have a concern, please contact me and explain to me.
Numbers of competitors
Of course the IDFL would like to have lots of competitors, but that is not our primary goal. If we have 5 competitors that are playing
fair, then we are happy with that.
The IDFL is working on making some fundamental changes to the format of the competition. At the moment, only the 'best of the best' gets recognition. In the future, we will have 'Divisions' (like in football) so as to make it possible for people to share in the 'winning feeling'. (The Divisions will of course be based on skill levels.)
As far as skill is concerned, it is normal to try and work out strategies to beat certain players who are very good. Consider yourselves lucky that someone out there has recognised that to beat you, skill is required. My response would be to figure out where your weakness is, thus negating those LESSONS that are being held. There is another English saying "There is no end, just a new beginning."
Cheers,
Nap