Well, I'm hoping to get an automated matching system programmed in, which will be kind of complicated to set up, so it'll be a while, but the idea would be something like this:
Everyone who's matching must have an account (probably tied into the bboard accounts).
To create an clan, someone would come to me (or possibly someone else if there end up being more admins), and I will create a clan "group" type thing and flag that person's account as a clan leader. The clan leader would then be able to go through the member list and click some type of invite/recruit button. The invited members would then have the option accept or reject the invitation. The leader (more or less the admin of the clan's group) would be able to remove members, assign co-leaders, and whatever other options might be necessary.
Well, that's all account set up stuff. Now onto the match preparation. Ideally the clans would have scheduled a match time and picked out maps well ahead of time. The maps** will have to be picked out before the match starts. A leader from either clan will log onto a match or public/match*** server and type something like:
!match midnight castle1 hellsurvivors
The server will then set the match settings****, apply a password and report it to the leader, and put those 3 maps into rotation. Players can then join teams, but only if they are in that team's clan -- possibly force all clan members to join teams, but only spawn the ones that type "!ready," or something of that nature -- maybe just a mouse click, and have another command so players can swap, and have players automatically fill in when others disconnect. Things of that nature (this will all require a ton of testing).
The server records all the statistics and uploads them to the website after the match is completed, then automatically calculates the ranking of the clans (ranking would be determined according to the ranking of clans beaten/defeated, not just wins/losses). I'd also like to have some sort of sportsmanship rating for each clan (and individual players as well). Possibly tie this into the ranking system. If the clan you played did nothing but complain the whole time, you can give them a poor rating, but if they played fair and made the match enjoyable, give them a good rating.
There would also have to be a "!scrim" option that would act like a match, but not apply to the match statistics. Possibly allow non clan players to play as well.
Now, that would all be for generic matches. Where the DPL would come in would be to have seasons with set clans, set maps, etc. Something like football or other professional sports are done. Get every clan to match every other clan. The league sets all the parameters and has everything scheduled at least a week in advance so clans know who they're matching when and on what maps -- plenty of time to practice. A DPL official will be present at the matches to act as a ref and settle disputes. There would be a separate ranking system for the DPL. The DPL could have alternative settings to the generic match settings.
Well. That's a small tidbit of some of my ideas.
** I'd really like for the match maps to be resonable -- no pbcup, blitz, or the like. Something for the committe to decide.
*** This code is partway done -- it will enable people to use an empty public server for matches, then un-password the server after the match is complete.
**** Settings like friendly fire need to be determined.
