Since this thread has veered way off topic into the standard "who even wants other maps" discussion, I thought I'd start a poll that deals with one of the more immediate issues for this season.

This season will be 5 maps again, but the question of which 5 is yet to be answered. My hypothesis (covered extensively in that thread) is that uncertainty and constant altering of the pool results in both a lower standard of gameplay and a lower rate of acceptance. With this in mind, should the map pool be maintained, or should it be altered again this season?

tb3 IS the standard pool Should be, do you want an extended pool to remain the same through many seasons / years or vote every time :E And I'm only half-kidding.

I'm not sure what you're saying. My suggestion only pertains to seasons where there are 5 maps. TB3 seasons would remain unchanged.

I'm asking, when there are 5 maps, should they be the same 5 maps?

I think better consensus about the additional maps needs to be achieved before they should be set in stone like that. The current ones leave too many people dissatisfied.

One problem with maintaining a standard map pool of 5 maps is that essentially one is saying "we will never accept new maps". So if a new 4on4 map was discovered/created, it would not be eligible no matter how good it was, no matter how many unofficial games were played on it over the following years etc. So in some ways creating a 'standard' 5-map pool is synonymous with the current defacto standard of tb3, just on a slightly bigger scale. To be fair maybe in the eyes of some that wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing if it meant an additional 2 maps gaining wider acceptance, I just think that it would in time become subject to the same critisisms.

On the flipside tb3 had been standardised within 3-4 years of Quake coming out (Villains league). So the implication is that we should know enough about additional maps (cmt/eXmYtdm etc) now to be able to make an informed opinion as to how the pool should be expanded.

As an aside if the pool is variable it begs the question as to why tb3 are untouchable, surely people should be choosing 5 maps not merely an additional 2. Now I'm not suggesting that tb3 shouldn't form part of the 5 or that realistically they wouldn't get chosen, but from a purely logical perspective, it is inherently 'unfair' that they get selected automatically rather than being voted in (if a voting system is used).