[center][size=6][u][b]-=THE IDL SIGNUP GUIDE=-[/b][/u][/size][/center]<br /><br />*[size=5][u][b]What is the IDL?[/b][/u][/size]<br /><br />The International Doom League, commonly referred to as the IDL, is the largest and longest enduring Doom CTF league in the world. The IDL is made up of twelve teams, in two conferences, the International Doom Conference (IDC) and the World Doom Conference (WDC), each with two divisions of three teams. <br /><br />Games are played in a best-of-3 format with 3 players on each team. The regular season lasts nine weeks with an additional three weeks of playoff contention. All teams that win their divisions enter the playoffs as well as two additional wild card teams from each conference.<br /><br />*[size=5][u][b]What do I need to play in the IDL?[/b][/u][/size]<br /><br />The first and most crucial part of the package you need is a copy of doom2.wad, which can be bought from idsoftware or through Steam.<br /><br />Then you&#039;ll need to grab ZDaemon (http://zdaemon.org) and set it all up so that it&#039;s running.<br /><br />Next you&#039;ll probably want to get your hands on an IRC client and point it to irc.quakenet.org so that you can communicate with the player base. This involves getting involved in private ctf games (not broadcast on the ZDaemon master server) where the best players play often. Once in the IRC channel, you can ask for the server address and password.<br /><br />*[size=5][u][b]Am I guaranteed to get onto a team if I sign up?[/b][/u][/size]<br /><br />No. As a matter of fact, you aren&#039;t even guaranteed entry into the league. However, don&#039;t be discouraged! It&#039;s much easier to get invited than you might think. While a forum sign-up post will certainly help your cause, nothing will get you into the IDL faster than visiting the IRC channel and playing in private CTF. The league takes these precautions because of past players who have signed up on the forums and no-showed once the season began.<br /><br />Players who are invited and accept are then entered in the free agency pool. A few weeks before the season begins, captains will draft 32 players from the pool to their teams. Any left over players remain in free agency and can be picked up by a team until roughly mid-way through the season.<br /><br />*[size=5][u][b]How many roster spots are there?[/b][/u][/size]<br /><br />Starting in Winter 2011, the IDL is going back to a 12-team format which will allow for 48 roster spots. Of course, being the fourth man on certain teams does not guarantee a starting role, but your chances are certainly better than in the past.