[adamhlt]

I am hoping that this rule can be reconsidered:

Not achieved Masters for 2 seasons before current season despite active laddering (ie. 2013 Season 3 and 2013 Season 4).

I believe this reason unfairly disqualifies myself, and possibly others, from the GPD Open. And I will explain why.

1. Back in 2013 Season 3, Heart of the Swarm was still a fairly new expansion with a considerably higher % of players, at least on the SEA server, which didn't have a large player base to begin with. As such, there were more new players, and many of the existing players were still getting a handle of HotS. At the same time, the percentage of players in Masters league was considerably higher than what it is now, resulting in players that would only be at the skill level of diamond now being classified as masters in S3 2013.

2. The current and previous season have been a lot longer than season 3, 2013. With rules such as the one mentioned above, they are keeping that masters league rank still relevant for a considerably longer time. Sure, I was placed in masters in S3 2013, but that was arguably skewed (point 1) and was way back in May, over 5 months ago. Since then, I was originally placed in Diamond S4, and started in Platinum S5.

3. Many players believe SEA is a bit of a joke. Diamond NA is often considered higher than Diamond SEA, yet these players are still eligible, while players such as myself are not. This means that the rules, as they are, systematically allow players that are considered stronger, while not allowing weaker players for the mindset that they are too strong for the tournament.

For someone who only plays SEA, it is very disappointing. I cannot play Masters tournaments as I am not a masters player, and I cannot play GPD tournaments because rules like this qualify me out. SEA doesn't get many tournaments and doesn't have many players as it is.

I am not simply trying to make myself look bad - If I was doing that, I would have highlighted poor performance in recent GPDL tournament (knocked out in first bracket) or lacking ladder results at the moment. Instead, what I am trying to do is show that these rules are systematically disqualifying players that would be suitable for this tournament.