Tournaments

Tournament Help & FAQ

Read these first:

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I enter a tournament?

You must have a GuitarHero.com account and have your console linked to their web site. Consult your game manual or the official forum to learn how to do this.

To enter, pick a tournament from the upcoming tournament list and follow provide your e-mail address and GuitarHero.com ID number and follow the instructions. You will receive e-mail notices with links that will confirm your entry in the tournament.

What is my GuitarHero.com ID number?

Everyone that registers at the official Guitar Hero web site has an official ID number. This is the ID number that appears in the web address when looking at your account profile. A profile web address will look like this:

GHID

Your account ID number will be contain anywhere from 4-8 numbers and only numbers. Your account ID number is NOT your player or user name. To find this number, just sign-in at GuitarHero.com and the first page you see will be your profile.

The player name that shows is incorrect, why?

When you enter your GuitarHero.com ID number to enter a tournament, our system gets your players profile and stats directly from the GH web site. We do not change any names, stats, or other details coming from their web site.

The name that shows up on Angry Edison is the band name of the game account you register. Your GuitarHero.com username is not used. So if you login at GuitarHero.com with "bsmith" but the band name you created in the game is "Stomach Monkeys," then "Stomach Monkeys" will appear in our tournaments.

We use the band name for two reasons. One, it's a rock-n-roll game, so it's about the bands. Two, when you play others on-line in face-off games, you see band names, not the usernname. So if you're in a tournament and see the name "Teamsters" and then you go play a face-off and end up playing against "Teamsters," you know you're playing the same person.

It won't let me enter a tournament, why?

Our tournaments check your career progress to determine what your skill level is and what level tournaments you can enter.

The cut-off per difficulty level is 80% complete.

This means once you reach more 80% in any difficulty in Career mode, you cannot enter LOWER leveled tournaments.

For example, if you have 95% complete in Hard in Career, you can enter Hard and Expert tournaments, but you can't enter Medium or Easy.

The only exception to this rule is when you get more than 80% complete in Expert. Once you reach the cut-off in Expert you can only enter Expert level tournaments, you cannot enter Easy/Med/Hard.

There is a skill level chart shown along with each tournament entry form so you can see if you're allowed to enter.

Do I have to play tournament songs in order?

Yes and no. You don't have to play the songs in the exact order shown.

You do have the play Song 1 before Song 2, and Song 2 before Song 3. But you can play any number of non-tournament songs at any time during the tournament and it will not effect your scoring.

A score is only recorded if a score for the song prior has been saved. A score for Song 2 will only be recorded if a score for Song 1 has already been saved...and so on.

What mode should I use when playing songs?

Using Quickplay mode is recommended.

But make sure you connect to GuitarHero.com in-game from your console BEFORE you play any songs, otherwise your scores may not be submitted correctly and will not available for recording.

What is the "All" difficulty?

If you see a tournament listed with a song difficulty of "All," it means you can play the songs at any difficulty you want.

See the All-In tournaments entry for more details.

How do you know when I play a tournament song?

Our tournament system checks your Recent Performances regularly throughout the duration of the tournament. It scans your performances looking for the tournament songs, and when it finds the right song it records the score.

Does playing a song over and over improve my chances of winning?

No. Our system has been designed to stop players from being able to play a song over and over in an attempt to get the highest score possible.

Our system records ONLY THE FIRST SCORE found for each tournament song. So if you play Song 1 and get a score of 500 and then play it again and get a score of 1,000 - the score of 500 will probably be the one recorded.

We belive doing it this way makes it more fair for novice and experience players alike. Even the best players can have an "off" day and it's only fair that those times be considered. In other tournaments and brackets teams don't get do-overs - they have one chance and one chance only to prove their greatness. We believe in that same philosophy.

Do I know who I will be facing in the bracket?

No. Each bracket is seeded randomly when the tournament ends. After the first tier of the bracket is seeded following tiers are determined by who wins each prior tier - just like a normal bracket.

However, you will know who else is participating in the tournament by looking at the tournament entrant list. But you'll never know who you will be directly up against.

How can I see which score was recorded?

You can check the recent scores list to see which score for each song was recorded, by you and others.

Due to the nature of our system and it's dependence on other services, we will not consider disputes over which score was recorded for one of your songs. Whatever score is recorded is final, sorry.

The score recorded is not right, why?

Our tournament system is entirely reliant on GuitarHero.com. If their web site and services are down, slow, or acting odd then our tournament system will probably have problems too.

The most typical problem that will happen is a score will not be recorded properly. However, our system checks your songs regularly so at the next scan your score should be recored.

OR...you may not be connected to GuitarHero.com from your console. You must connect to GuitarHero.com in the game BEFORE you play any songs. If your score is not correct or not recorded, just try playing the song again. You might even get a better score!

It recorded a score for a song but I haven't played it yet, what happened?

Our system relies on scanning your Recent Performances. The first time our system looks for scores (after start time) if one of the songs needed is already in your Recent Performances from a previous performance before start time, the system will record that score. Whatever songs are in that list is looked at by the system.

This is a known flaw with how the system works but it doesn't happen often. Unfortunately, if this happens we cannot undo the score. Whatever score it finds is final.

What are All-In tournaments?

All-In tournaments let players of all skill levels compete together. All-In tournaments mean you can play each song at any difficulty you want. You can play the first song at Medium, second at Expert, and the third on Hard - it's entirely up to you. However, we encourage you to play at your skill level and not to underplay songs.

Scores for All-In tournaments are then adjusted up to Expert level so each score is comparable. This is done with simple math using handicap multipliers for each song. So if you play a song on Easy, your score will get adjusted to be the Expert level equivalent.

We have determined each song and level's multiplier by averaging the top five scores for each song per difficulty from ScoreHero.com and GuitarHero.com. We then divide all non-Expert scores by the Expert average score to get each songs handicap multiplier. That multiplier is then used to adjust your score based on the song and the level at which you play it. If you're interested in the numbers used for these calculation, please check out the handicap table we use.

We've tried to make the All-In score adjusting as fair and accurate as possible with the information we have. We will update the handicap table over time as new high scores are recorded.

I played a song but no score is showing up, why?

If you played a tournament song and the score is not showing up in the recent scores list, it might be just because our system hasn't recorded the score yet. Give our system a few minutes to collect and update scores.

OR...you may not be connected to GuitarHero.com from your console. You must connect to GuitarHero.com in the game BEFORE you play any songs.

Do NOT assume your console is always connected to the internet. And do NOT assume that if you are connected, it is connected with the right player account. You should ALWAYS check your connection before you play any song in any mode.

We cannot support console connection issues. If you see scores from other players being recorded but not yours then it's probably a problem with your connection.

However...if for some reason your GuitarHero.com profile has a problem your scores may be affected. Unfortunately we can't do anything about this either. If the Guitar Hero web site has problems, we'll have problems.

Why was my tournament canceled?

Tournaments will be canceled if 1) less than three people sign-up to play, or if 2) no scores are recorded during the entire tournament.

In the case of a tournament being canceled or closed, no scores are collected, player statistics are not effected, and no prizes are rewarded. The tournament is essentially a throw-away.

Why did the other guy get a bye?

If less than 8 players sign-up for a tournament, non-human players are used to fill the holes and complete the bracket. This results in byes for some players. Our system has been programmed to try and deal with byes as evenly and fairly as possible.

Which player gets the bye is purely random and depends on how many people sign-up. The more people that sign-up to play the less you have to worry about byes for other players. But since seeding is random to start with, everyone has the same chance of getting a bye.

Why are there so many players without scores?

Even if eight players sign-up to play, it doesn't mean everyone will show up and play. These players will never win a song or the tourament, but since they confirmed their spot they are treated like full players during the seeding process.

Since seeding is done before scores are checked it can happen often that a sort of "artificial bye" can happen. This may look odd when the bracket is filled in and you may get hosed in these cases. But, since each bracket is seeded randomly, everyone has the same chance of getting hosed by a player no-show.

The solution is to only enter a tournament when you really plan on playing. And to tell your friends that you know will play to join. You should only enter a tournament when you can and want to play within the scheduled times.

What do I get for winning a tournament?

Prizes for tournaments will vary. Some tournaments won't have any prize, some may have gift cards or other sponsor prizes. Of course, you'll always get "the win" for winning and your player statistics will reflect your accomplishments.

How do I claim my prize?

It is your responsability to contact Angry Edison to claim your prize if you win a tournament. Please see the rules and policy for details on how to claim your prize.

I keep missing open tournaments, what can I do?

Subscribe to the Upcoming Tournament RSS Feed and you can stay on top of when tournaments are created and open. Just copy the feed web address into your favorite RSS reader.

Or you can also get mobile text messages reminders sent to your phone.

There's a song in the bracket I don't have!

All our brackets use the "stock" songs in Guitar Hero 3 so that we can include everyone. We will never have downloaded songs (DLC) in the bracket.

If there's a song in the bracket that is not in your game, it means it is a song you have yet to unlock. You unlock games by purchasing them with Career mode money, playing through co-op, or the easiest way - cheat codes.

Using the cheat codes does NOT effect your Career, scores, or anything else - they're perfectly "legal." One cheat unlocks all the songs in the game. If you're going to be playing in any tournaments anywhere, it's best you unlock all the songs first.

Why do the tournament set lists always suck?

We do our best to pick songs that we believe make for a fun and close tournament, regardless of skill level.

But if you have the "perfect" set list for a tournament, use our Create-A-Bracket feature to submit your own bracket set list.

What are Private Party Tournaments?

Private Party Tournaments (PPTs) are bracket tournaments you create and schedule. Then you invite only the people you want to play along. PPTs are not open to the general public. Only the people that have a special invitation link can sign-up and join your tournaments.

PPTs are great for tour groups, clubs, leagues, and forum communities. Or just for playing with your friends and family. PPTs let you organize the tournament yourself. You pick the date, the time, the songs, and the participants.

How to mobile reminders work?

You can receive mobile text message updates by following us on Twitter. You can also use Twitter to get updates by IM or web page.

I have some ideas. Where can I send them?

We prefer you join the Morning Toast Forum and post your thoughts and feedback there. This way everyone can chime in and we can respond in a more timely manner. However, if you want you can send any feedback to stickers@angryedison.com