RTS-League: Clan Leagues for Strategy Gamers

1: Basic Idea

RTS-League is based on the idea that fun and fairplay come before competition. Therefore these rules are limited to only those most necessary to ensure smooth play and to prevent or decide possible disputes. In all cases, the League Staff will have the final decision.

2: Clans

1. A Clan is a group of players (minimum of 4 ACTIVE), preferably with a publicly accessible website and/or forum.
2. The official language of the league is English. All Clan Operators must be able to speak English fluently. (Using an online translator is not acceptable.)
3. We do not strictly define clan structure, as varying situations exist. We do, however, REQUIRE that each player be a member of the Clan for whom he is playing. Guest players are strictly forbidden. The League Staff reserves the right to exclude any individual from competing if we believe the intent of this rule has been violated.
4. Admission into the League is handled through a formal application process. At the beginning of each season, interested Clans will be given the opportunity to apply for admission through a signup thread in the official League forums. The League Staff will assess each applicant and admit those clans which it deems qualified for participation in the League.
5. Participation in the League is free for all Clans. Operating costs (website, etc.) are paid by the members of the League Staff and/or donations.

3: Players

1. All members of a Clan, including applicants who use the clan's tag, are eligible to play for the Clan. However, all players must be listed in the official Player List in the RTS-League Clan Profile. Each Clan is solely responsible for maintaining their own Player-List before, during, and after each Season.
2. Any individual who has played for one Clan during a Season may not play for another Clan during the same Season.
3. The Player-List is to be submitted at the beginning of the Season. Changes can be made at any time; however, new players can only play after a waiting period of seven days, starting from the day they are added to the Player-List. The same applies with name changes. The eligibility of a Player can be checked in the Player-List (players with a green box are eligible, and those with a red box are ineligible).
4. All players must play on GFWL with the exact name indicated in the Player List. Even a misspelling or missing underscore will result in an Administrative Loss for the offending team. If, when asked, a Clan refuses to swap out an ineligible player, and the games are not played as a result, that clan will receive a Miss (see below, Rule 8.2).
5. "Smurfing," in any form, will not be tolerated. Players are required to use their own nicknames. Using "borrowed" nicknames (even if they are from the same clan) is not permitted. The League Staff reserves the right to exclude any individual from competing if we believe the intent of this rule has been violated. In addition, a Clan may be forced to forfeit any games in which a "smurf" nickname was used.

4: The League Staff

1. To make RTS-League successful, we are dependent on the assistance and support of all participating Clans. The League Staff is grateful for suggestions and constructive criticisms; we want the League to provide the best experience possible for the Players.
2. The League Staff makes decisions regarding all issues relevant to the operation of the League. At present, the following persons belong to the shortname); ?> Staff:
   • Pedestrian
   • BlackAdder
   • Zutazuta
3. For future Seasons, the composition of the League Staff may change.
4. In the event of a dispute between Clans, the League Staff will decide the issue through a private vote of all staffers. A member of the League Staff is excluded from the decision if his own Clan is directly concerned.

5: Season

1. Each Season begins with the formation of divisions, where each division consists of at least 6 Clans. There is no promotion or demotion through the divisions; instead, they function separately. After the regular season, the top teams in each division advance to the Playoffs, where an overall champion is determined (See below, Rule 6).
2. During the Season, each match consists of two games. Each Clan will play one game as the home-team and one game as the away-team (see Rule 7.2, below).
3. All results have to be posted without delay in the Clan Panel. Each game is posted by the winner. If one Clan wins 2-0, that Clan uploads both games. If the match is split 1-1, each Clan uploads the game that they won. Careful and correct filling out of the forms is presupposed, because this is the only way the rankings are updated. Failure to upload a game for an excessive length of time after it was played is qualification for an Administrative Loss.
4. The duration of a Season depends on the size of the divisions. Over the course of a season, Clans will play one match against every other clan in their division. After all of the scheduled rounds have been played, one extra week will be given for any delinquent games to be made up.

6: Playoffs

A. General Format

1. At the end of each Season, the top two Clans in each division will advance to the Playoffs. The Playoffs consist of a single-elimination, "knockout" style tournament to determine an overall champion.
2. Each Playoff match will be played in a best-of-three-games format. The first two games will be played using the same settings as a regular Season match. If the Clans split the first two games, however, the third game must be played on the map "Standard Maps."
3. The winner of each Playoff round is responsible for uploading all of the recorded games through the Clan Panel.

B. Determination of Playoff Participants

1. The top two Clans in each division with the most points at the end of the regular season are guaranteed to advance to the Playoffs. In addition, depending on the size of the League and the number of Divisions, the League Staff may select a number of additional Clans as "wild-card" teams to fill out any remaining spots in the Playoff bracket.
2. If there is a tie between two Clans in the same Division, only one of whom can receive a Playoff spot, a one-game tiebreaker on the map "Random" must be played to determine the winner.
3. If there is a tie between two or more Clans in different Divisions competing for wild-card spots, the Playoff participants will be selected based on a random drawing.

C. Seeding

1. Clans in the Playoff bracket will be seeded from highest to lowest based on the following criteria:
   1. The place they achieved in their Division (1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc.)
   2. The number of points earned during the regular season.
   3. If two or more Clans are still tied after applying the factors above, the seeding order will be determined by a random drawing.
2. If there is a tie between two clans in the same division, both of which have already secured playoff spots, the following criteria will be used to determine which Clan will receive the higher seed:
   1. The outcome of the Head-to-Head matchup during the season.
   2. The outcomes of the matchups vs the highest ranked common opponent during the season.
   3. Repeat the previous step using the next highest common opponent until a discrepancy is found.
   4. If a winner still can not be determined, the outcome will be decided by a coin flip.
   * Note that Administrative Losses and Misses are not factored into tiebreaker decisions because they have already been penalized and included in the current point totals.

7: Game Settings

1. The game in use will be Age of Empires: Online with the latest official patch.
2. Settings:
   • Game Type: Champion Mode
   • All games must be played as a 2 vs 2. (Note that 1 vs 1 matches are not allowed.)
   • Games should be played through the Arena, which can be accessed through any premium player's home city.
   • Selectable Maps: All maps except Dueling Islands. Each Clan will have the opportunity to play as the home team, and select the map, once per round.
   • If desired, a Clan may elect to substitute one or both of its players after the map is announced, but before the game starts.
   • All RTS-League games must include a screenshot of the Victory screen. The winning team must add the screenshot to a .zip file and upload it to the RTS-League website after the match.

8: League Operation

1. All games are to be played during the appropriate week. In exceptional cases, and with the approval of the League Staff, games can be moved into a later play-week but have to be played as soon as possible. Playing matches in advance is not permitted.
2. If a Clan does not appear for a scheduled game (delay for more than 20 minutes will be regarded as absence) or only with an insufficient number of players, the match is to be rescheduled for a later date. The offending Clan will receive a "Miss" in the standings, and will be penalized with (-1) points. If the Clan does not appear at the rescheduled date, they will receive a second Miss (another -1) and the games will be counted as Administrative Wins for the respective opponent.
3. In resolving a dispute about the scheduled time or date of a Match, only entries in the official forums or personal messages sent to the League Staff will be considered. Evidence of external communication (meaning any communication between Clans occurring outside of the official Forums) is not relevant and will not be considered by the League Staff.
4. At the end of the Season, any Matches that have not been played will be decided by the League Staff. In the interest of fair play, result arrangements (without playing) between Clans are not permitted.
5. Clan Operators must visit the scheduling threads for their current or delinquent Matches often (at least once every two days) and leave a constructive message there that keeps the discussion moving towards compromising on a game time. Failure to do this will result in a Miss, and continued disregard for this rule will result in removal from the League, at the discretion of the League Staff.
6. Scheduling problems and failure to follow League standards for scheduling will be a significant factor in the Staff's decisions in disputes regarding the Clan, as well as a factor in whether or not they will be re-admitted to the League for following Seasons.
7. If a Clan does not finish a Season for any reason, they will not be accepted for participation in the following Season.

9: Valuation of Games, Results and Tables

1. Ranking System:
   • Win = 3 points
   • Normal Loss = 1 point
   • Admin Loss = 0 points
   • Miss = -1 points (see above, Rule 8.2)
2. If a team leaves or is removed from the League during the Season, each game they played will become an administrative win for the opposing team regardless of the actual result. All of their submitted fairplay ratings will be removed. The rest of their scheduled games will be treated as byes with the opposing teams automatically receiving two administrative wins.
3. The schedule results and rankings are updated automatically upon match submission. Mistakes or inaccuracies should be reported by personal message to your division's Staff member as soon as possible.

10: How to Deal With Problems

A. Handling Lag:

1. Any Players foreseeing lag problems should turn all graphics options to the lowest possible settings before the start of a game.
2. If a game begins to lag badly, try to fix any possible problems. Players should close all outside applications that might slow performance. If there is no improvement, both Clans can agree to restart the game. If one Clan deems the lag playable, and does not want to restart, the game must be continued. If a Clan Operator suspects an opponent is "laming" by choosing to play through terrible lag just to annoy or force a resign, they should play out the game, then report it to the League Staff.
3. If one clan is clearly winning when the lag begins, they can opt to post the game (including all relevant screenshots) for an administrative decision, rather than restart or continue. Any decision by the League Staff in this case will be final.

B. Handling Drops:

1. If a player's connection aborts before 2 minutes game-time, the game must be restarted. If one team's connection aborts three times in an attempt to play a game, that Clan will receive an Administrative Loss.
2. If the game cannot be restored due to technical reasons, then the game is automatically lost by the the Clan with the technical difficulties. Exception: If the losing Clan was clearly ahead at the time the game crashed, they may petition the League Staff for an administrative decision.

C. Handling Map Bugs:

1. If a serious map bug - distinct factors that would adversely affect one Clan outside of their control - is discovered in the first 2 minutes of the game, a Clan may demand a restart. A screenshot must be submitted to the League Staff for verification. If no such bug existed, or if it is determined that the restart was demanded for other reasons, the Clan will receive an administrative loss.
2. If a map bug is discovered after 2 minutes, the game may not be restarted on account of it.

If you have any questions about the rules, please feel free to contact a League Staff member at any time. Good luck and have fun!