Age of Kings: The Conquerors Clan League Rules

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 6 ACTIVE) that are registered under a common ESO tag for an extended period of time, 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. All posts in other languages will be deleted, and the Staff will not tolerate the use of any online translators.
  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. Acceptance into the League takes place through application. At the beginning of a season, formal applications will open and interested clans may sign up. The League Staff will assess each applying clan and accept those deemed qualified.

3: Players

  1. All members of a clan, including applicants as long as they 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 the season.
  2. Members who have 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. "Smurfing", in any form, will not be tolerated. If a clan uses a player that is not listed and eligible, they will receive an admin loss for each game the ineligible player plays in. 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 7.3).
  5. Players are required to use their own Nicknames. Using "borrowed" nicknames (even if they are from the same clan) is not permitted.

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 will address all suggestions with a private vote of all staff members.
  2. The League Staff makes decisions regarding the acceptance or exclusion of applying clans, and all other issues relevant to the operation of the League. At present, the following persons belong to the TAD: Supremacy League Staff:
    • Mattlight
    • Pedestrian
    • BlackAdder
    • SmooCarpetBug
    • ZiggySiggy43
    • Terminator_0
  3. For future seasons, the composition of the League Staff can change.
  4. Members of the League Staff will be excluded from any decisions directly involving their own clans.

5: Season

  1. Each season begins with the formation of the divisions, where each division consists of at least 6 and at most 10 teams. 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.
  2. The duration of a season depends on the size of the divisions. Each week, one match is played. After all of the scheduled rounds have been played, one extra week will be given for delinquent games to be made up.
  3. In the case of a tie to decide a playoff spot, a one-game tiebreaker must be played on the map "Standard Maps". This game should be scheduled during the make-up week at the end of the season. If a tiebreaker is not played, or if there is a tie between two clans that have already both secured playoff spots, the first applicable criteria in the following list will decide:
    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 admin losses and misses are NOT factored into tiebreaker decisions because they have already been penalized and included in the current point totals.
  4. 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.

6: Game Settings

  1. The game in use will be the latest version of TAD (Currently 1.00).
  2. Settings:
    • All games are played - initially - as a 3vs3. A 2vs2 may be played if both clans agree ahead of time (see below, Rule 9.1). 4vs4 games are not permitted.
    • Game Mode: Supremacy
    • Selectable Maps: Every map in the Standard Maps set. Selecting the randomization "Standard Maps" is also permitted, but choosing "Large Maps" or "All Maps" is not. Similarly, all large maps and custom maps, as well as Caribbean, Amazonia, and other maps not included in the Standard maps set, are excluded as options. The respective home-team (see schedule) selects the map and announces it to the opponents before the game launches. Both clans can still change their team after the map is announced and before the game starts.
    • Game Speed: Medium.
    • Starting Age: Discovery.
    • Record Game must be activated.
    • Handicap play and Free for all are not permitted.
    • The use of any kind of cheats, hacks, etc. is not permitted and will be punished severely.

7: League Operation

  1. The matches are played in a double-round with both games played in the same week. Each clan is once home- and once away-team.
  2. All games shall be completed in the given 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.
  3. 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, a repetition time is to be set. This counts as a "miss" in the standings, and is penalized with (-1) points. If the clan does not appear at the repetition time, they will receive a second miss (another -1) and the games will be counted as admin wins for the respective opponent.
  4. Matches that have not been played for whatever reason will be decided by the League Staff. Result arrangements (without playing) between the clans are not admissible. In case of disputes only entries in the respective forums as well as personal messages sent to the League Staff are relevant.
  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.
  6. Scheduling problems and failure to follow league standards for scheduling will be a significant factor in the staff's decision both 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.
  8. 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.
  9. Clan operators are required to fill out the fairplay form for every match they play, regardless of the result. Clans who fail to submit fairplay ratings may be excluded from the league in future seasons. In addition, 1 point will be deducted from the clan's end-of-season total for every two fairplay ratings that are not submitted.This rule will be suspended for the current season. Fairplay ratings will return for the second season of TAD.

8: 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 7.3)
  2. If a team leaves or is removed from the league during the season, each game they played will become an admin 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 admin 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.

9: 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. Clans forseeing a problem can choose to play 2vs2 instead of 3vs3 as long as both clans agree before the game.
  2. If a game begins to lag badly, pause and try to fix any possible problems. All players should turn down graphics settings to the minimum. Players should close all outside applications that might slow performance. If there is no improvement, both clans can agree to restart the game as a 2vs2. The game may not be restarted as a 3vs3 under any condition, and can only be restarted as a 2vs2 if both clans agree. 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 for an administrative decision rather than restart or continue. Any admin decision in this case will be final.

B. Handling Drops:

  1. If a player's connection aborts before 15 minutes game-time, the game must be restarted. However, if a clan is clearly winning at the time of the disconnect, the game can be posted for an administrative decision. If the game is dropped again by the same clan, they will receive an administrative loss.
  2. If a player's connection aborts after 15 minutes game-time, the game is lost by the clan with the disconnected player. However, if the clan with the disconnected player is clearly winning at the time of the disconnect, the game can be posted for an administrative decision. Alternatively, the game may be restarted at the discretion of the League Staff.

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 5 minutes of the game, a clan can demand a restart. The recorded game 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 5 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!

Operator Login

Username:

Password: