Sink or Swim Convention

Work in Progress - comments welcome

The Sink or Swim Convention, one of several player-drafted war conventions, is a strict set of rules followed by the flag Sink or Swim. Sink or Swim declares it will adhere to this convention prior to blockades and war declarations, and encourages other flags to do the same.

Message from The Herald

A message from The Herald: a fictitious persona used by Sink or Swim to convey messages from its royal court:

Sink or Swim, Commencement of War & Blockades.

Sink or Swim is officially turning over a new leaf, and so attempting to bring back respectable fair blockades.

This means that Sink or Swim will now post intents before blockading (unless explicitly decided otherwise by The Herald), bounties on pirates if need be, and we're adopting our own set of rules that we hope will be honoured by those that we battle against on the board.

We invite those wishing to participate in fair blockades to actively seek them with us, we're happy to lead the Meridian Ocean into the future and promote fair gameplay.

Rules regarding the commencing of war declarations

1.War declarations will be sent for any of the following reasons:

1.1. Sending alliance requests without prior discussion with royalty.

1.2. Dockpressing and or docktarting that is directed at a Sink or Swim flag member, or that is purely aimed at griefing Sink or Swim flag members.

1.3. Sending invites to crews currently in Sink or Swim without prior discussion with that crew's captain.

1.4. Actions that are against the Terms of Service set out by Three Rings Design.

1.5. Any actions that a ruling majority in Sink or Swim find displeasing and ultimately against the Sink or Swim core values.

2.Based on the ACP War Convention & TP War Convention, "Acceptable Practices for Commencement of Warfare" are.

2.1. Paying blood money to the monarch to accept and return a war declaration is acceptable. Money is to be paid once the declaration is returned.

2.2. Paying blood money to influence politics and political votes is not acceptable.

2.3. Docktarting in an attempt to cause war is acceptable, provided that the terms of service are not breached.

Rules around the commencing of sinking sea battle engagement

1.Ships & Sea Battle:

1.1. All ships at sea not currently docked or at a league point are fair game. Attacking ships with dark blue might rings is unacceptable.

1.2. Ship balancing is acceptable, however alt balancing is not acceptable.

1.3. Ships may be sunk without regard for who owns the ship and the number of pirates on the ship.

1.4. Deeds may be swapped out of the opposing flag at any league point. Deed swapping while not on a league point is unacceptable. Deeds may be swapped at both flotilla league points and Sea Monster Hunt league points.

1.5. Deed swapping into the flag is only acceptable at port. Deed swapping in order to suprise engage the opposition is unacceptable.

1.6. Dock stalking along with the use of game mechanics (/who, /vwho, /cwho, and /fwho) is acceptable and encouraged.

1.7. The loser of a battle should not publicly complain or otherwise defamate the opposing pirate, unless a convention rule has been broken.

1.8. Repeat engagements are acceptable, provided both articles 1.1A & 1.2B are followed precisely and not broken.

1.9. Requests for disengagement are acceptable but are not a binding agreement until both parties agree to terms whether that be ransom etc. The decision is at the discretion of the pirate at the helm.

1.10 Bounties are acceptable.

1.11 Sinking warring flags in both flotillas and Sea-Monster encounters is acceptable.

1.12 Arranged Player vs Player combat is acceptable, although article 1.2B is still unacceptable during arranged PvPs.

2.Blockade Warfare:

2.1 All ships on the board, not currently docked or in the safe zone are fair game.

2.2 The act of making a blockade sinking midway through the round is acceptable, sinking blockades are encouraged.

2.3 Paywarring is acceptable but not encouraged.

2.4 Paycapping is acceptable. Paycapping at 9,999 before the start of round 1 is acceptable but discouraged (Sink or Swim will not participate in pre-blockade 9,999 pay caps, unless Sink or Swim is 3rd Partying another flag).

2.5 Purposefully not paying jobbers in a blockade is not acceptable.

2.6 Purposefully sending alt-manned ships onto the blockade board to wage a "battle of attrition" is not acceptable (Sink or Swim will not participate in such blockades as we deem them as griefing).

2.7 Friendly blockade agreements are acceptable.

2.8 Non-sinking blockade agreements are acceptable although discouraged.

2.9 Undermanned ships sent into a blockade board to wage a "battle of attrition" is acceptable, provided all pirates on board except for the navigator and XO are jobbers and not alts. Additionally, the ship should be configured for blockading.

3.Espionage and spying:

3.1 Using alts to job into the opposing flags' blockade crews to watch crew chat is acceptable.

3.2 Using alts to job into opposing flags' blockade crews to check fleet and stock amounts is only acceptable when not actively in a blockade. During a blockade this is unacceptable.

3.3 Using alts to spy on /fo chat, officer chat, and crew / flag issues is unacceptable.

3.4 Using alts to job aboard enemy vessels during combat to purposefully hinder the enemy team, or to prevent fair play, is unacceptable and immediate expulsion from Sink or Swim will occur.

3.5 Using alts during a blockade to spy on an enemy blockade navvers moves is unacceptable; those caught violating this rule will be both expelled from Sink or Swim and reported to three rings via the /complain option. The same actions will be put into place if alts are found to be spying on Sink or Swim navvers.

4.Ransom:

4.1 Ransoms may be negotiated by the OICs of ships in a sinking engagement in order to prevent the sinking of a ship.

4.2 Ransom negotiations between the two pirates only affect those two pirates; OICs caught in any other engagements not involving those two pirates should negotiate their own terms of ransom.

4.3 Ransom negotiations between two pirates should not be used to take advantage of the other pirate. Ransoms should be discussed appropriately. For instance, given a battle between two sloops, the ransom should not be as high as a war frigate or a million PoE.

The act of purposefully trying to extort a pirate for more than the cost of the ship they currently stand to lose is unacceptable and will result in expulsion from Sink or Swim.

4.4 Disengagement is not permitted until the ransom has been paid. While waiting for ransom to be paid, the OIC may continue attacking.

4.5 Once the ransom has been paid, the OIC of the ship being bribed is binded by his / her negotiations and must honour the ransom and disengage. Those caught breaching this will be reported via the /complain option and expelled from Sink or Swim.

Declaring a truce

5.Truces:

5.1 Either flag may offer a truce at any time.

5.2 Sink or Swim will not return a truce without prior discussion between both flags monarchs and terms being met that satisfy both parties (Whether that be a bribe or a set of rules to prevent aggravation of either flag).

5.3 If the opposing flag asking for a truce does not wish to negotiate terms of a truce, they will endure seven days of full war in accordance with the game mechanics, and Sink or Swim flag members will be encouraged to pvp hunt said warring flag.

5.4 Actively hunting a flag that has sent a truce without prior negotiation of terms is acceptable and encouraged.

5.5 Targets of opportunity are acceptable.

Fair blockade agreement

• Sink or Swim strives for fair gameplay both on and off the blockade board. As a result of this, all low paycaps for both defences and attacks are acceptable and may be negotiated by royals in charge of blockades.
• The act of allowing both flags to keep within a jobber margin is acceptable and encouraged. Sink or Swim prefers a margin of five jobbers, but negotiations are acceptable.
• The act of pre-arranging a blockade is acceptable, see article 2.7 and article 2.8.
• The act of pre-arranging a blockade for flag practice, without the aim to depose Sink or Swim from governorship is acceptable.
• The act of paying Sink or Swim to blockade an island is acceptable; negotiations of the donation etc are required.
• Lowering jobber pay is acceptable, provided both sides agree on a set amount.
• See article 2.8 regarding non-sinking engagements.

Should a flag wish to participate in a fair blockade as outlined above, that flag need only speak to the monarch or any royal member of Sink or Swim within the minimum timeframe of 2 hours before the blockade. If negotiations are not successful before the 2 hour mark, full war will result and neither jobber ratio or low pay cap will be implemented.

Fair blockades will not exceed a cap of 7,000 Pieces of Eight. The flags wishing to participate in a fair blockade must agree to this prior to the 2 hour mark.