OCL Archive

OCL_Rules

Terminology:

 * League: There are 3 leagues
 * Brawl
 * Team Drinking
 * Sea Battle


 * Division: Each league may contain more than one division if there are enough teams entered. Ideally each league will take no more than 4 weeks (8 scheduled matches) to complete.
 * Match: A scheduled pairing between two teams which consists of one or more games depending on the league.
 * Match day: A day on which matches are scheduled. Each league has two match days per week.
 * Match time: The time(s) at which matches are scheduled on match days.
 * Game: One point/score, i.e. there are a different number of games in a match depending on the league.
 * Round: A term used in drinking to determine how many rounds will be contained in each game.
 * Permanent Swap: Permanently removing one member and permanently adding another, this must be done by the captain.
 * Temporary Member: A player who has been temporarily added to a team to fill in for a missing team member.

League Format:
Each month will have a different league, the exact format and length which will be determined by the number of teams that enter. League matches will be scheduled for two days per week on Saturday and Sunday.

Seeding:
Seeding will be done based on last season's results as well as time preferences. We do the best we can and welcome any reasonable suggestions you may have to further improve it. For the first season of each league, seeding is likely to be random - certainly on Viridian, Sage and Cobalt, and possibly on Midnight, depending on the number of returning teams.

Registration:
Registration will begin at least 2 weeks before the start of the month. During the registration period, we will have a page on YPPedia for the current league where teams can sign up. Registration requirements different from those specified below will be noted in the actual registration page. We reserve the right to exclude teams for whom incomplete information is provided. You may sign up with fewer than the maximum number of teammates, but any changes made to team members after the regitsration deadline (including adding a team member) will count as your one permanent swap for the season.


 * 1) Ocean
 * 2) Team Name (defaults to "Team [Captain's name]" if none specified)
 * 3) Old Team name, rank and division (if you previously participated in the OCL) Note: At least half of your team needs to return to keep your past ranking.
 * 4) Team Captain (pirate name)
 * 5) Team Captain's account name
 * 6) Team Mates (numbers dependent on the league entered)
 * 7) Times and their priority for Saturday
 * 8) Times and their priority for Sunday

Each Team is to submit 3 times (from 8am, 10am, noon, 2pm, 4pm) in order from most convenient to least for each of the match days. These times will be used to schedule matches against other teams. Times may be changed and updated up until scheduling begins when they will be assigned for you.

Scheduling:
Scheduling is done based on the following formula:
 * 1st priority time = 3 points
 * 2nd priority time = 2 points
 * 3rd priority time = 1 point

Adding up the point values for each of the 5 times, we pick the one with the highest score. In the event of a tie, we give preference to a 2nd/2nd over a 1st/3rd preference spread. After that ties are resolved based on the following time priorities:

Time Priorities:
 * 1) Noon
 * 2) 2pm
 * 3) 10am
 * 4) 4pm
 * 5) 8am

Rescheduling:
Teams are welcome to arrange a different time to meet. To make an official reschedule, both teams are required to post to the forums as to the new day/time of the match. Teams have either: 1 week past the scheduled match day time -or- until 24 hours after the last match day (at the latest match time) of the season, whichever is shorter, to report their rescheduled match scores.

Reschedule Requests:
If a team is unable to make the scheduled time and is unable to contact the other team about a reschedule then they may post in the scheduling/results thread that they are requesting a reschedule of their match. This post needs to be made at least 48 hours before the scheduled match time. Note: This may only be done after an attempt has been made to contact the other team, it'll get too cluttered otherwise. Penalties for being unable to reschedule a match in time will be dealt with on a case to case basis, likely ending in one team taking a forfeit.

Forfeits: No shows and missed matches
If an opposing team is not ready to start 15 minutes past the scheduled time, the present team takes a forfeit and gain full points for the match. Please post the results accordingly (see posting in the event of a no-show or forfeit)

If no post is made by either team regarding a score in the 24 hours following a match, it will be assumed that neither team showed up and both teams will be given forfeits and full losses.

Game Updates and Rescheduling as a result of:
Any match which happens to coincide with a game update will be rescheduled if a team is unable to sport a full team due to problems related to the update. Rescheduled matches in these cases will be under the same time constraints as regular rescheduled matches.

Swapping:
Teams are allowed to swap one member off of their team during the duration of the season. A player switch is not considered official until it has been posted to your league thread. Swaps are to be conducted by the Team Captain and take effect immediately. In the event that a captain has gone inactive, please bring this up with an event organizer. The member swapped into the team does not need to have been used as a temporary member prior to the swap. If you start the season without a full complement of team members, adding a player to your team counts as a permanent swap.

Temporary Players:
Each team is allowed to hire temporary members to fill in for games where they are short players. There will be a limit as to the number of temporary players allowed per game, they will be listed in each league info. Temporary Players may later on be swapped into a team as a permanent member and count as a permanent member for the remainder of the season. Even temporary players may only play for one team in any league. Please note the temporary players that you have used.

In semi-final and final matches, only one temporary player may be used per match, even if more are allowed in normal division matches.

Posting Results:
The captain of each team is responsible for keeping their team's information and match scores up to date on the wiki. Please edit each section individually rather than the entire document to minimize problems with multiple people making edits.

Posting in the event of a No-Show or Forfeit
If a team fails to show for a match, or if they decide to forfeit because they do not have enough team mates, you are still required to post results of the match within 24 hours of the scheduled match time.

Please use the letter 'F' in place of the '0' to indicate they did not show up.

Results Table:
The results table should be listed taking the following into consideration, remember all ties will be resolved if necessary before or during the finals:
 * 1) Most Wins
 * 2) Least Losses

Other League Independent Rules:

 * Disconnects are not grounds for a "redo" unless agreed to by both teams.
 * Teams unable to muster enough players have the option of playing with "a man down".
 * Team members do not have to be crew members.
 * Team Captains are responsible for organizing their team as well as coordinating with other team captains for any necessary arrangements or scheduling.
 * Rules in the specific League details overrule general rules if a conflict arises.
 * We suggest that you hold matches on "neutral" territory, such as a palace or an inn.
 * Teams dropping out of a division or league can have a significant effect on the final scores. We reserve the right to totally remove the scores of non-participating (or low-participation) teams from the cumulative scores if a division is adversely affected.

Match Legality:
Once started, a game is considered legal and official (certain restrictions apply for good reasons). This means that any complaints as to the legality of the game with respect to the players playing should be brought up and questioned before it has begun. Note that you may question the legality at any time during a match, but any games already started will count as official. A match may be restarted if all players collectively agree.

Player Limitations:
On all oceans, green-named pirates are not permitted to take part. This is especially important in Sea Battle leagues. On subscription oceans, players must be using a currently subscribed account to participate in the OCL. On doubloon oceans each player must have the appropriate badges to play the necessary puzzles. Each player may enter only once in each league, and only one player may use an account to enter. This means that if you have more than one account, you cannot enter more than once, and only one pirate may enter from an account.

Team Brawl details:
Players: 6
 * Swaps: 1 (see swapping)
 * Temp Spots: up to 2 per division match, up to 1 in semi-final or final match (See temporary players)
 * Games: 6

Rules:
 * Only four team members will participate in a brawl game per team
 * Teams are not limited to crew members
 * Any type of sword allowed
 * Disconnects that happen while loading up the puzzle are grounds for a redo. Each team may only have up to 4 of these redos per match.

Sea Battle details:
Players: 6
 * Swaps: 1 (See swapping)
 * Temp Players: up to 2 per division match, up to 1 in semi-final or final match (See temporary players)
 * Games: 1 (except in finals and semi-finals where appropriate, where it will be best of 3 battles)

Rules: For best of three matches:
 * Only 4 team members will participate in a sea battle match per team
 * Teams are not limited to crew members
 * Any type of sword allowed
 * Starting island and destination should be arranged with your opponent in advance
 * You must provide your own ship(s) for the event
 * Ships used should be sloops
 * Disengaging from your opponent will result in a loss for that game
 * Weaker ships should attack ones with greater might (A pox upon thee, Black Ship)
 * Sinking is allowed if two opponents are at war
 * Captains should communicate and arrange for ship repairs or new ships between games
 * Sinking counts only as one win.
 * Failure to produce a ship 15 minutes after your first is sunk will result in another loss

Team Drinking details:
Players: 4
 * Swaps: 1 (See swapping)
 * Temp Players: 1 per match (See temporary players)
 * Games: 3
 * Rounds: 1 per game
 * Game Setup: Default (standard rules, use mugs, 5 colors and shapes, play to 1500, no wager). Unrated, if this is requested by any participant

Rules:
 * Only 2 team members will participate in a drinking game per team
 * All mugs are allowed
 * Anyone may watch a match; do not create private tables, but play as 'local players only' in a less public place if you don't like prying eyes
 * Anyone watching the game may help either of the contenders. (Ruling otherwise will only give immoral players an advantage as there is no way to ensure it won't happen.)
 * Each game requires the players from each team to alternate around the table so that you are never seated next to your partner. This is achieved by team members joining the game in alternating order.
 * The player with the highest score at the end of each game determines whose team wins, NOT a combined score.
 * Ties will result in a rematch of that game
 * Anyone caught duplicating clients for the matches will be banned from any future OCL events, please ask an on duty OM if you suspect that a team is cheating in this way.
 * Anyone expecting to share a connection should mention this to Apollo or Artemis when registering for the season to avoid problems.

Prizes:
Each member of the winning team will receive a white familiar.
 * Team brawl: white parrot
 * Team drinking: white octopus
 * Sea battle: white monkey

Extra Awards and Prizes:
Extra awards and prizes to be announced. Note that teams who do not participate in the majority of their matches will not be eligible for prizes.