OCL Rules

Olympic Champions League (a.k.a. OCL) is a league lasting one month (sometimes a little over) in which teams compete twice a week against each other. There are four different types of leagues: a Team Swordfighting league, a Sea Battle league, a Team Drinking league and a Team Rumble league. We will be running one league every two months on each of the production oceans (Midnight, Cobalt, Viridian, Sage, Hunter and Viridian.)

Depending on the number of entries we will have a different number of divisions per ocean. If there are a large number of teams, it may extend past the end of the month.

Terminology:

 * League: There are 4 leagues
 * Team Swordfighting
 * Team Drinking
 * Sea Battle
 * Team Rumble


 * 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:
One league will run at a time, and 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.

Registration:
Registration will begin at least 2 weeks before the start of each league. 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, and you may edit your team details as you wish before the deadline, but any changes made to team members after the registration deadline (including adding one team member) will count as your one permanent swap for the season.

You will need to provide the following information to register. The link to the registration page will be posted in your ocean's events forum when registration is open.
 * 1) Ocean
 * 2) Team Name (defaults to "Team [Captain's name]" if none specified)
 * 3) Team Captain (pirate name)
 * 4) Team Captain's account name
 * 5) Team Mates (numbers dependent on the league entered)
 * 6) Times and their priority for Saturday
 * 7) Times and their priority for Sunday

Each Team is to submit 3 times (from the following options: 8am, 10am, noon, 2pm, 4pm) in order from most convenient to least convenient for each of the match days. Preferences do not need to be the same for Saturdays and Sundays. These times will be used to schedule matches against other teams. Times may be changed and updated up until registration closes, at which point scheduling begins and if you have not provided time preferences, we will assume that all times are equally convenient.

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, either before or after the scheduled match time, and teams are all encouraged to be flexible and pleasant in accommodating reschedule requests. To make an official reschedule, both teams are required to post to the forums as to the new day/time of the match. There is a limit to long after the scheduled match time the rescheduled match can take place. 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 should only be done after an attempt has been made to contact the other team, as 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 or both teams 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, and in the absence of a reschedule post, 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 and to the YPPedia league page. 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, preferably before the match starts in which you use them. When asking a temporary player to play for you, it is your responsibility to confirm that they have not played for another team in the league on any character. If they have done, you are at risk of being penalized for that match.

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

Team Disqualification
If any member of your team is found to be cheating, or if you break the rules on pirates competing for more than one team, you risk having your whole team disqualified from the league. Whether or not matches are replayed as a result will be decided on a case-by-case basis, mainly depending on what stage of the league the disqualification occurs.

Posting Results:
The captain of each team is responsible for keeping their team's information and match scores up to date on the YPPedia. 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.
 * If one of your team members is banned, you do not get a free swap to replace them; you may only replace them within the normal quote for team changes.
 * If one of your team members is banned and remains part of the team, any prize remains theirs despite the ban. This prize may not be claimed by other team members.
 * Team Captains are responsible for organizing their team as well as coordinating with other team captains for any necessary arrangements or scheduling. Team Captains should therefore be careful to check for PMs and to check the league forum thread regularly.
 * 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. Once a match has begun, you are deemed to have accepted the eligibility of the players taking part. A match may be restarted if all players collectively agree. If there is any reason for the legality of the match to be questioned during or after the match, you should contact an Ocean Master using Petition or Complain as soon as possible.

Player Limitations:
On all oceans, green-named pirates are not permitted to take part, either as team members or as temporary players. 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.

Player Moderators:
We will be asking for player moderators to support the leagues on each ocean. Instructions for player moderators to volunteer will be announced along with the invitation to register to play in the league. Player moderators for a league may not be participants in the league itself, although they may be participants in that league on a different ocean, and they may be participants in a different league on the ocean. The role of the player moderators is primarily to ensure that the YPPedia page for the league on that ocean is kept correct and up to date, including (but not limited to) checking that no-shows are correctly recorded, that forfeits are shown for missing match results, and bringing to the OM's attention any matters arising. In addition, the player moderators should monitor the relevant forum thread for posts relating to reschedules.

Past Seasons
OCL Archive