[MUST READ] GAMEPLAY CONSTITUTION

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Jordahan

World Leader of The 21st Century
Majority of the credit for this goes out to my Ucan, but there has been a lot of stuff going down in PUG's over the last little while and it has to be dealt with so I will be changing and adding things to this. It is the new norm.

We, as pickup admins, are in charge of making sure pickup games run smoothly and without conflict. We are also role models for the community to follow and therefore should act accordingly. This includes your maturity, behavior, and decision making. I will list some precise issues and their solutions regarding the flow of pickup games.

The PUG Process
The process of playing a pickup game is very simple. Once enough players have accumulated in the 'Pickup Games' channel, you are ready to start pickup. Make sure to check to see if everyone in the channel is present and able to play the game. One player will be chosen to flip a coin, while the two selected captains will call which side (of the coin) they want. The winner of the coin flip will have a choice to pick either the first player, the server or the map and side. Each captain will select one of the three and the remaining choice will be decided by a second coin flip (e.g. win coin toss & choose map, other captain wants first pick then another coin toss will occur for who gets to choose the server.) Players will then alternate picking players after the map and side has been decided. Keep in mind some of the points made above. A pickup admin will then start the match when all members are present in the designated server.

Involvement of new players
One of our jobs as pickup admins and community members is welcoming new players into our community. Lately there has been many new players who seek to join our Teamspeak server looking to participate in our pickup games. However, our past attitudes towards these newer players have impacted their desision to stay with us or leave this game completely. The community members and pickup admins must work together to make pickup games a fun environment for newer players. Under no circumstances are we to insult, ridicule or put down newer players because of their performance. They are human just as we and deserve encouragement and respect.

Captain Picking
Refering back to maintaining the flow of pickup games, our job is also to captain before a match so that the game will be started as quick as possible. There has been a problem with the waiting time before a game actually happens. If pickup admins are present, they should volunteer to captain if nobody else is willing to. Likewise, having community memebers captaining and learning the ropes is also beneficial. Newer players should postpone captaining for a short time until they have a good grasp on the game and the players that participate in pickup matches.

Captain Decisions
If you are chosen to captain a pickup game, you are required to have experience captaining before. This includes knowledge of the players and how to make correct decisions, as stated above. Captains must make sure that the game which they are about to play is smooth and most importantly fun. If the teams that were picked are blatantly stacked, captains should make negotiatons to even the teams. If in the event that the teams that are chosen will lead to a bad game a Server/Legions admin may see fit to rectify the teams(which will be a complete do-over of all players.) Captains also have to remember to include new players in every game. Do not isolate new players from pickup games, even if you want to play with your friends.

Captain power
Just to make things clear, captains do not have absolute power. There was an incident where a captain thought that everyone was required to follow him, resulting in a major in-game debate. This is not how we should act in-game, and actions like this will be punished. If two captains have a debate, the person in TeamSpeak with the higher status (e.g. Legions/Server admin in TS3) will make the decision.

Map choice
There have been many complaints that American pickup games only consist of the maps Zenith and Frostbyte. This is completely correct. In order to avoid further conflict with some members of the community, captains should incorporate other maps into their picks outside of Frostbyte and Zenith. Any and all map choices by a captain must be honored by the pickup admins unless it is unanimously voted against by the players. However, this does not encourage the vetoing of every challenging map picked. As Kissy had mentioned, 'variety is the spice of life."

Last Minute Joiners
Under no circumstances should a player who joins late to the channel be picked before the members who are already waiting. Those who join after the first six picks must patiently wait until the picking process of those before him is complete.

Forever Alone Players
Under no circumstance may a player sit out of two consecutive pickup games. Captains are required to make sure that everyone is included in pickups. If there are too many people in the channel for one game, the players who were not picked last game must get priority in the picking process of the following game.

Idlers in the Pickups Channel
If you do not plan on playing a pickup during the picking process, please leave (or at the least add a "Not Playing" to your name.) This will avoid any confusion.

Smurfs
Due to a recent influx in smurfing during planned pickup games, if you are caught smurfing you will recieve a temporary ban from TeamSpeak and a ban of up to one day from playing in pickup games. This will help to eliminate confusion and also to minimize the smurfing problem.

Spectators
Players who are not picked are allowed to view the current match using Spectator Mode. (If the captains both agree to it)

Team Balance
A Captain's main goal is to make pickup games as fun as possible. Therefore, captains should make sure the teams are not stacked to the point of destroying the main purpose of pickup games. This includes making trades or negotiating agreements prior to the picking process. If this occurs an admin may call a complete repick. (See the "Captain Decisions" section for more info)

Positioning
Captains must take into consideration the needs of the players that they pick. Do not put your players on positions that they don't want to play. Doing so will make the experience less enjoyable for the player.This will also avoid frustration or possible conflict during the game. Players must follow the positions set by the captains for them and cannot decide without warning they are playing a different position. This could possibly lead to a temporary suspension from pick-up games.

In-game behavior
Being models for the rest of the community to imitate, pickup admins must be at their best conduct at all times. Likewise, community members must also follow these rules. Pickup admins and community members alike must avoid actions that will lead to verbal confrontation and conflict with each other. This will disrupt both gameplay and morale, removing the 'fun' aspect in a pickup game. Players caught doing so will be removed from the match and will not be permitted to play in pickup games for a limited amount of time.

Kicking
If you are kicked from a pick-up game or from TS3, there will most definitely have been a reason, if you are unsure of what is for any reason speak to a Legions/Server admin and they will likely fill you in. If think you have a problem regarding admin abuse speak to me (Jordan/Jordahan) or SeymourGore.

New rules, restrictions and guidelines
So here is where I am adding the bulk of my new information, along with adding other things along the way. There should under absolutely no circumstances be deliberate teamkilling in a pickup game. This will almost certainly lead to a kick and a ban from pickups. I never thought I would have to say this but I played in a couple pickups lately where it needed to be said. There will be a limit of TWO snipers and TWO heavies per team (unless specified by the captains at the beginning of the match) though this is a generally a pretty poor strategy and I emplore you to not do it. If one captain has made decisions that are seen by the majority as poor (or potentially has a history of very poor choices) then they can remove and replace that captain with a better one (yes I am talking about a mutiny.)
These are in descending order from the ones which most commonly go poorly. There are the common maps that get played and then a few other maps which can be enjoyable, this list might change with the possible addition of more maps.

These are the appropriate team sizes for map
  • Small maps (Nivosus, etc.) a MAXIMUM of 6v6
  • Small-medium maps (Frostbyte, etc.) a MAXIMUM of 8 vs. 8
  • Medium-Large maps (Zenith, etc.) a MINIMUM of 9 vs. 9
  • Large maps (Mirage, etc.) a MINIMUM of 10 vs. 10
That's all on general conduct rules for pickup games. Of course this Constitution is a 'living document' and may be changed if seen fit.If you have any further complaints, issues or additions regarding this speak to me (Jordan/Jordahan) through either IRC, the forums, or TeamSpeak 3 (providing I am on)

So it's entirely possible that I missed a few things that are seen as undesirable now, if I have hit me up and let me so I can add it to this post.

Happy pugging!
 
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Jordahan

World Leader of The 21st Century
Public Gameplay


Dueling in the CTF servers
There seems to recently be a problem with people dueling in servers meant for CTF. This is nothing but a nuisance for people who are trying to play a real game. There are duel servers for a reason please use them. If you are exclusively dueling (not playing LO or LD) in a server and are asked to stop please either cease and begin playing the game or vacate the server and join another one. If you continue to ignore the rule and keep dueling you may be kicked from the server for disturbing a match of CTF.

Balancing Teams
This has been brought up quite a bit with me lately, about people deliberately unbalancing or "stacking" teams, if the teams are even (ex/ 6v6) don't join the other team so you can be with your friend. You're only going to irritate people, furthermore, if an admin purposely switches you teams do not continue to switch back. It was done INTENTIONALLY, it was not an accident!
 
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