Heres a list of things that I've thought of. Clan Vs. Clan Play: First off, I'm thinking that 2 squadrons (10 players) and one commander (1 player) should be required for any official clan match. Secondly, Rules of engagement. Okay, One day of the week is scheduled for a representative to get on the forums and challenge another clan. During this day, a clan may challenge any clan, but the first come first server rule applies. The next day, the matches are posted with all of the challenges deleted. It is up to the teams to decide upon the time of the match. if, by the end of the following day, no one can decide on a good time, the match will be scheduled on Friday, at 9 PM of the most convenient time zone. By this, I either mean +1 gmt or -7gmt. This depends upon whether the clans fighting are in the US or in Europe. If there is a different time zone both clans can formally agree to, it should be posted, and the match time will be adjusted accordingly. By the third day, the matches should be set for sometime by the end of the 7th day. This means, If a match was challenged on sunday, it would be set up on monday, and matches would proceed between tuesday and saturday. Lastly, if a clan outright refuses to play against another clan, the clan refusing will autmatically forfeit, and a note will be placed with them that they forfeited to the other team. Forfeit wins should be noted, but not differentiated between when figuring total wins and losses. Third, Reporting results: Simply put, the referee's of each match should post the results, with a screen shot of the scoreboard for record tracking purposes. Failure to have a match will result in the match being a forfeit to the team that was not prepared. Teams should have up to 10 minutes after the starting time of the match to have a fieldable team. Fourth, match rules: This is relatively simple. Match rules are that a server must be set to stock settings. Com vote time should be changed to something like 60 seconds. each clan plays one round on either side, NF or BE. If both teams win on one side, the match is a draw. no tie breakers. Obviously, no exploiting, glitching, cheating, etc. Anything that is not intended for game play more or less. Using a wall to get on top of something, or a turret to climb somewhere is considered not intended. For example, using turrets to climb across the edge of a wall in escort. If you need a more detail list of things that you can or cannot do, then you are an ass trying to exploit. At any rate, using an object for things that it isn't normally used for (like putting a vehicle up against the wall to use the EMP_unstuck code to make it pop you on top of the vehicle) shouldn't be done. Thats more or less the baseline. This all basically needs 1 thread that would be monitored and cleaned, but otherwise unused day to day. Possibly a second thread with results and links to demo's/scoreboard pics. i was kinda skimp on the rules section, because I believe all tactics should be valid, unless it is not within the bounds of the game or map. Bounds of the game means that you can do it without using the console. bounds of the map means you cannot do it outside the playing area that the map was obviously designed for (top side of the displacements). If anyone has trouble comprehending the rules, or what is a viable tactic, they shouldn't be in a clan. Every clan member should understand what makes a tactic valid or invalid. Maybe if someone must absolutely have a concrete rule compendium, i'll make one later for the sake of making a list of reasons why a ref can force a forfeit. but for now, that's arbitrary. as far as I am concerned, the more complicated the rules, the easier it is to make loop holes. Also, these are general guidelines for making matches and reporting matches. This isn't for a season or anything, this is just a general clan match listing. One minor addition to the challenging rule: If a clan doesn't own an operating server, it cannot challenge. Why? This guarantees a clan has the means to play regardless of the situation of the clan they challenge. I'm not particularly looking for thoughts and opinions, but if you feel like posting some, feel free. This method would not require anyone to be in charge, nor would it require much effort in upkeep. I think it would be preferable if the empires clan forum had a subsection for this with a group of moderators that would be in charge of keeping page for the clans in their warfare.
Sounds quite good, except: Com vote time. Usually when EPIC plays we had something around 5minutes of com vote time, enough time to talk tactics and fuck around.
the big point with this is that nobody is in charge. No one can change the rules. They can only moderate the threads to keep them clean.
Yeah but they take forever to set up. You need a frickin constitutional convention to make the rules. And are you really gonna form a company so a group can pay for the domain name, etc?
I do too. That was the best part of the demos. BSID vs JPL on duststorm comes to mind. One of the commentators says "Cyber is using some smart tactics and protecting their vf from rockets with his CV." One minute later, his armor was down from that and we rushed with tanks. That still makes me laugh to this day.
wtf? Set up some rules, add some people to monitor the threads and keep things clean (IE, set up a template on how to formerly challenge someone, and any post not posted to those guidelines will be removed). This is purely for setting up matches. It is not anything on how referee's should do what when where and why, etc. Clans should be more or less able to play a fair game of empires without any problems. as there are no major hacks for empires, at least none that I know of, as long as you keep an eye on glitching, you should be fine. You still want to commentate, go ahead. I think this would be best for setting up a general ladder for the teams to compete on, as well as keep in practice by actively having matches. It would also allow for teams to keep track of their record. People are there to enforce rules, not to have power over them. No one player or person should have the ability to add or remove any rules whatsoever. This is a major flaw in any competitive play type of game. You need to write a basic set of rules for setting up, and recording, matches fairly, and let the taems have at it without interference. If you want to have a side tournament every couple of months, with scheduled games and a bracket or something, that's something that could be set up later, and independently of the ladder itself, though it may be necessary to postpone any ladder matches during the tournament.
