The Cogs - Season 2 Rules and Format

[Squash]

The problem is the amount of warning we had. We were ready, but only found out half an hour before the match that you had invented a new rule. Gathering reserves is one thing, but gathering them in less than 30 minutes is completely different.

[Imagine]

The problem is the amount of warning we had. We were ready, but only found out half an hour before the match that you had invented a new rule. Gathering reserves is one thing, but gathering them in less than 30 minutes is completely different.

Just out of curiosity, did you ask if you could use a Raft member, or did you just assume you could?

[Frogger]

"Bouncing members between teams to maximise a team's chances is unacceptable either way..."

Your implicit accusation makes no sense within the context of this particular match because it was two Duck teams facing each other. Despite the fact that the Brood and Paddling were fighting each other, they were both still Duck teams and therefore both interested were making sure the fight was as fair as possible. Squash was working just as hard to Jace to find suitable replacements for the Brood after a large number of no-shows and technical issues. So I suppose yes, in a sense we were trying to maximize the Brood's chances of not having a completely unbalanced game, as the Brood-Paddling match regrettably turned out to be.

"...you should have been prepared to field three teams..."

The Ducks were prepared to field three teams, but as stated above a mix of no-shows and technical difficulties made it difficult to sub in experienced players who were familiar with the playstyles of the Brood captains. I suppose that the Brood simply could have forfeited, but that wouldn't have been very fun, would it? I for one would err on the side of giving substitutes a little more freedom - the Season 1 rule seems pefectly fine to me (one match per player per week). The easier it is to sub in players, the less likely the chances of forfeited or unbalanced games.

From my own point of view as a captain in the Raft, I do not view substitutions as a positive thing, nor do I think that by subbing in "better" players my chances for victory are increased - quite the opposite, in fact. I have a particular way of running my ship, and my regular crew (with whom I train regularly) gives me the best chance of executing my particular strategies. Maybe under certain circumstances certain other players are better than my regular crew members in certain tasks, but I would view any substitution on my ship as generally undesirable, even if I were to sub in an "elite" player from another team. I don't think substitutions should be viewed so negatively - rather, they can help ensure even, interesting games, when regular players have to quite understandably miss Cogs matches for real life commitments.

I would like to hear from some other members of the community their opinions on the Season 1 (one match per player per week) vs. the Season 2 (sub players from other teams must wait for the team for which they subbed to play without them for one week before they can rejoin their regular team) substitution rules.

[Squash]

Just out of curiosity, did you ask if you could use a Raft member, or did you just assume you could?

Great question. Here are the general order of events. The only context you need is all three Duck teams were scheduled to play, Haven vs. Raft and Brood vs Paddling. All three teams have preparing for this week for months, very exciting.


1 Hour to play time: Find out Haven drops out, Raft can't play. Also find out Brood needs three reserves.

59 minutes to play time: The decision to use Raft as reserves is made, that way at least 3 Raft members can play instead of their Saturday being wasted. But is it legal?

58 minutes to play time: I check the forums and find the Cogs rules thread, look up the substitution rules. Here is the rule:

Substitutes and Backups are permitted, but they are not permitted to play for more than one team a week.

30 minutes to play time: Tell Swallow what we're going to do, I posed it as a question but I was really just doing it as a courtesy. Swallow says no. Below is the conversation:

Saturday, July 06, 2013
Squash: are we able to use a raft captain to fill in for a brood captain?
Swallow: Yes, but they won't be able to play as Raft next week, so I'd advise against it.
Squash: but isn't there a rule that anyone can sub as long as they only play ONE match a week?
Swallow: That's not the rule.
Swallow: The rule is that anyone can sub for a team... but they won't be able to play for another team until they team they subbed for has played at least one match without them.
Squash: Substitutes and Backups are permitted, but they are not permitted to play for more than one team a week. This is to prevent floating players that switch teams and play every week, although it's not perfect. Players caught skirting this and playing for multiple other teams during their team's off-weeks to boost their positions will be dealt with. Let teams rise and fall on their own merits, not on the merits of their substitutes.
Swallow: Huh... Could have sworn the new ruleset included that...
Swallow: Ah well, The new rules are still in effect.
Squash: what does that mean?
Swallow: That means that the sub rules were changed for season 2...
Squash: sorry i don't know which rule is old and which is new
Squash: when you say new rules
Squash: i don't know which those are
Squash: i'm not trying to be difficult
Squash: just please say definitively one way or the other
Swallow: I already have. If a raft player plays this week, they'll have to wait until Brood plays another match without them before they can play again.

And that's pretty much it. I think the Brood did amazingly given the time they had to react to the new rule. I'm extremely grateful to the three reserves who played with less than half an hour's warning, and I'm deeply apologetic to all the Raft members who thought they'd be playing this week but couldn't.

[-Muse- Cullen]

The Crews and Substitutes section of the rules have been edited. Please note them for the future.

[N-Sunderland]

Clans that have multiple teams will be required to have their players and substitutes locked onto a team for the season once they play for that team.

You have to be joking.

[Captain Smollett]

That's ridiculous. 

This is a rule that only effects us and is crazy.

What exactly is the problem with subs playing for different teams.  No one wants to use a sub ever, it always puts you at a disadvantage.  How could a substitute help anyone other than allowing them to actually be able to play a week where one of their members can't make it.

Why do you guys want to make it harder to get a team together than it already is?  Let us just play the games, who cares who's playing on each team.  Why does it matter?

[Captain Smollett]

What's going to happen to all the rugged men subbing for BFS.  Can they not play in this week's match now?   Will they be forced to join BFS forever?  What if people want to switch clans?

What is stopping players from changing their names or playing under different accounts?

We frequently had ducks playing for smaller teams in the Cogs when they were just starting out so that they were able make their matches.  There were also a pool of unaffiliated players who could fill rosters for different teams every week.  These were the things that made the Cogs possible, that gave competitive and interesting matches every week, and helped keep the community close knit.

These new rules are Draconian, unwarranted and unenforceable.  They serve no ascertainable purpose and I for one would like them to be reverted.

[Sammy B. T.]

I am just going to go ahead and assume that season now means something much shorter. Locking anything for two months seems ridiculous.

If this had been implement last season I would probably no longer be playing this game. Early on when I first started playing I was used a last second replacement for the Paddling. Then I had a chance to play for the early Brood, before my quick foray into my own team the Dover before I went back to the Brood full time. I've gotten to help out PaFa in there as well. Some of the best online gaming in my life, wouldn't have happened because suddenly I would be tied to the Paddling.

Now look, if a team is intentionally floating members around to beat the system, I can understand actions being taken. However, subbing is 94% detrimental. If I had to sub Sunderland onto my ship, someone who I consider to be the best engineer in the game, I would still consider myself less than optimal because he is not my crew, he would be my sub.

I can understand the day before roster, however a season long lock is incredibly stiffing to people trying to join the system.

[-Muse- Cullen]

Apologies- I forgot to include this important piece of information in the previous post about the notice. The changes to the rules will not be effective for 7 days- this is to avoid making such an abrupt change. Tomorrow's match 7/19/2013 will not have the new rules.

[N-Sunderland]

Remember how the Brood v Paddling Cogs Week 1 match went? We'll get more of that if such heavy restrictions are put on our substitutes. It's great to have as many substitutes as possible available, but it's detrimental when you actually have to use them, since it means that you're missing a regular crew member. It's as if the ATP put restrictions on how many bandages players could use during the year with the excuse that bandages can be used for performance-enhancing purposes, and that the players are winning on the merits of their bandages, not their skill. After all, what's the purpose of having individual players if they all use the same type of bandage?

[Keon]

No team can make 100% attendance every game. Perhaps it would be better to say that the maximum substitutions per week is 2 or something like that? Right now this rule feels arbitrary and really hurts the competitive scene. If I have to sub for a week, I can't play ever again? Say Paddling has a vacancy one week. The next week, they don't. Oh well. I don't play... right? But then raft needs a player or they will need to forfit, and at the same time I could be helping them, they are screwed, and I don't get to play.

That's just wrong. A better proposal: Max 2 substitutions per week.

[Sammy B. T.]

Why not just put some restrictions on people on posted teams. Currently the sub system means that each of the duck teams has to have a handful of their own substitutes. Why not just let us share these substitutes, with possible restrictions on how quickly they can bounce? That way we can let newer ducks get a taste for competitive play but not prevent them from opportunities.

[Sammy B. T.]

So no discussion on the changes?

[N-Sunderland]

Everyone on the team must belong to the clan(s) that the team is hailing from.

I didn't even notice this bit. Apart from the fact that you'll have a pretty hard time enforcing this, it's a silly rule. Some clans only have nine people in them, and will have 2 or 3 absences on occasion. So what happens in that case? Do you want them to pack up and leave?

These substitute rules will not help anybody. They'll only hurt clans both large and small, they'll result in cancelled matches, teams dropping out because of one single weekend where a couple of people couldn't make it, and they'll prevent people coming into the Cogs as subs for the first time from later getting onto teams until the following season (Like Sammy B.T. Imagine last season without the Quackbar). I've watched every single streamed Cogs match up to this point, and I have not seen a single example of teams using substitutes to maximize their chances of victory. Substitutes are damage limitation. If this was a two-day tournament, the rules would be perfectly justified. But you cannot treat the Cogs like a two-day tournament. A lot can happen in two months.