Official Rule Suggestion Page

[Keyvias]

Here are the second season rules, but we'd love to take the rest of the week to hear your thoughts on the season rules, our league idea, and end of season tournament.


   
GLOSSARY
This is a simple glossary of key terms so that there is no confusion when discussing terms.

Competitive TEAM (Team): Team scores are tracked in the competitive scene and they are fighting for that slot in the The Fabria Conclusion. The top ten teams will be tracked here. A team is simply a captain applying for events, tournaments, and gathering a roster.  There is no minimum or maximum size on a team. For events with prizes there is a maximum of four substitutes as far as prizes are concerned. Team captains should officially register for competitive play by sending an email to Competitive@musegames.com with their team name.

TO: Abreviation of ‘Tournament Organiser’

SKIRMISH: A match organised at any time between two teams to gain points within the Competitive system. The matches are very lax in their formatting, read the skirmish section below.

Once two Teams have agreed to a skirmish, the winning team would send a screen cap of the event over to Competitive@musegames.com(subject line should read “Competitive [Team Name vs Team Name] [Number of points won]”).

Teams collecting points will be ranked in a leaderboard on the competitive site.


SKIRMISHES
In Skirmishes, the map and the server must be agreed upon by both teams, if no agreement can be reached, then the teams are free to not play the skirmish and find another opponent.
Skirmishes do NOT have to be a deathmatch or point capture match. Skirmishes can be in whatever format as long as both teams agree and there is a clear winner.
E.g. the skirmish could be all spires all carronades
e.g. the skirmish could be squid racing, both teams simply have to agree to the match.
The skirmish results are reported via screencap emailed to the competitive address (Competitive@musegames.com).
You may only gain points once against the same team in skirmishes per week.

POINTS
Each victory against a Competitive Team is worth 1 point for the victorious Team. It does not matter if the match is an organized Skirmish, or a tournament of any kind. If both sides are competitive teams, then a Skirmish point may be claimed. Any Skirmish is worth 1 point; however, if a team of lower Rank defeats a higher Rank team, an extra “underdog” point may be claimed, meaning that a maximum of 2 points can be awarded per Competitive Match.

POINT LIMIT
Each week, each team can earn a maximum of 4 Points with an exception for “underdog” points. An Official Skirmish week begins at 12 a.m. EST Monday, and ends at 11:59 p.m. EST Sunday, at which point the Standings are updated.

PARTICIPATION POINT
Every week you can earn one point simply by being a part of a skirmish, win or lose.  This does not count towards your cap.

TOURNAMENT
Tournaments are organised by TOs, and they can be players or team Muse. Every tournament CAN be part of the competitive system, provided that the TO abides by our community standard and spirit.  Any team meeting the basic requirements of competitive play will be allowed to compete in every tournament that we endorse. Any competitive event that excludes eligible teams will receive neither sponsorship nor recognition from Muse.

There is a Muse Standard Rules pack provided (see below), however the TO can change any rules at his or her discretion. Any situations not covered by the TO default to the standard rules.

You may fight the same team repeatedly for points in a tournament, but the underdog bonus does not apply in a tournament.


STANDARD RULES
Should a tournament not specify any rules about a certain detail, it will default to the Muse Standard Rules listed below. Tournament organizers can also opt to use the Muse Standard Rules should they not wish to create their own.

POINTS & FORMATS
Each tournament match win counts as a point towards the post-season.  If the tournament is in a mixed team format, meaning multiple teams fighting on a side against multiple teams on the other side (presumably with one team per ship), then both teams on the winning side are eligible to receive points toward the post-season.  If the format of the tournament is based on cumulative kill counts only, then we will work with the organizer(s) to determine the winning conditions and award points based on the winning conditions specific to that tournament.

BONUS TOURNAMENT POINTS
The top three teams earn bonus points that do not count toward the weekly limit. The first place earns three bonus points, the second place earns two bonus points, and third place earns one bonus point.

SUBSTITUTIONS
1. A team may have any number of substitutes for the event, but only up to 12 people on the team determined by the team captain may earn prizes
2. Any crew member can be substituted.
3. Cross team substitution is permitted, as long as:
4. No substitute may appear on any other team in the event.

MATCH FORMAT
1. A match between 2 teams will be best out of 3.
2. There is at the moment no time limit requirement.  We do encourage teams to keep the matches to within an hour, so that everyone who volunteers or waits for the next round to start are not significantly disrupted.  If we see the flow of the tournament significantly disrupted in the future, we will consider instituting time limits with tie-breaking rules. 

DISCONNECTIONS AND CONNECTION ISSUES
Matches are not restarted for disconnects, unless:
1. If both teams agree to restart
2. Before the first kill if 25% of the matches players disconnect, the match can be restarted by either team.
3. Server issue or lag spikes can start a restart if both teams agree or the referee at the organizer’s discretion.

NO-SHOWS AND FORFEITURE
1. Both teams and the referee are expected to gather and coordinate at least fifteen minutes before the scheduled start time for the match.
2. If a team cannot assemble its roster five minutes before the scheduled start time, that team must either forfeit or go "as-is" with AI crew.
3. If the referee does not show at least fifteen minutes before the scheduled start time for the match, then both sides must agree to either wait for the referee to arrive, agree upon a CA to be chosen as a new referee, or
4. If the referee does not show and a compromise on waiting OR on a new referee cannot be reached, the match will not occur and may be rescheduled.

REFEREES AND ARBITRATION
1. The tournament organizer and a chosen referee for a match is to be respected as having the authority to interpret the rules and judge the event.
2. The chosen referee or the tournament organizer for a match has the final say in all judgements.
3. After the event, if there are any disagreements between players and the organizer and no agreement can be reached, please contact team Muse at feedback@musegames.com to help mediate the issue.

MAPS
Each team chooses a map and the winner of a coin flip decides the map.  The loser then chooses the next map.
SERVERS
The default server is American, but can be changed if both teams agree, or if specified by the Tournament Organizer.

TIME LIMITS
There is at the moment no time limit requirement. We do encourage teams to keep the matches to within an hour, so that everyone who volunteers or waits for the next round to start are not significantly disrupted. If we see the flow of the tournament significantly disrupted in the future, we will consider instituting time limits with tie-breaking rules.
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The MUSE LEVIATHAN SEASONAL:
This is the league event that we are posting that will last throughout a competitive season.  It is designed to be really flexible, and as a more laid back league event complementing other events going on in the community. 

SIGN UPS
Every Monday a sign up thread is opened with these questions:
 
Name of Team:
Team Captain:
Times available:
 
FORMAT
On Thursday at 11:59 p.m. EST the teams will be assigned to fight one another at mutual available time. An organizer will create the match and manage both teams in the match.  The match will be a best out of three.
 
Organizers will be chosen from Muse team, CA’s, and other members of the community appointed by Muse who opt in to help Ref.
 
If a team does not show at their scheduled time, then the other team is granted the victory by default.
 
Points will be added to the team’s season total.
 
The points earned in the event will also have their own leaderboard with the top four slots earning the titles
Lord
Duke
Knight
Squire




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End of Season Tournament
The Fabria Conclusion Invitational post-season tournament:
The end of season grand tournament will be run over the course of 2 days, and is an invitational event. To qualify, you must be one of the top 10 teams in the season (see standings for points). Additionally, there are also two teams that will be voted in by the community from remaining qualifying teams.
The tournament will be run using standard Muse Rules
Day 1:
The 12 teams are split up into four groups of three, This is a round robin event, where the top two teams from each pool will advance, bringing the total number of teams to eight. These teams will then be seeded for day two.
Day 2:
A standard single elimination, best of three tournament, with the advancing eight teams seeded throughout.
There will be 3 rounds - Quarter Finals, Semi Finals, and Finals, starting with 8 teams, and ending with 1 winner. There will also be an extra game to determine 3rd place.
All matches will start on Fjords, with loser of the first match choosing between Paritan, Duel and Dunes.
Prizes:
The winning team is awarded a platinum badge, 2nd gets gold, 3rd gets silver, and each other team gets a bronze participation badge. The first place winner will also get the opportunity to name AI in the game.  Individual team members of the winning team will also each receive a secret prize announced on the final day of the tournament.
The winning team will also be featured on the Competitive front page, facebook, and Steam forum, as well as in the newsletter.
All rewards are subject to change.

[Coldcurse]

give me 2 days to read this

[Byron Cavendish]

give me 2 days to read this

This.

[Byron Cavendish]

Okay took, a crack at organizing this beast, and removing any unnecessary filler.

SKIRMISHES:
Skirmishes are matches organized at any time between two teams to gain points within the Competitive system. Once two Teams have agreed to a skirmish, the winning team would send a screen cap of the event over to Competitive@musegames.com(subject line should read “Competitive [Team Name vs Team Name] [Number of points won]”). Teams collecting points will be ranked in a leader board on the competitive site.

In Skirmishes, the map and the server must be agreed upon by both teams, if no agreement can be reached, then the teams are free to not play the skirmish and find another opponent.

An Official Skirmish week begins at 12 a.m. EST Monday, and ends at 11:59 p.m. EST Sunday, at which point the standings are updated.

Skirmishes can be both death match and the capture the point.

POINTS:
Each victory against a competitive team is worth one point for the victorious team. If both sides are competitive teams, then a Skirmish point may be claimed, if the match was agreed to count towards competitive points prior to its start. Any Skirmish is worth 1 point; however, if a team of lower Rank defeats a higher Rank team, an extra “underdog” point may be claimed, meaning that a maximum of 2 points can be awarded per Competitive Match. You may only gain points once against the same team in skirmishes per week. Each week, each team can earn a maximum of five points, with an exception for “underdog” points. You may fight the same team repeatedly for points in a tournament, but the underdog bonus does not apply in a tournament.

RANKED LADDER:
The Skirmish Ladder is made up 3 tiers:
Tier 3 - Elite - is 16+SP
Tier 2 - Competitor - 6 to 15 SP
Tier 1 - Newcomer - 0 to 5 SP

SEASON END TOURNAMENT:
The end of season tournament will be run over the course of 2 days, and is an invitational event. To qualify, you must be one of the top 10 teams in the season (see standings for points). Additionally, there are also two teams that will be voted in by the community from remaining qualifying teams.

Day 1:
The 12 teams are split up into four groups of three, This is a round robin event, where the top two teams from each pool will advance, bringing the total number of teams to eight. These teams will then be seeded for day two.
Day 2:
A standard single elimination, best of three tournament, with the advancing eight teams seeded throughout.
There will be 3 rounds - Quarter Finals, Semi Finals, and Finals, starting with 8 teams, and ending with 1 winner. There will also be an extra game to determine 3rd place.
All matches will start on Fjords, with loser of the first match choosing between Paritan, Duel and Dunes.
Prizes:
The winning team is awarded a platinum badge, 2nd gets gold, 3rd gets silver, and each other team gets a bronze participation badge. The first place winner will also get the opportunity to name AI in the game.  Individual team members of the winning team will also each receive a secret prize announced on the final day of the tournament.
The winning team will also be featured on the Competitive front page, facebook, and Steam forum, as well as in the newsletter.
All rewards are subject to change.

SUBSTITUTIONS:
1. A team may have any number of substitutes for the skirmishes and tourament, but only a maximum of twelve members of the team can claim prizes(at their own discretion).
2. Any crew member can be substituted.
3. Substitutes may not join any other team in any skirmishes or season end tournament.

DISCONNECTIONS AND CONNECTION ISSUES:
Matches are not restarted for disconnects, unless:
1. If both teams agree to restart.
2. Before the first kill if 25% of the matches players disconnect, the match can be restarted by either team.
3. Server issue or lag spikes can start a restart if both teams agree or the referee at the organizer’s discretion.

ATTENDANCE:
1. Both teams and the referee are expected to gather and coordinate at least fifteen minutes before the scheduled start time for the match.
2. If a team cannot assemble its roster five minutes before the scheduled start time, that team must either forfeit or go "as-is" with AI crew.
3. If the referee does not show at least fifteen minutes before the scheduled start time for the match, then both sides must agree to either wait for the referee to arrive, OR agree upon a CA to be chosen as a new referee. If the referee does not show and a compromise on waiting OR on a new referee cannot be reached, the match will not occur and may be rescheduled.

REFEREES AND ARBITRATION:
1. The tournament organizer and a chosen referee for a match is to be respected as having the authority to interpret the rules and judge the event.
2. The chosen referee or the tournament organizer for a match has the final say in all judgements.
3. After the event, if there are any disagreements between players and the organizer and no agreement can be reached, please contact team Muse at feedback@musegames.com to help mediate the issue.

I removed the entire bit about the leviathan tournament because I think that should have it's own event thread.

[Byron Cavendish]

In addition I propose to add this:

QUALIFICATION:
To qualify for competitive play, a team must enter with eight preselected members. A team may be part of a clan or un-clanned. If a team is part of a clan it may choose to represent it's clan, or represent itself as a separate entity. If a clan chooses to enter more than one team, only one team may be the clan's official team. The other team(s) may compete, but as separate entities.

MAP POOL:
The maps that will be competed on will be pre-determined by the tournament organizer or referee by random selection. Each team's side will be pre-determined by the tournament organizer or referee by random selection.

[Sammy B. T.]

While I like the no limits on size, the point cap being as high as five per week really skews things in favor of the large clans. If you're a small clan with 12ish people, playing and winning five competitive games every week would be quite difficult. Last season the Ducks had to work hard at the beginning to reach five and we are somewhat above average in times of size. I would suggest three or four to be the point cap limit which would basically prevent one of the larger clans, or even just a medium sized clan from just quickly running the points up.

[Captain Smollett]

LADDER UNDERDOG POINTS
An extra underdog point is given to victories against higher tier teams meaning if a team in T1 wins against a team in T2 the victory is worth 3 points, and the same T1 team wins against a team in T3 the victory is then worth 4 points.

This seems a bit unclear as to whether an underdog point is worth 1 point, 2 points or 3 points.

MAPS
The default starting map is Fjords. with loser of the first match choosing between Paritan, Duel, and Dunes.

Personally I like random maps better, maps change the style of combat tremendously and leaving it up to fate forces teams to prepare for everything thereby heightening the level of play. 

While I like the no limits on size, the point cap being as high as five per week really skews things in favor of the large clans. If you're a small clan with 12ish people, playing and winning five competitive games every week would be quite difficult. Last season the Ducks had to work hard at the beginning to reach five and we are somewhat above average in times of size. I would suggest three or four to be the point cap limit which would basically prevent one of the larger clans, or even just a medium sized clan from just quickly running the points up.

I agree, I think this season should try out a 4 point cap limit so that smaller clans can stay competitive in the system.

[Captain Smollett]

Also, this may be implied but it would be great to see tournaments using standard Muse formats to have a rule requiring the TO's to submit screenshots and point totals to Muse so teams get automatically credited for their victories.

[Dev Bubbles]

Hey what's up guys.  Taking a break from working on stuff and testing to chime in  

@Bryon, yeah sorry for the longer post.  We decided to post everything in entirety so people can see all the stuff together as a whole.  It does make it harder to digest hahaha.  Apologies! 

With team size, we've been listening to different feedback, and decided on making the definition of team more flexible.  One reason is that, this gives more flexibility for substitutions and more consideration for teams scheduling etc.  As long as there is a team captain who is responsible for the team in terms of organization, signups, and substation, and communications with the tournament organizers and us, we feel that flexibility here works and should make the process of forming and managing a team a bit easier.  Because we orient towards the team, the flexibility of the team being under a clan's umbrella or not is also there.  But we can definitely consider doing more for clans as well.  Our logic is to try to remove as much red tape as possible for everyone basically. 
This is definitely not to argue against your point or suggestion, but just to give you an idea of our thought process  

@Smollett and Sammy:  Thanks a lot for the point on the weekly point cap number.  Noted, we'll stew on this more  

Also, let me just take a step back and recap the spirit behind what we do. 
1.  We want to provide a structure that is useful and approachable for you guys who take the initiative and spend the incredible efforts to organize stuff and to participate in them.  So the idea is to be more flexible to work with people and complement people, but still have some standardization and structure, which would make coordination and mediation easier. 
2.  We are looking to start our own stuff, partly because we think it's fun, but that's only a smaller part of it.  The bigger part is to give people more choice and more stuff to have fun with.  The aim for our league event is once again flexibility and simplicity.  The format of it probably won't be viewed as the most hard core, hahaha, but that's ok.  If people have one more event to enjoy, we are perfectly happy. 

With the ruleset that we've put forth so far, you should see echoes of current and past events.  And that is definitely intentional.  We wanted to take ideas that we think work well, and as long as the ideas are good, we don't really care where they come from.  We are also learning a lot from past mistakes and stumbles.  We don't always do things well, and we do make mistakes.  But we try to look at the mistakes we make and fix them and get better.  This is in everything we do.  So please keep in mind that we are not perfect, and we have a lot of room for improvement.  But we do try.  The most important thing is for everyone to enjoy the game and cherish the friendship we all have. 

Keep the feedback coming everyone!  And thanks again for being supportive! 

[Squash]

As always I'm with Smollett. I don't know why Fjords is the benchmark map, every map has its problems and Fjords no less than others. Rather than encouraging the belief that maps can be fit into categories, it's better to consider each map fostering its own builds and strategies, and treat Fjords, Dunes, and Labyrinth as the unique snowflakes that they are. I'd much prefer random maps.

[Dev Bubbles]

@Squash, ok point taken.  It's a good one.  We can think of something better than having Fjords as the default map. 

[Alistair MacBain]

Would say to choose the first map by random and then the loosers choice is a nice idea. But im not sure how the random map thing can be done.

[Dev Bubbles]

Yeah good question, one idea is a "coin flip," but that gives team little time to prepare.  One thing we can do is to use a map randomizer and we draw the first map for each round of the tourney or each week of league play.  And we announce the results of the drawing some time ahead of time.  Just an idea.  We'll think this through more tomorrow and try to propose something reasonable. 
Thanks a lot!

[Keyvias]

Changes added to the ruleset

5 points per week has been lowered to 4.

Map rules have been changed to:
There is a coin flip between the two teams and the winner decides the map.  The loser of the match then chooses the next map.

[Skrimskraw]

can I ask to remove squid racing from the list of skirmishes.

I don't think it's valid to use as a point skirmish as long as it's not a ingame supported gamemode.