Author Topic: "The Cogs" Ruleset  (Read 60468 times)

Offline Swallox

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"The Cogs" Ruleset
« on: March 26, 2013, 12:09:49 pm »
This topic contains the official rules of The Cogs as of the 26th of March 2013. There's been a bit of confusion so let's get this all cleared up.

The Cogs Standings
Currently split into three distinct 'tiers', plus two newcomer spots that aren't officially part of The Cogs, the Standings look a little confusing on first glance... But let's break them down.

Tier One is the simplest. The Champion's Cog; This is spot #1. This tier does not rotate and the Champion team play every week to maintain their position.

Tier Two contains the Challenger teams. These are the top tier teams that are contenders for the Champion's Cog. Positions #2, #3 and #4 are present in this Cog and rotate on a weekly basis to determine which of the Challenger teams play to advance or defend their spot on a given week.

At the end of the week a team's Spot is rotated and reduced by 1. (#2 -> #3, #3 -> #4)
The team currently at #4 will be moved to #2


Tier Three is the Upcomer's cog, and features five slots ranging from #5-#9. This is the lowest official spot in The Cogs, but is certainly not to be sniffed at. Once again, this Cog rotates weekly to determine which two teams play that week.

At the end of the week a team's Spot is rotated and reduced by 1. (#5 -> #6, #6 -> #7, #7 -> #8, #8 -> #9)
The team currently at #9 will be moved to #5


The Newcomer's slot is split into two positions. #10a and #10b. Both of these teams should be capable of playing on the week, and the position is granted based on a first-come, first-serve signup list in The Cogs forum.


Advancement and Dropping
Each week, three matches are played. They are as follows.

Champion vs Challenger: Spot #1 vs Spot #2. Winner advances.
In the event that #1 can't play, #2 and #3 will play for spot #1 instead. In this instance, #1 will be moved to spot #3.
In the event that #2 can't play, #1 and #3 will play for spot #1 instead. In this instance, #2 will be moved to spot #3

Upcomer's Advancement: Spot #4 vs Spot #5. Winner advances.
In the event that #4 can't play, #5 and #6 will play for spot #4 instead. In this instance, #4 will be moved to spot #5
In the event that #5 can't play, #4 and #6 will play for spot #4 instead. In this instance, the loser will be placed in spot #6

Newcomer's Proving Ground: Spot #9 vs Spot #10a. Winner advances. Loser is removed from The Cogs
In the event that #9 can't play, #10a and #10b will play for spot #9 instead. In this instance, #9 is removed from The Cogs
In the event that #10a can't play, #9 and #10b will play for spot #9 instead. In this instance, #10a is removed from The Cogs

In the event that multiple matches are dropped or there are deemed to be too many fractured and impotent teams within The Cogs, a grand tournament in the style of Fjords will be held. Teams will be seeded with the positions gained within The Cogs. The tournament results will determine the Cog positions of each team.


Maps
Maps are randomly selected from the current pool of 2v2 deathmatch maps in the game. In the event of more 2v2 deathmatch maps being added, they will immediately be added to the map pool.

A map may not be randomly selected more than once per week. This means that Match 1 could be on any of the four current maps. Match 2 could be on the remaining three maps and Match 3 could be either of the two remaining maps. The maps are selected using a RNG and revealed three days before they are due to be played.


Match Specifics
Currently we are unable to enforce any ship or weapon-related mandates... And so a team is permitted to switch their builds and roles right up until the last second of the lobby's countdown timer. DO THIS AT YOUR OWN PERIL. If a ship is incorrectly fitted due to last second switching, the match WILL NOT be restarted. You have been warned.

There are currently no plans to include a time limit, despite some of them lasting for longer than your average cricket match. (I'm looking at you, Paddling). This relies on the players and teams not exploiting this to ridiculous proportions. If it is deemed appropriate at a later stage, reasonable countermeasures to team-dickery will be put into place. Likewise, repeated use of areas, tricks or glitches deemed unfair by Muse consensus will have consequences. Play it straight.

Each match is played to Five kills, standard deathmatch rules, on an American server. To prevent ghosting, the spectator slots are limited to unaffiliated Cogs staff only. That means no crew CAs too. Really.


Crew and Substitutes
Each team has to have a complete roster of eight members. Two captains and six crew, spread across two ships. Failure to provide a full crew roster on the day of an event is ground for an automatic loss and a compromise match. (Sidenote: Museosaurs are special case. I've mulled it over and there's no way that we can boot Bubbles and the devs out of The Cogs without serious hammer related repercussions. Also: We like the Muse guys.)

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.



It was about time I got around to writing the official rules... Though I've probably forgotten quite a few things. Still, this is why we're a community. If you have any questions or feel that it's missing a section, post below or find me in-game, on Steam or on Skype. Just don't expect much from me... I'm still sick.

Stay safe.

« Last Edit: March 26, 2013, 01:12:52 pm by Swallow »

Offline Captain Smollett

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Re: "The Cogs" Ruleset
« Reply #1 on: March 26, 2013, 01:14:41 pm »
First off Swallow, sorry to hear you're still feeling under the weather. Wouldn't have even known it based on the last live cast.

I did have two questions regarding rules.

1). When both sides want to have the same side, what is the protocol?  In the past this has been decides by coin toss.  I was thinking perhaps we should have a coin toss to start every match for consistency.

2)  Two weeks ago in our match against the Crows some players were under the impression that games started when a ref determined both teams are ready. Since then I've heard nothing else regarding this. Is there any rule related to this we should know about or was it a misunderstanding due to the newness of the format?

Offline AquaMac

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Re: "The Cogs" Ruleset
« Reply #2 on: March 26, 2013, 01:30:24 pm »
I concur Captain Smollett. That is why I asked if the Pastafarians were ready before moving to make sure they were all in. But I agree to keep it fair and honorable.

Offline Swallox

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Re: "The Cogs" Ruleset
« Reply #3 on: March 26, 2013, 02:53:06 pm »
First off Swallow, sorry to hear you're still feeling under the weather. Wouldn't have even known it based on the last live cast.

I did have two questions regarding rules.

1). When both sides want to have the same side, what is the protocol?  In the past this has been decides by coin toss.  I was thinking perhaps we should have a coin toss to start every match for consistency.

2)  Two weeks ago in our match against the Crows some players were under the impression that games started when a ref determined both teams are ready. Since then I've heard nothing else regarding this. Is there any rule related to this we should know about or was it a misunderstanding due to the newness of the format?

1) I'm not sure, truth be told. The last time this came up, we flipped a coin. Seemed to work, so I guess we'll have a ref do that to determine who gets to choose the sides the next time around.

2) There are two ways of handling this... We either have a ref (or qwerty/me) say "Go" in chat, or we let the matches start when the loading screen ends... The latter is apparently unfair to several slow-loading players and the former relies on us having a ref and/or a clue. Up until week 2 we've been letting the matches go live the moment they started, but this may change now that Morbie and Teddy are helping out. So in short: Ask me later.

Oh, and thanks. I tried not to let my squick show through the mic. Glad to know it worked.

Offline Squash

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Re: "The Cogs" Ruleset
« Reply #4 on: March 26, 2013, 03:19:09 pm »
Coins? Oh. You must mean a D2. Hah.

But seriously, let's play odds or evens. One team is odds, the other evens, but captains PM swallow with a number from 1-10. The sum of both numbers determines the outcome. For instance, I pick odds, Zwaene picks evens. We both PM you, I PMed you '3', he PMed you '5'. 3+5=8, 8 is an even number, so Zwaene wins.

OR, we PM you either rock, scissors or paper.
« Last Edit: March 26, 2013, 03:28:29 pm by Squash »

Offline N-Sunderland

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Re: "The Cogs" Ruleset
« Reply #5 on: March 26, 2013, 03:56:15 pm »
Coins? Oh. You must mean a D2. Hah.

But seriously, let's play odds or evens. One team is odds, the other evens, but captains PM swallow with a number from 1-10. The sum of both numbers determines the outcome. For instance, I pick odds, Zwaene picks evens. We both PM you, I PMed you '3', he PMed you '5'. 3+5=8, 8 is an even number, so Zwaene wins.

OR, we PM you either rock, scissors or paper.

Or you have a harpoon Squid match to determine who picks.

Offline Coldcurse

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Re: "The Cogs" Ruleset
« Reply #6 on: March 27, 2013, 06:14:49 am »
Newcomer's Proving Ground: Spot #9 vs Spot #10a. Winner advances. Loser is removed from The Cogs
In the event that #9 can't play, #10a and #10b will play for spot #9 instead. In this instance, #9 is removed from The Cogs
In the event that #10a can't play, #9 and #10b will play for spot #9 instead. In this instance, #10a is removed from The Cogs

when you are removed, can you aply to the cogs again or are you banned from the cogs?

Offline Morblitz

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Re: "The Cogs" Ruleset
« Reply #7 on: March 27, 2013, 07:11:09 am »
Banned seems far too harsh, I'm sure you can re-apply, at the very least after some sort of grace period. To me that makes the most sense. Given time and experience, teams that have lost would get better, why not let them have another crack?
Although, I suppose I shouldn't speculate and let Swallow address it.

Offline Coldcurse

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Re: "The Cogs" Ruleset
« Reply #8 on: March 27, 2013, 07:19:13 am »
i think that there should be a waitlist, when a new team loses they will be placed at the bottom on the list and have to wait for their turn again.

Offline AquaMac

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Re: "The Cogs" Ruleset
« Reply #9 on: March 27, 2013, 12:15:52 pm »
I suggest new teams can not sign up at the last minute. Maybe a deadline for new teams to sign up like on Wednesday before map is reveled or something like that. If they miss the deadline than they are placed in Cogs officially the week after . This would eliminate much confusion, and unfairness of team or teams not being able to practice.

Offline N-Sunderland

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Re: "The Cogs" Ruleset
« Reply #10 on: March 27, 2013, 01:32:57 pm »
I suggest new teams can not sign up at the last minute. Maybe a deadline for new teams to sign up like on Wednesday before map is reveled or something like that. If they miss the deadline than they are placed in Cogs officially the week after . This would eliminate much confusion, and unfairness of team or teams not being able to practice.

^This. We could have avoided that whole mess with the second Crows team with a rule like that.

Offline Ataris

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Re: "The Cogs" Ruleset
« Reply #11 on: March 27, 2013, 01:52:56 pm »
Just a few thoughts of mine.

If we get new teams to participate - we could arrange more intermediate cogs, why not? We'll get 1 additional match per cog and provide a place for 3-4 teams to play.

Also if beaten from the Cogs team should tell the organizers if they wanna continue playing in the Scrimmage or not. If yes - this team gets the end of the queue to enter the Cogs again. In order to keep this queue not too long - see the first paragrath.

And agree with Aquamac about the sign up deadline to be made

Offline Coldcurse

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Re: "The Cogs" Ruleset
« Reply #12 on: March 27, 2013, 02:45:37 pm »
i think we should keep it at 2 vs 2 and that the fight between the leader vs. challenger is a 3 vs 3 game

Offline Swallox

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Re: "The Cogs" Ruleset
« Reply #13 on: March 27, 2013, 02:49:54 pm »
Newcomer's Proving Ground: Spot #9 vs Spot #10a. Winner advances. Loser is removed from The Cogs
In the event that #9 can't play, #10a and #10b will play for spot #9 instead. In this instance, #9 is removed from The Cogs
In the event that #10a can't play, #9 and #10b will play for spot #9 instead. In this instance, #10a is removed from The Cogs

when you are removed, can you aply to the cogs again or are you banned from the cogs?

Of course you can try again. Even I'm not THAT harsh.

I suggest new teams can not sign up at the last minute. Maybe a deadline for new teams to sign up like on Wednesday before map is reveled or something like that. If they miss the deadline than they are placed in Cogs officially the week after . This would eliminate much confusion, and unfairness of team or teams not being able to practice.

^This. We could have avoided that whole mess with the second Crows team with a rule like that.

Actually, that was the original plan... But I was told hours before The Cogs that muse couldn't play and I started to look around desperately for a third match. Just before Muse reappeared I even cancelled the third match outright because it really wasn't a good idea to expect the Crows to be ready to go.
[/quote]

Just a few thoughts of mine.

If we get new teams to participate - we could arrange more intermediate cogs, why not? We'll get 1 additional match per cog and provide a place for 3-4 teams to play.

Also if beaten from the Cogs team should tell the organizers if they wanna continue playing in the Scrimmage or not. If yes - this team gets the end of the queue to enter the Cogs again. In order to keep this queue not too long - see the first paragrath.

And agree with Aquamac about the sign up deadline to be made

Well, The Cogs aren't even remotely filled yet, so expansion isn't a huge concern... But in the event that we do end up with more teams than Cogs spot, additional cogs'll be added right on the bottom.

i think we should keep it at 2 vs 2 and that the fight between the leader vs. challenger is a 3 vs 3 game

I can't expect the top teams to field an extra four players, nor would they accept if it I tried to force it through. There are many reasons that all of the matches are 2v2 deathmatch, and they're not all about which maps and modes are the most interesting to play or watch.
« Last Edit: March 27, 2013, 02:56:13 pm by Swallow »

Offline Skrimskraw

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Re: "The Cogs" Ruleset
« Reply #14 on: March 27, 2013, 02:54:35 pm »
lets just have a hardass rule that says, if you arent there on time, you dont get to play.