Post by FriedrichPsitalon on Aug 9, 2003 15:51:18 GMT -5
Edited to include additions/removals for the Civilization 3: Conquests Expansion [/i]
Ladies and gentlemen of the ladder:
Our ladder, like the game of civilization itself, has evolved. New strategies for the game have been developed, and while some of these are acceptable to all players, some are not - and some are acceptable to almost no one. The following is a statement of the position of the ladder on several issues that have recently been highly contended as "moral" issues, or "grey" areas.
They are grey areas no longer.
Recently, there have been some concerns over what is cheating, what is not, and so on. In order to make things clear for everyone, a list has been compiled to make it easier for everyone to be playing on the same page.
Do all of these cheats have magical fixes where we can catch you? Honestly, no. However, winning without playing by the rules is a lot like kissing your sister (or brother) - there's no glory in that. We, the ladder admins, are hoping that the reason there are some cheating incidents is because some people don't view this or that as cheating; so, we are spelling it out here. (Many of them DO have methods that can be checked, and you'd be surprised which they are, however.) If you ARE found to be using one of these "cheats" (read the last sentence with emphasis, there ARE ways to find more than you'd think) then you will be dealt with extremely directly. This is not a threat, merely a statement; the ladder does not tolerate cheating.
This is not intended to start a huge debate; it is merely a statement of firm position for the ladder. Think of this as a reference page. Detailed below are things that ARE considered cheating by the ladder, and things that are NOT considered cheating; merely a particular playstyle.
With apologies to what I have imitiated.....
"THOU SHALT NOT"
1. Thou shalt not reload the map of a game to view it between gaming sessions, or during a reload of a drop. Not to review your own position, nor to review your opponent's, for any reason.
2. In victory points-based games, thou shalt not exchange cities with players on the same team sacrifice units to one another in order to gain extra points, as this is a gross violation of the spirit of a team game.
3. Thou shalt not intentionally use your one drop to recover from a poor decision.
4. Thou shalt not claim you had an impostor when you did not. (This goes without saying, but hey. EMAIL YOUR OPPONENTS BEFORE THE GAME TO PREVENT THIS!)
5. Thou shalt not make a move near the end of the turn, and then use the diplomacy-send screen to block your opponent from making a counter move while the turn changes.
6. Thou shalt not enter into secret or public "no-report" alliances with other players merely to create an unintended team-game against another player with no fear of actions by the other players in the game, regardless of your affiliations or friendships with them outside the game.
7. Perform the "settler slide" or exploit other game bugs.
"IT IS UP TO YOU."
1. It is up to you: If you wish to disregard an agreement with another player made in-game, be it technological, military, territorial or otherwise. This includes backstabbing, renegging tech trades, "don't build here agreements" and so on. IF A PLAYER TAKES PART IN THIS ACTIVITY, IT IS INAPPROPRIATE TO BLAST THEM FOR IT OUTSIDE OF THE GAME. PEOPLE'S IN-GAME CHOICES ARE NOT A GRANTING RIGHT FOR HOSTILE ATTACK IN THE LOBBY. SIMPLY PLAY WITH THAT IN MIND NEXT TIME YOU MEET THEM. You are, of course, within your rights to express your displeasure about any player's actions, but do so under the realization that excessive "expression" can be judged by the admins as harassment, and as a member of this ladder you accept that the admins do have the right to take action if you are harassing another player in their view.
2. It is up to you: If you wish to rush someone's territory with large force early or build up and then attack later, or not attack at all! There is no rule nor idea stating you cannot "Cheese Rush." See #1 in this category for inappropriate opponent reactions.
3. It is up to you: Which civilization you choose in any given game; there are currently NO banned civs, or civs that should not be played.
4. It is up to you: Whether or not you wish to allow someone to rejoin the game after they have used the 'guaranteed' number of drops. The default rule is that they do NOT rejoin; it is a courtesy, not an expectation or rule, for them to return after that. IF YOU CHOOSE TO PLAY DIFFERENTLY, THAT IS YOUR CHOICE. YOU DO NOT HAVE THE RIGHT TO EXPECT OTHER PLAYERS TO DO THE SAME, NOR THE RIGHT TO HARASS THEM SHOULD THEY CHOOSE NOT TO PLAY BY THE SAME STANDARD YOU DO. See the clause on harassment in 1. SIMPLY CHOOSE YOUR NEXT OPPONENT ACCORDINGLY.
5. It is up to you: to play a specific opponent or not on any given day. This is a game, and no one is REQUIRED to play it. You are NOT allowed to dodge formal challenges if you are a high-ranked player, nor are you allowed to deliberately avoid challenges from low-ranked players, but you CAN simply arrange to play the match at another time.
6. It is up to you: If you wish to manipulate the turn timer in such a manner as to benefit you. This includes, but is not limited to: running the timer out every turn, moving at the end of a turn's timer and then moving immediately again afterwards. Be aware that running the timer out every turn deliberately can often win you no friends. HOWEVER, ONCE AGAIN, A PLAYER'S IN-GAME ACTIONS GRANT NO ONE THE RIGHT TO HARASS THAT PLAYER IN ANY WAY OUTSIDE THE GAME.
This list is the result of the careful consideration of all the administrators in regards to problems of the recent months. It is to be considered a binding section of the rules, and will be enforced when needed as such. It is the hope of the administrators that this set of rules will be a useful guideline for play, not the basis of a whole new series of arguments, accusations, and bad feelings.
Remember guys, we're still here to play a game, and if you have too much emphasis on winning and not enough on having fun, you may find yourself with no one but the AI to play... and no one wants that.
Let's keep things moving in a positive direction as Conquests comes out, and we can welcome large quantities of new members into our ranks!
Edited/added to clarify the section on harassment of other players for actions you do not like.
Briefly: We understand and encourage players to discuss tactics and behavior in matches, but there is a very clear difference between "Watch yourself, Friedrich can be a backstabber" and "ATTENTION: FRIEDRICH PSITALON BACKSTABBED ME IN A GAME AGAINST OUR AGREEMENT AND YOU SHOULD NEVER TRUST HIM" and spamming the second one once every 5 minutes for 8 hours.
Use common sense. As a member of this ladder you did agree to a certain standard of conduct, and while we cannot tell you how to behave, if you violate the standards of that agreement, we can remove you from the ladder.
I apologize for this legal-ese and somewhat cold addendum, but I wanted to clarify exactly what we intended here. We are definitely NOT trying to be "Big Brother".... we're just trying to have some clear, defined backing for what cheating is, and what harassment is, should certain recent events come to pass again.
Thanks for reading - now let's get out there and have some FUN in our ladder, eh?
Ladies and gentlemen of the ladder:
Our ladder, like the game of civilization itself, has evolved. New strategies for the game have been developed, and while some of these are acceptable to all players, some are not - and some are acceptable to almost no one. The following is a statement of the position of the ladder on several issues that have recently been highly contended as "moral" issues, or "grey" areas.
They are grey areas no longer.
Recently, there have been some concerns over what is cheating, what is not, and so on. In order to make things clear for everyone, a list has been compiled to make it easier for everyone to be playing on the same page.
Do all of these cheats have magical fixes where we can catch you? Honestly, no. However, winning without playing by the rules is a lot like kissing your sister (or brother) - there's no glory in that. We, the ladder admins, are hoping that the reason there are some cheating incidents is because some people don't view this or that as cheating; so, we are spelling it out here. (Many of them DO have methods that can be checked, and you'd be surprised which they are, however.) If you ARE found to be using one of these "cheats" (read the last sentence with emphasis, there ARE ways to find more than you'd think) then you will be dealt with extremely directly. This is not a threat, merely a statement; the ladder does not tolerate cheating.
This is not intended to start a huge debate; it is merely a statement of firm position for the ladder. Think of this as a reference page. Detailed below are things that ARE considered cheating by the ladder, and things that are NOT considered cheating; merely a particular playstyle.
With apologies to what I have imitiated.....
"THOU SHALT NOT"
1. Thou shalt not reload the map of a game to view it between gaming sessions, or during a reload of a drop. Not to review your own position, nor to review your opponent's, for any reason.
2. In victory points-based games, thou shalt not exchange cities with players on the same team sacrifice units to one another in order to gain extra points, as this is a gross violation of the spirit of a team game.
3. Thou shalt not intentionally use your one drop to recover from a poor decision.
4. Thou shalt not claim you had an impostor when you did not. (This goes without saying, but hey. EMAIL YOUR OPPONENTS BEFORE THE GAME TO PREVENT THIS!)
5. Thou shalt not make a move near the end of the turn, and then use the diplomacy-send screen to block your opponent from making a counter move while the turn changes.
6. Thou shalt not enter into secret or public "no-report" alliances with other players merely to create an unintended team-game against another player with no fear of actions by the other players in the game, regardless of your affiliations or friendships with them outside the game.
7. Perform the "settler slide" or exploit other game bugs.
"IT IS UP TO YOU."
1. It is up to you: If you wish to disregard an agreement with another player made in-game, be it technological, military, territorial or otherwise. This includes backstabbing, renegging tech trades, "don't build here agreements" and so on. IF A PLAYER TAKES PART IN THIS ACTIVITY, IT IS INAPPROPRIATE TO BLAST THEM FOR IT OUTSIDE OF THE GAME. PEOPLE'S IN-GAME CHOICES ARE NOT A GRANTING RIGHT FOR HOSTILE ATTACK IN THE LOBBY. SIMPLY PLAY WITH THAT IN MIND NEXT TIME YOU MEET THEM. You are, of course, within your rights to express your displeasure about any player's actions, but do so under the realization that excessive "expression" can be judged by the admins as harassment, and as a member of this ladder you accept that the admins do have the right to take action if you are harassing another player in their view.
2. It is up to you: If you wish to rush someone's territory with large force early or build up and then attack later, or not attack at all! There is no rule nor idea stating you cannot "Cheese Rush." See #1 in this category for inappropriate opponent reactions.
3. It is up to you: Which civilization you choose in any given game; there are currently NO banned civs, or civs that should not be played.
4. It is up to you: Whether or not you wish to allow someone to rejoin the game after they have used the 'guaranteed' number of drops. The default rule is that they do NOT rejoin; it is a courtesy, not an expectation or rule, for them to return after that. IF YOU CHOOSE TO PLAY DIFFERENTLY, THAT IS YOUR CHOICE. YOU DO NOT HAVE THE RIGHT TO EXPECT OTHER PLAYERS TO DO THE SAME, NOR THE RIGHT TO HARASS THEM SHOULD THEY CHOOSE NOT TO PLAY BY THE SAME STANDARD YOU DO. See the clause on harassment in 1. SIMPLY CHOOSE YOUR NEXT OPPONENT ACCORDINGLY.
5. It is up to you: to play a specific opponent or not on any given day. This is a game, and no one is REQUIRED to play it. You are NOT allowed to dodge formal challenges if you are a high-ranked player, nor are you allowed to deliberately avoid challenges from low-ranked players, but you CAN simply arrange to play the match at another time.
6. It is up to you: If you wish to manipulate the turn timer in such a manner as to benefit you. This includes, but is not limited to: running the timer out every turn, moving at the end of a turn's timer and then moving immediately again afterwards. Be aware that running the timer out every turn deliberately can often win you no friends. HOWEVER, ONCE AGAIN, A PLAYER'S IN-GAME ACTIONS GRANT NO ONE THE RIGHT TO HARASS THAT PLAYER IN ANY WAY OUTSIDE THE GAME.
This list is the result of the careful consideration of all the administrators in regards to problems of the recent months. It is to be considered a binding section of the rules, and will be enforced when needed as such. It is the hope of the administrators that this set of rules will be a useful guideline for play, not the basis of a whole new series of arguments, accusations, and bad feelings.
Remember guys, we're still here to play a game, and if you have too much emphasis on winning and not enough on having fun, you may find yourself with no one but the AI to play... and no one wants that.
Let's keep things moving in a positive direction as Conquests comes out, and we can welcome large quantities of new members into our ranks!
Edited/added to clarify the section on harassment of other players for actions you do not like.
Briefly: We understand and encourage players to discuss tactics and behavior in matches, but there is a very clear difference between "Watch yourself, Friedrich can be a backstabber" and "ATTENTION: FRIEDRICH PSITALON BACKSTABBED ME IN A GAME AGAINST OUR AGREEMENT AND YOU SHOULD NEVER TRUST HIM" and spamming the second one once every 5 minutes for 8 hours.
Use common sense. As a member of this ladder you did agree to a certain standard of conduct, and while we cannot tell you how to behave, if you violate the standards of that agreement, we can remove you from the ladder.
I apologize for this legal-ese and somewhat cold addendum, but I wanted to clarify exactly what we intended here. We are definitely NOT trying to be "Big Brother".... we're just trying to have some clear, defined backing for what cheating is, and what harassment is, should certain recent events come to pass again.
Thanks for reading - now let's get out there and have some FUN in our ladder, eh?