Hey all,
Reading what people are saying here and in the C&A thread, many seem to believe this is a clear cut issue with a clear outcome, but groovysmurf, the other CDs and I don't feel that way. This is an incredibly difficult situation to judge and determine a ruling on for a number of reasons.
One of the main problems we're having is with the exact wording of the rule, as seen in the CCXIV main thread, which was simply copy/pasted from the previous Conquerors Cup. We believe the way this was written causes a number of potential issues.
Game abuse like purposely running out of time or throwing a game is prohibited. The first time a clan breaks this rule in CC14 the game must be re-made (unless the other clan wants the game to stand). Each subsequent violation during CC14 will result in a forfeit of the game.
Now the first issue we run into is "purposely". By having the word "purposely" as part of the example, that would mean that if it was not done purposely than it isn't against the rules, but how do we determine intent? How can one ever know if something is done "purposely", and therefore, how can one ever be expected to make a ruling that something was or was not done "purposely". The explanation of what happened by t4mcr53s2 in chat could easily be accepted as not "purposely" running out of time. Groovy and I have both timed out in games with no intent to do so, as have probably many CC players. One could also call BS and say he did intentionally run out of time as a strategic move. Both situations are reasonable conclusions, but the problem is we simply can't know.
The next issue is with the phrase "game abuse". Game abuse is a general blanket term for all sorts of abuse against site rules but not necessarily specifically written. In our view, game abuse as stated here directly connects to game abuse as stated under the
unwritten rules of CC.
I am not a C&A mod, I do not follow C&A closely, and I do not have an exact list as to what is or is not game abuse, or what precedents have been set in the past with regards to game abuse. Therefore I believe I, and the rest of my team, are unqualified to determine what is or isn't game abuse. As such, my opinion is that game abuse (as game abuse IS against site rules) should be determined in C&A and if they determine game abuse happened, we as the CD team would react with punishments on the clan side. That is what the C&A forum is for and why it exists, as king achilles says
here.
king achilles wrote:This is the Cheating & Abuse forum where one can report a game if they see something suspicious going on or if they see any forrm of game abuse and they would like to report it.
My request to ACES to file the matter in C&A in order to determine if game abuse had in fact been committed was a perfectly reasonable thing to request as again, we as CDs don't have the same understanding or experience as the cheating and abuse moderators do when it comes to "game abuse".
Both Groovy and myself have read and reread the rule and we are still having issues making a decision. Looking back at past Conquerors Cup rules for clarity on the matter we found more questions and concerns than answers. In CC4, the rule about game abuse, and specifically about timing out to avoid spoils, was first introduced by chemefreak.
Any deemed abuse should be brought to the attention of the Cup Organisers immediately.
...
Deliberately timing out in Escalating and Nuclear games to avoid taking a spoil will not be tolerated by any players.
This is not a common occurrence and we do not expect to see it happen at all but a rule should be in place to prevent abuse.
If a team breaks this rule the game must be re-made. (unless the wronged clan want the game to stand)
If a clan repeatedly breaks the rule then an escalating scale of punishment will apply.
This rule stayed the same for CC5, with just a minor rewrite.
Any abuse should be brought to the attention of the TO immediately.
Deliberately timing out in Escalating and Nuclear games to avoid taking a spoil will not be tolerated by any players.
This is not a common occurrence and we do not expect to see it happen at all but a rule should be in place to prevent abuse.
The first time a clan breaks this rule in the Cup the game must be re-made. [Unless other clan wants game to stand]
Each subsequent violation during the Cup will result in a forfeit of the game.
However, in CC6, the way the rules were written was completely changed, making them much less clear and more ambiguous. Subsequent Conquerors Cup were basically just a copy/paste of these rules. Since Groovy and I took over running Conquerors Cup, we have tried to update the rules and clear up anything that could cause confusion. We obviously missed this particular part, perhaps because the issue has never really come up or we simply brushed past that part as so many others have done over the years.
Another issue we have is with the timing of the complaint. ACES did not officially report (complaining about something in the forum is NOT the same as reporting the issue to the tournament organizers) the suspected abuse immediately after it occurred, instead they waited until after green had played and failed in eliminating pink. One thing you'll see in the CC4 and CC5 rule is that the suspected abuse must be brought up to the TOs immediately. Nowhere in the current rules does it state when a report must be made, which causes quite a bit of confusion and basically means that anyone can report anything at anytime. However, common sense should apply and one would assume that a clan cannot wait until a game is complete or decided to file a complaint, at least reasonably.
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As for this case, our final ruling is that the game in question will NOT be remade. The main factor that influenced our decision was the ruling from C&A that this is not game abuse. As we stated above, the CD team is not qualified or experienced enough to make that ruling. This decision also comes at least partially from something that ACES themselves wrote in the C&A forum.
...I do not believe any website rule or abuse has been committed...
If they themselves don't believe any game abuse has been committed, and C&A agrees, than there were no grounds for the report in the first place and certainly no need for the game to be remade.
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Overall, the rules MUST be rewritten, they are unclear and open-ended to the point we struggle to make any kind of ruling whatsoever in this current situation. There is a disclaimer at the bottom of the rules stating
The format and the rules are subject to change if deemed appropriate by the CD Team.
We will be using this to do an edit of these rules to increase clarity.
The following are the newly written rules, which are effective immediately.
General Rules & Comments
All the Conquer Club standard rules will be in effect, including the [url=https://www.conquerclub.com/public.php?mode=rules]unwritten game abuse rules[/url] of CC. If anyone suspects a site rule has been broken, a C&A report must be filed. Should a player be found to have broken a site rule in clan games by C&A, any consequences as it pertains to the tournament will be determined by the CD team on a case by case basis, depending on the severity, repetitiveness, timing of the report and possible effects on the results of this tournament. The consequences can vary from a warning to the remaking of a game, forfeits, point deductions or in the worst case, expulsion of a player and/or disqualification of a clan.
In regards to clan rules and tournament rules, the CD team will do investigations and make determinations once again on a case by case basis. Conquences will be made depending on the severity, repetitiveness, timing of the report and possible effects on the results of this tournament. The consequences can vary from a warning to the remaking of a game, forfeits, point deductions or in the worst case, expulsion of a player and/or disqualification of a clan.
If you notice a player from the other clan has violated the number of games they are allowed to participate in, please bring it to the TOs attention immediately. If the clan/player is found in violation, the opposing clan will get to pick any game(s) that the offending player is/was in from the last batch played, equal to the number of games that went over the limit, to be re-made without that player participating. The selected games must still be in round 1 at the time they are requested to be remade.
Timing out in a game that leads to an advantage for your team (whether deliberately or not) will not be tolerated by any players. This is not a common occurrence and we do not expect to see it happen at all but a rule should be in place to prevent abuse. If a player breaks this rule, the opposing clan must make a request to remake the game to the TOs BEFORE the next player takes his/her turn. The TOs will then investigate and determine if the game should be remade. If a clan repeatedly breaks this rule than an escalating scale of punishment will apply.
If one suspects any game abuse (in any form) that would result in the remake of a game, it must be reported to the TOs BEFORE the next player takes his/her turn. It is NOT considered reporting to complain or remark in game chat or the public forum.
If a clan is disqualified from CC14, or leaves CC14 for whatever reason(s) the clan will not be eligible to enter CC15.
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Comments:
Clans are encouraged to solve minor issues between themselves. However, if you feel that a clan or a player has broken a rule, please report this to the TOs immediately. Same goes for any other problem you encounter during this clan event.
By signing up your clan, you, your clan and your players express agreement with all the rules mentioned in this post.
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Disclaimer:
The format and the rules are subject to change if deemed appropriate by the CD Team.