I'm setting this thread up to discuss the rules of multi-team galaxies. Reading it back, it's more detailed and 'fancy' than I originally had intended. Shouldn't really be necessary to get this specific, but I must admit I had fun writing it
For those of you who may think it's a waste of time to read all this (and rightly so!), here's the short version:
1: Read the rules (sorry, no getting around it. Kinda tricked you there, didn't I?).
2: When in doubt, ask your team!
3: When your team is in doubt, ask the forum!
Simple, huh?
For those interested, I invite all to participate in the discussion, whether they intend to play such a galaxy or not.
I hope to arrive at a point where we can put them up on the wiki, for easy reference to new players.
Denotes most recent, significant changes.
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The Rules of a Multi-Team Galaxy (v. 1.2)
These rules are not meant to be exhaustive or detailed. They strive only to set down some loose house rules and define ways in which to deal with problems if and when they arise.
Please check in any questions you have at the forum or with your team. 'I didn't know' is NOT an excuse, and you and your team may be penalized even if these rules mention nothing about whatever course of action you have taken.
This is a gentleman game with gentleman rules - but that does not mean we necessarily trust any claims of good intentions.
I. Preliminary Exercises.
Confirmation
72 hours before first tick of a Multi-Team Galaxy, the 24h confirmation period begins. Only those who check in during this period, by posting a confirmation in the Forum and signing up in the galaxy, will participate. 48 hours before first tick, all unconfirmed sign ups are removed from the galaxy and sign up closes. Any eventual exceptions (for example, someone cannot log during this 24h period, but is sure to be active during the game) are handled personally by the galaxy Creator.
Deciding on a Team Theme
While not a requirement, the teams are encouraged to find a 'theme' for their team. Such a theme helps set the teams apart, and should be a good backdrop on which to roleplay on.
In the second MTG, for example, one team chose to name their empires after native American tribes, and their messages thus included concepts like strength, honour, visions and other aspects of these early civilizations.
1. The Execution of the Multi-Team Galaxy.
All participants in the galaxy should strive to log on to the forum regularly, so as to facilitate discussion and solving of problems (e.g. interpretation of these rules).
This galaxy is presided over by a 'Galactic Council', which is the ultimate resort of any questions, responsible for conducting all affairs of the galaxy and having the primary objective of executing a fair and just galaxy.
The Council is responsible for resolving any questions and irregularities regarding these rules, with the neutral party carrying the majority vote in any ties.
The Council consists of all the team Captains (e.), plus a neutral party. The neutral party cannot play in the galaxy, and he is appointed at the forum, by the participating players in unison.
48 hours before the galaxy starts, the neutral party will divide the players into teams. He does this with or without advice, and in as many teams as he sees fit. Experience has shown that teams should be placed near each other, rather than be closely matched in regards of rank (ability).
After this, and before the beggining of the game, each Team nominates a Captain, who presents him/herself in the Forum to declare the Team's name. If the team fails to pick a captain before galaxy start, the neutral party will pick one.
When the teams are set up by the neutral party, they are to be posted on the forum, listing the in-game name of each player and to which team he belongs. This should eliminate any uncertainly as to who is on which team.
The Council may exact any conceivable in-game punishment to individual players as well as teams, up to and including expulsion from the galaxy. Most severely punished is the intentional sabotage or transgression of rules known to the culprit, while 'I didn't know' and 'I couldn't log in' are permissible first-time offenses.
2. The Captains
All Captains are members of the Council, and in that respect they are expected to act as impartially as possibly, as their loyalties should lie primarily with fairness and an enjoyable galaxy, secondly with their team.
Should the team need to do so, they may elect another Captain by majority vote. If no accord is reached, the neutral party will decide in the matter.
Each captain is sovereign in conducting the diplomatic affairs of the team. Only he may negotiate treaties on behalf of the team, and any agreement made without his consent is null and void. For example, any team member may broker a deal with another team, but the deal cannot take effect unless sanctioned by the captain.
The Captain is required to append the tag “[cap]” to his name, or similarly distinguish himself from his team mates.
3. Conducting Diplomacy
All teams have designated 'insignia', and all members of a team must add this insignia to the name of their empire.
Examples:
[Blue] Smurf
Quark of Valhal
[Cappy] of Valhal
The teams may communicate freely, and agree on any arrangement they see fit, as long as it's not in breach of any of the rules stated here.
During the first 50 turns ('the start'), all armed hostilities are strictly forbidden. First combat may take place between turns 50 and 51.
Members of the same team must immediately enter a Military Alliance upon meeting for the first time. This Diplomatic Status (DS), must remain unchanged for the duration of the galaxy.
During the start, DS between all the teams must remain neutral. Starting on turn 51, any and all DS is allowed (Alliance, Peace, Neutral, Cease Fire and War).
All members of any given team must at all times have the same DS towards all the members of any other team.
A grace period of 24 hours is given, in order for all the members of the team to have a chance to set the new DS. However, all players should change the status as soon as possible.
If, after 24 hours, players of the same team have different DS towards members of another team (in breach of f.), then all the members of that team must take on the worst DS of all the members.
Example:
Player A and Player B are on the same team, while Player C is on another team. Player A is neutral towards Player C, while Player B is at war with Player C. Now, if the team should somehow fail to convince Player B that he must become neutral towards Player C (and the rest of C's team), then Player A and all the other members of the team must deteriorate relationships, and declare war on player C and his team.
If all the other teams agree that a given player is inactive, that player may be exempted from rules f. and g.
Teams cannot attack each other as long as any two players on those teams still have an active treaty between them.
In other words, all members of two teams are considered to have the same DS towards each other, as long as any 2 players still have active treaties.
Example:
Players A and B are on different teams and they have an active peace treaty. Everyone else on their teams do not have binding treaties (but are required to have the same DS nonetheless).
The team mates of A and B are not allowed to change their DS until the treaty between A and B runs out (and they therefore can change their DS along with the rest of their teams).
4. Ending the Galaxy
The galaxy ends when either:
1) 3/4 of the active players make such a wish know on the forum, or
2) it is after turn 220, and the leading team has had a lead on the second team equaling no less than 130%, for no less than 20 consecutive turns.
This concludes the current rules of the Multi-Team Galaxy. Stay Cosmic!
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@Erwin:
As you may have noticed, I have included the rather harsh notion of expulsion from the galaxy. I don't expect this to become an issue, but I would like to include it as an ultimate tool to deal with players who intentionally sabotage the game for the rest of us.
Let's put some weight behind 'community driven'
Edit: wow
I've made a horrible, horrible mistake - that I'm kinda miffed no one caught! Hello? Anyone reading this?
A Real, live, Cookie from the Cookie Master if you can tell what it was.
This post has been edited 10 time(s), it was last edited by Nongolf: 05.08.2011 22:05.
Sexy
Most of the currently known issues have been ironed out, so I dont really see any problems with these rules for now. Too much discussion tends to become too theoretical all too quickly, so lets give them a spin in the next MTG and see where that leads, we can always adapt the rules to problems we find while playing afterwards
__________________ It is preferable to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt.
This post has been edited 1 time(s), it was last edited by Confused: 31.05.2011 02:28.
Originally posted by Confused
Sexy
Most of the currently known issues have been ironed out, so I dont really see any problems with these rules for now. Too much discussion tends to become too theoretical all too quickly, so lets give them a spin in the next MTG and see where that leads, we can always adapt the rules to problems we find while playing afterwards
Exactly.
But.... wasn't that what I said
This post has been edited 1 time(s), it was last edited by Nongolf: 31.05.2011 02:43.
Originally posted by Confused
you didnt say sexy :(
and next time i feel the urge to reinforce what youre doing/saying, i'll try to remember this and try to restrain myself
hehe. Truth be told, I said nothing of that. But I meant to. Doesn't that count for anything?
@Nick:
Yay. Someone read it!!
Thanks mate.
@Tingling:
I guess not, but I would expect them to turn over any planets they took as well.
Rule 72
(can read "Rule 7 too", as for raf7 is now helping too
)
This rule's intends to stabilize the sign up process, appealing for player responsibility as a way of identifying pre-inactives and protecting game integrity. A pre-inactive player is one who signs up but does not show up.
a) Confirmation
72 hours before first tick of a Multi-Team Galaxy, the 24h confirmation period begins. Only those who check in during this period, by posting a confirmation in the Forum and signing up in the galaxy, will participate. 48 hours before first tick, all unconfirmed sign ups are removed from the galaxy and sign up closes. Any eventual exceptions (for example, someone cannot log during this 24h period, but is sure to be active during the game) are handled personally by the galaxy Creator.
b) Team and Council Formation
48 hours before first tick the final group of participants is well-known. The Neutral party creates the Teams, and informs the participants of the resulting formations. Equal number of players per Team is desirable, but not necessary, as the Neutral party will adjust formations regarding placement and general balance. After this, and before the beggining of the game, each Team nominates a Captain, who presents him/herself in the Forum to declare the Team's name.
And that's the way the Cookie crumbles!
__________________ A Jedi's strength flows from the Force.
Originally posted by Confused
you didnt say sexy :(
and next time i feel the urge to reinforce what youre doing/saying, i'll try to remember this and try to restrain myself
hehe. Truth be told, I said nothing of that. But I meant to. Doesn't that count for anything?
The nickname is Confused, not Psychic or Visionary. Theres a world of difference ... several worlds even :p
__________________ It is preferable to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt.
Originally posted by tingling
What happens if someone violates 3c. on hostilities before turn 50? We won't need authorisation from the council to retaliate I suppose?
no, you can retaliate, and then the council procedes to issue a permission for everyone to make fun of the rule-violator in forums for the next ... well ... forever
__________________ It is preferable to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt.
Originally posted by raf7 Rule 72
(can read "Rule 7 too", as for raf7 is now helping too
)
This rule's intends to stabilize the sign up process, appealing for player responsibility as a way of identifying pre-inactives and protecting game integrity. A pre-inactive player is one who signs up but does not show up.
a) Confirmation
72 hours before first tick of a Multi-Team Galaxy, the 24h confirmation period begins. Only those who check in during this period, by posting a confirmation in the Forum and signing up in the galaxy, will participate. 48 hours before first tick, all unconfirmed sign ups are removed from the galaxy and sign up closes. Any eventual exceptions (for example, someone cannot log during this 24h period, but is sure to be active during the game) are handled personally by the galaxy Creator.
Excellent addition. Going right in.
quote:
b) Team and Council Formation
48 hours before first tick the final group of participants is well-known. The Neutral party creates the Teams, and informs the participants of the resulting formations. Equal number of players per Team is desirable, but not necessary, as the Neutral party will adjust formations regarding placement and general balance.
We got this covered under 1.e., but it's good idea to get the time in there.
quote:
After this, and before the beggining of the game, each Team nominates a Captain, who presents him/herself in the Forum to declare the Team's name.
We can do it like this instead of as stated in 1.e. I agree it would be better to have the teams name their own captains, but I figure it could get tight with time before the teams realize what teams they're on at all, and then with figuring who to pick.
We can try it out, see how it pans out.
I'll update above shortly.
After this, and before the beggining of the game, each Team nominates a Captain, who presents him/herself in the Forum to declare the Team's name.
We can do it like this instead of as stated in 1.e. I agree it would be better to have the teams name their own captains, but I figure it could get tight with time before the teams realize what teams they're on at all, and then with figuring who to pick.
We can try it out, see how it pans out.
I'll update above shortly.
I see your point... It should be ok if the time frames are respected.
Anyway, a safeguard could be:
- if a Team has time to choose its Captain, it does so by Forum post
- otherwise, Neutral party nominates before game starts
__________________ A Jedi's strength flows from the Force.
Originally posted by Nongolf When the teams are set up by the neutral party, they are to be posted on the forum, listing the in-game name of each player and to which team he belongs. This should eliminate any uncertainly as to who is on which team.
But...but...figuring out who is who was half the fun.
This makes it too easy.
__________________ 100 sub-iterations....
This post has been edited 1 time(s), it was last edited by Scurvyllama: 04.08.2011 16:32.
Originally posted by Nongolf
It's only the in-game name. In my case it wouldn't be 'Nongolf', but rather whatever name I chose for my empire in that particular galaxy.
but that narrow down the guessing game, exactly what reason did you add this for anyway?
why no armed confrontation before turn 50? thats one of the most funny parts...
beside this does conquer a planet with a troopship count as armed confrontation?
for ending the galaxy i would prefer fight till the end:
either both sides agree to end the galaxy or one side has 3/4 of all planets AND the other side has no more way to win (no strong fleet)
and to register to take part at the game where should the player register in the forum?
This post has been edited 1 time(s), it was last edited by Lion: 04.08.2011 17:52.
Originally posted by Nongolf
It's only the in-game name. In my case it wouldn't be 'Nongolf', but rather whatever name I chose for my empire in that particular galaxy.
but that narrow down the guessing game, exactly what reason did you add this for anyway?
I wouldn't narrow it down significantly. With the new emphasis on placing teams near each other, you will not be able to assume that the best 4 players are each on their own team, for example.
The reason for this rule is that in the last MTGs we have had problems with determining which player belonged to which team, only getting clear answer many turns into play.
With these rules, where you have to consider the DS of whole teams rather than just a single player, it's very important to be absolutely certain to which team a given player belongs.
quote:
Originally posted by Lion
why no armed confrontation before turn 50? thats one of the most funny parts...
As the players on each team have not actually met from the start (unlike the regular TGs), we have installed this respite in order to allow the players to reach each other ingame and set up treaties.
quote:
beside this does conquer a planet with a troopship count as armed confrontation?
Come on! You're not serious?
quote:
for ending the galaxy i would prefer fight till the end:
either both sides agree to end the galaxy or one side has 3/4 of all planets AND the other side has no more way to win (no strong fleet)
I think that's going way too far. The players will be able to determine a winner long before the code, and any time spend playing beyond that point isn't fun and only serves to earn the winners more score.
quote:
and to register to take part at the game where should the player register in the forum?
Yes, that's it exactly. We did it like that for both MTGs. Though there are certainly kinks in that armour, it's the best we've been able to figure so far.
and to register to take part at the game where should the player register in the forum?
Yes, that's it exactly. We did it like that for both MTGs. Though there are certainly kinks in that armour, it's the best we've been able to figure so far.
I believe Lion was asking where the sign up list is for the team galaxy is.
@ Lion...there is no sign up list for the team galaxy (when it's just 2 teams), only for the multi-team galaxies (3 or more teams)(MTG). At least to my knowledge there is no forum sign up for it.
At first I was confused a little and was going to say there should be another thread for the 2nd team galaxy to start it's sign up and realized the difference.
Originally posted by StarSurfer
At first I was confused a little and was going to say there should be another thread for the 2nd team galaxy to start it's sign up and realized the difference.
Ah. I see what you mean, but I don't think Confused would say that. Well, perhaps as little.
Most of the currently known issues have been ironed out, so I dont really see any problems with these rules for now. Too much discussion tends to become too theoretical all too quickly, so lets give them a spin in the next MTG and see where that leads, we can always adapt the rules to problems we find while playing afterwards 
