I. LEAGUE STRUCTURE
A. PURPOSE. The MOO League is a Players Guild formed for the sole purpose of providing a fun environment to engage in the creative destruction that is MOO. The League provides a level playing field by regulating a set of accepted rules for play, and administers a series of ranking systems so that players can compete in various game formats for personal and team glory. B. TEAMS. The MOO League is organized into teams named after the 13 Races present in the game. When a member joins the League, he or she must pick a race to join. Races are largely administrative concepts. However, there is one type of game (Battles) where the points that the winning players earn go to the glory of their race, not to the players themselves. C. LEADERS. Each race is managed by a Leader. Leaders are elected to their posts by the members of their race. D. TYPES OF GAMES. There are three types of games played under League rules: 1) Ladders, 2) Tournaments and 3) Battles. Ladders are games involving only two players in single combat. Tournaments are games involving 3-7 players. Battles are games played between teams of players (either 2 vs. 2 or 3 vs. 3). E. RANKING. The League tracks the results of each type of game, and assigns points to the winning players. Points for Ladder games contribute to a player's individual Ladder ranking. Points for Tournament games contribute to a player's individual Tournament ranking. Points for Battle games contribute to a race's War ranking. F. GOVERNANCE. The League is a democracy administered by an elected President.II. MEMBERSHIP
A. JOINING. To join the MOO League, a player must select Join from the League Home Page menu and fill in every field in the registration page. B. NETWORK MEMBERSHIP. Members may belong to any online gaming network that supports the play of MOO. At present, these include KALI, TEN and HEAT. C. MEMBERSHIP REQUIREMENTS. In order to be a valid member, a player must have a current e-mail address and an ICQ number. ICQ is an instant messaging software utility. It may be downloaded for free from: http://www.icq.com/ D. RANKING REQUIREMENTS. In order for a game to be submitted to the League for ranking, ALL PLAYERS IN THE GAME MUST BE LEAGUE MEMBERS. It does not matter which online gaming service is used to play the game.III. GAME SETUP
A. There is no official League game setup. Rather, players may use any game parameters whatsoever provided that all players have agreed to those parameters at the start of play. Experience shows that the fastest way of organizing a game is for the organizer to propose the parameters. If agreement cannot be reached on one or more parameters (i.e. Average Tech vs. Advanced Tech) then each disputed parameter should be put to a quick vote and settled by majority. B. Parameters that should be specified at the start of a game include the following: 1. Technology: Pre-Warp, Average or Advanced 2. Age: Organic Rich, Average or Mineral Rich 3. Size: Small, Medium , Large or Huge 4. Repulsive: Must ALL players pick the Repulsive option or not? 5. Trading: If players are not all repulsive, is technology trading allowed or not? 6. Difficulty Level: Assumed to be Impossible unless otherwise specified 7. Battles: Assumed to be Tactical unless Strategic is specifically agreed to up front 8. Antarans: Must be OFF because, due to a software bug, they reliably crash the game.IX. BASIC RULES OF PLAY
A. RULES APPLICATION. The following rules are designed to be used by players participating in a League game. PLAYERS MAY FREELY MODIFY OR DISPENSE WITH ANY OR ALL OF THESE RULES, BUT ONLY BY THE EXPRESS AGREEMENT OF ALL PLAYERS PRIOR TO THE START OF PLAY. Unless such agreement has been specifically reached, the following rules shall be assumed to apply. 1. WAITING. The Attacker is defined as the player who initiated the combat action by selecting the opposing fleet for attack in the combat window. The Defender is the player against whom that combat was initiated. Either player may use the WAIT command on his ships during combat, but if a waiting contest develops, with each player trying to outwait the other, it is ALWAYS required that the Attacker move, fire and hit done with his ships BEFORE the defender is required to. Note that it is perfectly possible that the owner of a system will attack an incoming enemy fleet, making the owner (and strategic defender) the Attacking player. If that attack fails, the invading player may then initiate combat in the same turn, making the invader the Attacker for this second combat round. Thus, in a single game turn, at a single system, each player may be both an Attacker in one battle and a Defender in another battle for purposes of the WAIT rule. (Logic: A battle turn can stalemate into an endless cycle of waiting, so some rule must be applied to force an end to the cycle. This rule is designed to place the burden of fighting on the player who initiates the fight, which is as reasonable as anything else.) 2. GAME CRASHES. If a game crashes, and is restored from the Autosave, but at a turn that is one or more turns before the point of the crash, all players are required to duplicate their original actions during these replayed turns with as much good faith as possible. If a game crashes in the middle of a battle between two combatants, then when the battle resumes the two players are required to duplicate their ship actions up to the point of the crash with as much good faith as possible. If ships had already been destroyed in the original battle, players are encouraged to speed the re- enactment by deliberately self-destructing those ships. (Logic: Prior knowledge of a player's moves and battle actions can give an opponent a huge advantage that exists solely because of the accident of the crash. This rule keeps both players honest in the event that such an accident occurs and minimizes the effect of this exceptional foreknowledge.) 3. DISAPPEARANCES. Players may occasionally abruptly disappear from play. The surviving players may not know whether the disappearance was a deliberate action by a frustrated player or an involuntary loss of connection at the hands of the player's ISP. In the event of an unexplained or unannounced disappearance, the surviving players MUST wait for the departed player for at least 15 minutes. If the departed player has not appeared within 15 minutes, the survivors may elect to either reschedule the game or continue without the departed player (in which case his empire becomes an AI). A game may only be continued without the departed player at the end of 15 minutes if ALL surviving players agree. If no agreement to continue can be reached, then the surviving players must mutually agree to a time to restart, and notify the departed player via e-mail or ICQ of this time, which must be at least 24 hours away. There is no requirement that the departed player agree to this time, and if he fails to show for the restart, he is automatically AI'd. (Logic: This rule is designed to protect the interests of a player whose disappearance is caused by a loss of Internet connection beyond their control.) 4. SURRENDER. A player may NEVER surrender to another player. If a player wishes to leave the game, he simply selects the Exit Game option from the main game menu and leaves. The Computer will take over the empire, which is henceforth termed an AI (Artificial Intelligence). (Logic: Surrender is to great an advantage to the victorious player. This rule forces him to finish the job properly no matter how quickly his opponent gives up.) 5. AI'S. When a player exits the game and leaves an AI, the following rules apply. If a player was already at war with the exited player's empire, that player may proceed to attack the AI empire normally until it is either conquered, or peace is made. If a player was not at war with the exited player's empire at the time he exited, or has subsequently made peace with that AI and wishes to renew hostilities, then that player may go to war with the AI subject to the following requirement: THE PLAYER MAY NEVER INVADE ANY PLANET OF THE AI WITH GROUND TROOPS. RATHER, HE MUST BOMB THE PLANET'S POPULATION TO ZERO. SUCH A PLAYER IS PERMITTED TO RESETTLE AN ANNIHILATED AI PLANET WITH A COLONY SHIP OR COLONY BASE OF HIS OWN RACE. A player is deemed to be at war with a departed player only if he meets one of the following conditions: 1) he has declared war and the Race Screen shows the two races in a state of war, or 2) he has fought a combat action against that player in the 20 turns prior to his departure. (Logic: This rule prevents a neighbor who was not at war with a player when he AI's from earning a free lunch at the expense of other players who are not lucky enough to be nearby. The AI's space may be expanded into, but at the normal price of building c-ships and c-bases. However, if a player took the risk of going to war when his opponent was still human - or beat his attacker off so badly that he exited - he retains the right to finish the war normally despite his enemy's departure.) 6. ORION. No player may deliberately attack ORION unless this is specifically agreed to by all players at the start of the game. Accidental scouting of Orion before a player knows its identity is not a breach of this rule. (Logic: Victory over Orion gives a player a huge tech advantage. This rule strips this benefit from the player(s) lucky enough to be closest to Orion, and reduces the ease with which the leading player can get even further ahead.) 7. NAMING SYSTEMS. Players may change the name of any system but a) may not use names like ".", ".", or any other name designed to be impossible for the enemy to detect (it is highly recommended that names be at least 3 letters long), and b) Players shall always keep colony names beginning in Upper Case and Outpost names beginning in Lower Case. (Logic: This is the system that MOO automatically uses, and any attempt to change this is considered too cheap a method to gain advantage.) 8. NAMING SHIPS. Ships that have the same design should always bear the same name, and ships with different designs should bear different names. (Logic: This rule minimizes the amount of scanning necessary during combat.) 9. GAME CHEATS. The various game cheat codes that are built into MOO are considered illegal unless all players have agreed up front to use them. 10. EDITORS. The use of an editor to modify a player's position is strictly prohibited. Discovery that a player has used an editor is grounds for expulsion from the League. 11. CREDIT CHEAT. All players must put housing at the end of all of their production queues and leave it there for the duration of the game. (Logic: The credit cheat is a complex production technique wherein a veteran player can earn a double production bonus from production items. This rule prevents the technique and provides a level playing field for players of all skill levels.) 12. SAVE HONOR. All players agree never to hotseat their opponents' positions between game sessions. (Logic: The game is a lot more fun if your secrets remain secrets until you are ready to spring them.) A. CHEATING. In the event that a player fails to observe these rules when they are in force, and this failure is discovered during play, the remaining players may, at their discretion, restart the game without him and treat his empire as an AI, or void the game altogether. In the event that a player wins a game and is subsequently discovered to have violated these rules, the remaining players may either a) void the game or b) mutually agree upon the player who should have won. If no agreement can be reached within one week of the discovery of cheating, then the game is voided by default. Disagreements that arise over this process should be referred to the current President for adjudication and resolution. All parties should make an immediate Save of the game (save an open game to a named file slot or hotseat the Autosave, open your own position, and save to a named file slot) and e-mail it to the President along with a description of the alleged violation or defense.V. STOPPING AND RESTARTING A GAME
A. GAME HALTS. A game may be halted at any time by the mutual agreement of all players. If only one or some of the players wish to halt, and others do not, then all must halt provided that the game has been played for at least one hour (Ladder) or three hours (Tournament or Skirmish), or provided that the game has been played for the minimum number of hours agreed to by all players at the start of play. If a player wishes to halt before this minimum playing time has been reached, the surviving players may AI that player and continue playing. B. RESTART TIMES. Once a game has been halted, the surviving players must agree to a time to continue playing before they break up and go their separate way. The restart time can be as far in the future as the players care to agree to. However, if no agreement can be reached on a restart time, and if all players except one CAN agree on a restart time within two weeks of the current day, then the players who can agree may specify that restart time within the two week window without the one dissenting player. If the single dissenting player fails to show at that time, he can be AI'd. If a player leaves the arena after play has been halted and before a restart time can be agreed upon, then his agreement is not required to set the restart time, but he must be notified via e-mail or ICQ of the time that the others have agreed to. (Logic: This rule is designed to encourage players to set a restart time within two weeks of the original game start, and does not allow one holdout to keep the rest of the players hostage. As always, sweet reason and courtesy should be applied to the enforcement of this provision.) C. GAME RESTARTS. If a player fails to show at the appointed time for a game restart, the remaining players are required to wait at least 15 minutes beyond the scheduled restart time in hopes that the missing player will appear. After 15 minutes have passed, the remaining players may restart the game and AI the missing player.VI. NON-AGGRESSION PACTS
A. DEFAULT TERMS. When two players agree to a Non-Aggression pact (NA), the following restrictions shall apply during the term of the pact unless the two parties have specifically agreed to different terms at the start. Neither player may attack the other player's ships, outposts, or colonies. Neither player may place spies on the other player's empire. Systems in space between the two player's empires may be colonized or outposted on a first-come, first served basis. If a player places an outpost in a particular system, this does not prevent the other player from outposting that same system, or colonizing a different planet in that same system. Once a player has placed a colony in a particular system, the other player shall not place any colonies in that same system (except at planets that he has ALREADY outposted), but may place new outposts on any UNINHABITABLE Gas Giant or asteroid belt in that system. Both players must abide by these conditions and neither player shall breach the NA for any reason. B. BREACH. Should a player breach an NA, the other party to the NA may report him to the League President, who shall post the breaching player's name on the Cheaters Page of the web site. (Logic: NA's are a vital part of any players toolkit and a staple of the game. If they are not considered sacrosanct, then no one will risk relying upon them because a player who plans to break an NA can gain a huge, and unscrupulous advantage over his partner.) C. NA EXPIRATION. It is strongly recommended, tho not required, that NA's be negotiated for a fixed number of turns rather than left open ended so that players will have some flexibility if game conditions change. However, if an NA has been left open ended, it is ALWAYS considered to end 10 turns after the parties to the NA become the only remaining players in the game, unless both parties specifically agree otherwise on the turn they become the last two players. If an NA has been negotiated for a fixed term (i.e. for 50 turns or until turn 175, for example), then the NA only ends when the agreed upon term expires, even if the parties become the only players left, unless BOTH players agree to an earlier expiration.VII. LADDER RANKING SYSTEM
A. SCORING. Each player will have a Ladder record consisting of 20 game slots. For the first 20 games, the score for each game will either be zero for a loss or a point score based on the total number of ladder subscribers minus the ranking of the opponent defeated, normalized to a number between 1 and 100. Thus if a player ranked 41 out of 200 ladder players defeats a player ranked 5 out of 200 players, the winner earns a score of 97.5 (200-5=195; 195/200*100=97.5). After the first 20 games, a positive game score will be recorded only if the new game score is higher than at least one of the existing game scores, in which case the lowest existing game score is overwritten by the new higher game score. A player's overall ranking will be based on the total cumulative scores in his 20 game fields. Any game score more than 6 months old will be zeroed out, which means that players must continue to play in order to maintain their ranking.VIII. TOURNAMENT RANKING SYSTEM
A. SCORING. Each player will have a Tournament record consisting of 20 game slots. For the first 20 games, the score for each game will either be zero for a loss or a point score equal to the total number of tournament subscribers minus the ranking of each opponent defeated. If a player defeats one or more opponents in the game, but does not win the game overall, he gets a score for each opponent defeated. If a player wins the whole tournament, he gets a score for every other player defeated. Example: Players A, B, and C play a tournament in which Player A defeats Player B, but is finally overwhelmed by Player C. There are 200 players in the Tournament Ranking system. Player A is ranked 38, Player B is ranked 52 and Player C is ranked 16 at the start of this game. Player A earns 74 points (200-52=148; 148/200*100=74) for defeating player B. Player B earns zero points. Player C earns 81 points (200- 38=162; 162/200*100=81) for defeating Player A and 74 points (200-52=148; 148/200*100=74) for defeating Player B, for a total score of 155 (81+74=155). After the first 20 games, a positive game score will be recorded only if the new game score is higher than at least one of the existing game scores, in which case the lowest existing game score is overwritten by the new higher game score. A player's overall ranking will be based on the total cumulative score in his 20 game fields. Any game score more than 6 months old will be zeroed out, which means that players must continue to play in order to maintain their ranking. B. SUBSTITUTES. In the event that a player fails to show for a scheduled Tournament restart, or wishes to leave in the middle of a game, the surviving players may invite a substitute to join the game and take over the missing player's empire. A substitute may be included in a game only if ALL players agree to his participation. At the conclusion of the game, the substitute may choose whether the tournament results for the game will be posted in his name or in the name of the original player. Thus a player's ranking can never be hurt by playing as a substitute, because he can always have the game results recorded using the name of the original player if play goes badly. However, if play goes well, the substitute can choose to have the game results for his empire recorded in his own name. Whoever will be posting the game results should check with the substitute at the end of the game (or upon his departure if prior to the end of the game), and determine whose name he wishes recorded in the posting.IX. BATTLE RANKING SYSTEM
A. SCORING. Each Race will have a Battle record consisting of 20 game slots. For the first 20 games, the score for each game will either be zero for a loss or a point score equal to the total number of Races minus the ranking of each opponent defeated. This calculation is made separately for each defeated player. Thus if an Alkari and a Mrrshan were the defeated pair, and the Alkaris are currently ranked #2 and the Mrrshans #4, the winners' score would be 87.5 for the defeated Alkari (16-2=14; 14/16*100=87.5) plus 75 for the defeated Mrrshan (16-4=12; 12/16*100=75) for a total of 162.5. The total score is then divided by the number of players on each team, in this case 2, for a final score of 81.25 (162.5/2=81.25). This final game score is then eligible to be posted to the record of each race on the winning team. After the first 20 games, a positive game score will be recorded only if the new score is higher than at least one of the existing game scores, in which case the lowest existing game score is overwritten by the new higher game score. A Race's overall ranking will be based on the total cumulative score in his 20 game fields. Any game score more than 6 months old will be zeroed out. B. SUBSTITUTES. In the event that a player fails to show for a scheduled Battle restart, or wishes to leave in the middle of a game, the surviving players may invite a substitute to join the game and take over the missing player's empire. A substitute may be included in a game only if ALL players agree to his participation. Once a substitute has entered a game, only the substitute is recorded in the game posting for ranking purposes and the original player is completely disregarded.X. WARS
A. DEFINITION. A war is an agreement between two or more race leaders to conduct a fixed number of scheduled meets during which the opposing sides shall play Battle games. The purpose of a war is to improve a race's Battle ranking and facilitate the opportunity to play games in a team format. B. DECLARATIONS OF WAR. Any race leader may contact any other race leader and propose a war. The opposing race leader must agree in order for a war to occur. Once the race leaders have agreed to conduct a war, they must specify a fixed number of meets between 4 and 8, and they must provide the dates upon which these meets will occur. This information is reported to the League President for posting upon the League web site. C. MEETS. It is the obligation of each participating race leader to either appear at each meet or to appoint a delegate who will appear. At the appointed time, the participating members gather in the arena and the side that initiated the war names a team of either 2 or 3 specific players. The other side then provides an opposing team of 2 or 3 specific players. These players then go off to duel, and if there are still more members present this pairing process continues until one side or the other does not have 2 members left. A side that cannot field at least two players to make up one team forfeits a single game to the opposing side. Games must always have a balanced number of players on each side, so that if one side only shows up with two players, the opposing side can only propose a two-player team to play them. D. ALLIANCES. Whenever two leaders have agreed to a war, the leaders of any other races may join one side or the other. If players from multiple races participate on the same team in a Battle game and win, each race may receive the points for that win. Once a race has joined an alliance, it may not switch sides for the stated duration of that war, though it may withdraw from the alliance.XI. RACE LEADERSHIP
A. RIGHTS & RESPONSIBILITIES OF RACE LEADERS. Race leaders are responsible for recruiting new members and for assigning ranks, awards, and promotions to their members. A race leader MUST admit any member who requests admittance. Race leaders may also recruit members from outside the League or from other races inside the League. Race leaders may commit their races to wars, make alliances, conclude peace agreements, and otherwise conduct any diplomacy as they see fit. Race leaders are encouraged to create or maintain a website for their members, but this is not a requirement for leadership. In the event that a race leader needs to be away for a while, the leader may delegate a sub-leader to run the race in his absence. B. VOLUNTARY CHANGE OF LEADERSHIP. In the event that a race leader steps down, any members of that race may nominate themselves or another member of the race by e-mailing the League President. 14 days after the League President has been informed of a race leader's departure, he must post the names of nominated candidates on the League Polling site and open the voting. Only members of the particular race may vote. Voting shall be open for a period of 14 days. At the end of the voting period, the President must close the polls and post the result on the League site. In the event of a tie vote, the President must announce a runoff election using the same procedure. C. INVOLUNTARY CHANGE OF LEADERSHIP. If a majority of the members of a race petition the President for a new race leader, for any reason, the President is required to announce an election within 14 days. In the event that a race leader simply disappears, any race member may petition the League President to hold an election. The President shall determine whether the leader has in fact disappeared. If the President receives no replies to his inquiries for a period of 14 days after first sending them, he may determine that the race leader has gone missing and announce an election for 14 days hence.XII LEAGUE PRESIDENT
A. RIGHTS & RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE LEAGUE PRESIDENT. The League President is responsible for the overall administration of the League. The President may create deputies and committees for various purposes and delegate to them certain specific responsibilities. The League President is responsible for administering fair elections for race leadership, and for adjudicating disagreements that arise between members. B. PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS. The League President holds office for a single year. Because more players will be available over the summer vacation months than any others, Presidential Elections are always held during the first two weeks of July. During the month of June, any League members may nominate themselves or any other member who agrees to be nominated. By the first of July, the outgoing League President must post each nominated member to the League polling site and open the election. At the end of the first two weeks of July polling shall be closed and the results posted. In the event of a tie involving the outgoing President and a new nominee, the new nominee shall win. In the event of a tie between two new nominees, the outgoing President shall announce a runoff election to start on August 1st and to last for 14 days.XIII. DISPUTE RESOLUTION
A. DISPUTE BOARD. Should a charge of cheating or other dispute arise between League members, any member may refer the dispute to the League President for resolution. The President shall appoint two Judges who, together with the President himself, shall constitute the Dispute Board charged with resolving the dispute. The Board shall review the evidence provided by the various parties, and render a verdict. In the event that a member is found guilty of cheating, the Board may choose one of three outcomes: 1) Censure - a warning not to engage in similar behavior again; 2) Suspension - blocking the player from participating in any League games for a period of time; or 3) Expulsion - Permanent barring from the League. In all cases, a guilty player shall have his name posted to the Cheaters Page of the League web site so that other players may be warned about this player's behavior.