MLCTF XVIII
1. League Rules             
Additions:

MLCTF XVIII will feature a weekly/daily M3ssy Award. Denoted in topic and possibly more surprises.
1.1 League Format             
The Eighteenth edition of Major League Capture the Flag, hereafter referred to as MLCTF XVIII, will be a season format and feature a single-elimination playoff round. There will be 10 teams with two (2) divisions. The season portion of MLCTF XVIII will see each team play one (1) match with every other team in their division for a total of four (4) matches for the regular season. Matches will be on Sunday and Thursday. The regular season will last 2 weeks. Playoffs will then last a little over a week.
1.2 League Point Format             
Each match consists of two maps and no tiebreaker. Teams will be awarded three (3) points for each map win, one (1) point for each map loss and zero (0) points for each map forfeit. The eight ( teams with the most points at the end of the regular season will advance to the playoffs. In the event of a tie, the team who has the least forfeits will advance. If both teams had an equal number of forfeits, the team who recorded the most game wins (not map wins) will advance. Should both teams have an equal number of game wins, the team that won the head-to-head matchup between both teams will advance. If the teams had split, the team with the better capture ratio in the head-to-head matchup will advance. If one of the teams had forfeited a map during the head to head, it will be considered an 8-0 loss for the purposes of calculating capture differential. If the teams are still tied in capture ratio in their head to head matchup, they will play a one map tiebreaker on CTF-Terra-LE102. The server for this match will be determined randomly by the admins unless both captains can agree on a server. If the captains can not agree, they will each give their location preference for a server to the admins. If these locations are the same, a server from that location will be randomly picked. If not, a random server will be picked from either location. In the event of a 3-way tie at the end of the regular season, the normal criteria will be used to select the one or two teams to advance, if one or two teams cannot be determined, overall capture efficiency % will be used to advance the team(s). If equal efficiency % are seen, the teams will have to play a tiebreaker.

1.3 Playoff Format             
The playoffs will feature a single elimination bracket between the eight (8) top teams. The quarter-final and semi-final matches will feature a best-of-three format and the finals will feature a best-of-five format. The eight (8) teams are seeded as follows:

Division 1
(1) 1st Place
(2) 2nd Place
(3) 3rd Place
(4) 4th Place

Division 2
(5) 1st Place
(6) 2nd Place
(7) 3rd Place
(8) 4th Place
2. Match Rules            
2.1 Map Selection             
Each round of the regular season will consist of 2 maps selected from a pre-determined map list. During each of the regular season matches, each team will pick one (1) map. Each team is allowed to choose a map from this list ONCE during the regular season. The team captains must give their server and map choice to the admin no more than (10) minutes after the scheduled match time. Once the match admin has announced each team's map selection, neither team may change their map choice. The one exception to this is if both teams pick the same map. Should this happen, the admin will allow both teams to resubmit their map selection. If both teams decide not to change their map selection, that map will be played twice. However, if both teams change their map pick but end up picking the same map, the map that was selected by both teams initially will be the first map played and the map that was selected by both teams the second time will be the second map played for the match. The team listed first on the site will have their map pick played first on the second team's server choice.

The quarter-final and semi-final rounds of the playoffs will be a best of three (3) maps with each team choosing one (1) map from the entire maplist. A team may not choose the same map in both the quarter-final and semi-final matches. Should a tiebreaker be required, they will play the first map on the tiebreaker list that was not chosen by either team. The higher seeded team will have server choice. (the server they already picked) The lower seeded team will have color choice.

The final round of the playoffs will be a best of five (5) maps with each team choosing two (2) maps from the entire maplist. The teams will play the higher seeded team's map selection first and then third. (lower seeded's server) Should a tiebreaker be required, they will play the first map on the tiebreaker list that was not chosen by either team. Higher seeded team gets server choice. (the server they already picked) The lower seeded team will have color choice.
2.2 Map List             
CTF-AreaN23LE103
CTF-Azcanize-MLUT
CTF-BleakCE100
CTF-Bollwerk105
CTF-CynosureLE105
CTF-Gauntlet
CTF-GlacierCE105
CTF-IncineratorLE-102
CTF-LavaGiant
CTF-McSwartzly][
CTF-NovCE105
CTF-Orbital-LE102
CTF-Ranel-JE
CTF-Revenge-LE102
CTF-Terra-LE102
CTF-Vaultcity-LE102

In the quarter-final and semi-final rounds, the tiebreaker list will be as follows: (traded bleak for glacier to preserve continuity)

CTF-Orbital-LE102
CTF-Terra-LE102
CTF-GlacierCE105

In the final round, the tiebreaker list will be as follows: (traded Mcs for NovCE))

CTF-Orbital-LE102
CTF-Terra-LE102
CTF-GlacierCE105
CTF-McSwartzly][
CTF-Bollwerk105
2.3 Color Choice            
During all matches, the team that has chosen the server is allowed color choice because it will be the other teams map pick. During the playoffs, the choice of color for the tiebreaker map is granted to the lower seeded team.

2.4 Match Scheduling            
All matches are prescheduled by the MLCTF staff and times will be posted on the MLCTF website. If teams wish to change the time of their match on a given night, both captains must agree and inform an admin within 24 hours of the scheduled match start, otherwise the original time will be used. Matches may not be moved off of their original date except in special cases voted on by the admin staff. If a team cannot field an adequate lineup (5 legal players) at match time, they will be subject to a forfeit loss. The specific rules for a forfeit loss are enumerated under sections 2.4a through 2.4f.

Captains/Co-Captains are required to submit their server/map pick by ten (10) minutes till their schedule match time. Failure to submit information before this deadline will allow the other team to get into their server choice (even if it is not the server for the first map) and start their timer, assuming they have met this deadline. If neither team has their information at the deadline, rule 2.4a goes into effect. And eligible for This week's M3ssy Award.
2.4a Forfeit Loss - Double Forfeit            
If neither team can field a team of five (5) players fifteen (15) minutes after the designated start match time or arrival of an admin, whichever is later, both teams receive a forfeit loss for both maps, neither team receiving any points. And probably worthy of This week's M3ssy Award.

2.4b Forfeit Loss - 15 Minutes            
If Team B cannot field a team of five (5) members fifteen (15) minutes after Team A has provided five (5) clicked members in the correct server, provided that it is after the designated match start time or arrival of an admin, whichever is later, Team B forfeits their map pick and Team A receives points for the win. The timer will start the countdown and continue counting only when all five (5) members are clicked and if one member reconnects during that countdown, the timer is paused until that member clicks again. And eligible for This week's M3ssy Award.
2.4c Forfeit Loss - 25 Minutes            
If Team B cannot field a team of five (5) members twenty-five (25) minutes after Team A has provided five (5) clicked members in the correct server, provided that it is after the designated match start time or arrival of an admin, whichever is later, Team B forfeits Team A's map pick and Team A receives points for the win. The timer will start the countdown and continue counting only when all five (5) members are clicked and if one member happens to reconnect during that countdown, the timer is paused until that member clicks again. (Dont be dicks, excessive abuse can cause forfeit) And eligible for This week's M3ssy Award.
2.4d Forfeit Loss - Between Maps            
If neither team can field a team of five (5) players within ten (10) minutes of the completion of a map, provided an admin is present, both teams receive a forfeit loss for the next map, neither team receiving any points.And eligible for This week's M3ssy Award.
2.4e Forfeit Loss - Between Maps            
If, between maps, Team B cannot field a team of five (5) members ten (10) minutes after Team A has fielded five (5) members, provided an admin is present and all five (5) members of Team A are clicked, Team B forfeits the map and Team A is awarded points for a map win. And eligible for This week's M3ssy Award.
2.4f Forfeit Loss - Excessive admin abuse             
Including, but not limited to, Excessive pm's, teamspeak interactions and the like will not be tolerated. Admins are busy at match time and dont have time for explaining rules/arguing. Come prepared. Do not misplace your anger on the admins. Admins are chosen for their integrity and will be treated as such during match time under penalty of forfeit/removal from the league. All cases Will be reported and decision rendered. Check yourself before you wreck yourself. (and your team) Pug is pug, Dont bring it to matches. Play your match and it will be reviewed.
2.5 Connections            
MLCTF XVIII is an open ping event, and as such, nearly all connections are accepted and legal. However, a person cannot be on a LAN (local-area network) with the server. Also, any attempt to lag oneself, another player, or a server is strictly forbidden. Any players found to be in violation of this rule will be suspended from league play until further notice and possibly offered up for G-line or worse. Dont do it.

2.6 Server Crash            
In the event that the game server crashes during a match, the match will restart with the amount of time that was remaining when the server crashed. If the score was tied prior to the crash then any overtime played in the restart will be official. If the match was not tied any captures made prior to the crash will be added to the score once the clock reaches 0:00. If overtime is required at that point, teams will restart the map again with the first team capturing winning the map.
2.7 Server Selection             
Each team's map selection shall be played on the other team's server selection. However, teams are encouraged to play on the server that presents the best ping for both teams. Teams are not allowed to change their server choice once they have been told where to go by the admin for the start of the first map. The one exception to this is if the opposing captain agrees such as in the case of switching from a laggy Chicago server to a more stable Chicago server for all players.
During playoff tiebreakers, the server choice is given to the higher-seeded team. (the same server originally picked by that team) Unless said server was experiencing issues in the previous match. However, teams again are encouraged to play on the server that presents the best ping for both teams. Only the servers listed in 2.7a are legal for MLUT match play.
2.7a Servers             
2.8 Server Settings             
Required Mutators:
No Redeemer, CB12, AntiTweak v4.2, BDBMapVote3.04/MapvoteLA13, DeluxeChatV4, WhoPushedMe

Required Server Actors:
UTPureRC7E, NoTossWeaponSwitch, AnthChecker_v138 (Build 7), UTDCv2.1, AntiFA46, 2k4Combos

Server Settings:
Max Team Score: 0
Time Limit: 20 minutes
Weapons Stay: On
Tournament: On
Max Teams: 2
Friendly Fire: 0%
Game Style: Hardcore
Game Speed: 100%
Air Control: 35%
Translocator: On
Bots: Off
Powerups: On

It is the responsibility of all participants, admins, captains, and players to ensure that all the settings are correct prior to starting the match. Once both teams have clicked in they have agreed to the current settings and no map can be replayed due to settings that are in conflict with those on the rules page. The lack of HUD during a match does not merit a pause or a restart of the map as it can easily be fixed within seconds. If serious errors are missed the admin staff will make a ruling based on a case by case scenario.
3. Team Rules            
3.1 Captain Responsibilities             
Captains will be selected from a list of applicants by the admininstrators. Captains will be required to:

a) Name their team.
b) Draft a competitive team.
c) Assign a co-captain. A co-captain must be assigned prior to the first match of the season (round 2 for season XVIII) otherwise a forfeit will be the punishment for every upcoming match until a co-captain is set.
d) Make team decisions, such as lineup, map, color and server choices.
e) Take SmartCTF screenshots of their matches and provide them to the admins.
f) Collect evidence and provide it to the MLUT admins when accusing another team of breaking the rules.
g) Idle in #mlut channel when on IRC in order to receive messages from admins.

In the absence of the official captain, the co-captain will act as the captain. In the absence of both the captain and the co-captain, the available player with the highest salary will act as captain.
3.2 Captain Replacement             
Should a team be unhappy with their team captain, they may hold a team vote of non-confidence to remove him. If five (5) or more players on a team agree to the removal of a captain, the captain will be removed from the league and possibly banned. The player with the highest salary on the team will then become captain, or he may promote another player to the role of captain. Should a captain not take his or her duties seriously, he may be removed from his position as captain by the league and may face suspension. This is a game but take your team serious.
3.3 Team Creation             
Each team will consist of 10 (10) players. They will be acquired through a draft process on IRC using our draftbot. The draft order will begin with the captain with the lowest rank/salary. Draft order will be the same as in past seasons.
3.4 Player Salaries            
All MLUT players will be listed with a corresponding salary based on their compiled skill ranking. Over the course of a few days all players, admins and captains will be asked to submit player ranking lists using the integrated ranking program found on the MLUT site. All players are encouraged to use this program. You are able to edit your list at any time and save the changes.(over days) Once you are finished, you can submit the list to the admins via the website. The admins will then remove the submitters name and post all lists on the forums.Then review the lists, and the ones that we believe are accurate enough will be approved. All approved lists will be averaged, then each player will receive a compiled ranking and will be assigned a salary based on a graduated pay scale. Admins reserve the right to amend said rankings in the event of an obvious error.
3.5 Trading             
Trading is allowed between all teams in MLCTF XVIII. Once a team is mathematically eliminated from the playoffs, their roster will be locked and they will be unable to trade for the remainder of the season. This is to prevent team dumping once a team is out of playoff contention. Captains are encouraged to protect their players and not take any trade offers lightly. Try to consider the integrity of the person offering the trade, whether the trade is fair and balanced to the rest of the teams in the league, and most of all, whether the trade actually helps your team's chances of winning the MLCTF XVIII Championship. Admins reserve the right to amend any trades deemed inappropriate.

3.6 Player Holdout            
Players will not be allowed to holdout on their teams. Players unhappy with their teams are encouraged to privately seek a trade or request to be dropped through their captain. If a player still wishes to publicly holdout from his team, selfishly screwing them over without compensation, the admins are more than happy to remove him from the league.

3.7 Player Inactivity             
If a player misses two (2) consecutive matches, a team may contact an admin with an inactivity request. The player will be removed from the league and will not be placed back into the free agent pool, and possibly removed from the league. Captains are encouraged to exercise this option only as a last resort to resolving the issues with the player or through free agent or inter-team trading. All actions will be handled based on available evidence and league querries.
4. Game Rules            
4.1a Cheats             
All hacks, bots, radars, cheats and non-GUI (advanced preferences) controlled tweaks are illegal. This includes, but is not limited to, any kind of automated aiming bot, a trigger-bot, any form of radar, server-crashing bugs / tools, packet loss and latency inducing devices, external timers, HUD timers (besides the one PURE provides), and anything in that same vein or spirit, or any cheats/hacks/tweaks that causes a player to be kicked from the server (no ambient sounds/light boxes/no shadows/etc.). Please use your brain as this is a zero tolerance policy. Any violations will be reviewed and may result in a PERMANENT EXPULSION for the offending player from all MLUT related events and a forfeit loss of the match in question for the offending team. These rules are not finite and can be changed or modified at anytime to address any situation. Those caught by our cheat protection will be subject to punishment. The only allowable tweak is shortened death messages. Every other tweak is illegal for MLCTF. Lets be honest, in this day, if you cant run ut99, you should`nt be in a Pro League.

In addition, players can be convicted of the above (with admin vote) without being caught by server cheat protection. Admins reserve the right to take into account all evidence regarding said player, including, but not limited to: demos, screenshots and server logs.
4.1b Skins            
Players may not use any skins other than those included in a default installation of Unreal Tournament, and may not alter the appearance of any of these skins by any means.
4.1c Spectators             
Should any players be caught spectating a match without the consent of an administrator, And not immedeatly leave if asked, they risk a possible suspension/forfeit from league play. (You are allowed to spectate pugs, not matches) Should they be a member of a team in play, the offending team will receive a forfeit loss for the map in question. Further actions will be reviewed.
4.1d Frog Jumps             
Frog Jumps and/or Bunny Hops are illegal in MLCTF play. If a player executes a Frog Jump in a match, accidentally or otherwise, the player must immediately drop the flag and allow the other team to return it. If demo, admin or eyewitness UTV evidence show that the player or team that Frog Jumped captured or continued to attempt to capture a flag after the violation, the map will result in a forfeit loss for that team. In the event that something is missed it will be put under review.
4.2 Server Admin             
If a player logs into a server as administrator prior to a match, the player must logout when complete, and reconnect to the server. At no time may a player login as administrator during the match. Doing so will result in a forfeit loss for the map in question for the offending team, and a possible suspension for the offending player.
4.3 Connection Fraud             
All connection fraud is illegal, including but not limited to, faking your ping or disturbing another connection through any means. Any violations will result in a forfeit loss of the map in question for the offending team. The offending player will be suspended from play for the current season with the possibility of being reported for G-line. (Done)
4.4 Aliasing            
A player may not use multiple identities over the course of the season. The name a player uses must be identical to that tracked by the admins and the alias they signed up as. If at any time a player refuses to use the name they signed up with when asked by an admin to change it during a match, they will be denied permission to play. Repeated offences will result in a player being suspended from play for the rest of the season.

If a team wishes to alter their names as part of their tag or team 'theme', they may contact an admin to discuss a solution that is fun but still clearly shows who every player on the team is.
4.5 Ringing             
Using a ringer (a player not on your eligible roster, who is generally posing as an eligible player) is a serious offence. Using a ringer will result in the offending player, as well as any captains or co-captains present, being banned indefinitely. In addition, the team will forfeit the maps in question and be disqualified from play for the remainder of the season.
4.6 Piston Portal Camping             
Piston portal camping is illegal. This includes sitting on either side of a portal with a charged piston and/or anything in the spirit of portal camping, such as but not limited to, repeatedly running through a portal with a charged piston. Any violations will result in a forfeit loss on the map in question for the offending team.
4.7 Game Bugs            
Exploiting game bugs is illegal, such as, but not limited to, the armor bug, or any bugs which may allow you to translocate and retain the flag or teleport the flag across large distances. (Warp) Any violations will result in a forfeit loss of the map in question for the offending team.
4.8 Map Bugs            
Exploiting map bugs is illegal, such as but not limited to, dropping flags into areas they are not supposed to. Through walls and/or doors and the Terra flag drop. Drops through visible openings such as but not limited to, those on McSwarztly and Orbital are legal, with the exception of the Terra flag drop. Any violations will result in a forfeit loss of the map in question for the offending team.
4.9 Taunts             
Excessive use of text taunts is illegal. Using taunts bound to movement keys, firing keys, weapon switch keys, or any other frequently used bind in the game, is illegal. Issues will be handled on a case by case basis. If a player continues to spam taunt binds after one (1) admin warning, his team will forfeit the map and he will be denied permission to play for the rest of the match. If required, further actions will be discussed with said teams captain.
5. Administration            
5.1 Administrative Powers             
All MLCTF admins have the power to make any changes to information on the MLUT website. (please have patience for changes) Should a captain or player notice any mistakes, he or she may contact an admin. Should a captain, player or other admin feel that an admin is abusing their power, he or she may file a grievance with another MLCTF admin and a vote will be conducted regarding the topic.
5.2 Conflict Resolution             
Any and all problems (including those not governed in the rules) will be resolved by an admin vote. All admins have one (1) vote and can choose not to vote if they so please. In the hopes of keeping things moving, all open votes have a twenty-four (24) hour window in which admins can place their vote. There may, however, be exceptions to this twenty-four (24) hour window, should the vote be for something that does not require immediate resolution. In the event of a tie, the head admin will cast the deciding vote.
5.3 Availability             
In the event that there is only one (1) available admin for any MLCTF function. Said admin has the authority to resolve all conflicts within the scope of the rules. These actions will be reported to the admin staff. If deemed unethical or not to be handled within the scope of the rules will be put to an admin vote and a ruling will soon follow.
5.4 Asterisk (*)             
The MLCTF XVIII admins reserve the right to alter any rule in any way at any time as they see fit if there is a passing majority admin vote. This is to protect the integrity of the tournament in case of a loophole or something being overlooked.
Moderated By: MLCTF XVIII Admins

MLCTF XVIII Features