Official Rules of Play
Grifball Spring League 2009 – April 6th 2009
OFFICIAL GAME FILES
Game Variant: Grifball
Map Variant: GBSL09
Network Test: Network Test
ADMINISTRATION AND STAFF
REQUIREMENTS
To participate you will need the following:
- An Xbox360
- A Copy of Halo 3
- Xbox Live Gold account
- Halo 3 Heroic Map pack (Download for FREE on Marketplace)
GAMEPLAY RULES
Grifball is a simple game. Two teams of four players square off in an arena in which each team has a goal. The object is to take the ball from the middle of the court and put it in the other team's goal.
Scoring a goal earns one point and ends the round. There is no time limit for each round.
Each match consists of at least nine rounds. The team with the most goals at the end of the game wins.
Each player is equipped with only a gravity hammer and an energy sword. There are no grenades. All weapons have unlimited ammo.
The base Halo 3 gametype is Assault (neutral bomb). Damage is set to 200% with player health set to 10%. One direct hit will kill a normal player.
Dead players respawn in three seconds at their own goal.
The ball carrier has a 2x Overshield, 150% speed, 150% damage resist, and turns orange for some reason. Any player may become the ball carrier by picking up the ball.
Friendly players can hurt each other.
Spawn camping is a legal and legitimate strategy.
In the highly unlikely event that a player finds themselves outside of the arena (beyond the wall), they must find a teleporter. It will kill the player and respawn them back onto the court. It is the player's duty to return to play within 15 seconds (judged by time on Save Film) or they forfeit the entire match. If they leave the ball beyond the wall, it will reset within 30 seconds. Play is not suspended while the ball or ball carrier is out of bounds.
GRIFBALL SPRING 2009 ROOKIE AND LEGACY LEAGUE RULES
OVERALL
Each team has a roster of up to eight players, including one Team Captain. Each match, the Captain will choose four players from the roster to play in the game. Captains may add or remove players from the Team roster until they have played in a match for that team. Once a player plays in an official match for a team, that player is on that team permanently through the end of the season. Players may only appear on the roster of one team. Players may only play in one league per season. All players must be registered on Grifball.com in order to play in the League. Guests may play in the league, and they are counted as one of the eight allowable players. Players on the same team may play on the same screen.
Each match will consist of one 4v4 nine-round game to nine total points. The team with at least five points at the end of the game wins the match. Games must be completed to nine total points, even if one team scores five points before the last round of the game.
QUALIFICATIONS FOR EACH LEAGUE
GBSL09 is separated into three leagues: Rookie, Legacy, and Elite.
- The Rookie League is designed for newbies and less-experienced players. It is the place for newer players to improve their game before taking on the pros.
- The Legacy League is the intermediate league. Competition is greater than in the Rookie League. It is the place for more seasoned and skilled players who are looking to rise to the top of the game.
- The Elite League is the exclusive, 16 team league that is comprised of the best of the best. These are the top Grifball teams out there, playing in a highly competitive setting.
The rules for separating teams into the Rookie and Legacy leagues are as follows:
- All players who played at least three games, during the regular season and/or in the playoffs, in the Summer 08 or Winter 09 Legacy Leagues are "Legacy Players".
- All players that played at least three games, during the regular season and/or in the playoffs, on a team that won its division in the Summer 08 Rookie League are “Legacy Players”.
- All players who played at least three games, during the regular season and/or in the playoffs, on a team that won its division in the Winter 09 Rookie League are "Legacy Players".
- All players who played at least three games, during the regular season and/or in the playoffs, on a team that made it to the third round (Elite Eight) of the Winter 09 Rookie League playoffs are "Legacy Players".
- No team that has two or more Legacy players can sign up for the Spring 09 Rookie League.
- No team that has one or fewer Legacy players can sign up for the Spring 09 Legacy League.
SCHEDULE
Division choices are as follows for both Legacy and Rookie:
Division 1: Mondays at 7pm CST
Division 2: Mondays at 10pm CST
Division 3: Tuesdays at 7pm CST
Division 4: Tuesday at 10pm CST
Division 5: Wednesdays at 7pm CST
Division 6: Wednesdays at 10pm CST
Division 7: Thursdays at 6pm CST
Division 8: Thursdays at 10pm CST
Division 9: Fridays at 6pm CST
Division 10: Fridays at 10pm CST
Division 11: Saturdays at 2pm CST
Division 12: Saturdays at 9pm CST
Division 13: Sundays at 2pm CST
Division 14: Sundays at 9pm CST
In order to sign up you need to take a few steps:
- Make sure you have a registered team on with at least 4 members and you are not REGISTERED* for the Elite League
- Make sure all players want to be on the team and discuss which divisions work best for the team.
- Choose the 3 best divisions that work for your team.
- Wait until registration opens.
- Once registration opens, you will need to send the following information to the correct e-mail address:
Team Name:
Team Captain's GT:
Team Captain's RT Username:
Team's GB.com Page:
1st Division Choice:
2nd Division Choice:
3rd Division Choice:
Here is an example of what it should look like properly filled out:
Team Name: Team India
Team Captain's GT: PP MooCow PP
Team Captain's RT Username: PPMooCowPP
Team's GB.com Page: www.grifball.com/team.php?id=63
1st Division Choice: 1
2nd Division Choice: 9
3rd Division Choice: 11
*Registered means that you have been notified by Adam/LBCountry that you have qualified to play for Elite League. If you have not heard from him by Legacy/Rookie sign-up date, register for Legacy/Rookie based on which your team qualifies for.
PLEASE NOTE: Any teams that register twice, register for more than one league, have illegal players, less that 4 registered players, that are in the UK or AU Leagues or for any other reason the Admins/myself see fit will be disqualified from GBSL09.
When and where to register:
All sign-ups for GBSL09 Rookie and Legacy happen from Saturday, March 28th at 12:01am CST to Saturday, March 28th at 11:59pm CST. This gives teams almost a full 24 hours to register.
Rookie Teams should send their registration forms to: GBSL09Rookie@gmail.com
Legacy Teams should send their registration forms to: GBSL09Legacy@gmail.com
GAME NIGHT PROCEEDURES
Team captains in each division are encouraged to coordinate with one another by e-mail, Xbox Live, and the Rooster Teeth Grifball forum. Captains are responsible for friending each other on Xbox Live before the season begins. Each captain is also responsible for contacting the captain of the other team if they must postpone the match.
For the first five matches of the season, the team that comes first alphabetically will be the home team and will invite the other team to join their custom game lobby. For the last half of the regular season, the team that comes last alphabetically will be the home team.
Captains are not required to play every game. If a captain cannot make it to a game, they must assign an acting captain that can act in their stead.
The home team must have the latest version of the Grifball game type, the Network Test game type, and the Grifball GBSL09 court. The home team must also set the max number of players in the game to 8 and must make the room invite-only. For the first match of the night, the captain or acting captain of the home team must invite the captain or acting captain of the visiting team to join the custom game lobby at the scheduled time. Each team captain or acting captain is responsible for contacting their players and inviting them to the custom game lobby.
Before each SL09 game, teams are required to play one round in the Network Test game variant on the GBSL09 court. Each captain or acting captain must give verbal confirmation that the network connection is satisfactory before the official match can begin. If the connection is not approved, the game cannot be played. If the connections is unsatisfactory, teams are encouraged to switch out players, have their players reset their modems, and do what they can to make the connection better before resorting to postponing the game.
Before inviting the visiting team for the second game of the night, teams are to check the “Game Details” of the visiting team. If the other team is still playing their first game, do not contact them until they are finished.
If the other team fails to show at the scheduled game time, the captain and each player should check if they have received a message from the other team on Xbox Live, by e-mail, or in their Rooster Teeth inbox. If no message has been received, the team must wait at least fifteen minutes before moving on to the second game of the night or before signing off.
If four players are not available fifteen minutes after the scheduled start time, the game must begin, unless both teams agree to postpone the game to another time. Teams may play down one player. The other team is not obligated to also play down a player, so they may play 3v4. Players cannot join the game late.
If a team does not have at least three players in the custom game lobby after fifteen minutes past the scheduled start time, they forfeit the game, unless the other team agrees to postpone the game to another time. If neither team has three players online, the match will be postponed. Both captains are responsible for finding a time before the end of the season to play the make-up game. If the game is not played before the end of the regular season, both teams will receive a loss.
During a forfeit the forfeiting team is credited with a loss. The other team receives a win. A team with two or more forfeit losses may be removed from current and future Grifball leagues.
Games must be played using the official GBSL09 game type and on the official GBSL09 court or a league-approved home court variant. Any game played using a different set of rules or on an unapproved court is void and must be replayed. Not replaying the game voided due to this reason may result in a forfeit for the home team.
REPORTING
The team captain of the winning team is responsible for reporting the results of the match. The losing team captain should not attempt to report the game unless specifically instructed to do so by the League administrators.
The captain of the winning team will visit the Team Schedule page at Grifball.com and click “Report Game”. The captain must then provide the Bungie.net URL for the game and must specify which team was blue and which team was red.
Both the winning and the losing captains, or the acting captains, are required to save a copy of the game film to their Xbox 360 for the remainder of the season. They may be required to place the game on their fileshares if a dispute is filed. Players on each team are encouraged to also save the film of each game for the season, but they are not required to do so.
HOME COURTS
Teams are permitted to play their home games on their team's home court. Home courts must be approved by the league administrations prior to the start of the SL09 season. Both teams must agree to play on an approved home court before the match can begin. If the visiting team declines to play on the home court, the game must be played on the Official SL09 Grifball Court.
For more information on creating a home court variant, visit Nokyard's forum thread.
**Please Note** ONLY runNOKYARDrun can approve a home court. If your court has not been through the approval process – please visit NOKYARD’s thread for full instructions on how to create & submit the court for approval. Games played on unapproved courts - that have not been approved by Nokyard – will result in an immediate forfeit regardless of the result.
PLAYOFFS
For the Legacy and the Rookie Leagues, at the end of the Regular Season, each division winner and each division runner-up (as determined by Win-Loss record) will advance to the playoffs. Depending on the number of divisions, wildcard spots may be added.
In the event of a tie when determining Division leader, the following tie breakers will be used in order:
- Head-to-head regular season record. (Only the head-to-head win/loss record will count. The goals for and against in each game will not be a factor.)
- Average team goals scored per game in common games.
- Average team batting average per game.
- A one game playoff scheduled by the League
In the event of a tie when determining playoff seeding or wildcard berths, the following tie breakers will be used in order:
- Head-to-head regular season record, if applicable. (Only the head-to-head win/loss record will count. The goals for and against in each game will not be a factor.)
- Average team goals scored per game. (When determining a wildcard berth or playoff seeding between two teams in the same division, only common games will be used.)
- Average team batting average per game.
- A one game playoff scheduled by the League (for wildcard spots only)
- A coin toss
DISPUTES AND LAG
Team captains may dispute a game if their team witnessed suspicious behavior or experienced debilitating lag or other connection mishaps during the game. Before submitting the dispute form, captains are to inform the other team captain that they are going to dispute the game.
Team captains have forty-eight hours from the time the game was played to file a dispute. Any dispute received after forty-eight hours may be denied without review. Any disputes after seven days of the match will not be reviewed. The League Administrators will make a final ruling on the match. They may let the results of the game stand, declare the game invalid, or assign a forfeit to one of the teams.
Individual players who lag out can be re-invited by their team. The opposing team is encouraged to be as sportsmanlike as possible while the other team is re-inviting a lost player. They are encouraged, but not required, to take a knee until the opposing team is back at full strength. When a player lags out of the game, play is not suspended.
If the game connects to a new host, and gives an explicit message saying so, at any time before a team has scored five goals, the game is immediately ruled invalid and must be replayed. If a new host is established after the game-winning goal is scored, the game will only be replayed if it is formally disputed and the dispute is approved.
For all other network issues, any disputes should be sent to the League using the appropriate form. Disputes submitted using other methods will be ignored.
Teams with ongoing network issues will be tracked. If a team has ongoing network issues, even those beyond their control, they may be removed from the League.
ABOVE ALL ELSE: RULE #1
One rule is supreme above all others for Grifball.com: Don’t be a douche. Unacceptable behavior will result in punishments that include a warning, a suspension, or a permanent ban from the league. Inappropriate behavior will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.
Unacceptable behavior includes:
- Stat padding
- Taunting the other team
- Not playing the game through all nine rounds
- Sending inappropriate or offensive messages to other players
- Any unsportsmanlike activities that go against the rules or the spirit of the game
This rule applies to both League play and Grifball double EXP weekends. Grifball was created by Burnie Burns. Grifball.com is hosted by Rooster Teeth. As a player in the Grifball.com league, you are a representative of this site and Rooster Teeth Productions. Douchey behavior not only ruins the fun, but it also reflects poorly on Rooster Teeth and may hurt their business. As such, the Commissioner and the Administrators reserve the right to hand down any punishment they see fit as a result of inappropriate behavior. Affected players will notified of any punishments as they are decided.
By playing in an official SL09 game, players acknowledge and agree to the above rules. Any questions regarding the rules should be directed to Kalbelgarion (Chair of the Rookie/Legacy Rules Committee), HighlndHellrazr (Rookie League Administrator),| Citi | (Legacy League Administrator), Adam Pisani (Elite League Administrator), or PP MooCow PP (Grifball Commissioner) |
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