TWDT Season 24 Rules

[RaCka]

RULES

TWDT League Ops: RaCka, Dwopple, Ogron

Tentative Schedule
Dates:
January 16th -- Ratings Stream (2:00PM EDT)
January 23rd -- Draft (2:00PM EDT)
January 30th -- Games 1/2
February 6th -- Games 3/4
February 13th -- Skipped Weekend (Super Bowl)
February 20th -- FA Draft (1:00 PM EDT)
February 20th -- Game 5/6
February 25th -- Trading Deadline
February 27th -- Games 7/8
March 6th -- Games 9/Replays
March 13th -- Quarterfinals
March 20th -- Semifinals
March 27th -- Finals


Teams will compete against every other team ONCE in each league throughout the regular season.


Regular Season Timeslots:
TWDT-D -- 2:00PM EDT
TWDT-D -- 2:30PM EDT
TWDT-J -- 3:00PM EDT
TWDT-J -- 3:30PM EDT
TWDT-B -- 4:00PM EDT
TWDT-B -- 4:30PM EDT

Playoff Timeslots:
TWDT-D -- 2:00PM EDT
TWDT-J -- 3:30PM EDT
TWDT-B -- 5:00PM EDT

Lineups Restrictions
TWDT-D: Not to exceed 42* total per lineup. Any lineup of 5 players added that is 42* or below is valid. Adding less than 5 players will result in a forfeit.
TWDT-J: Not to exceed 42* total per lineup. Any lineup of 5 players added that is 42* or below is valid. Adding less than 5 players will result in a forfeit.
TWDT-B: Not to exceed 69* total per lineup. Any lineup of 5 or more players added that is 69* or below is valid. Adding less than 5 players will result in a forfeit.

These lineup restrictions apply at all times. You are not allowed, at any point of a live match, to exceed the maximum * total per lineup. This will apply to subs as well. If a player dies out in TWDT-D/J, his or her star value remains as part of your team's total. Captains should advise themselves and their assistants to have a calculator ready and to have valid substitutions mapped out before matches begin.

If there is an honest mistake such as subbing two players in quick succession and going over the cap for a short moment before quickly fixing it, you must have reasonable evidence that the player who made the lineup invalid did not impact the game (i.e. shoot, repel, attach, burst), for as long as the lineup was invalid. This also includes players rated for a specific ship in basing. If an appeal is proposed about this error and the captain is unable to absolve himself with evidence, he will be forced to forfeit the game 50-0 or 15:00-0:00.

Borrowing
TWDT-D/TWDT-J:
Only players already rated in the draft are eligible to be borrowed.
Teams are permitted ONE 7* or below borrow per game if they're unable to field a valid lineup from their own roster. The player's star value in the specific league they are being borrowed for is what counts. A player may exceed 7* in another league but still qualify as a borrow.
A borrowed player must be confirmed by a League Op before he's considered eligible to play. If a player is not confirmed eligible for borrowing, the team who added the ineligible player will forfeit the match 50-0. Captains and League Ops should always have ?log running to verify a borrow agreement in the case of potential appeals.
Borrowed players are only eligible before the start of the game. Subbing in a borrowed player is not permitted and will result in a forfeit.

TWDT-B:
Only players already rated in the draft are eligible to be borrowed.
Teams are permitted TWO 7* or below borrows per game if they're unable to field a valid lineup from their own roster. The player's star value in the specific league they are being borrowed for is what counts. A player may exceed 7* in another league but still qualify as a borrow.
Borrowed players must be confirmed by a League Op before they're considered eligible to play. If a player has not been confirmed for borrowing and is added, the team borrowing the ineligible player(s) will forfeit the match 15-0. Captains and League Ops should always have ?log running to verify the agreement in case of potential appeals.
Borrowed players are only eligible before the start of the game. Subbing in a borrowed player is not permitted and will result in a forfeit.


Borrows will not be permitted in the playoffs.


Trades
For the first few weeks of the tournament, trading will be open from Sunday at 6:00PM EDT until the next Friday at 3:00PM EDT. This allows 48 hours for league ops to approve or deny proposed trades before the matches begin the following Sunday.

There will be no limit to trades this season.

The final trading deadline will be February 25th, 2022 at 11:59 PM EDT.

Trading pick order in the main draft will be possible this season.

Trading FA picks will be possible, but the value of the potential pick will be determined by the quality of player(s) who are expected to be available at the specific drafting position.

Before being official, all trades must be proposed on the forums under the TWDT 24 Trades thread and must be approved by the TWDT League Op team.

League Ops also have the right to veto any trades that are obviously one-sided or questionable due to malicious reasons (i.e. sabotaging their own team.)

All trades must be approved/denied within 48 hours by the league op team with an explanation of their reasoning behind the decision.

Bans
Players are subjected to bans or other punishments, to be decided by league ops on a case-by-case, common sense basis. Some cases will absolutely not be tolerated or negotiated:
Trading names without notifying league ops or logging on someone else's name during a match is an auto-ban from participating in TWDT for a minimum of (2) seasons.
Playing under an alias that is immune to proper alias checking while not providing your real alias. The league team can only properly rate a player if they've been identified. Overpowered players who abuse this will forfeit their opportunity to participate with a season long ban.
Threatening a captain prior to the draft of not showing or refusing to play for them after being picked will constitute an immediate warning. If the behavior continues, the player will be banned for a minimum of (2) seasons. Be an adult and ask for a trade. If that doesn't work, be a bigger adult and soldier through for the sake of the community and your future in TWDT.

Appeals
Every captain will have a maximum of three appeals per league throughout the regular season. Every playoff match will be eligible to be appealed.

Appeals must be submitted within 24 hours of the incident on the TW forums. A detailed account of the situation and the argument for the appeal should be provided in the thread. Failure to submit an appeal within 24 hours will deem the appeal invalid and the results of the game in question will be considered final.

The league op team will respond to appeals within 72 hours after the appeal was posted with a verdict and an explanation of their reasoning behind the decision.

If an appeal is granted, the game will be replayed at an agreed time that works for both teams involved. If the opposing team is unwilling to reschedule their match at a reasonable date, they will forfeit the replay.

Note: If something unforeseen happens that isn't accounted for in the rules or has no precedence, league ops are responsible for coming up with a common sense, rational, and fair ruling on the situation.

Emergency Scenarios:
In the unlikely event that something catastrophic or completely unforeseen happens that has the potential to ruin the season, the league operators will do their best to solve the issue with the best interest of the TWDT season as a whole in mind. TWDT captains will all be consulted and play a role in handling such a critical decision.

Playoffs
The top 8 teams with the most total wins throughout the regular season will qualify for the playoff bracket in all leagues. Once the regular season concludes the top 8 for each division will be reseeded on a per league basis. The #1 Warbird seed will play against the #8 Warbird seed and so on and so forth for each separate division. The same concept applies for Javelin and Basing.

For purposes of tiebreak for seeds #1/2 and for determining which teams make the playoffs, the overall head-to-head record will be taken into account across all three leagues between the tied teams. If the teams are tied (3-3), the team with the highest amount of kills in wb, jav, and base (base minutes will be converted into kills, with 15 minutes equal to 50 kills) among the tied teams will rank higher for bye purposes, or for entrance into the playoffs. If for some reason the tied teams are tied in overall kills in wb, jav, and base against each other (with minutes converted into kills), the tiebreak will then shift to highest amount of kills in wb, jav, and base (base minutes converted into kills) across ALL teams. If still tied, randomly selected (via twitch stream).
For tiebreaks among seeds #3 through #6 in quarter-finals and for reseeding in semi-finals in each individual league (with win totals separated by league), it will first be head-to-head record between the tied teams for each specific league. If the teams are 1-1 against each other in a league, it will then go to highest amount of kills between the tied teams in that league. If the teams are both 1-1 against each other, and tied in overall kills in that league from their two head-to-head games, it will then go to total number of kills in that league against ALL teams. If still tied, randomly selected (via twitch stream).


When converting base minutes into kills, with 15 minutes equal to 50 kills, any decimal .5 or above will be rounded up, and any decimal .499999 and below will be rounded down.
Star Cap Limits remain in place for the playoffs
Playoffs Format is is a Best of 3 in TWDT-D, TWDT-J, and TWDT-B. All warbird and javelin games are to 50, and all basing games are to 15 minutes.

Playoff Schedule
TWDT-D -- 2:00PM EDT
TWDT-J -- 3:30PM EDT
TWDT-B -- 5:00PM EDT

Main Draft
The draft will take place on January 23rd, 2022 at 2:00PM EDT. The draft will snake until the last player is selected.

Round 1: 1 -> 2 -> 3 -> 4 -> 5 -> 6 -> 7 -> 8 -> 9 -> 10
Round 2: 10 -> 9 -> 8 -> 7 -> 6 -> 5 -> 4 -> 3 -> 2 -> 1

Ad infinitum


Free Agency Draft
The FA draft will take place on February 20th, 2022 at 1:00PM EDT, 1 hour before the Week 3 games begin. The picking order will be based on the current standings before the Week 3 matches. The lowest ranked team will have the first pick in free agency, and then so on and so forth. If there are any ties between teams, it will be randomized to determine who picks first. This will provide teams that are struggling to have a better chance at turning their season around, while also giving returning players an opportunity to play a good amount of the season.

FA Players are immediately eligible to play all Week 3 games after being drafted.

Schedule:

12:00PM EDT: FA Draft Signups are locked. Players can no longer signup for TWDT.
1:00PM EDT: FA Draft
2:00PM EDT: Week 3 Games Start

Players asking to sign up after 12:00PM EDT may be allowed entry to the FA Draft at the TWDT Head Op's discretion, but is under no obligation to do so.

Main Draft:
Players must sign up by 11:59 PM EST on January 22nd, 2022 to be eligible for selection in the main draft, as captains must have adequate time to consider all prospects and adjust their draft sheets.

All signups after 11:59 PM EST on January 22nd, 2022 will be added to the FA draft pool.

The FA deadline is 11:59PM EST on February 19th, 2022.

[Vehicle]

Teams are permitted TWO 7* or below borrows per game if they're unable to field a valid lineup from their own roster.

Are half-stars still a thing this season? If so I would request that you make it "are permitted TWO players below 8*" to still allow 7.5*s to be borrowed.

[ogron]

Some thoughts on Free Agency.

Free Agency, IMO, ruined last season and rewarded 2 of the worst teams with insane firepower to storm back with 18 games left in the season and unjustly rewarded them for poor play and bad drafting, and punished good teams who already had set lines and drafted and played well.

FA should be nerfed

1) I think letting them play as early as week 3 and participate is too much. That's 18 games. I think week 4 would be more appropriate, so 12 games. If a team would have gone 4-8 instead of 8-4 with their new additions, that's still +4 wins significantly altering their impact

2) FA players should be rated fairly, then have 0.5* added to their rating in every league. There's no reason teams should be getting insane value in FA, and this helps hedge against being underrated, which happens constantly, regardless of best intentions.

3) If there are less than 10 great FA pieces (say there are 5 really strong players in the pool), those 5 players should come with a -1 win penalty for selecting them. If they alter your team from going 4-8 to 8-4, they're worth +4 wins.

It's unfair that there's 10 teams and only 5 good FA players and 5 teams get left out in the cold. Frankly, I think there's a strong case to abolish FA, but if we're going to keep it, it should be severely nerfed.

[ag$]

Nice Sig update after I called you out on calling commodo bad

Funny how you've been secretly obsessed LOL

Everyone knows I left panda because of 1 of your famous meltdowns literally joined dice on panda chat during one of your toxic tantrums..

Which your own squaddies pm'd me after the fact and said it's not even the first time you've caused someone to leave 😂

Stop mentioning me man just cuz ease slaps you around doesn't mean there's a pecking order and I'll be your bitch

Not sure what's worse your javving, your toxic snaking/meltdowns, or your fake charade that you're not bothered
Bye now Felicia

[Zeebu]

i dont see why getting rid of FA altogether would be a bad thing. a whole lot of effort goes into getting people to sign up prior to the draft. im sort of convinced folks join FA just to feel special about themselves anyway.

i like the backup of just an arbitrary rating increase in order to combat the inequality. if you dont want your ratings inflated, sign up for the actual draft. bonus points if you do the FA draft with increased ratings, theres a chance that it may carry to the future as well. its always easier to boost someones rating when they play well. if your inflated rating means you arent able to get into a lineup as easily, i doubt that it would drop back down since you arent playing to underperform. and if you do make it into lines with the inflated rating and play well enough to keep getting added, welp, youll probably just stay there when the next rating collab goes through.

just to piggyback on ogrons post there

[Rab]

1) I think letting them play as early as week 3 and participate is too much. That's 18 games. I think week 4 would be more appropriate, so 12 games. If a team would have gone 4-8 instead of 8-4 with their new additions, that's still +4 wins significantly altering their impact

Another reason for doing this is the showrate for FA players on FA draft day is much lower than the week after FA draft day. Many times I've seen captains carefully pick FA to fill some hole in their team only for that player to not show up. The extra week gives FA players time to realise they're on a team and should show up to play (there is 1 week gap between the main draft and the first game), gives captains time to plan, gives league ops time to input the picks into the bot.

I assumed: in this format you'd still draft on week 3, but the players aren't eligible until week 4.

[Rab]

2) FA players should be rated fairly, then have 0.5* added to their rating in every league. There's no reason teams should be getting insane value in FA, and this helps hedge against being underrated, which happens constantly, regardless of best intentions.

Sometimes I think people intentionally wait until FA to sign up. So I agree with this to discourage that behaviour.

[Rab]

3) If there are less than 10 great FA pieces (say there are 5 really strong players in the pool), those 5 players should come with a -1 win penalty for selecting them. If they alter your team from going 4-8 to 8-4, they're worth +4 wins.

This feels unfair to the players who earnt previous wins. If FA causes so much imbalance that this seems like a necessary step then I'd prefer scrapping FA.

[Rab]

Suggested steps:

This season:
- fa draft week 3, eligible week 4
- +0.5* onto fa players ratings

Then if it still sucks...

Next season:
- scrap fa

[Riverside]

Im not sure if im ganna be able to show Sundays or not because of some commitments, and won't find out for a couple weeks. Id rather not waste someone's draft pick.

I can understand the additional week for free agents to be eligible with their teams.

I also understand the inclination to additionally penalize players with a 0.5* increase in their ratings if they don't sign up before the league starts: its pretty effective for someone like me who's uncertain. At the same time, it also penalizes folks who werent aware of the league schedule & are logging back in the game for the first time in a while and may have a hard time consistently being added in the first place.

[ogron]

i dont see why getting rid of FA altogether would be a bad thing. a whole lot of effort goes into getting people to sign up prior to the draft. im sort of convinced folks join FA just to feel special about themselves anyway.

agreed

Suggested steps:

This season:
- fa draft week 3, eligible week 4
- +0.5* onto fa players ratings

Then if it still sucks...

Next season:
- scrap fa

ya, i think being eligible for only the final 12 games would be better

[a2m+]

Im not sure if im ganna be able to show Sundays or not because of some commitments, and won't find out for a couple weeks. Id rather not waste someone's draft pick.

I can understand the additional week for free agents to be eligible with their teams.

I also understand the inclination to additionally penalize players with a 0.5* increase in their ratings if they don't sign up before the league starts: its pretty effective for someone like me who's uncertain. At the same time, it also penalizes folks who werent aware of the league schedule & are logging back in the game for the first time in a while and may have a hard time consistently being added in the first place.

I debated waiting until FA as well due to my spotty show rate. I fucked Saiyan’s team over last season because I started a new job and had some things going on in my personal life that made it impossible to show on Sundays that I didn’t know about until after draft day (sorry again, Saiyan). Even the basing cup I only really showed up to one Sunday (the one that mattered). I ended up signing up for this season anyway after talking it over with Racka. I’m just going to do my best to warn all captains ahead of time of my schedule and if they end up wasting an early pick on me that’s a risk they have to be willing to take.

[Vys]

Yeah get rid of FA

[viop11]

i didnt read everything n dun care wutefir u decide but how could free agency ruin last seasin if i silictid "source" off free agincy n she only vs 1 jif mitch for us n went like 2-10 n we were chimpion in 2 leagues? i kniw it gr8ly helped othir sh1tb1x teams but it also showed that a well oiled m1ch1n1 w/ enough d1pth n t1l1nt doesnt need sum girpigi free 1g1nts to b ch1mp1on, only scrubmin teams/ciptins need free 1g1ncy.

i get wut u mean though. the way free agincy wirks right niw is complete sh1t and rewards sh1t c1pt1n n bottim feedir teams and is completely unfair and ppl who care about a level playing field/fairness would/should b very upset by this. thankfilly am not 1 of these j1br1n1s that cares or expects things to b fair as a griwn man and will vs wutefir c1rds am dealt n vs ch1ck1n s1l1d out of ch1ck1n br1st

i agree adding .5* to free agints, and also think there should be another random draw for free agency order. dont jus reward the sh1t teams. every1 is startink from an equal pisition and theres 0 reasin it should b reverse order of standings. if anything the ciptins of the lowist ranked squidrins should b applegizink 2 their familes and every1 in the zine should b ch1rp1nk them 24/7 4 beink @ bottim of stindinks, they shouldnt jus get rewardid with 1st free agincy siliction because they lost the most mitchis

[Spezza]

Probably best to look back into farther history than than last year and look at winning teams that were out of playoffs before free agency.

Current free agency promotes activity and helps to even out the playing field, I doubt high FA teams are winning more than low pick FA teams. Decision doesn't matter to me I just think these arguments are presenting one side of an issue.