ACL Community: Halo 3 Rules

Online Rules

Settings

• MLG GB Version 8 Maps and Settings, created by the XBL Gamertag: MLG Gametypes, must be used for all matches and may not be altered. If you DO NOT own a copy of ODST, and the Heretic map, your team will forfeit this map.
• The MLG GB Version 8 Maps and Settings can be downloaded here: Click here for MLG Halo 3 Fileshare
• All games must be played using the GB (GameBattles) version of the gametypes. This means 15 minutes with sudden death. No 30 minute gametypes are to be used.

Gameplay

• No use of the Elite Armour Classification.
• No leaving the normal boundaries of a map.
• No grabbing/holding a flag outside of the normal boundaries of a map.
• No going onto the crane boxes on Amplified.
• No going onto the ledges above the lobby on Construct.
• No going onto the high ledges on Narrows.
• No going into the attic above the bases on The Pit.
• No going onto the carbine towers on Heretic.
• No going onto the ledge above the windows inside the bases on Heretic.
• 1No going onto the high ledges on the outside of the bases on Heretic.
• It is illegal to throw an objective item into any place not accessible within the normal playable area of the map.

Breaking any of Gameplay Rules 1-11 will result in a Forfeit of the Game.

For Screen Shots of all illegal locations follow this link:
Click here for illegal areas in Halo 3 maps

Oddball Rules

• No placing the oddball out of reach, in an area where it won't immediately "Play Ball". Intentionally breaking this rule will result in a Forfeit of the Game. Players will be considered to have intentionally broken this rule if they deliberately throw the oddball into an area where it won't immediately "Play Ball" or if they let their Character idle and die above an area where the oddball won't immediately "Play Ball." Breaking of this rule will result in a replay of the match.
• No ball glitching is allowed.
• An accidental ball glitch means the game will continue to play.
• A 2nd ball glitch by the same player means the game must be stopped and is forfeited by the team breaking this rule. If you do not have host your ENTIRE team must stand MOTIONLESS until the game has ended. If you are hosting and an entire team stands motionless for at LEAST 30 seconds, you must end the match.
• Both the ball glitches (at least two), and whether the entire team remained motionless (to call for a match stop) will be checked in theatre.
• Any evidence of a ball glitch needs to be displayed to a referee. If a player MISTAKENLY calls a ball glitch and has the game ended, they will FORFEIT the game.
• This is an extremely difficult rule to police. Given that 6. results in a forfeit for mistaken ball glitch calls, it is not in your interest to call a stop based on a 'feeling'. You must be certain of at least two glitches by the same player.

Flag Rules

• A confirmed flag glitch will require a restart to the game.
• Throwing the flag off the map in Narrows, when the other team has your flag will result in a direct forfeit of the match. If the throw looks 'accidental' a referee must make a ruling that may or may not be in line with this rule.

All Matches

• The higher ranked/seeded team must play as the red team for all games and the lower ranked/seeded team must play as the blue team for all games. This rule will only apply if there is a dispute upon colour selection.
  
• No warm-up or practice games are permitted once the match's first game has begun.
• If by 10 minutes past the scheduled match time, a team doesn't have enough players to play all of the games, the incomplete team forfeits the games they can't play.
• If the leader of the custom games lobby wrongly ends a game, their team will forfeit the game.
• In the event of a draw, you must continue on to the next gametype/setting. IN THE DOUBLE ELIM ONLY - If there is a tie, you will play a tiebreaker game. You will need to contact the referees to determine which map. In the event you meet up again, you will have already played your tiebreaker game.IN POOL PLAY - you do not replay a setting or go to tiebreakers for a series.
• If teams meet for a 2nd time in the bracket, their match-up will expand to a Best of 11, include the previous series, and pick up where it left off. For example, if Team A beat Team B 3 Games to 0 in the Winners Bracket, the Best of 11 will resume with Game 4 of the original series and Team A leading 3 games to 0. Team A must win 3 more games to take the series, and Team B must win 6 games. The same host rules apply with odds and evens, the higher seeded team hosting odds.
• In the event of the situation in 5. teams must first play games 4 and 5 of the original series. They would then go on to play gametypes they have NOT already played in the same order of a new series. Ie - Objective, slayer, objective, objective, slayer. You MUST see a referee to determine the order to be played in this instance.Opponents should NOT play gametypes they have already contested. Should this occur, a rematch will be required.

Placement Rounds

• After LBR1 there will be 4 teams knocked out. To battle for their placings, they must enter two best of 5 series. Highest seed vs lowest seed, then the two middle seeds. The winner of both will play for 13th & 14th. The losers will play for 15th and 16th.
• After LBR2 there will be 4 teams knocked out. To battle for their placings, they must enter two best of 5 series. Highest seed vs lowest seed, then the two middle seeds. The winner of both will play for 9th & 10th. The losers will play for 11th and 12th.
• After LBR3 there will be 2 teams knocked out. To battle for their placings, they must enter a best of 5 series. The winner will take 7th position. The loser will take 8th position.
• After LBR4 there will be 2 teams knocked out. To battle for their placings, they must enter a best of 5 series. The winner will take 5th position. The loser will take 6th position.
• Placement rounds are regarded as a brand new matchup. There are NO continuations if the teams have met previously in the brackets. ie First to 3 wins in all cases.

Hosting & Connection Issues

• In an ideal scenario, the higher seeded team must host the first, and oddly numbered rounds. Ie. The higher seed hosts games 1,3,5. The lower seeded team hosts games 2 and 4 if playing a best of 5 series. Rule 1 will only apply if a host can hold at least 6 players on green bar within one minute.
• If Rule 1, by following Rule 2 cannot be applied due to inconsistent/intolerable hosts, the best connection must be applied for the entire series.
• If a player is red-lining, yellow-lining or lags out at the start of the game (anytime until the 11 minute mark), end it and try and sort the problem, be it changing hosts or getting the person to fix their connection. They cannot take more than 5 minutes to fix their connection. After 5 minutes they can either play as is, or forfeit.
• If a player yellow bars, red bars or lags out after the timer has reached the 11 minute mark, the game MUST continue until completion. The player can re-join the match if need be.
• If MORE THAN ONE player red bars for more than one minute or lags out after the 11 minute mark has elapsed, the game must be restarted regardless of time remaining or score. This rule is subject to the following rule.
• In the event an unwinnable situation occurs. Ie Team A is 45 seconds ahead with 30 seconds remaining, Team B cannot win and the result stands at the time of the lagout. This ruling applies for all settings including slayer. Referees will make final decisions if an appeal is lodged with appropriate evidence (game film/screenshot).
• Restarts will be at the discretion of the referees.
• Forced lagouts (through deliberate power cuts) will be deemed as cheating and may result in banning from the competition.
• All host selection issues MUST be resolved PRIOR to the game commencing. You cannot complain about host after the game has been played. This means that if you do not contest a host ruling during your game time, the final host result is final.
• Teams meet for a 2nd time in the bracket, their match-up will expand to a Best of 7, include the previous series, and pick up where it left off. The same host rules apply with odds and evens, the higher seeded team hosting odds.

NZ Players and Hosting

• A NZ player, regardless of who else is on their team, is only allowed to host games 2 and 4, regardless of seed advantage.
• If Halo 3 defaults to giving an NZ player host, then there is nothing another team can do. The opposing team is permitted to FORCE a bridged host as long as it applies to the connection and hosting rules above.
• While bridging is allowed in these circumstances, it is a privilege, NOT a right. If the bridging procedure is taking too long to setup properly, thus causing delays to the entire competition, you must play on the default host WITHOUT EXCEPTION. Rulings under the discretion of the referee at the time.

Lan Setups & Competitors

• You may have a MAXIMUM of TWO PEOPLE on the same connection. This is an online competition, assuming most people are playing from different locations and communicating via headset. LANing gives a distinct advantage over others and will not be accepted.
• Any team found to be in breach of 1. may face disqualification and ban from the competition.
• A team found out to be in breach of 1., AFTER a RESULT, may face having their points removed at the discretion of AusHalo.
• Only people living in Australia or New Zealand may enter or play in this competition.

Referees & Conduct

• Referees can be contacted via AusHalo xbox live accounts or [email protected] This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it on MSN.
• Your team captain must have Dorizo and VaNzR added to your friends lists.
• You must add these referees prior to the tournament. Tournament admins will be sitting in these lobbies for the duration of the tournament to address any issues.
• If a referee is called into a Game Lobby, players must keep them un-muted at all times. Failure to respond to a referee's statement regarding a ruling implies that players understand and agree with said ruling.
• Verbal abuse of a referee may result in a ban from the current/and/or future online or LAN competition(s). Team captains are responsible for the conduct of their players.
• Unsportsmanlike behavior and verbal abuse to other players will not be tolerated. Punishable behavior includes, but is not limited to excessive use of foul or degrading language. Failure to comply may result in a ban from the current/and/or future competition(s).

Reporting

• The winning team must report the match results within 30 minutes of completion through a specifically designated results thread.
• Only the winning team captain should post results, in the form of a bungie.net links. One post should equal the results of an entire series.
• Giving out free wins to better an opposing team's position is regarded as cheating and may result in both teams being banned from the current/future competition(s).
• If a match result is disputed, the losing team captain must contact a referee within 30 minutes.

Substitutions

• ONE substitute only is allowed under the following conditions.
• A substitute cannot play or have played in another team in the competition. This means if you are knocked out, you cannot be recognized as a potential substitute for another team.
• All substitutions must be made known to the referees and opposition PRIOR to the commencement of a series.
• A substitution cannot be made during a series. If you know you must leave/depart soon, be prepared by making your substitution before or after a series. Any mid-series substitutions will result in a forfeit.
• A player who holds top 24 status as of the current individual points rankings, can only substitute for a pro or semi-pro team (seeded 1st -16th). This means they cannot substitute for a team seeded 17th and below (18th, 19th etc) for any online event.
• If all four core (registered) members of a team is online, then a team cannot use their substitute. This means you cannot 'chop and change' your lineup. Your substitute is only to be used as an emergency replacement or last resort.
• Any breaking of 1. to 6. may result in a forfeit, regardless of how long it carries on for. If a team breaks these rules and places in a point scoring position, that team may have their placing and points stripped at the discretion of AusHalo.

Points

• Teams will be awarded points based on their result from 1st to 24th.
• A new points system will take effect for the 2010 season. To be updated by a mathematician soon.
• Placement rounds will be played to determine exact rankings.

Substitutional Points

• Players who were involved in a substitution will have their base points broken down into fragments of series played.
• There is a weighting distribution worked out for substituted players and substitutes according to what level of the competition they played in.
• The order of weighting is as follows(highest to lowest): Pro 4v4 double elim, Open 4v4 double elim, Open Pool Play, Pro Pool Play.
• Essentially there are three points DIVISIONS to this competition. 1-8th position, 9th -16th position and 17th-24th position.
• If you were involved in a substitution and your team placed in any of these points divisions, you will receive points - both as a player substituted or as a substitute.

Examples:

InControl - Subs Adz

• For a Division 1 placing (1st - 8th). The team will have competed in 2-3 (of a possible 3) components of the competition. A pro seeded team like FRAY will compete in Pro Pool Play and a Pro bracket double elimination.
  Lets say on Saturday, the entire original FRAY lineup plays. On Sunday, Hef is hungover and FRAY use Adz as a substitute for 2 series out of 5 played. They place 1st. Adz will get a fraction of the player's base points for the amount of series he has played. Ie Adz gets 2/5 of Hef's points, Hef getting the remaining 3/5
• If Hef went out Friday Night and was hungover on Saturday, Adz fills in for 5 series of 7 played in Pro Pool Play, but Hef plays all of Sunday's double bracket elimination. Pro Pool Play has a lesser weighting due to the fact this is a seeding process only. Thus, Adz will get 5/7 (series played in Pro Pool Play) of 1/9 of the total points allocated to Hef. This is because Hef's role is much more important on Sunday in the double elimination Pro Finals. This means Adz gets 5/63 of Hef's points.

YEAH - Subs Brainseeker

• Team YEAH place 20th Overall and do not continue to the Pro 4v4 on Sunday. They use Brainseeker to replace Somedude242 for 3 series out of 7 of Open Pool Play. They do NOT use Brainseeker during the Open Bracket double elimination round. Because the double bracket elimination is more important, there is more weighting for competing in this. However, the Open Pool Play is IMPORTANT to reach the next stage of the competition, unlike the Pro Pool Play which is more social. Thus, Brainseeker will get a fraction, of 1/3 of the series he played, which was 3/7. So, Brainseeker will get 3/21, or 1/7 of Somedude242s points allocation.
• If Brainseeker filled in for the double bracket elimination, not the Pool Play and played 1 series of 4 played he would get 2/3 of the series he had played. So Brainseeker would get 1/6 of points allocated to Somedude242. From the flipside, Somedude242 gets a full 1/3 of points for playing all of the Open Pool Play and also 3/4 of his 2/3 for playing most of the double elimination series. So Somedude242 would get 1/2 PLUS 1/3 of total points. That's 3/6 + 2/6 = 5/6 of total points.

PROTOTYPE - Subs Halvo

Lets say Prototype places 8th OVERALL. They will have competed in Open pool play, Open double bracket elimination and also Pro double bracket elimination.

• If they sub out Mantis for Halvo in the Open double bracket elimination, a similar process is applied as per when Brainseeker played in the Open Pool Play. Essentially, the LOWER component of the competition is worth 1/3, while the upper part is worth 2/3. Halvo would receive 1/3 of the amount of series played worth of Mantis' overall points. If Halvo subs in on Sunday, then he would get 2/3, because the Pro double bracket elimination bears most weighting.
• If Prototype use Halvo for ALL of the Open Pool Play, but their original lineup through the rest of the tournament, then Halvo will get lesser points again - 1/6 of potential allocated points to Mantis. This means, that a THIRD TIER has been added to the competition. While the Open Pool Play is important to a team that comes 17-24th, it is no longer as important to a team like Prototype who have come up through to place 8th. The same would occur for any open team that places in the top 16. Side note: A substitute must have played a minimum of 3 series in the pool play to receive 1/6 of overall points. If Halvo played ANY LESS than 3 series, he will receive 1/9 of points.