1. League Member Code of Conduct
    1. Play fairly and within the rules of the VR Master League.
    2. Treat your fellow gamers, teammates, competitors, spectators, and League officials with respect and dignity.
    3. Discriminatory language, hate speech, threats, doxxing, and other forms of harassment or unlawful behavior will not be tolerated.
    4. Team Captains may be held responsible for their team's behaviour.
    5. Accusations of impropriety or foul play are taken seriously and should be brought to the attention of the League Moderators.
  2. Matches Organization
    1. The League will generate match-ups each week of the regular season.
    2. The matches are generated on Mondays.
    3. When weekly matches are generated, any team with fewer than four (4) rostered players will be turned inactive and not be allowed to play the current week.
    4. Teams are responsible for scheduling their matches.
    5. Players must reach out to the other teams using DISCORD to schedule their matches.
    6. Teams must schedule their match by Friday 1600 UTC of the week it is to take place. A reminder will be sent if teams are late to schedule.
    7. The scores must be submitted as soon as the game is over.
    8. Teams will play a minimum of 1 match per week during the season (subject to the following rules).
    9. Once per season, a team may elect to become inactive for one week (greyed-out in standings) without penalty. On subsequent inactivity (not necessarily consecutive weeks), said team shall receive a recurrent MMR percentage penalty until it becomes active again.
      1. The only effects of this inactive status is that a team will not be assigned matches on Monday and will not receive their allotment of challenges for that week. Inactive teams are still expected to complete matches that have already been assigned and/or scheduled.
      2. If a team chooses to use their free inactive week, they should open a ticket and let the League Moderators know.
      3. Teams can not go inactive the last 2 weeks of the season.
    10. Once per season, when scheduling is deemed to be excessively difficult or impractical, a team can postpone a match without penalty, to be scheduled the following week. Teams must contact a League Moderator to confirm this scenario for posterity.
    11. Once a match is scheduled on the VRML website, it may not be postponed to another week. It may be rescheduled to a different time within the same week if both teams agree.
    12. Once per season, when both teams have scheduled and attempted to play a match which was disrupted by a significant event or circumstances outside of their control (e.g.: game is broken,natural disaster), they can both postpone it with the approval of a League Moderator.
    13. In the event that a team becomes inactive or drops out before playing any matches in the current season, and a match was created for that team, the match is cancelled (not forfeited). The players on the team which dropped out will be on cooldown for 2 weeks.
      1. If your game is cancelled you will be awarded an extra challenge match the following week. 
    14. The scheduled times are according to local time. For example, EST in winter and EDT in summer.
  3. Challenges
    1. The league offers a "Challenge" option which allows players to play an additional match in a given week. Limit of 1 challenge per week.
      1. Those challenges can be scheduled on the current week. The website limits it from being scheduled too far in the future.
      2. Challenges can be rejected without penalty.
      3. The website determines home/away side based on team history. Whoever initiated the challenge is irrelevant.
    2. Barring special circumstances, a team, in order to be able to challenge, must have been active when the weekly matches were generated.
    3. In the event that the League is unable to assign a weekly league match to a team, that team will be permitted additional challenge(s) for that week until it reaches the same number of allowed matches as the other teams.
    4. Challenges will not be permitted during official break weeks.
    5. Challenges are disabled the last 2 weeks of the season. 
  4. Matches Format
    1. A match consists of 3 maps. All maps must be played as the overall scores affect traded MMR outcome.
    2. The official game-mode of league matches is Xball (7:00).
    3. Room and Match Settings that must be enabled
      1. Competitive Mode
      2. Concede Button
      3. Friendly Fire
    4. Rooms must be password protected, and the password is expected to be shared with each team at least 10 minutes prior to the scheduled match time.
    5. Rooms hosting League matches can be hosted by a pre-agreed-upon dedicated server, player host, or neutral third party (including Moderators, Casters, or members of other teams).
    6. If a League match is played in a dedicated server, the server-selected Room Admin is responsible for facilitating the match.
    7. The official bps setting of league matches is 10.5
    8. The officially supported map pool is listed below and are found in the VRML tab in game. The map pool may change throughout the season.
    9. Season 5 Maps: 
      1. Bacons BigSnake
      2. BigSnake
      3. NXL Lone Star Major 2023
      4. NXL Mid Atlantic Major 2023
      5. NXL Sunshine State 2023
      6. NXL Windy City Major 2023
      7. NXL World Cup 2022
      8. NXL World Cup 2023
    10. Maps should be loaded from the VRML tab on the Arena Selection UI.
    11. A map can not be played twice in one match.
    12. At the beginning of each match, starting with the Home team, both sides will choose a map to ban from the map pool. A team may decide to not ban a map.
    13. After the ban phase, the Home team picks the first map. The Away team then picks the second map and finally the Home team has the third and final map pick.
    14. The Home team will join and play all rounds on the Blue team, and the Away team will join and play all rounds on the Pink team.
    15. The official player count is 4v4.
      1. When scheduling for their match, teams can mutually decide to play the match 3v3. No teams are obligated to lower their player count for any match.
      2. 4v3 can be played if the team with 3 couldn't find a reservist in time.
      3. When both teams need a reservist, no reservist should be used at all. E.g.: A team that was fortunate enough to get a reservist for their match (making it 4 total) cannot play their match against a team of 3 (missing a reservist). In such a case, the match should be played 3v3.
      4. In all cases, a team will be ineligible to play its match if it has fewer than 3 rostered players present.
      5. Teams are allowed to substitute rostered players in-between matches, or during timeouts in-between rounds.
  5. Gameplay Clarifications and Restrictions
    1. All locomotion modes and configurations are allowed and may only be changed in between maps. A change must be declared to the other team prior to the start of the next map.
    2. The Room Admin is forbidden from modifying any Room-wide setting while a map is being played.
    3. A player may not change teams at any point after a match has begun.
    4. Up to 2 Spectators may be present in a match, and they must stay on the Spectator team for the full duration of the match.
      1. Players may switch off of spectator only when substituting in between map changes or during official time outs;
      2. Each team is given 1 spectator slot. If the match is casted by a single caster, the spectator spot alternates away, home, away.
      3. Non-teammate spectators (besides casters) must be approved by both teams.
    5. Free cam may only be used by Spectators with VR disabled.
    6. Modifying your VR play area, or any other attribute of the game that is not configurable using in-game functionality, is forbidden.
      1. The use of any object (except the floor, ground, or a playspace mat) to aid in physical motion is strictly prohibited. Banned objects include, but are not limited to: trampolines, couches, steps tools, staircases, beds, etc.
    7. Modifying the contents of any map being used in a match is forbidden.
    8. Repeated intentional team killing is forbidden.
    9. A dead or inactive player may not leave or look outside of the Pit area, where players stage and have access to their settings pedestal.
    10. A live player may not leave the play area, which is marked by the surrounding forcefield.
    11. A live player may not have more than 20% of their avatar model inside of map geometry at any time.
      1. A player using Joystick Locomotion is permitted to walk through snake beams. The player is not permitted to stop moving or crouch while colliding with the snake beam.
    12. All players must have their player model standing on one of the 6 start box square plates prior to a round starting. 
    13. Excessive gun firing in the pit area while a round is active is forbidden. Excessive firing is defined as continuous firing for 2 or more seconds.
    14. A player must not start the round inside of the barrel box this is considered exploitation and will cause the match to end in forfeit.
  6. Scoring System
    1. Teams must submit the score to the website immediately following match conclusion or create a ticket if they are unable to do so. Both teams need to submit the same score for the match to be compiled.
    2. The website requires users to enter the score for each map individually.
    3. The team winning 2 maps out of 3 is the winning team. All maps must be played as the overall scores affect traded MMR outcome.
    4. In the result of a tie (1-1-1), a 4th map will played played as a 1v1 Race to 5.
      1. The tiebreaker map played will be the same as the one that resulted in a tie;
      2. The score from the 1v1 will replace the score from the tied map when entering the scores.
  7. Matches Forfeits
    1. Teams have a 10 minutes buffer from the scheduled match start time to be in the game lobby with their team members.
    2. If a team is waiting for another team, the waiting team must write down a message in Discord (tagging their opponent) or show proof to League Moderators that they were indeed ready at their scheduled time.
    3. Once the 10 minutes buffer has elapsed, the team that is not ready (or responsible for the delay) forfeits the first map.
    4. If a further 10 minutes elapses without match commencement, the offending team is officially declared a 'no-show' and a score of 18-0 (total) will be awarded to their opponent.
    5. Between rounds, a team may call a timeout for any reason. An in-game pause can be triggered by a Room Admin or a team player between rounds by using the Match UI in the team pit.
    6. Where a team is delaying a round for more than 2 minutes, the opposing team may notify their counterpart that they are forcing them to use a timeout (said 2 minutes counts toward total timeout).
      1. Teams are allotted 2 timeouts each per match.
        1st timeout 10 minutes
        2nd timeout 5 minutes
      2. Once the timeout expires, the match must proceed.
      3. 2 timeouts cannot be called in succession and at least 1 round must be played between timeouts.
      4. In the event a team has no more timeouts remaining and is facing another delay of more than 2 minutes, they must decide immediately to play the round with the players they have or forfeit the match.
      5. Failure to abide by this rule can result in League Moderators reviewing and issuing a penalty to the offending team up to and including forfeiture of the match.
    7. In the case of a forfeit, the "Other/Forfeit" option should be selected from the dropdown box under "map" when submitting scores.
  8. Matches Defaults
    1. Where teams miss the match scheduling deadline, but the match is organised and played subsequently, a warning will be given to the teams. League Moderators may impose a penalty on one or both of the teams depending on the facts.
    2. In the event that a match has not been played during the allotted time frame, the League Moderators will review the circumstances and allocate the match points accordingly. Example resolutions may include the following:
      1. Where neither team made any arrangement efforts, the match will be considered cancelled;
      2. A score of 18-15 may be awarded by default with the 'win' attributed to the team determined to have been available on the most days with a higher weighting given to weekend availability;
      3. A score of 18-0 may be awarded to a team where their opponent has made little/no effort or been objectively determined to have frustrated the organisation of the match
    3. If a team defaults on 2 or more matches, and the League Moderators have reason to believe this may continue, the League Moderators may choose to remove the team from the League.
  9. Teams & Players
    1. Players and teams must play using their registered VRML name as their Snapshot Account Nickname. Do not hide your identity under another alias. Snapshot Account Nicknames are editable in-game or on snapshotvr.com.
      1. Player names, player logos, team names or team logos are forbidden if they:
        1. Are protected by copyrights/royalties/third-party rights and the user has no written permission;
        2. Resemble or are identical to a brand/trademark no matter whether it's registered or not;
        3. Resemble or are identical to a real person other than themselves;
        4. Resemble or are identical to a VRML representative (excluding the VRML representatives themselves using the name);
        5. Are deemed too hard to read, distinguish, interpret or have multiple unecessary characters;
        6. Are nonsense;
        7. Player profile pictures may not be solid black or mostly transparent to hide their dead/alive status on the field from their opponent.  This includes extremely small profile pictures. 
      2. In addition to the above, any player names, player logos, team names or team logos that are defamatory, pejorative, offensive, vulgar, obscene, anti-Semitic, inciting hatred, or offending against good manners are forbidden. Using alternative spelling, gibberish or wrong spelling in order to avoid the requirements mentioned above is prohibited.
      3. Team names must be unique and are first come, first served. Alternative spellings or otherwise attempting to use a name already taken by an active or otherwise occupied team by changing a small detail, whether intentional or incidental, is not permitted, enforceable at Moderator discretion.
      4. The League Moderators reserve the right to suspend or ban the non complying player or team.
      5. Players are forbidden from modifying the display of their names to Casters in game (changing colors, adding italics or underscores, etc).
    2. The minimum age to play in VRML is Thirteen (13).
    3. Players acknowledge and follow Snapshot VR guidelines on age restrictions.
    4. Players acknowledge and follow their headset's regulations. For example: Oculus Terms of Use and Vive Terms of Use.
    5. Players acknowledge and follow Discord Terms of Use.
    6. Additional regional regulations or guidelines, based on your location, may apply.
    7. The maximum number of players per team is 6.
    8. Substitute players that are rostered on a team are not allowed to substitute for other teams during official matches.
    9. Only Official Reservists authorised by the League can be used to fill empty slots in a team.
      1. When a team needs a Reservist, they must visit the Official Reservists page in order to validate which Reservists are available to them according to their team rank.
    10. Official Reservists can not play for the same team more than twice per season.
    11. Sister teams are not encouraged. However, an individual can be in a team Discord and not be on the official roster for counseling/friendship/coaching purposes.
    12. Where a player leaves a team for any reason, that player will be subject to a "cooldown" period for the next 2 VRML-weeks (that is the 2nd Monday if a player leaves a Monday-Tuesday and 3rd Monday if a player leaves Wednesday or after). During this period, the player may register to become a Reservist or join another team, but will be prohibited from participating in a League match until their cooldown period has ended.
      1. Excepions:
        1.  This rule does not apply during the off-season.
        2. When a roster player left a team that has not participated in any matches.
        3. When a player leaves and rejoins the same team within 24 hours.
        4. Exceptions may be applied if a team has been inactive for more than two weeks.
      2. When a team disbands, the cooldowns of the players may, upon request, be waived. League Moderators have complete discretion and may, depending on the situation, decide not to waive said cooldowns.
    13. Teams rosters, on the website, cannot change during a match.
    14. In the event that a team changes the majority of its roster (3 or more players), within 2 weeks, that team, when ready to continue playing, can, upon request, have its MMR recalculated by averaging each Player-MMRs. In order to prevent abuse (notably when a championship is about to start), that recalculated MMR cannot be higher than what it was before the players had left the team.
    15. In the event that a group of players decide to create a new team from scratch, and most of them are considered "veteran" players, the new team will start with a higher MMR than would normally be attributed. That MMR initialization bonus follows the Player-MMR logic. Note that, like every new team, they will still have to do their mandatory three placement matches before officializing their MMR in the standings.
  10. Streaming & Media
    1. The League Moderators and League Casters are responsible for authorizing the spectating or casting of league matches via the game's spectate function.
    2. All teams must permit League sanctioned spectators or casters access to official matches.
    3. Subject to certain exceptions, spectating or casting of an official league match by non-authorized personnel is strictly prohibited. Personal POV streaming by any player to their personal channel is permitted.
    4. Official match casting must be streamed via the designated League Twitch channels.
    5. League Casters must abide by the code of conduct maintained by the Casting Coordinator and approved by the League Moderators.
    6. League Moderators may permit a co-caster to stream on another private channel to assist with replay capture.
    7. The League Moderators may, subject to having good cause, require a particular player to stream or record their matches until such a time as specified by the League Moderators.
    8. VRML matches can be streamed/casted on non-official channels by Community Casters. (Role coming soon)
    9. Community Casters may be used under the following conditions:
      1. Both teams must explicitly agree to a Community Caster in writing.
      2. Privately streaming of matches is prohibited. (This does not include first person player streams)
      3. Spectating a VRML match without publicly casting it is also strictly prohibited. (Teammates excluded)
      4. Casters must have a VRML account in good standing with a linked Discord Account in the Snapshot Discord Server.
      5. Only Individuals with the community-caster role may cast Official VRML matches. 
      6. The VRML casting team reserves the right to override a community cast at any time. 
      7. Community co-casters must follow the rules of a regular community caster.
    10. Official streams will take precedence. Teams can prevent non-official streams. (This does not include first person player streams)
  11. Bugs & Resets
    1. A team may request a reset of a round at any time. A team shouldn't be using this feature multiple times in a match. Where a team has reset multiple times in a match, the League Moderators reserve the right to forfeit the round(s) in which the resets occurred, if the circumstances call for it.
    2. Examples of reset-eligible conditions:
      1. The arena layout is not consistent between all players.
      2. More than one player on a team has their gun become inactive or unresponsive. If this happens to a single player on a team, they should request permission to leave and rejoin the match in between rounds.
      3. Ping consistently above 200 or framerate consistently below 75. (Rule under review)
    3. In the event that a game update introduces major bugs experienced by the majority of players, the league may decide to extend the deadline to play the matches assigned that week, at their discretion.
    4. Sometimes the developers may provide a distinct build to be used by the League. The League Moderators will indicate which default build the matches should be played on. In all cases, when the teams agree to play on a certain build, they cannot switch within 6 hours prior to their match start time. This is to ensure all match participants have enough time to download the correct build.

    5. Following the conclusion of a match if lobby issues can be proven via evidence. VRML Moderators in their sole discretion, may require the replaying of any round, map-round or match, or declare any round, map-round or match null and void by reason of any of the foregoing.

  12. Cheating, Exploits & Breaches
    1. Any cheating, exploiting, or contravention of the foregoing rules must be brought to the attention of the League Moderators. League Moderators, with support from the League Governors, have complete discretion on penalties imposed for violations. Examples of penalties are: round forfeit, map forfeit, match forfeit, player suspension, or team suspension.
    2. "Cheating" is intended to include the intentional or reckless manipulation of the game and its code in such a way as to confer an unfair advantage on one side or the other.
    3. "Exploiting" is intended to include the intentional or reckless triggering of code, attribute, or function, in game, that is otherwise not envisaged as a legitimate feature of the game by the developers. Non-exhaustive examples include:
      1. Going outside of map boundaries;
      2. Clipping, as a deliberate attempt to hide more than 20% of your player avatar inside a solid object in game;
        1. A player using Joystick Locomotion is permitted to walk through snake beams. The player is not permitted to stop moving or crouch while colliding with the snake beam.
      3. Body glitching (body not following player's viewpoint);
      4. Peeking through solid walls or obstacles;
      5. Third Party VR or Desktop overlays/applications that affect gameplay mechanics or aesthetics (Personal system monitoring/diagnostic overlays are allowed, provided they do not affect previously stated mechanics or aesthetics);
      6. Use of a VPN or any other network manipulation;
      7. This includes excessive movement in your guardian/playspace paired with your controller locomotion;
      8. Resetting your guardian while on the field after the round has started;
      9. Initiating a vote to kick before, during, or after a league match; 
        1. Exception to this rule is when a non team member or non caster gains access to the league game server and refuses to leave. 
      10. Any other imaginative cheats
    4. Any use of the spectate function by participants during official matches, either directly or indirectly, to obtain an advantage of any kind is classified as cheating.
    5. Any use of external media streaming (stream sniping) which pertains to the circumstances, content or any facts arising from the match is classified as cheating.
    6. Any use of external voice chat software used to communicate during a match is classified as cheating.
  13. Decisions & Sanctions
    1. Contravention of any of the foregoing rules shall be sanctionable upon review by League Moderators.
    2. League Moderators reserve the sole right to:
      1. Void or change scores for any match or challenge after it has been played;
      2. Enact disciplinary procedures for any alleged or perceived player misconduct;
      3. Draft, publish and interpret the rules of the league;
      4. Settle disputes and issue rulings.
    3. Formal disputes amongst league teams and their members are to be lodged directly with League Moderators via Discord.
      1. Unfounded and baseless accusations against players via any public medium are considered to be an act of misconduct.
    4. The League Moderators shall, with regard to developer input, decide issues based on the relevant facts. Due consideration will be given to the accounts of those involved. Amongst these considerations, the League Moderators shall give the most weight to the presence/absence of indicting or exculpatory evidence (e.g. in game footage, chat logs, etc..).
    5. League Moderators will issue decisions via the #league-captains Discord channel and occasionally via #league-general Discord channel.
    6. Failure to comply with a request for match VODs, stream links or any other item covered in the above rules will disqualify a player or team from participating in any further League events until they are deemed compliant by the League Moderators.
    7. In relation to any of the above rules, when a majority of the League Moderators reach the conclusion that conduct unbecoming of the League has occurred, the League Moderators have complete discretion to administer the appropriate sanction.
    8. Players may not "block" League Moderators/League Governors on Discord. If a player needs to report a League Moderator or League Governor, they can do so by contacting any League Governor.
    9. In the event of a conflict of interest, affected League Moderators shall recuse themselves from deciding or otherwise commenting on an issue in their capacity as League officials.
  14. Postseason - Current Rule Set: Season 5  (Rules may change from Season to Season)
    1. Top 6 teams in the Standings will automatically qualify for the Playoffs.
    2. Teams ranked 7-14 compete in a Single Elmination Play-In Tournament at the end of the season to qualify for the last 2 remaining spots in the Playoffs.
      1. March 2nd
    3. Minimum games needed to qualify for the post season: 5
    4. Playoff bracket is a multi week Double Elmination Tournament.
    5. Playoffs take place over the course of multiple weeks with teams scheduling their matches with the other team like they did throughout the season.
      1. March 11th - 29th
    6. Semi Finals and Finals of both Winners & Losers Bracket take place on one day.
      1. March 30th
Last updated by Reliable Random @ 2024-04-07 18:25 UTC