Olá,
I'm here to start a polite discussion about a «document» that I think it's necessary, for bzflag and bzflag's community sake. I've been talking to people, and I'm not the only one who agrees that there must be some guidelines (not rules) about general behavior and specific situations. I want everybody to participate! Situations like:
» At public servers (e.g. ducati.bzflag.org:5156) «
_ Whether to capture the flag or not when teams have different player numbers (1 vs 2, 2 vs 3, 3 vs 4, and all the combinations - assuming that when it is (for example) 4 vs 2 or 3 vs 1 there is a player that switches.
_ Whether to capture the flag or not when teams have uneven skills, and the match is unbalanced - when teams have the same number of players: 1 vs 1, 2 vs 2, 3 vs 3, 4 vs 4.
» At match servers (e.g. ducati.bzflag.org:59999) «
_ What to do about lag situations;
_ Whether to consider the match valid or not, when - after warm-up, when teams take knowledge about each others lag, they decide to play the match official - a player who's lag can be an advantage (although a player who lags has more trouble hiting, too), and decisive, although it has been the same throughout the match.
_ What to do when somebody goes nr, or disconnects, or suddenly gets extremely high lag: should the match proceed 2 vs 1? Should that player keep on playing? Should the match be canceled? Should the match be a forfeit? If it's a forfeit, how one calculates the score?
» At all servers «
_ Respect. Not being rude, being understanding towards newbies and their natural errors (everybody does the same in the beginning), being understanding when people - in the emotion of a match - let go some ugly words, but congratulate each other when the match is over (sometimes, when the winners says "good game", the loosing team takes it as an insult, and it's just a compliment). All that helps keeping the spirit, bzflag's spirit.
I'm counting on everybodys ideas, lets debate those, and please say some more, if they're not here!
BZHugz, and fair-play.
BaDiN
BZFlag Guidelines - A gentlemen's agreement
Re: BZFlag Guidelines - A gentlemen's agreement
IMO, (or How I Try To Play The Game): 
Whether to capture the flag or not when teams have different player numbers
I think there are a couple of variables:
1) Relative strength of teams - if the team with less people is composed of stronger players, it's probably OK, but *ASK THEM* (to be polite), and get an OK *BEFORE* you run all the way back to the edge of your base with the flag.
2) If teams are unbalanced, ie; one team obviously has the ability to repeatedly capture, then 1 player from the larger team should go @ until a player comes into the game to even teams up. Go @ in the same color as your team, and it shows up on the server list. This way potential joiners will know that there is an even-teams game to be played. It also facilitates getting back into the game quicker.
If teams go from even numbers to uneven numbers while the flag is in play, please notify all players, and, if you have the flag and have been generally a stronger or evenly matched team, drop it, while waiting for teams to even up again.
Can I add a suggestion, BaDiN? If/when teams are uneven, DO NOT TAKE THE FLAG TO YOUR BASE AND DROP IT WITHOUT CAPTURING. Drop it in the middle of the field, and play "keep away", letting the weaker team work on their bz skills by trying to get their flag back to a good defendable position. This can be as much fun (almost) as real CTF, and isn't quite as discouraging for the weaker team.
As the stronger team will many times also have a newbie unfamiliar with gentleman's conduct, if you drop it by your base, they will zero in on it and make the capture against the weaker team. Playing "keep away" will be more fun for all involved.
Whether to capture the flag or not when teams have uneven skills, and the match is unbalanced - when teams have the same number of players: 1 vs 1, 2 vs 2, 3 vs 3, 4 vs 4.
What I try to do in this situation is to get one of the weaker (or less skillful) team members from the opposing team to switch with me. If a switch is *not* made by myself (or another team member) which evens the teams up a bit, I will refrain from capturing the flag, and just work on my shooting skills.
It is better and more fun, IMO, to have real CTF play going on, though.
At match servers (e.g. ducati.bzflag.org:59999) - What to do about lag situations; Whether to consider the match valid or not, when - after warm-up, when teams take knowledge about each others lag, they decide to play the match official - a player who's lag can be an advantage (although a player who lags has more trouble hiting, too), and decisive, although it has been the same throughout the match.
Once the match has been agreed upon, at the time of 10 or 15 minutes into the match, there be a "Point of No Return" where one team cannot cry foul due to lag. (Also, both teams could try to find a server with lower latency *prior* to the match if pre-match practice shows a lag problem.)
What to do when somebody goes nr, or disconnects, or suddenly gets extremely high lag: should the match proceed 2 vs 1? Should that player keep on playing? Should the match be canceled? Should the match be a forfeit? If it's a forfeit, how one calculates the score?
(nr) - Play should pause for a minute or two, no tank movement, to see if the player returns. If they return, they go back to the spot where they went (nr), and play resumes.
Disconnects due to lag will have "probable cause", as experienced players in a match should be able to recognize when someone has a Lag Kick potential. Intentional disconnects to gain an advantage should be grounds for immediate forfeiture. Disconnects by a team member to (hopefully) lessen their own lag should be stated prior to disconnecting.
Score in the case of a forfeit could be determined by 1) if the lower score team forfeits, score stays same, and 2) if higher score team forfeits, score goes 0-0 or 1-0, and a win is recorded in the League stats. (Note: I do not really understand the score/ranking formula, this idea probably could be better addressed by someone else.)
» At all servers « Respect. Not being rude, being understanding towards newbies and their natural errors (everybody does the same in the beginning), being understanding when people - in the emotion of a match - let go some ugly words, but congratulate each other when the match is over (sometimes, when the winners says "good game", the loosing team takes it as an insult, and it's just a compliment). All that helps keeping the spirit, bzflag's spirit.
Bravo!
--------------------------------
Caveat: I understand that there are many situations when things are not really clear-cut, but I have yet to meet a really idiotic BZ regular, and we should all have a pretty good idea of what is fair play and what is not. Let common sense and decency guide your play, and it will be more fun for everyone involved.
PS - Pat or fiber - Badins post is a good candidate for a "sticky"
Whether to capture the flag or not when teams have different player numbers
I think there are a couple of variables:
1) Relative strength of teams - if the team with less people is composed of stronger players, it's probably OK, but *ASK THEM* (to be polite), and get an OK *BEFORE* you run all the way back to the edge of your base with the flag.
2) If teams are unbalanced, ie; one team obviously has the ability to repeatedly capture, then 1 player from the larger team should go @ until a player comes into the game to even teams up. Go @ in the same color as your team, and it shows up on the server list. This way potential joiners will know that there is an even-teams game to be played. It also facilitates getting back into the game quicker.
If teams go from even numbers to uneven numbers while the flag is in play, please notify all players, and, if you have the flag and have been generally a stronger or evenly matched team, drop it, while waiting for teams to even up again.
Can I add a suggestion, BaDiN? If/when teams are uneven, DO NOT TAKE THE FLAG TO YOUR BASE AND DROP IT WITHOUT CAPTURING. Drop it in the middle of the field, and play "keep away", letting the weaker team work on their bz skills by trying to get their flag back to a good defendable position. This can be as much fun (almost) as real CTF, and isn't quite as discouraging for the weaker team.
As the stronger team will many times also have a newbie unfamiliar with gentleman's conduct, if you drop it by your base, they will zero in on it and make the capture against the weaker team. Playing "keep away" will be more fun for all involved.
Whether to capture the flag or not when teams have uneven skills, and the match is unbalanced - when teams have the same number of players: 1 vs 1, 2 vs 2, 3 vs 3, 4 vs 4.
What I try to do in this situation is to get one of the weaker (or less skillful) team members from the opposing team to switch with me. If a switch is *not* made by myself (or another team member) which evens the teams up a bit, I will refrain from capturing the flag, and just work on my shooting skills.
It is better and more fun, IMO, to have real CTF play going on, though.
At match servers (e.g. ducati.bzflag.org:59999) - What to do about lag situations; Whether to consider the match valid or not, when - after warm-up, when teams take knowledge about each others lag, they decide to play the match official - a player who's lag can be an advantage (although a player who lags has more trouble hiting, too), and decisive, although it has been the same throughout the match.
Once the match has been agreed upon, at the time of 10 or 15 minutes into the match, there be a "Point of No Return" where one team cannot cry foul due to lag. (Also, both teams could try to find a server with lower latency *prior* to the match if pre-match practice shows a lag problem.)
What to do when somebody goes nr, or disconnects, or suddenly gets extremely high lag: should the match proceed 2 vs 1? Should that player keep on playing? Should the match be canceled? Should the match be a forfeit? If it's a forfeit, how one calculates the score?
(nr) - Play should pause for a minute or two, no tank movement, to see if the player returns. If they return, they go back to the spot where they went (nr), and play resumes.
Disconnects due to lag will have "probable cause", as experienced players in a match should be able to recognize when someone has a Lag Kick potential. Intentional disconnects to gain an advantage should be grounds for immediate forfeiture. Disconnects by a team member to (hopefully) lessen their own lag should be stated prior to disconnecting.
Score in the case of a forfeit could be determined by 1) if the lower score team forfeits, score stays same, and 2) if higher score team forfeits, score goes 0-0 or 1-0, and a win is recorded in the League stats. (Note: I do not really understand the score/ranking formula, this idea probably could be better addressed by someone else.)
» At all servers « Respect. Not being rude, being understanding towards newbies and their natural errors (everybody does the same in the beginning), being understanding when people - in the emotion of a match - let go some ugly words, but congratulate each other when the match is over (sometimes, when the winners says "good game", the loosing team takes it as an insult, and it's just a compliment). All that helps keeping the spirit, bzflag's spirit.
Bravo!
--------------------------------
Caveat: I understand that there are many situations when things are not really clear-cut, but I have yet to meet a really idiotic BZ regular, and we should all have a pretty good idea of what is fair play and what is not. Let common sense and decency guide your play, and it will be more fun for everyone involved.
PS - Pat or fiber - Badins post is a good candidate for a "sticky"
"My other tank is a sailboat..."