Date: Fri, 5 Sep 1997 21:48:49 +0100
From: Tournament Headquarters  (by way of Robert F. Heeter)
Subject: W2WT: Rules Tutorial #5 - Time Limits and Vacations

Greetings Warlords!

We've been a bit busy at HQ lately and we had some minor changes to
make in this Tutorial, so it was delayed a little.  Tutorial #6 will
be sent later this weekend.  Tutorial #7 is still being worked on
and Tutorial #8 contains the rules on ending the game.  Round A
begins in less than 4 weeks!  The Round A scenario is built upon
the Practice Round scenario, but the map will be much more exciting
and the allies will be balanced more fairly...  More on all that in a
future message!

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Rules Tutorial #5: Time Limits, Timeouts, Vacations and Absences
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[ Note - some of these rules are still being adjusted.  Comments are welcome! ]

The basic rule to remember is to try to take your turn within 48 hours of
the time it is sent to you.  Because the Remailer sends out a notice each
time the gamefile moves, you know when the previous player receives it,
and you can usually expect to get it yourself 1 or 2 days later, so you
can be prepared.  You also get a copy of the actual gamefiles sent to
the other players, so you can keep an eye on the state of the game, catch
possible mistakes (and cheaters), and plan your move in advance.  If
you've planned ahead, you will have a good idea what you intend to do
when the gamefile actually reaches you, and since you know when it's
coming, you can save some time in your schedule for making your move!

We recommend:

  * Check your email as often as you can to keep track of the game.
    Twice a day is ideal, but every other day will do.

  * As the other players take their turns, you get copies of their gamefile
    and turn report.  Look at the gamefile after the other players
    move, to plan your strategy for your next move, check battle results,
    and look for mistakes/cheating.  That way when the gamefile gets to you,
    you don't need to spend so much time on your own move.  This helps
    make the 2-day turnaround easier to deal with.

  * After receiving their gamefiles, you can also peek ahead at your
    opponents' upcoming turns to see what is in their stacks, what new
    units are being built, where they are vectoring their production,
    and where previously vectored units will arrive in the future.
    Often you can "pre-plan" your attacks and defenses against everyone
    except the player moving right before you.

The 2-day turnaround rule is pretty good at keeping games moving at a
reasonably fast, but sustainable pace.  Everyone gets a day of rest on
Saturdays (if they wish), because Saturdays are completely ignored by the
Remailer.  A gamefile sent on Wednesday is due on Friday, but one sent
on Thursday is due on Sunday, not Saturday.  And a game sent on Saturday is
due on Tuesday, as though it had been sent on Sunday.

In playtesting we found that this worked fairly well, as long as everyone
paid attention to their email and kept in mind that these were
Tournament games that deserved to be taken seriously.  A 4-player, 20-turn
game with the Tournament time limits takes about 4 months to complete.
(80 moves in 120 days.)

But what happens if you have a crisis, get busy at work, or simply forget
to check email for a couple of days?  What if you don't finish a move in 2
days?  Don't go and suspend the game - that's the Moderator's job only,
and you'll get called for a rules error if you suspend a game
without authorization.  Instead, have no fear!  The Tournament rules
provide four different ways to stay in the game despite the
occasional real-life interference:

(1) For major holidays affecting about half the players or more,
we'll simply declare the tournament to be in "holiday mode", and
no time limits will be enforced.  This will probably occur over
the U.S. Thanksgiving weekend (4 days in late November) and around
Christmas and New Years.

(2) For small problems that come up suddenly and last only a day or two,
you can simply rely on the Remailer to automatically use up one of your
"timeouts".  Currently we give each player four timeouts per game; we may
give more depending on how things go.  So on average you get an extra day
once every five moves.  When a timeout is triggered, the Remailer
sends out an announcement and deducts the timeout from your supply.
If a timeout is used up due to someone else's mistake or error, just
appeal to your Moderator and it will be restored.  Do not change the
timeout settings yourself; that's the moderator's job.

(3) If you know in advance that you will be away from the game for more than
a few days, you can take a "vacation".  A vacation must be announced in
advance, so we know when you are leaving and when you'll be back.
During a "vacation", the game will be suspended when it reaches your
turn, for up to two weeks.  Once the vacation time is up, you either start
using timeouts, or go into an "additional absence", which is explained below.
Please do not use up a vacation unless you must - if all four players
take maximum vacations in a given game, it delays the entire tournament
by two months!

(4) "Additional Absences:"  You can take additional absences of up
two 2 weeks, in addition to the allowed 2 weeks vacation, if you announce
the absence before you leave, but in this case the game must continue.
Your turn will simply be skipped by the next player.  In this case
it's your responsibility to position your forces for defense (and live with
the damage afterwards!).  After your declared absence ends, you start
using up timeouts, unless you announce during the week that you wish
to renew the absence.  In particular, if you run out of timeouts and
can't finish a move in time, you must announce an absence and have
your turn skipped, or else we will use the Lost Player rules.

Managing your time wisely is essential in the Warlords tournament (just as
it is for Warlords in the real world!).  If you run out of timeouts
and miss a turn without announcing an absence, you will be skipped once
(you'll be put in a "Limited Static Defense" where your troops are sent
to their nearest city for defense), and then when your turn comes around
again you forfeit the game and are out of the tournament.  We don't think
that will happen unless a player really gives up and disappears, but
it's possible for it to happen if a player goes on vacation without
being polite enough to tell everyone first.

Just remember that there are over a hundred other players who are
relying on you to do your part to keep the tournament moving and to make
it a fair competition.  If something comes up in your life, we're completely
sympathetic - as many of you already know - but we need to hear from
you in order to give you the benefit of the doubt.  If you're going to
be away for a while, you have to remember to show the same consideration
to the others in your game that you would show to your co-workers or
your teammates.  As long as you keep us informed, we'll apply the rules
above and keep you in the Tournament.  Only if you don't keep us informed
will we be forced to drop you from the Tournament.

If there is a problem inside the game itself, such as a rules dispute,
a battle-odds confusion, or a problem with the army set or scenario, then
the Moderator may suspend the game while sorting things out.  In these cases,
timeouts that were used by mistake will be restored by request.

Summary:

There are really only three things to remember -

  (1) Pay attention to the game and know when to expect your turn.

  (2) Take the game seriously and take your turn within the 2-day limit
      as often as possible.  It's more fun for everyone that way!

  (3) Show consideration for the other players and let us know if you
      aren't going to be able to move in time, so that we can use the
      rules above to keep you in the game, rather than kicking you out
      of the game!


-- Headquarters

P.S.  If you know you will be taking a vacation longer than two weeks,
and you let us know several weeks in advance, we will try to arrange
things so you don't have your turn skipped at all.  But it will help if
you build some goodwill by making the rest of your moves extra quickly
first!