Official IDL Rules

The IDL Administration

The IDL Administration is comprised of one commissioner and a board of five IDL community members. Throughout these rules, this collection of six officers are collectively referred to as "the IDL administration", each board member and commissioner being an "IDL administrator", "IDL admin", or simply "administrator" or "admin". All admins have RCON to IDL servers and are IRC channel operators, but save for the commissioner and board head have no inherent policy enforcement authority.

The Commissioner

The IDL Commissioner's office is a one person office whose duties are to enforce IDL policy.

Commissioner Selection

The commissioner can appoint a successor at the time of resignation. Should no successor be chosen, the board must select a new commissioner via unanimous vote.

Commissioner Removal

The commissioner can resign at any time. The board can remove a commissioner with a unanimous vote.

The Board

The IDL Board is a group of five IDL community members - four board members and one board head - whose responsibility is to set IDL policy to suit the league and its players. It is neither the responsibility nor the privilege of regular board members to enforce IDL policy, this is left to the board head and commissioner.

Board Member Selection

Board members are selected through a nomination and confirmation process. The commissioner nominates candidates, and the board must confirm the nomination with a 3/5 majority. New members fill the previous members' seats. For example, should the board head resign, their replacement becomes the new board head.

Board Member Removal

Board members can resign at any time. Board members may be removed through the removal process:

• The member to be removed is notified.
• The other board members vote on removal.
• If a 4/4 unanimous vote is obtained, removal succeeds.
• Otherwise if a 3/4 majority is obtained, removal succeeds unless the commissioner vetoes.
• The commissioner's veto can be overridden by a unanimous vote, otherwise removal fails.

Board Member Promotion & Demotion

Promotion of a normal board member to board head, or demotion of the board head to a normal board member must be done via the nomination/confirmation process. The member in question cannot vote during this time, thus confirmation requires a 3/4 majority.

Acting In Bona Fide

Administrators must act honestly and in bona fide. The test is a subjective one; administrators must act in good faith, in what they - not the rest of the board - consider best for the league. However, administrators may still be held to have failed in this duty where they fail to direct their minds to the question of whether in fact a transaction was in the best interests of the league.

Competing With The League

IDL administrators may not act as administrators of competing leagues.

Legislation

Voting Procedure

In order to make changes to the IDL rules, the board must vote on each proposition. Votes can be called in two ways, either through the commissioner sending an issue to the board, or the board head calling a vote. Votes pass with a 3/5 majority, after which the commissioner can exercise his veto power. Should the veto be employed, the board can override the veto with a 4/5 majority.

Board members can abstain from voting, but this action does not change the amount of votes required for passage.

Restrictions

The board may not pass any proposition to be enforced retroactively.

League Composition

Structure

The IDL is composed of two conferences. Each conference contains two divisions and each division contains three teams. Teams are composed of one captain and three players. As the head of their teams, captains have the power (and often the responsibility as the rules require) to:

• Dismiss players
• Submit team availability for games
• Trade with other teams
• Name their teams

Captain Selection

The IDL administration selects and randomly assigns captains to teams. Once assigned, the captain retains that team until removed.

Captain Removal

Captains can resign at any time, however they're strongly discouraged from doing so during a season. There is no limit on the number of seasons a captain can lead a team, however, should a team miss two consecutive postseasons under a single captain, that captain will be dismissed and a new captain will be chosen to lead that team.

Team Name Selection

Captains have the opportunity to name or rename their teams each season. New captains have this opportunity after assignment unless assignment occurs during the regular or post seasons. Names are subject to board review, with a 4/5 majority required to reject a name. The board may only evaluate names on objective bases such as obscenity; personal like or dislike shall not determine a board member's approval or disapproval. Should a team's captain be unable or unwilling to select an acceptable name, the administration will select a name for that team.

Player Dismissal

Cheating

Players caught cheating during IDL games will be banned from all IDL servers and activities for the entirety of the season. Their application for future seasons will be heavily reviewed. The games in which that player played will all be overturned in favor of the opposing team. Games that player's team lost will remain as they were.

Chronic Absence

The league can decide to dismiss players for chronic absence. Chronic absence is evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

Replacement

Should a player withdraw or be dismissed from the league, the captain of that player's team has seventy-two hours to replace the player from free agency, after which the IDL administration will choose instead. Such replacement does not count as a trade. Replacement is not required (nor is it possible) during the postseason.

End of Season Dismissal

Each team's players are automatically dismissed at the end of that team's season, save for captains.

Invitation

After captains are assigned, the IDL administration posts a list of players invited to join the IDL. These players are free to either accept or decline their invite. After a predetermined amount of time, all players who've yet to accept their invite are assumed to have declined, and the roster for IDL is set. Excluding captains, all players on the IDL roster are then considered free agents.

Draft

Draft order for captains who were captains in the previous season is determined by the following criteria:

1. Ascending previous regular season record
2. MasterBowl runner-up
3. MasterBowl champions

Should two or more teams have identical records, the following procedures will be used to determine draft order:

1. Non-playoff teams pick before teams that earned playoff berths
2. Playoff teams are chosen in the order in which they lost during the playoffs
3. Strength of schedule
4. Division/Conference tie-breaking procedures

Draft order for captains who were not captains in the previous season but have been captains before is determined by their total captaining record.

Draft order for captains who have never captained a team is randomly determined. Once these random draft positions have been assigned, they will be modified as follows:

• If assigned position one, two or three, the position is set to four, five or six, respectively, pushing other captains upwards.
• If assigned position ten, eleven or twelve, the position is set to seven, eight or nine, respectively, pushing other captains downwards.

Once draft order is determined, captains must choose their draft positions. This is done following the draft order; the captain of the team with the first pick can choose draft position one through twelve, the captain of the team with the second pick can choose draft position one through twelve save the position the first captain chose, and so on.

Each draft round reverses the picking order; the team with first pick in the first round has the twelfth pick in the second round, second pick has eleventh pick, and so on.

Draft positions may not be traded.

Playoff Homefield Selection

A playoff match's map is the top-seeded team's chosen homefield. For example, TBA and MAD are in the conference championship game, TBA is ranked 8th and MAD is ranked 4th. That game will be played using MAD's homefield map.

Each team chooses a playoff homefield map from that season's IDL WAD in the reverse of draft order, and the following restrictions apply:

• Teams cannot choose a map that was previously selected that season by a different team.
• Teams cannot choose that season's MasterBowl map.

Homefields must be selected before the conclusion of Week 7 of regular season play. Homefield selection position can be traded.

Season Gameplay

The IDL has four seasons:

Preseason

The period of time between the end of the draft and the first regular season week.

Regular Season

An eight week period where games are played weekly. Determines the seeding for the playoff season and the next season's draft order (in most cases).

Playoff Season or Postseason

A three week period where games are played weekly (Wildcard Playoffs, Conference Championships and the MasterBowl respectively). Determines that season's champion and, in some cases, draft order.

Off Season or Offseason

The period of time between the end of playoff season and the draft.

Playoff Season

Playoffs consist of three rounds: Wildcard, Conference Championships, and the MasterBowl. Four teams from each conference qualify for playoffs, based on and ordered by the following:

1. The division champion with the best record
2. The remaining division champion
3. The remaining team with the best record
4. The next remaining team with the best record

Should ties within a division occur, they will be broken using the following procedures:

1. Head-to-head (best won-lost-tied percentage in games between the teams)
2. Best won-lost-tied percentage in games played within the division
3. Best won-lost-tied percentage in common games
4. Best won-lost-tied percentage in games played within the conference
5. Strength of victory
6. Strength of schedule
7. Regular season frag average multiplied by regular season flag average
8. Coin toss

Should ties occur between two teams within a conference, they will be broken using the following procedures:

1. Head-to-head, if applicable.
2. Best won-lost-tied percentage in games played within the conference.
3. Best won-lost-tied percentage in common games, minimum of four.
4. Strength of victory.
5. Strength of schedule.
6. Regular season Frag Average multiplied by regular season flag average.
7. Coin toss.

Should ties occur between three or more teams within a conference, they will be broken using the following procedures:

1. Head-to-head sweep. (Applicable only if one team has defeated each of the others or if one team has lost to each of the others.)
2. Best won-lost-tied percentage in games played within the conference.
3. Best won-lost-tied percentage in common games, minimum of four.
4. Strength of victory.
5. Strength of schedule.
6. Regular season Frag Average multiplied by regular season FART average.
7. Coin toss.

Only one team advances to the playoffs in any tie-breaking step. Remaining tied teams revert to the first step of the applicable division or conference tie-breakers. As an example, if two teams remain tied in any tie-breaker step after all other teams have been eliminated, the procedure reverts to step one of the two-team format to determine the winner. When one team wins the tie breaker, all other teams revert to step one of the applicable two-team or three-team format. If any ties cannot be broken by strength of schedule, the divisional or conference tie breakers, whichever are applicable, are applied. Any ties that still exist are broken by a coin flip.

Gameplay

Game Structure

Each IDL game is composed of a minimum of two rounds. A standard IDL round is 3 vs. 3 at ten minutes each, with a five flag limit. When the time or flag limit is reached, the team with the most flags scored is the winner of the round. If the amount of flags scored is equal, that round is a tie. If after the third round no team leads the other in rounds won, a third tie-breaker round is played. During the regular season, the result of this round is the result of the game, win, loss or tie. During the postseason, such tie-breaking rounds are played until a team wins one, the winning team being declared the victor of the game.

Team Color Assignments

Teams are assigned specific colors for each game. This is determined by the order in which team names are displayed on the IDL site. For example, if a game is listed as BSK vs. SUC, BSK is the red team and SUC is the blue team. The assignments are determined randomly.

Game Location

All games must be played on official IDL servers, which are listed on the IDL site. Games played on other servers will not be recognized. The server hosting the game must be agreed upon at least twenty-four hours before the game is scheduled to take place, and all rounds of said game must be played on the same server. In the event of server disputes, or should no discussion take place, TotalTrash Chicago will be used. Should the hosting server become unavailable during a scheduled game time, that game will be postponed.

Game Rosters

Excepting power play penalties, teams are required to field three players. If they are unable to do so, the IDL will forfeit that team. If neither team is able to field three players, they will both forfeit.

Captains are free to substitute players in at will, however, the limit of three players per team must not be exceeded at any time. Should a team ever have more than three players playing in the game at the same time (joining the game on a team), regardless of circumstances that team will forfeit the round with their stats being set to zero.

Server Crashes

Server crashes are handled at the league's discretion and on a case-by-case basis. However, these are guidelines the league generally follows.

In the event of a server crash, games are replayed from the last benchmark. Scores and statistics up until the last benchmark will be carried over and recorded respectively. Other information (flag possession, player positions, etc.) as well as all events occurring after the benchmark will be discarded. Each game has eight benchmarks:

1. 0:00
2. 2:00
3. 3:00
4. 4:00
5. 5:00
6. 6:00
7. 7:00
8. 8:00

Should a team feel that something extraordinary happened very close to a benchmark, they can appeal to the commissioner to have it included in the game replay. For example, if a player is imminently about to score, a team can have the commissioner or review the demo to ensure there was no possibility of the player not scoring (within the realm of normalcy), and award the flag capture.

Trading

A trade is an exchange between either two teams or one team and the free agency. If between two teams, one team gives one player to another team and receives one other player from the same team. If between one team and the free agency, the team gives one player to the free agency and takes one other player from the free agency. In either case, both player transfers happen at the same time and only under both captains' (or the captain's) consent.

Trading during the preseason is unlimited.

Trading during the postseason is not allowed.

Trading is allowed during the regular season up until Week 5 on Wednesday, 11:59:59pm, subject to the following:

• All trades must be commissioner approved and will be recorded publicly.
• Each team is allowed a maximum of three trades during the regular season.
• If two teams trade and neither has played their game, that trade becomes effective immediately for both teams. Otherwise the trade is not effective until Monday 12:00:00am of the next week.
• Trades made during Week 5 become effective Thursday 12:00:00am or until both teams have played their games, whichever is latest.

Each team may trade any number of times per week, but is allowed a maximum of three trades during the regular season.

Once a player has been in the roster of two different teams, they cannot return to the roster of the original team for the rest of the season.

Whenever a team trades a player to the free agency, a forty-eight hour cold period where that player cannot be instantly traded for begins. During this period, teams can make a bid for the player. If more than one bid is made, the player will go to the team with the lowest win-tie-loss record of the current season. If ties occur, they will be resolved using the following procedures:

1. Head-to-head (best won-lost-tied percentage in games between the teams)
2. Strength of victory
3. Strength of schedule
4. Regular season frag average multiplied by regular season flag average
5. Coin toss

If a team is unable to field three players for a match, that team must use a player from free agency for the duration of the match. This does not count as a trade.

Should a team use a particular free agent twice, that team will be forced to make a trade for said free agent using any player currently on its roster. This counts as a trade.

Waiver Wire

The waiver wire opens at the close of the trade deadline. Teams can drop any of their players during this time, however, the dropped player will be placed on the waiver wire until the following Monday at 11:59:59pm, henceforth referred to as the waiver period. During the waiver period, any team may make a blind claim for the player. When such a claim is made, teams are told only that a claim was made, not which team made the claim. At the end of the waiver period, the player is either acquired by a claiming team or passed into free agency. Division/conference tie-breaking procedure is used to determine claim precedence, however, once a team acquires a player through a claim they are sent to the end of the order. If no team makes a claim within the waiver period, the player becomes a free agent. Any team that wins a claim must take the player onto their roster.

Postseason Roster Changes

Teams are not permitted to make any roster changes during the postseason.

Demos

Each player that plays in a round, no matter the length of time, is required to submit a demo either by Wednesday of the following week, or before their team's next game, whichever comes first. The penalties for not submitting a demo are as follows:

• First Infraction: Three minute power play.
• Second Infraction: Player is suspended for one round of play.
• Third Infraction: Player is ejected from the league.

Scheduling

Captains are required to send their team's weekly availability to the commissioner by Tuesday 11:59:59pm. The commissioner will then select an appropriate game time where both teams are available. In the event that schedules do not overlap, the commissioner will design a solution on a case-by-case basis. Should teams fail to send their availability in on time, they will be punished as follows:

• First & Second Infractions: Three minute power play.
• Third & Subsequent Infractions: One round man advantage, with no relief even if flags are scored.

Non-captain players cannot schedule times with the commissioner, nor can teams schedule times between themselves; captains submit availability to the commissioner, and the commissioner assigns the game time.

Schedule Changes

In the event that a player's or team's availability changes after a game time is assigned, the commissioner can rule whether or not to move the game time to another available time based upon previously submitted availability.

Miscellaneous

Power Play

Players, not teams are penalized with a power play. The penalty cannot be transferred to a different player, and if traded the player will serve the penalty on whichever team they ultimately play their game. Captains cannot substitute non-offending players to compensate for the power play; teams must play down a player for every penalty.

For example, Whopper and Alvis of the Knortic Fnords both fail to upload their demo for Week 4. During Week 5, KNF must play 1v3 until three minutes elapse or their opponents score, and Whopper and Alvis must sit during this time.

Time Zone

All times, unless otherwise noted, are in EST/EDT. The official IDL forums are configured to report times in EST/EDT, so no adjustment is necessary unless players have changed their forum profiles.

Versions of ZDaemon Client and Server Programs

The official IDL servers run version 1.08.08 of the ZDaemon server. The IDL recommends running version 1.08.08 of the ZDaemon client. Consequences resulting from the use of other client versions are the responsibility of the player, not the IDL.