ECSL Rules

The following rules apply to the ECSL and all games played as part of the ECSL. It is understood that all clans have read and understood these rules. Clan leaders/managers are responsible for making sure all their players are aware of these rules, especially those concerning the players themselves and their behaviour.

1. League Structure

I. League Overview

• All clans play in one of five divisions.
• The clans are split into 4 Divisions of 21 clans, with a 5th Premiership containing 11 clans.
• We may at times run a Wildcard Division of 11 teams.
• The Wildcard division is not seeded by skill.
• Clans from the previous season are given places first, followed by any clans new to the ECSL.
• The ECSL is expanding slowly. Even more clans will be allowed in for next season. Our aim is to end up with at least one division per country.
• Games are completely scheduled by Date/Time/Server/Clan A/Clan B. See 4. Schedules.
• Clan promotion and relegation is done at the League Admin's discretion. This is done at the end of the Season, beginning of the next.

II. Season Time Length

• Each Season lasts 10 weeks.
• Season 'weeks' are played from Monday to Sunday.
• Just one map is played per week.
• Number of games played:
  • Premiership (11 Clans) - Clans in the Premiership will play 20 games in the Season, with each clan playing each other TWICE.
  • Division 1 to 4 (21 Clans) - Clans in this Division will play 20 games in the Season, with each clan playing each other ONCE.
  • Wildcard Division (11 Clans) - Clans in this Division will play 20 games in the Season, with each clan playing each other TWICE.
  • Each clan will play 2 games per week for the entire season, from week 1 to week 10.

III. Match Scoring

• All Divisions use the standard CS scoring system.
• All matches are played on 1 map as both forces, Terrorist and Counter-Terrorist. A Win/Loss/Draw is decided as depending on the number of rounds won by each clan. The following league points are gained:
  • Win +3 Points to the winning clan.
  • Loss 0 Points to the losing clan.
  • Draw +2 Points to both clans.
  • Default Win (No-Show) +4 Points to clan that turned up. 1 Point deducted from the clan that did not show.
  • Default Win (Admin Decision) +4 Points to the winning clan. Points will be deducted from the clan that broke the rules depending on the circumstances.
  • Domination Bonus +1 point for winning the match with an overall score with a difference of 11 rounds or more (e.g. winning 18 rounds to 6 rounds)
  • Clean Sheet Bonus +1 point for not conceding a single round in a half (only 1 of this bonus per clan per match)
  • 2:1 Ratio Bonus +1 Point to the loosing clan for getting half or more rounds than their opposition (e.g. 16-8)
• This means that in one match, a winning clan can obtain a maximum of 5 points (Win + Clean Sheet + Domination)
• In another different match a loosing clan can obtain a maximum of 1 point (2:1 Ratio Bonus)
• NOTE: All the points are calculated automatically. As long as you entered the scores correctly, there will be no error in the point allocation. Please do not tell the Admins that your points are incorrect, as we will only tell you this. The Admin Team do not have any access the point allocation.
• If a clan does a complete no show, i.e. a team does not turn up to the server within 10 minutes of the allocated time, then the clan that did turn up obtains a default win. To get this confirmed, visit #ecsl-admin after 10 minutes and ask an admin to check the server (which has at least 4 members of the attending clan waiting) and confirm the result.
  • If the connection to the server is 'dodgy' and the opposition team is just having trouble getting their players into the server on a stable connection then some leeway must be given by the clan waiting.

IV. Servers

• League Games are scheduled and played on approved clan servers. There are dedicated ECSL servers that are used if a clan does not have its own server, but there is no option to reschedule with these servers.
• To get a clan server approved for ECSL use, you must visit #ecsl-admin and ask the Server Admin to approve your server.
• For more information on servers, see 6. Servers

V. Clans Dropping/Splitting

• Any clan that "drops" from the league, meaning it decides not to continue playing in the current ECSL Season, may be banned from playing in the ECSL for the duration of the next Season and possibly future ECSL seasons, depending on the situation.
• Clans that drop within the first two weeks of a new season will be replaced by another clan on the waiting list that is willing to participate. Clans dropping after this time will not be replaced.
• If a clan fails to play 1 game in the first week then an Admin will warn it. If that clan then fails to play another match it will be removed from the league and banned for the rest of the season and the length of the next season. A replacement clan will be entered.

2. European Championship Structure

I. Championship Overview

• At the end of each season, the winners from each section of the league compete in a European Championship.
• The tournament is for a select few clans who came top of the highest division available to that country.
• The championship is still in the planning stages.

3. Tournament Structure

I. Tournament Overview

• The ECSL sometimes holds tournament events. These last 4 weeks, and usually occur between seasons.
• The tournament is open, meaning clans of all skill levels can be drawn against each other.
• 32 Clans are accepted into a tournament, with places being allocated on a first-come, first-served basis.
• The tournament is run on a knockout basis, with winning clans going through to the next stage and the losing clans being 'knocked out' of the tournament.
• Games are completely scheduled by Date/Time/Server/Clan A/Clan B. See 4. Schedules.

II. Maps and Duration

• Each Tournament usually lasts 4 weeks, with a stage being run a week, until the last week where both the Semi-finals and the Final are played in one week.
• A different map is used in each stage.
• Sometimes an ECSL tournament has a theme, such as the previously held A:GK (Assassination: Grassy Knoll) tournaments, where only assassination game-type maps were used, in which case this theme will be announced at the beginning of the tournament before sign-ups

III. Tournament Scoring

• In tournaments, the standard CS scoring system is used
• Clans that win the most rounds have won and go through to the next stage
• Clans that lose the most rounds have lost and do not participate in the rest of the tournament
• In the case of a draw, a further 6 rounds are played, each clan playing 3 rounds as Terrorist and 3 rounds as Counter-Terrorist

IV. Servers

• All Tournament matches are played on dedicated ECSL servers

4. Schedules

I. Clan Match Schedules

• Games in both the League and in Tournaments are scheduled.
• There are 3 time slots per night; 19:00 / 20:30 / 22:00. Games will be played on every night of the week at these allotted times.
• All the times given in schedules are UK times. Clans in different time zones should take this into account. If a clan cannot play during a certain time block due to being in a different time zone, please inform your Divisional Admin and they will suspend any games in this time block.

II. Cancellations and Reschedules

• All the matches for a season are scheduled usually a week before the season. The fixtures for the season can be found on the league site.
• If, for any reason, you cannot play a game at the time given, inform your divisional admin, who will suspend your match so you can reschedule it for a time agreed with the other clan.

III. Catch-Up Games

• Catch Up Games are that a game scheduled to be played during the season was not played for some reason. They can be played at any available and convenient time during the season, or during Week 11 and 12 of the ECSL, the catch up weeks.

IV. Unapproved Servers

• Un-Approved Servers - If you have any problems on an un-approved ECSL server then the ECSL and its Admin's will not get involved in the resolving of this dispute whatsoever. If the dispute is unresolved the match will be voided.

V. Running over Time

• Running Over Time (ECSL Dedicated Servers Only) - If your match begins later than the allocated start time, and you have only played 1 half fully, and will not get the last half finished before the next clans time slot, you must vacate the server and reschedule the last half of the game. Failure of this could result in penalisation for both clans involved. To avoid this occurring, games should start the knife round within 10 minutes of the allocated start time and the game within 15 minutes of the allocated start time.

5. Match Format

I. Team Sizes

• Teams are 5v5 in both Tournaments and the League.

II.SHIELDS

• Shields are NOT to be used at anytime during a match.

III. Game Length and Gameplay Variables

• Games are played using the mr12 system, where each half is played for 12 rounds, before the teams swap over and another 12 rounds are played.
• Each round lasts 3 minutes.
• Friendly fire is on
• The C4 timer is set to 35 for defuse maps

IV. Maps

• Matches must be played on the designated map for that week/stage, unless that match is a catch-up game. The current map can be found out by checking the Map Timetable page.
• Any matches played on a map that is not designated for that week/stage, but entered into the ECSL match database will simply be voided when discovered.
• Each Clan will play as both the Counter-Terrorist Force and the Terrorist Force.

V. Replacement/Standby Players

• If a player drops mid-way through the match then it is the side with more players' decision whether or not they even the sides, and no one else's. We hope that clans have the sportsmanship to temporarily "suicide" a player until sides are full, but we do not enforce it. The game will not be paused; clans will have to play at a disadvantage until the player reconnects. You cannot bring on a substitute in this situation.
• Clans may make substitutions during the 'half-time' period.
• No-one other than the 10 players, ECSL staff or a delayed HLTV proxy may be on a server during a game.

VI. Knife Round

• A knife round is used to decide which clan gets the choice of which side, Terrorist or Counter-Terrorist, to play as first. The winner of this round gets the choice.
• There is a restart, so that everyone has $800. They may buy armour with this.
• Everyone should keep their guns, but not use them. Anyone shots fired, even if they miss, gives the round to the oppsition as default. The bomb should be dropped in the Terrorist spawn.

6. Servers

I. Match Servers

• Most league games are played upon clans servers.
• The League has several dedicated Counter-Strike Servers which are sometimes ued for league matches. One or more of these servers may be specified for tournament use in between seasons.
• Log files should be recorded during every game and should be available to the ECSL admins upon request.

II. Server Configuration

• All servers used for ECSL games must be running the ECSL configuration.
• Match Specific Server Variables are as follows:
  • mp_maxrounds 12 - Total rounds of 12 per half.
  • mp_roundtime 3 - Each round lasts 3 minutes.
  • mp_timelimit 0 - There is no time limit.
    • NB. League games will have no map time limit, but each half will obviously end after 36 minutes (12 rounds * 3 round limit.)
  • mp_buytime 0.5 - limits the Buying time to 30 seconds
  • mp_c4timer 35 - Sets the C4 Bomb Timer for 35 seconds.
  • mp_friendlyfire 1 - Friendly fire is always on in league games.
  • mp_forcechasecam 2 - When a player dies, they can only see members of their team in first person mode. This is a new feature added in CS 1.4.
  • mp_startmoney 800 - For the first round of each half, players will have $800

III. Lag

• If you feel that the server is unplayable, that you have a high ping, packet loss, choke and such, then consult with the Admins before you all decide to leave the server. They will then check the server. The match may be voided and replayed either as a catch up game on a different server. If you all stomp off behaving like little kids it will only act to your detriment.

7. Clans

I. Clan Approval

• Clans go through quite a strict approval process, before they can apply to enter either the League or a Tournament. Clan Approval usually only takes a couple of days, but it can take longer than this.
• To be approved, a clan needs:
  • A fully working website, with evidence of games played recently and a members section.
  • An active IRC channel, for more information on IRC see the F2C.NET IRC Guide.
  • At least 5 members

II. Clan Information

• Clan information is expected to be kept up-to-date. If a clan changes its website URL, or its IRC room, these changes must be recorded in the case that the League Admins need to contact your clan. If they are unable to contact you with the information given then the clan faces removal from all F2C.NET run competitions.

III. Dual Clanning and Mercing

• Mercenaries are NOT allowed! Teams will be penalised as seen fit by the Admin's, which may be in the form of penalty points or expulsion from the ECSL. Definition of a Merc is where the player is not mentioned on your clan web site nor are they under your clan's details on the ECSL website. Additional proof may be required in the form of screenshots of the alleged Merc from previous games.
• Further to this all dedicated ECSL servers are scanned at 1-minute intervals and a database of Won IDs and player nicknames is populated.
• Merc Information:
  • A Merc is a player that is not a full member of the clan - We will not accept any excuses that the player is "trialling".
  • Mercs within the ECSL are not allowed. If any clan is caught using a Merc in one of their matches, disciplinary action will be taken.
  • It will make it harder for you to defend yourself from using Mercs (If you get accused of it) if the player(s) are not registered on the ECSL website or your personal Clan website. As a rule, All players in your clan must be registered as a player on the ECSL website.
• Mercs are detected in numerous ways:
  • The use of the WONid scanner that is active on all ECSL servers
  • Accusations of Mercing will be investigated by the ECSL Anti-cheat Admins. To assist them, you can take a screenshot of what is written in the console when you type 'status'.
• The following is the standard punishment, although different action may be taken depending on the situation:
  • Players who have a WONid not matching the one listed on the ECSL site - 2 match ban for that player/WONid.
  • Players who are registered as playing for another clan - permanent ban for the player, penalty points and a default loss for the clan.

IV. Cheating

• Clans found guilty of cheating will be heavily punished. This could be removal from the league, and all other counter-strike leagues in Europe being informed of the clan's and leagues actions.

8. Players

I. Player Information

• All players who wish to participate in the ECSL must have a F2C.NET player account, containing their player nickname, WONID, E-mail address and password. All but the nickname are hidden as default, and can only be accessed by certain Admins (the exception being password which is not accessible to anyone).
• Your WONID should be up-to-date every time you participate in an ECSL match. If for some reason you are playing away from home, then you must update your WONID in your player profile and it should not be changed back until the following day.
• To find out your WONID, join any Internet Counter-Strike server, bring down the console and type 'status'. Then record your WONID down, it is listed next to your name in the list. If you reinstall Half-Life or Counter-Strike Retail, then your WONID may change. It is recommended that you check it once you have reinstalled, updating your player profile if necessary.

II. Chatting

• We ask that you do not spam the universal chat by repeating one or more lines of text. We also ask that you do not throw any form of insult or abuse at the other clan. Failure of this could result in penalty points. Remember we have access to log files. However, being chatty, friendly, talking about what you had to lunch etc. whilst dead is not only allowed but encouraged.

III. Cheating

• If you suspect an individual to be cheating then do not scream abuse at them, as in many cases you will be wrong. Record a demo and then speak to an ECSL Admin after the match. Excessive abuse at accused players will lead to you facing penalisation.
• Allegations of cheating are taken very seriously. Our guidelines are as follows:
  • All players must record demos during any league game. These demos must then be kept for a week after your game. If any allegations against you arise, they can be used to defend you. After a week, you may safely delete your demo. A valid excuse must be given to the Admins of why a demo was not recorded. An admin will decide if your excuse is valid or not. If a demo is not produced for any reason, you will face a 1 match ban.
  • Someone killing you in one shot with the AWM is life.
  • Certain maps have exploits that were not intended by the map maker. Check the profile of each map on the timetable page to see what exploits there are for each map. Using one of these exploits will lead to a default win to the opposition and a match ban for the players involved.
  • You may boost/bunk a teammate to areas they cannot reach alone, unless it is considered an exploit. Any boost/bunk requiring 3 or more players is illegal.
  • All and any programs running outside of the Half-Life Engine that improves the gameplay for that individual player and hence gives them an advantage over other players, is considered illegal in the ECSL. External voice communications software such as Roger Wilco or Teamspeak is allowed.
  • Anti-Cheat software is installed on the ECSL Dedicated servers, anything caught by them will be banned and will not be lifted for any reason. We reserve the right to change/update the anti-cheat software without prior notice.
  • Any server logs that are given to the ECSL from 3rd party servers, that show an ECSL Player/Clan cheating will also be banned under new rulings. However, we reserve the right to dismiss any logs as we see fit.
• The ECSL reserves the right to scan your hard drive for installed cheats when you use our servers. If you do not agree to this then you should not attempt to connect to any of our servers. We have a zero tolerance policy on cheating, and once banned you will not be un-banned.

IV. Dual Clanning

• It is also not allowed for any players to play in more than one clan in the ECSL, meaning the same player who plays for 2 clans in the ECSL database. Dual Clanners will cause their clans to be either penalised and the players may face a ban should their be evidence showing them playing for both clans. Playing in another clan that does not partake in the ECSL, however, is perfectly acceptable.

9. Behaviour

I. Clan and Player Behaviour

• The Admin's and Referee's work constantly behind the scenes of the ECSL for your good and enjoyment. They will not and never deserve to take abuse from anyone as they do this out of their spare time and voluntarily. If you slag off clans during a match, on the IRC servers or in the forums, then your clan will face penalisation, or face banning from all of the ECSL servers and the ECSL league. Sorry no behaving like kiddies in this League.
• Racism and Sexism of any kind will NOT be tolerated.
• In extreme cases of a clan's misbehaviour, we shall inform all other counter-strike leagues within the UK and Europe of what the clan in question clan did, and the punishment they received.

II. IRC Guidelines

• When you need help with a ECSL related problem, then the channel #ecsl-admin is an easy way to get a quick response. Admins are people that are Op'd in this channel, and although we try to help everyone as quickly as possible there are times when we are away or dealing with other problems - so please be patient.
• To get an Admin's attention, the command '!admin' will inform them that their assistance is required. However, excessive use of this command will result in you being banned from all ECSL channels.
• Please do not spam or use excessive caps, spamming will just get you banned from the channel.
• State your problem clearly and politely - swearing at Admins will not make them work any faster, it is more likely to lead to a ban from the channel, meaning you will not get problem sorted.
• ECSL channels are located on QuakeNet, and are:
  • #ecsl - Community room, all Admins have either @ or +.
  • #ecsl-admin - Home of the Admins. Visit if you need help. However, do not idle in this room
  • #ecsl-ref - Where you can ask for a ref if you require one for you game.
  • #ecsl-news - This is where you can talk to the league reporters and submit news about your clan.
  • #ecsl-cont, #ecsl-scan and #ecsl-uk - These are rooms for each section of the league, where you can meet your opponents before a league game.

If you notice any typing mistakes, spelling errors or can think of any beneficial additions to these rules (including rewording, and layout of the rules), please contact Divvur or one of the other ECSL Admins.