TotalTech Rules
(Last Update: 10/9/06)
Restrictions on Low Battle Value Armies
Armies with a Battle Value (“BV”)
under 7,000 are subject to a number of restrictions in order to encourage
fair, mek-centered play. They are as follows:
Low BV Example #1: A low BV army
contains a Demolisher (Arrow IV), which mounts two Arrow IV launchers,
and a Mobile Long Tom. This army is illegal because it contains
three artillery weapons, despite the fact that it includes only two
artillery units.
Low BV Example #2:
A low BV army includes a Cerberus, 2 Locusts, 1 Maxim (Infantry) and
three Fenrir squads. This army is illegal because it contains
4 non-infantry units and 3 infantry units, a 4:3 ratio. This army could
be made legal by adding two more non-infantry units (ratio of 6:3) or
removing a Fenrir (ratio of 4:2).
Low BV Example #3: A low BV army
features an O-Bakemono, 2 Kabutos, a Tokugawa and two Raiden squads.
At first glance this army may seem legal, as it has 4 non-infantry units
and two infantry units – a legal infantry:non-infantry construction,
but we also have to check it’s artillery arrangement.
The OBK carries artillery weapons and
cannot be counted itself for purposes of the artillery ratio. As a result,
the army has only three non-infantry, non-artillery units (the Kabutos
and Tokugawa), and a 3 unit : 2 artillery weapon ratio. To make this
army legal, another non-infantry unit that has no artillery weapons
(say, a Manticore Heavy Tank) must be added.
NOTE #1: The low BV rules may be suspended by the agreement of both players in a game, but it is not ok to be active with an illegal army and then ask your opponent for permission to use the army. It must be approved before you activate.
NOTE #2: A unit at or under 7k
may be attacked by a 7001 BV army that is not bound by this rule. An
army must be under 6650 BV to ensure that it may only be attacked by
other “low BV” armies.
Games Against Players in SOL
When launching a task against a player
in SOL, attackers must use at least half the number of mechs that the
SOL player is fielding (rounded up), and may not use any single unit
with 2000 or more BV. This rule may be ignored if the SOL player is
informed before the task is launched and agrees to the usage of such
a unit by the opponent.
Specific Unit Restrictions:
1. Players in Inner Sphere factions (BK,
DC, FS, FWL, LA, TA, WoB) may not use ProtoMeks. The Inner Sphere does
not have access to Enhanced Imaging technology or aero-phenotype pilots,
and as a result cannot make use of captured ProtoMeks.
2. Players in Clan factions (CC, WC)
may not utilize C3 or C3i technology. They may choose to use captured
units mounting networking equipment in their armies, but they may never
link the units. The Clans believe in individual combat, not networked
attacks.
3. ProtoMeks must be deployed
in full points - no exceptions. This means ProtoMeks must deployed in
groups of five, though all five protos need not be of the same type.
3 Rocs and 2 Sirens would constitute a legal point. 4 Minotaurs would
not.
Artillery:
Units mounting artillery weapons (Thumper,
Sniper, Long Tom, Arrow IV) may be deployed on-board or off-board. Off-board
units may not be attacked during a game, but may be destroyed or captured
after a game is over. The closer the unit is to the field of play, in
hexes, the more likely it is to be overrun.
A player who controls off-board artillery
but who, for whatever reason, has no living units on the field of play
must surrender immediately. He cannot continue firing with the off-board
artillery units.
Inferno Weapons:
Arrow IV Inferno may be used as normal
artillery, but admins and mods reserve the right to prevent abuse and
overuse. Leaving one’s own units standing in an Arrow IV Inferno fire
in order to gain cover is poor form and strongly discouraged.
Thunder Inferno LRM’s may be fired
directly or indirectly.
C3 and C3i Networks:
C3 and c3i units must be linked in MekWars
and will auto-link upon entering MegaMek. The links must follow all
standard rules for such systems. If your network does not load properly
into MegaMek, you may customize units in order to set links that accurately
reflect its MekWars setting. You must warn your opponent before doing
so.
Any abuse of C3 network linking – such
as linking units that are unlinked in MekWars in order to artificially
inflate an army’s BV – will be harshly punished. A player who believes
his opponent is illegally linking C3 should compare in-game and MekWars
BV’s for the force and report any discrepancies to a moderator or
admin.
Auto-ejection:
Units’ auto-ejection status may not
be changed in MegaMek without the approval of your opponent. Auto-ejection
settings should be made in, and loaded from, MekWars.
Firing Beyond a Weapon’s Range
Taking shots that will automatically
fail because the target is beyond a weapon’s range is generally acceptable
if a player is trying to generate heat or expend ammo; however, under
no circumstances is a player to fire a weapon which scatters (e.g. –
any type of Thunder LRM) or creates fire (e.g. – Inferno SRM) beyond
its usual range.
Ammunition Limitations:
Some ammunitions are unique to specific
factions (for example, only Federated Suns may use Precision AC ammo)
while other ammos are widely available. To reduce the disparity between
factions and expand play-options, some ammos are available more widely
than they would be in a purely canon environment.
Ammunitions must be set in MekWars.
Any changes to a unit’s ammo load in MegaMek, unless expressly approved
by all players in a game, is considered cheating and will be punished
harshly.
Banned ammunitions for each faction are as follows –
Banned
Server-wide: Anti-TSM, Ax-Head, Incendiary LRM, Listen-Kill.
Banned for Clan Factions (CC &
WC): Armor Piercing, iNarc Haywire, iNarc Nemesis, Precision, Swarm,
Swarm I, Thunder Augmented, Arrow IV Inferno.
Banned for Bandit Kingdoms (BK):
Armor Piercing, iNarc Haywire, iNARC Nemesis, Precision, Swarm, Swarm
I, Thunder Augmented, Arrow IV Inferno.
Banned for Draconis Combine (DC):
Armor Piercing, iNarc Haywire, iNARC Nemesis, Precision, Swarm I, Thunder
Augmented, Arrow IV Inferno
Banned for Federated Suns (FS): iNarc Haywire, iNarc Nemesis, Swarm I, Thunder Augmented, Arrow IV Inferno
Banned for Free Worlds League (FWL):
Armor Piercing, iNarc Haywire, iNarc Nemesis, Precision, Thunder Augmented,
Arrow IV Inferno
Banned for Lyran Alliance (LA):
Armor Piercing, iNarc Haywire, iNarc Nemesis, Precision, Swarm I, Thunder
Augmented, Arrow IV Inferno
Banned for Trinity Alliance (TA):
Armor Piercing, INarc Haywire, INARC Nemesis, Precision, Swarm I LRMs
Banned for Word of Blake (WoB):
Armor Piercing, Precision, Swarm I, Thunder Augmented, Arrow IV Inferno
NOTE #1: Players in Solaris
Training Company may use all ammo types, except those which are
banned server-wide. New players are encouraged to try various ammos,
as they may want to join a faction that has exclusive access to certain
munitions.
NOTE #2:
Salvaged units are automatically stripped of illegal ammos. For example,
a non-TA player who captures a Longbow carrying Thunder Augmented will
find that its missiles have been replaced with standard LRM’s. Advanced
Tactical Missiles will not be removed, but a non-Clan player
who salvages or purchases an ATM unit will not be able to change its
ammo configuration.
Prohibition on Inner Sphere Ammos in Clan Units:
Clan-tech units may not load Inner
Sphere munitions. If a player in an Inner Sphere faction (BK, DC, FS,
FWL, LA, TA, WoB) acquires a Clan-tech unit, his faction’s normal
ammo ban info does not apply. See “Banned for Clan Factions” above
for a list of ammos that cannot go into Clan-tech units.
For example, a Free Worlds who owns a
Mad Dog Prime cannot load Swarm I ammo for the Mad Dog’s LRM’s,
because they are banned for the Crusader and Warden Clans.
Environment and Unit variables:
On some worlds, vacuum is on by default.
Either player may turn this option off without the consent or permission
of the other. If disabled, it must stay off for the remainder of a game,
regardless of any attempt to re-map.
On some worlds, non-standard gravities
are on by default. Either player may turn this option off without
the consent or permission of the other. If disabled, it must stay off
for the remainder of a game, regardless of any attempt to re-map.
When in a task in extreme temperature/gravity/vacuum,
a player may remove any non-mek unit that would suffer a penalty (e.g.
– vehicle on low temp world) or be destroyed (e.g. – unarmored infantry
on high temp world) in the MegaMek lobby.
Remaps:
Each player may force a remap once per
game. To remap, reset the server and rejoin. All other options must
remain the same (e.g. starting positions, ammunition loads, etc.). A
player must request a remap before deploying any units. By deploying
a unit, a player forfeits his right to demand a remap of that field.
Players may remap at any time by mutual
consent, regardless of the number of units deployed. A mutually agreed
remap does not count as either players’ single remap.
Delay of Game:
If a player feels that a game is being
deliberately delayed, a moderator or admin should be called in to observe.
If it is judged that the game is being intentionally delayed, the delaying
player will be penalized with loss of the game, and may suffer further
consequences.
Stalemates:
From time to time, there are games in
which neither player will advance. These games are generally stalemates,
but are sometimes abusive delay (rule of thumb: breaking LOS is usually
delay, standing out of range is usually a stalemate).
If 5 rounds pass near the start of a
game without shots being fired, either player may cancel the game without
the other’s consent. This rule does not apply once a unit has
died. Jumping units or breaking LOS to force a stalemate once a unit
has died is almost invariably going to be ruled delay. Don’t do it.
Remember, a task can be canceled by mutual
player agreement at any time. It is not always necessary to call a moderator
or admin to cancel a task.
Canceling a Game:
Once an attack is accepted, the players
in a game may only cancel it by mutual agreement or after a stalemate
develops (see above).
Moderators and administrators may cancel
a game at any time.
Disconnections:
In the event of a player disconnection,
the server will begin an automatic countdown. After 15 minutes offline,
he will forfeit and the online player will win automatically.
Disconnecting players have a 3 minute
grace period in which to return to the server. Time in excess of 3 minutes
is counted against future disconnections.
Example #1: A player’s client
is getting sluggish. He quits, restarts and rejoins his game. Total
offline time is less than 3 minutes. If he disconnects again, he’ll
have 15 minutes to return before forfeiting.
Example #2: A player’s MekWars
computer crashes. He restarts the machine, signs back on to the internet,
starts MekWars, etc. This process takes 6 minutes. He returned, so he
gets the benefit of the 3 minute grace period. If he disconnects again,
he’ll have to return within 12 minutes, or he will forfeit the game
(15 minutes to forfeit – 6 minutes offline + 3 minutes of grace =
12 minutes to return).
If a player is unable to finish a task,
and must leave for whatever reason, that player is expected to post
an immediate loss (surrender terms at his opponent's discretion).
Server Outages:
From time to time the campaign must be
turned off. This is generally done so the administrators can upgrade
the MekWars client and server, but also during general server maintenance
(OS updates, hardware installation, and so on).
In the event of a scheduled shutdown
or restart, players are generally expected to return and finish their
games. In the event of an unscheduled shutdown or crash, players are
usually not expected to resolve their games.
Watch the main channel for admin announcements.
Any change from the shutdown norms outlined above will be announced
there, or in the News forum.
Multi-Playing:
An individual may not maintain
more than one (1) account. The penalty for multi-accounting will be
deletion of the offending account(s) with the least experience, and
all units will be stripped from the account with greater experience.
If the moderators or administrators see more than one account playing
from the same IP it will be assumed this is violative multi-accounting
unless the multi-playing has been approved in advance.
Exceptions can be, and are, made for
people playing from the same IP. Families, roommates, and other multi-accounting
situations are addressed on a case by case basis. It is almost always
best to contact a moderator or admin to request multi-playing approval
before signing a second account up for the campaign.
Harassment, Offensive Chat, and Offensive Images:
If someone indicates they feel harassed
or are offended by things being said in chat, the offending activity
should cease immediately after this is communicated. If someone indicates
they are offended by an image used as a logo, it should be removed without
question or hesitation.
Racial and religious slurs will not be
tolerated. Bigoted behavior will be punished, whether a player complains
about it or not. Use of a pornographic image as a logo or camo is cause
for a summary ban.
Harassment cases will be handled on an
individual basis and the administrators reserve the right to define
what is considered harassment. Disrespect of other players, the moderators,
the administrators, or developers will not be tolerated.
Expect the powers-that-be to have a very
short fuse on this matter. If offensive behavior continues after a warning,
expect to be muted, kicked or banned in short order.
Common Sense:
Being able to do something does not mean
you SHOULD, or that you have a RIGHT to do so. We've not made rules
against every silly thing people will come up with, and shouldn't have
to. Playing 100k BV of units on 2 map sheets in order to make lots of
money isn't banned in the rules above, but common sense should tell
a player that this isn't how the administrators want games to be played.
Arranging a game with the understanding that every unit will be ejected
so that it can be scrapped as salvage without paying a penalty isn't
forbidden by the rules, but common sense should tell a player that circumventing
penalties isn't a good idea. The administrators reserve the right to
punish players who do things that common sense should tell people are
not ok.
Cheating, Bugs and Exploitation:
If activity is observed that violates
these rules, or that violates the spirit of these rules, or a player
is found to have intentionally exploited a bug, they will be penalized.
If a bug prevents or allows a player
to perform activity that would otherwise inhibit or unfairly enhance
the game, then the player is to act in a manner that the bug is minimized
or taken into account on both sides of an engagement.
Administrators and moderators are not
to use their access to gain an unfair advantage. Any staff member found
cheating will be punished severely and stripped of status.
Reporting Infractions:
Infractions are to be posted in the appropriate
forums (if any). Chat and game logs, if appropriate, should be provided.
Abuse complaints will be evaluated by a moderator or admin. Simple cases
may be handled by a single staff person. Other cases will require review
and comment from the entire staff on the moderator’s private forum.
If the activity is deemed to be cheating
or a violation of the rules, an appropriate penalty will be determined.
Appeal of Punishment: Players
who are punished by a single staff person will be given the option of
appeal. Appeals will be handled by the administrative staff on an individualized
basis. Punishments may be, at the discretion of the administrative staff,
increased if an appeal is found to have no basis.
ALL USERS ARE
EXPECTED TO ADHERE TO THESE RULES.
Remember – interpretation of the rules
is left solely to the administrative staff, as are final determinations
with respect to punishment. If you have any question about the rules,
please ask the friendly moderators and administrators, or raise the
issue in the forums.
Remember, we’re all here to have a
good time. Cheating, harassment and power-gaming ruin the fun for everyone.
Good luck, and have fun.