GitHub - NALTP/Rules: The official rules repository for NALTP

Official Rules for North American League TagPro (NALTP) Season 34

Article I - League Overview
Article II - Leadership Roles, Member Roles & Eligibility
Article III - Drafting
Article IV - Roster Changes
Article V - Proper Position and Scheduling Restrictions.
- Section A - Proper Positions
- Section B - Scheduling Restrictions
Article VI - Maps
Article VII - Matches
Article VIII - Playoffs
Article IX - Cheating
Article X - Etiquette
Article XI - Statistics
- Section A - TagPro Analytics and TagPro League (TPL)
Article XII - Votes, Vetoes, VONC’s, & Rule Changes
Article 12 - Appendix

Article I - League Overview

Section A - Resources

(1) NALTP signups and announcements will be facilitated via the NALTP Discord and subreddit.
- (a) Invite link
- (b) Subreddit
- (c) Sign up by messaging "!naltp" to the TToC_BOT.

Section B - Leagues

(1) NALTP will be comprised of three leagues, each with its own schedule, rule variations and set of teams.
- (a) Major League TagPro (MLTP)
- (b) Minor League TagPro (mLTP)
- (c) Novice League Tagpro (NLTP)
(2) No team will have a recognized affiliation with any other team in any league.

Section C - Teams

(1) Each team will have a single official captain and a single official co-captain.
- (a) Each team may have any number of unofficial co-captains.
(2) The roster limit for teams in each league will be;
- (a) Majors and Minors: 4 player limit.
- (b) Novice: Unlimited roster size.

Section D - Schedule

(1) Each league will begin its season with a draft, in which players are assigned to teams.
(2) Each league will have weekly matches for the duration of its season.
- (a) Any exceptions such as holiday breaks will be listed in the league schedule.
(3) Each league will be split into three schedule periods
- (a) Pre-Season: The period between signups opening and the draft.
- (b) Regular Season: The period of time between the draft and playoffs.
- (c) Post-Season: The entirety of playoffs, ending with the championship match.
(4) The default game days for each league will be:
- (a) Majors on Sunday;
- (b) Minors on Monday;
- (c) Novice on Wednesday;
(5) League draft dates will be staggered with championships all occurring in the same week by default.

Section E - Servers

(1) All three leagues will be “all-Chicago” leagues.

Section F - Games

(1) Regular season:
- (a) There will be 1 match per week for each team in NALTP.
  - (i) Match = 50 minutes (five games) of a weekly Majors, Minors, or Novice league Matchup.
  - (ii) Game = 10 minutes of a weekly NALTP Matchup.
  - (iii) There will be no halves.
- (b) Game settings:
  - (i) See Article VII, Section B, Part c for game settings and other match information.
(2) Playoffs:
- (a) There will be one elimination series per week or more for each team in the playoffs which has not received a bye.
  - (i) Series = Best of 7 ten minute games.
- (b) There will be (TBA) Majors teams in the playoffs determined by regular season standings.
- (c) There will be (TBA) Minors teams in the playoffs determined by (TBA and/or) regular season standings.
- (d) All Novice teams will make the playoffs.
- (e) Game settings:
  - (i) See Article VII, Section B, Part c for game settings and other match information.

Article II - Leadership Roles, Member Roles & Eligibility

Section A - The Committee for Rules and Coordination (CRC)

(1) CRC Structure Overview:
- (a) The CRC will consist of 5 members with equal voting power and rights.
- (b) At the conclusion of every season, the existing members of the CRC will be retired and eligible for re-election.
(2) Elections:
- (a) At the conclusion of the season, elections will be held to fill the five vacancies on the CRC.
- (b) The election will be conducted by the CRC and overseen by the League Managers.
- (c) The CRC will call for election applications and allow reasonable time for people to submit them.
  - (i) Applicants will be made public to allow reasonable time for interpretation prior to the election.
  - (ii) The same list of applicants will be used for all seats.
- (d) The first two seats will be filled by a combined vote of the previous season’s Captains from all three tiers.
  - (i) The election will be a linear scoring borda count, n=1 (last place is 1 point, 2nd to last is 2, etc.) with full ranked ballots (must rank all candidates).
  - (ii) The candidates with the two highest Borda Counts will fill the seat.
  - (iii) Captains with a team in more than one league will still receive a single vote towards the final results.
- (e) The remaining seats will be filled by a vote of the NALTP Community.
  - (i) The NALTP Community is defined as:
    - (1) Players, Non-Playing Captains and General Managers from the previous season of NALTP and
    - (2) Players signed up for the current season’s draft at the time of ballot posting whose last season of play was within the last 5 seasons of NALTP.
  - (ii) The Vote will use a Single Transferable Vote (STV) with partial ranked ballots (voters rank as many candidates as they would like).
  - (iii) The winners of the IRV will fill the third, fourth, and fifth seats.
(3) Vacancies:
- (a) In the event of an unexpected vacancy on the CRC midseason (due to a retirement, VONC, or other issue), the remaining CRC members will appoint a replacement for the remainder of the season.
  - (i) At the conclusion of the season, the appointed member is retired, and that seat becomes one of the open seats in the election.
  - (ii) The appointed member does not have any term restrictions and can run for election to the CRC immediately.
(4) Members:
- (a) The Season 34 CRC will consist of pk, NameLEss, BallAnka, beef, and timmysumball.

Section B - The League Managers (LM)

(1) League Manager structure overview:
- (a) The League Managers will consist of at least two members as decided by the CRC and/or current League Managers.
- (b) The League Managers are responsible for maintaining league structure including, but not limited to, signups, the big board, statistics collection, awards voting, and TagProLeague in addition to maintaining the information hub, schedule, competitive discord, logos and jerseys, and rulebook in conjunction with the CRC.
(2) Elections:
- (a) The League Manager role is not an elected position.
(3) Retirement:
- (a) No League Manager is permitted to retire from their position without naming a suitable replacement to be approved by the CRC.
(4) Members:
- (a) The League Managers for Season 34 will be Poeticalto and Cheezedoodle.
- (b) The League Manager Assistant for Season 34 will be Phreek.

Section C - Captains and Co-Captains

(1) Captaincy and Co-Captaincy structure overview:
- (a) For each team in NALTP there will be a Captain, Duo Captaincy, or General Manager (GM).
- (b) The number of captains or GMs will be decided by the CRC prior to the draft of each individual league.
- (c) Captaincy types:
  - (i) Direct Playing Captain (DPC): DPCs are playing members of their rosters. DPCs start on their own roster during the auction draft, and receive TagCoins relative to their perceived skill.
    - (1) Duo Direct Playing Captains (Duo DPC): Duo DPCs consist of two playing members of a roster. Duo DPCs start on their own roster during the auction draft, and receive TagCoins relative to their combined skill.
  - (ii) Non-Playing Captain (NPC): NPCs are not playing members of their rosters. Prior to the draft, NPCs will select another player from the draft board who agrees to be their preliminary pick. Preliminary picks start on their captain's roster during the auction draft, and the captain will receive TagCoins relative to the perceived skill of their preliminary pick.
    - (1) With CRC approval an NPC may, but is not required to, select two preliminary picks to be evaluated against Duo DPCs.
  - (iii) Indirect Playing Captain (IPC): IPCs are captains that wish to be a DPC but are determined by the CRC to be too skilled to skip the draft of the league above their captaincy signup. If an IPC is drafted to a league above their captaincy signup they may elect to become a NPC or forfeit their captaincy role. If an IPC is not drafted to a league above their captaincy signup then they will be accepted as a DPC.
  - (iv) General Manager (GM): GMs are not playing members of their roster. GMs do not receive preliminary picks and each GM receives the same number of TagCoins for the draft.
- (d) For each team in NALTP there will be a single official Co-Captain and any number of unofficial Co-Captains to be finalized after the draft. The official co-captain may be changed at any point during the season with the notification of the CRC.
- (e) Co-captains are responsible for assisting the captain in team management, scrimmages, and anything else requested of them by the captain. Co-captains may be responsible for filling out forms on behalf of their captain with fair warning from the CRC.
(2) Captain duties:
- (a) Captains are responsible for the following:
  - (i) Drafting their team,
  - (ii) Managing the team roster,
  - (iii) Declaring a default time for their team,
  - (iv) Representing their team to the CRC,
  - (v) Locating/creating team graphics,
  - (vi) Organizing scrimmages,
  - (vii) Electing two members of the CRC for the following season and
  - (viii) Anything else required or requested of them by both the CRC and their team
- (b) Co-Captains are responsible for assisting the captain and filling in for them when they are unavailable.
- (c) Captains may change who their co-captain is at any time by notifying the CRC.
(3) Eligibility and restrictions:
- (a) Any player not banned from NALTP is eligible to apply for captaincy or co-captaincy unless otherwise announced by the CRC.
- (b) Players who wish to DPC may be restricted to NPC/IPC or DPC roles respectively by the CRC based on skill level and strength of signups.
  - (i) The CRC will communicate any such restrictions with the applicant and attempt to reach an agreement.
  - (ii) A DPC signup will be considered overqualified if they meet any of the following criteria for their most recent season of NALTP:
    - (1) They played at least half of total available regular-season minutes in the league above their DPC signup AND had a positional or total NISH of 70 or higher;
    - (2) They played at least half of total available regular-season minutes in the league of their DPC signup AND had a positional or total NISH of 90 or higher; or
    - (3) The player is deemed by the CRC to be beyond the skill level of the league of their DPC signup.
- (c) Applicants who are likely to play in the league of their signup as determined by the CRC will be ineligible for NPC captaincy.
- (d) CRC members may only captain or GM as a last resort. They should not be considered an option unless they end up at a deficit for captains and have issued additional calls for more qualified captains or GMs.
  - (i) CRC captains or GMs automatically recuse themselves from:
    - (1) Any vote or discussion involving their team;
    - (2) Any vote or discussion on an action that would adjust league standings;
    - (3) Any vote or discussion for a disciplinary action that would suspend a player on an opponent they are scheduled to face in the suspension period; and
    - (4) Any trade, loan, or free agency/waiver approval.
- (e) Official Co-Captains are not permitted to be members of any team in their league other than the one they are co-captaining. If a Co-Captain should end up on any other league roster than the one they are co-captaining, they will be removed from their position as official Co-Captain.
- (g) Official Co-Captains may not be decided or announced prior to the draft if there is a possibility of them playing in the same league as their affiliated team as determined by the CRC.
- (h) CRC members are not permitted to be official co-captains under any circumstances.
(4) Selection, voting, and announcements:
- (a) Captains and GMs will be approved by a majority vote from the CRC.
- (b) Co-captains do not require CRC approval as long as they are not banned or otherwise ineligible by rule.
- (c) Voting will be done on a rolling basis with final decisions periodically announced via the r/MLTP subreddit.
- (d) The final list of captains for each league will be announced at least 24 hours before the draft is scheduled to begin.
(5) Retirement:
- (a) Captains and GMs are considered retired from their position after the election of the following season’s CRC has concluded.
- (b) Captaincy in one season does not carry to the next season. Players will need to re-apply each season if they wish to continue captaining.
(6) Mid-season vacancy.
- (a) If a captain or GM must step down from their position due to a real life conflict or is removed by CRC ruling, a replacement will be nominated by either the outgoing captain or the CRC to then be approved by the CRC with a majority vote. This player is not required to be a rostered player in the league.
- (b) Replacement captains or GMs may be rostered members of the team in question or non-players. Players currently on a different team in the same league may not be replacement captains or GMs.
- (c) Replacement captains or GMs are not required to be former co-captains of the same team.
- (d) Playing captains who step down or are removed from their position may not be traded.
- (e) Former playing captains may activate an option to be dropped in the next period.
  - (i) In the case of captains who step down, this option will require mutual agreement with the former and the newly instated captain.
  - (ii) In the case of captains who are removed by the CRC, this option may be activated at will by the former captain.
  - (iii) In extreme cases, if the final period has concluded, the CRC may initiate an extra window to accomodate.
- (f) If a former playing captain is dropped, their old team may be rewarded with priority in the waiver wire or call-ups or replacement players not rostered in any league.

Section D - Players

(1) Signup eligibility:
- (a) Players who have signed up for the Major league draft and are not on a Major league roster at the end of the draft will be eligible, and automatically entered into, the Minor league draft. Similarly, players who have signed up for the Minor league draft and are not on a Minor league roster at the end of the draft will be eligible, and automatically entered into, the Novice league draft.
  - (i) If an overqualified player indicates that they are not available on Sundays for the Majors league draft, they will not be eligible for the Minor or Novice league drafts. Players qualify for this rule if they meet any of the following criteria for their most recent season of NALTP:
    - (1) They played the majority of their minutes in Majors league;
    - (2) They played at least half of total available regular-season minutes in Majors league AND had a positional or total NISH of 70 or higher;
    - (3) They played at least half of total available regular-season minutes in Minors league AND had a positional or total NISH of 90 or higher; or
    - (4) The player is deemed by the CRC to be beyond the skill level of Minors league.
  - (ii) If an overqualified player indicates that they are not available on Mondays for the Minor league draft, they will not be eligible for Novice league. Players qualify for this rule if they meet any of the following criteria for their most recent season of NALTP:
    - (1) They played the majority of their minutes in Minor league;
    - (2) They played at least half of total available regular-season minutes in Minor league AND had a positional or total NISH of 70 or higher;
    - (3) They played at least half of total available regular-season minutes in Novice league AND had a positional or total NISH of 90 or higher; or
    - (4) The player is deemed by the CRC to be beyond the skill level of Novice league.
  - (iii) Players will not be permitted to switch positions to circumvent these rules.
  - (iv) It is the responsibility of the player to confirm their eligibility for the draft.
- (b) Players with fewer than 110 minutes minutes of competitive experience will be eligible to sign up for the Novice league draft even if they did not enter the Majors or Minors league drafts unless deemed too skilled by the CRC. Any other signups will be sparingly approved on a case by case basis.
- (c) Players removed from the a league draft by the CRC are not eligible to enter the following lower-league drafts.
- (d) Signups indicating zero availability on all game nights will be contacted by the CRC and removed if a conclusion cannot be reached.
- (e) Players determined to be manipulating their value prior to the draft may be removed from the draft and/or subject to punishment in NALTP. See Article IX, Section D for more information on draft stock manipulation.
- (f) All other eligibility and restriction cases will be dealt with on a case-by-case measure through the CRC.
(2) Dual Eligibile Players (DEPs):
- (a) There will be no pre-season DEPs.
- (b) For information on mid-season DEPs please see Article IV, Section E.
(3) Gross Inactivity and misconduct drops:
- (a) Players dropped in their previous season for Gross Inactivity or misconduct may be barred from NALTP at CRC discretion.
(4) Free agency eligibility and restrictions:
- (a) See Article IV, Section B for eligibility and restrictions.

Article III - Drafting

Section A - General Draft Information

(1) Specific draft dates and times will be announced by the CRC prior to the draft.
(2) Each league's draft will take place on a different day.
(3) Drafts will occur in order from the highest level league (MLTP) to the lowest (NLTP).
(4) The MLTP and mLTP drafts will continue until every team's roster is filled.
(5) The NLTP draft will continue until all remaining players are assigned to a team.

Section B - The Auction Drafts

(1) TagCoins (TC):
- (a) There will be three forms of TagCoins, TCM, TCN, and TCA.
  - (i) TCM = Major league TagCoin.
  - (ii) TCN = Minor league TagCoin.
  - (iii) TCA = Novice league TagCoin.
- (b) Each team will receive a budget of TC determined by the CRC on the following criteria.
  - (i) Leagues with GMs and no captains or prelim picks:
    - (1) Each team will receive an equal number of TC no less than 50 and no greater than 200.
  - (ii) Leagues with captains and/or prelim picks:
    - (1) Each team will receive a budget of TC determined by the CRC on a case-by-case basis.
      - (aa) Potential budgets will be separated into tiers that each team can be assigned to.
      - (bb) The tier a team is placed into will be determined by the strength of the first player on the roster (i.e. DPC or prelim pick).
      - (cc) Each tier may have any number of teams assigned to it including zero teams.
      - (dd) The highest tier will be 100 TC.
- (c) Trades, including those involving TC, are allowed during each draft.
- (d) TCM, TCN, and TCA are distinct and may not be exchanged for each other.
- (e) Remaining TCM, TCN, and TCA recorded at the conclusion of each draft as well as the value of the coins assigned to players drafted at auction.
- (f) TC penalties may be applied by the CRC and/or League Manager at their discretion for captains misbehaving, misusing draft tools, or otherwise impeding the flow of the draft.
- (g) TC may not be spent to remove a player from a roster and replace them on the draft board.
(2) Nominations:
- (a) Captains will be responsible for submitting nominations for their team unless otherwise communicated with the CRC. The CRC reserves the right to decline any non-captain from submitting nominations at their discretion, but will work with captains if they have difficulty finding a replacement.
- (b) Nomination order will be randomly assigned and repeated in the same order upon completion of each round.
- (c) Nomination spots may not be traded.
- (d) Nominations will continue until each team has exactly 4 players.
  - (i) Novice league will transition to a snake draft once each roster contains 3 players.
- (e) If a team already has the maximum number of players and they are at the top of the nomination order, their nomination will instead be skipped and continue to the next eligible team.
- (f) Nominations have a starting bid. The starting bid is chosen by the nominating team and may be anywhere between 0 TC and that team’s remaining TagCoins.
  - (i) Players who are nominated for 0 TC and do not receive bids from any other team will be added back to the draft packet unless the nominating team opts to receive the player for 0 TC.
- (g) If a team takes more than 30 seconds to nominate a player, a player may be automatically nominated for them at a starting bid of 0 TC. The player will be the top undrafted player on the draft packet.

Section C - The Snake Draft

(1) The snake draft will follow the same format for both traditional captaincy and General Manager seasons in Novice league.
- (a) The snake draft will begin shortly after the conclusion of the Novice league auction draft unless otherwise announced by the League Manager or CRC. Usually after a 10-15 minute break.
- (b) The snake draft order will be determined by the number of remaining TCA of each team, prorated by their initial balance.
  - (i) Ties will be resolved using a random generator.
  - (ii) Proration example:
    - (1) Captain A begins with 100 TCA and ends with 6 TCA, or 6 pro-rated TCA (100/100*6);
    - (2) Captain B begins with 100 TCA and ends with 0 TCA, or 0 pro-rated TCB;
    - (3) Captain C begins with 80 TCA and ends with 6 TCA, or 7.5 pro-rated TCB (100/80*6); and
    - (4) Captain D begins with 80 TCA and ends with 0 TCA, or 0 pro-rated TCB.
    - (5) The draft order would be: C, A, B/D (coinflip).
- (c) The team with the most prorated TCA will receive the first pick in round 1.
- (d) Teams will have 60 seconds to submit a snake pick. Failure to select a player will result in the top player from the draft packet being added to their roster.
  - (1) Captains may choose to opt-out of participation in the snake draft. Those who do will receive the top player from the draft packet when it is their turn to pick.
- (e) At the conclusion or each round the draft order is reversed. The last pick in round 1 will have the first pick in round 2 while the first pick in round 1 will have the last pick in round 2.
- (f) The snake draft will continue until every eligible signup has been drafted to a team.

Article IV - Roster changes

Section A - Trades

(1) Regular season:
- (a) There will be a single trade period during the regular season with limited additional trades granted by the CRC for conduct and conflict resolution.
  - (i) The trade period for all tiers will begin at the conclusion of their respective draft and end no less than 48 hours before the first default week 4 game time.
- (b) Trades may be submitted by the captain or co-captain directly to the CRC via the trading form.
- (c) All trades must be approved by the captain or co-captain of both teams, and can be vetoed by the CRC.
- (d) Trades that are deemed too one-sided by the CRC may be rejected by a majority vote.
- (e) Trades involving inactive players will not be permitted. Please see Article IV Section B for more information on Gross Inactivity drops.
  - (i) Exceptions may be made at the Novice level, but will be permitted only with consideration for balancing roster sizes. Captains and GMs are expected to be aware of the activity of players involved in any trades
- (f) Trading draft picks for future seasons is prohibited.
- (g) Trades involving add/drop priority or TagCoins are prohibited.
- (h) Trades will take effect immediately after being approved by the CRC unless otherwise requested by the captains involved or announced by the CRC.
- (i) Trade offers may not be retracted once they have been submitted unless one party can provide evidence to the CRC that they were misled by the other in some significant manner.
- (j) Playing captains cannot be traded. See Article IV, Section D for more information.
- (k) Trades between leagues are not permitted.
- (l) Trades involving members of a Duo DPC or double preliminary picks selected by an NPC are not permitted.
(2) Postseason:
- (a) There will be no trades permitted during the postseason.

Section B - Drops, Call-ups, Free Agency

(1) Major league:
- (a) Add/drop periods:
  - (i) Regular season:
    - (1) There will be two add/drop periods during the regular season.
      - (aa) The first Majors add/drop period will begin at the conclusion of the draft and conclude 24 hours before the start of the Minors draft or the midnight before week 1 game days, whichever comes first.
      - (bb) The second Majors add/drop period will begin at the conclusion of week 2 default games and conclude 24 hours after the midnight following week 2 default games unless otherwise announced by the CRC.
  - (ii) Postseason:
    - (1) There will be no add/drop periods in the postseason.
- (b) Add/drop process:
  - (i) An add/drop will consist of a player on a roster being dropped, followed by a player in a lower league or an unassigned player being called up.
    - (1) Upon being called up, a player receives official DEP status.
  - (ii) First add/drop period:
    - (1) Add/drops will be processed on a rolling, first come, first served basis.
      - (aa) Add/drops may be submitted to the CRC via direct messages or captains chat with an appropriate ping.
    - (2) The CRC will deny callups on the basis of availability restrictions, intentionally poor call-ups or anything else deemed relevant by the CRC.
      - (aa) Intentionally poor call-ups will be determined case by case and will require a unanimous vote from the CRC.
    - (3) Players may not deny a call-up during the first add/drop period.
  - (iii) Second add/drop period:
    - (1) Majors captains may claim any eligible player.
    - (2) Claims will be made in the form of bids and will be processed in stages.
      - (aa) A bid will be defined as a rostered player who was obtained at auction and any number of TCM.
      - (bb) Starting TCM are equal to the number of TCM remaining at the conclusion of the auction draft.
        
        (I) The value of a bid will be equal to the TCM value of the rostered player being bid added to the value of TCM included in the bid.
        
        (II) All teams will have the opportunity to make a bid on any eligible players in each stage of the the add/drop period. When a stage is complete, the players will be awarded to the team with the highest value bid.
        
        (III) If a team submits multiple bids in one stage, those bids will be processed in descending order of value. If there are multiple bids of the same value on different players, those bids will be processed in order of submission. If multiple bids on a single player are received from a single team, only the most recent submission will be considered.
        
        (IV) If two teams have bids of equal value for a single player, the team with the worse season record will obtain the desired player, with tiebreaks being applied as necessary.
        
        (V) If a player should be awarded to a team, TCM will be deducted from the team's total TCM equal to the number of TCM included in their bid and independent of the value of the rostered player used in the bid. The rostered player used in the bid will be eligible for the next stage of the add/drop period.
        
        (VI) Bids will automatically be reduced to never exceed available TCM. In the event of the same rostered player being used in multiple bids, additional bids will be thrown out upon winning a bid using that player.
        
        (VII) A bid with a value of zero TCM on a specific player is valid, so long as it is still accompanied by a player drafted at auction. TCM must be used in whole numbers.
- (3) Add/drops may be denied by the CRC due to availability restrictions or by the individual players receiving call-ups.
- (c) Add/drop player eligibility:
  - (i) First add/drop period:
    - (1) Add/drop pool:
      - (aa) Any player who passed through the Majors draft unclaimed will be considered eligible.
    - (2) Dropped players:
      - (aa) Any dropped player will be eligible for the Minors draft unless called up by another team during the remainder of the first add/drop period.
    - (3) Called up players:
      - (aa) Any called up player will be removed from the Minors draft unless dropped during the remainder of the first add/drop period.
  - (ii) Second add/drop period:
    - (1) Add/drop pool:
      - (aa) All rostered players in the leagues below who passed through the Majors draft will be considered eligible.
      - (bb) Any player who passed through the Majors draft unclaimed but declined to play in Minors will be considered eligible after confirmation of interest.
    - (2) Dropped players:
      - (aa) Any dropped player will be eligible to be called up to Majors by a team other than the one dropping them for the remainder of the open add/drop period.
      - (bb) Dropped players who are not called up will be entered into the Minors add/drop pool after confirmation of interest.
        
        (I) Players who decline to drop will remain eligible for loans, but not call-ups, for the remainder of the season.
      - (cc) Players dropped from Majors during the second add/drop period will not be eligible for Novice free agency if they have played any minutes in Majors that season.
    - (3) Called up players:
      - (aa) Called up players may decline a call-up. In doing so they automatically decline any future call-ups or loans for the remainder of the season.
        
        (I) If a player believes they were called up maliciously for any reason, they may appeal to the CRC to regain call-up and loan eligibility.
- (d) Free agency periods:
  - (i) There will be no free agency periods in the Major league.
(2) Minor league:
- (a) Add/drop periods:
  - (i) Regular season:
    - (1) There will be two add/drop periods during the regular season.
      - (aa) The first Minors add/drop period will begin at the conclusion of the draft and conclude 24 hours before the start of the Novice draft or the midnight before week 1 game days, whichever comes first.
      - (bb) The second Minors add/drop period will begin at the conclusion of the Major league add/drop 2 process and conclude 24 hours after it begins unless otherwise announced by the CRC.
  - (ii) Postseason:
    - (1) There will be no add/drop periods in the postseason.
- (b) Add/drop process:
  - (i) An add/drop will consist of a player on a roster being dropped, followed by a player in a lower league or an unassigned player being called up.
  - (ii) First add/drop period:
    - (1) Add/drops will be processed on a rolling, first come, first served basis.
      - (aa) Add/drops may be submitted to the CRC via direct messages or captains chat with an appropriate ping.
    - (2) The CRC will deny callups on the basis of availability restrictions, intentionally poor call-ups or anything else deemed relevant by the CRC.
      - (aa) Intentionally poor call-ups will be determined case by case and will require a unanimous vote from the CRC.
    - (3) Players may not deny a call-up during the first add/drop period.
  - (iii) Second add/drop period:
    - (1) The second add/drop period will be completed in two phases
  - (aa) Phase 1
    - (I) Minors captains with a rostered player posessing Majors to Minors DEP status may claim a player from the pool of eligible Majors drops and replace a player on their roster with DEP status with the Majors drop.
      - (II) The Majors drop will be awarded to the team with the highest bid, calculated by the value of the DEP being released added with any additional TCN from their budget they choose to spend.
    - (III) Any player with DEP status who is removed from a roster during phase 1 is ineligible for phase 2 of the add/drop process.
  - (bb) Phase 2 - (I) Minors captains may claim any eligible player. - (II) Claims will be made in the form of bids and will be processed in stages. - (1) A bid will be defined as a rostered player who was obtained at auction and any number of TCN. - (2) Starting TCN are equal to the number of TCN remaining at the conclusion of the auction draft. - (AA) The value of a bid will be equal to the TCN value of the rostered player being bid added to the value of TCN included in the bid. - (BB) All teams will have the opportunity to make a bid on any eligible players in each stage of the present phase. When a stage is complete, the players will be awarded to the team with the highest value bid. - (CC) If a team submits multiple bids in one stage, those bids will be processed in descending order of value. If there are multiple bids of the same value on different players, those bids will be processed in order of submission. If multiple bids on a single player are received from a single team, only the most recent submission will be considered. - (DD) If two teams have bids of equal value for a single player, the team with the worse season record will obtain the desired player, with tiebreaks being applied as necessary. - (EE) If a player should be awarded to a team, TCN will be deducted from the team's total TCN equal to the number of TCN included in their bid and independent of the value of the rostered player used in the bid. The rostered player used in the bid will be eligible for the next stage of phase 2. - (FF) Bids will automatically be reduced to never exceed available TCN. In the event of the same rostered player being used in multiple bids, additional bids will be thrown out upon winning a bid using that player. - (GG) A bid with a value of zero TCN on a specific player is valid, so long as it is still accompanied by a player drafted at auction. TCN must be used in whole numbers.
    - (III) Add/drops may be denied by the CRC due to availability restrictions or by the individual players receiving call-ups.
- (c) Add/drop player eligibility:
  - (i) First add/drop period:
    - (1) Add/drop pool:
      - (aa) Any player who passed through the Minors draft unclaimed will be considered eligible.
    - (2) Dropped players:
      - (aa) Any dropped player will be eligible for the Novice draft unless called up by another team during the remainder of the first add/drop period.
    - (3) Called up players:
      - (aa) Any called up player will be removed from the Novice draft unless dropped during the remainder of the first add/drop period.
  - (ii) Second add/drop period:
    - (1) Add/drop pool:
  - (aa) Phase 1
    - (I) Any player dropped from Majors during the second add/drop period and not posessing DEP status will be considered eligible.
  - (bb) Phase 2 - (I) All rostered players in Novice who passed through the Minors draft will be considered eligible. - (II) Players dropped in the Majors add/drop period who were not claimed during phase 1 will be considered eligible after confirmation of interest so long as they do not possess DEP status. - (III) Any player who passed through the Minors draft unclaimed but declined to play in the next league down will be considered eligible after confirmation of interest.
    - (2) Dropped players:
      - (aa) Any dropped player will be eligible to be called up to Minors by a team other than the one dropping them for the remainder of the open add/drop period.
      - (bb) Dropped players who are not called up will be entered into Novice free agency after confirmation of interest.
        
        (I) Players who decline to drop will remain eligible for loans, but not call-ups, for the remainder of the season.
    - (3) Called up players:
      - (aa) Called up players may decline a call-up. In doing so they automatically decline any future call-ups or loans for the remainder of the season.
        
        (I) If a player believes they were called up maliciously for any reason, they may appeal to the CRC to regain call-up and loan eligibility.
- (d) Free agency periods:
  - (i) There will be no free agency periods in the Minor league.
(3) Novice league:
- (a) Add/drop periods:
  - (i) There will be no add/drop periods in Novice league.
- (b) Player drop period:
  - (i) At the conclusion of the third week of games, captains will select between zero and one players from their roster as decided by the CRC. Selected players will be removed from their roster at that time and entered into the free agency process.
  - (ii) Any removed players deemed inactive by the CRC will be removed from the free agency process. The CRC may require select captains to remove an additional player from their roster in the event of an inactive player being selected.
- (c) Free agency period:
  - (i) Regular season:
    - (1) There will be a single, primary, free agency period completed live followed by additional asynchronous free agency periods as announced by the CRC.
    - (2) The primary free agency period will begin following the second week of NLTP games and be completed in three stages.
  - (aa) The first stage of the primary free agency period will consist of eligible minors drops being bid on.
  - (bb) The second stage of the primary free agency period will consist of players used for bidding being bid on and repeat as needed.
  - (cc) The third stage of the primary free agency period will consist of all remaining free agents being drafted through a second snake draft.
  - (ii) Postseason:
    - (1) There will be no free agency periods in the postseason.
- (d) Free agency process:
  - (i) Each stage of free agency will consist of teams bidding on eligible free agents.
    - (aa) A bid will be defined as a rostered player who was obtained at auction and any number of TCA.
- (bb) Starting TCA are equal to the number of TCA remaining at the conclusion of the auction draft.
  - (ii) The value of a bid will be equal to the TCA value of the rostered player being bid added to the value of TCA included in the bid.
  - (iii) All teams will have the opportunity to make a bid on any eligible free agent in each stage of free agency. When the stage is complete, the player will be awarded to the team with the highest value bid.
  - (iv) If a team submits multiple bids in one stage, those bids will be processed in descending order of value. If there are multiple bids of the same value on different free agents, those bids will be processed in order of submission. If multiple bids on a single free agent are received from a single team, only the most recent submission will be considered.
    - (aa) It is the responsibility of the captain to submit bids properly. A captain should reach out to the CRC if they need help understanding the bidding process, and the CRC is obligated to help them with the process.
  - (v) If two teams have bids of equal value for a single player, the team with the worse season record will obtain the free agent, with tiebreaks being applied as necessary.
  - (vi) If a free agent should be awarded to a team, TCA will be deducted from the team's total TCA equal to the number of TCA included in their bid and independent of the value of the rostered player used in the bid. The rostered player used in the bid will be eligible for the next stage of free agency.
  - (vii) Bids will automatically be reduced to never exceed available TCA. In the event of the same rostered player being used in multiple bids, additional bids will be thrown out upon winning a bid using that player.
    - (aa) If a team has 20 TCA and submits the following bids: Player A-15; Player B-10; Player C-5 and wins Player A. Their bid for Player-B will reduce to 5 and have a priority over Player C which will remain at 5.
  - (viii) A bid with a value of zero TCA on a specific player is valid, so long as it is still accompanied by a player drafted at auction. TCA must be used in whole numbers.
  - (ix) Free agents who receive no bids will be progressed to the second snake draft.
- (e) Second Snake Draft:
  - (i) The second snake draft order will be determined by the number of remaining TCA of each team following the second stage of the primary free agency period, without proration.
    - (1) Ties will be resolved using a random generator
  - (ii) The second snake draft will be completed chronously, with captains submitting bids to the CRC via direct messages.
  - (iii) The second snake draft procedure will match that of the snake draft and continue until all eligible players have been assigned to a team.
- (f) Free agency player eligibility:
  - (i) Primary free agency period:
    - (1) Minor league drops in the second Minors add/drop period will be eligible for Novice free agency.
    - (2) True rookies will be eligible for free agency unless assessed above a Novice league level by the CRC.
      - (aa) A true rookie is defined as any player with fewer than 110 minutes played in any official North American Capture the Flag league.
    - (3) Players whose last competitive season was more than 6 seasons prior in accordance with the NALTP calendar will be accepted case-by-case for those not assessed above a Novice league level by the CRC.
    - (4) Major league drops who also become Minor league drops will not be eligible for free agency unless they have a total of 0 minutes played in the Major league.
    - (5) Players acquired in the primary free agency period will be eligible to begin playing in week 4 Novice league games.
    - (6) Eligible co-captains seeking entry into Novice league must agree to enter into the free agency process, and are thus stripped of their title unless claimed by the team in which they are a co-captain. If a co-captain refuses to play for another team, they may face removal from the league on the grounds of collusion with their original team. Free agency results may also be adjusted accordingly.
    - (7) Captains who were playing in, and are dropped from, Minor league are ineligible for Novice league unless their team possesses a potential TCA bid large enough to guarantee their acquisition at the time of the primary free agency period.
  - (ii) Additional free agency periods:
    - (1) Only true rookies will be eligible for additional free agency periods.
    - (2) Signups may be denied for players assessed above a Novice league level by the CRC.
    - (3) Players acquired in additional free agency periods will be eligible to begin playing in any upcoming Novice league games regardless of turnaround.
(4) Extra-league drops:
- (a) Gross Inactivity (GI):
  - (i) At any point in the regular season, captains may appeal to the CRC to have a player removed from their roster for Gross Inactivity.
    - (1) Gross inactivity is to be determined on a case by case basis by the CRC.
    - (2) Players drafted in the snake draft will not be eligible to be GI dropped.
    - (3) All GI drops and any waiver compensation will be announced together shortly before the add/drop or free agency period of each league.
  - (ii) Following a GI drop request, the player in question will be messaged by the CRC in order to verify the situation and gather any additional information.
  - (iii) After conferring with both the captain and the player to be dropped, the CRC will determine whether the player is to be dropped, held, or forcibly traded.
  - (iv) A player dropped for gross inactivity will be ineligible to be added by any team in any league for the remainder of the season.
    - (1) Exceptions may be made for the team which originally dropped the player if it is determined that there was a miscommunication or otherwise failure by the CRC to properly process the GI drop request.
    - (2) Minutes missed while GI dropped do not count towards minute restrictions.
  - (v) Teams with an approved GI drop may be granted priority in free agency or add/drop periods or receive additional opportunities for call-ups or replacement players not rostered in any league as determined by the CRC.
- (b) Conduct:
  - (i) At any point, captains or players may appeal to the CRC to have a player removed from their roster for conduct violations.
  - (ii) Evidence must be submitted and the CRC will investigate independently to determine if the player threatens the league environment or community as a whole.
  - (iii) Teams with a player forcibly dropped due to conduct may be granted priority in free agency or add/drop periods or receive additional opportunities for call-ups or replacement players not rostered in any league as determined by the CRC.

Section C - Loans

(1) Majors and Minors leagues:
- (a) Eligibility
  - (i) Any rostered player is eligible to be loaned to a team in any league above their highest rostered league if they passed through the draft of that league.
  - (1) A player who passed through the Major league draft with Sunday availability is also eligible to be loaned for Major league games even if they are not currently on a Minor or Novice league roster.
    - (2) A player who passed through the Minor league draft with Monday availability is also eligible to be loaned for Minor league games even if they are not currently on a Novice league roster.
    - (3) A player who has been dropped in an add/drop period but has not yet been called up to any roster may be loaned, so long as they do not play for two teams in the same league in the same week of the regular season.
    - (4) Players added to a Novice roster via Free Agency will be eligible to be loaned to Minors teams.
- (b) Restrictions
  - (i) Players may only play in one match per league per week.
  - (ii) Players may only be loaned for up to two weeks per team in the regular season for any number of minutes.
  - (iii) Players may be loaned any number of times in the post-season for any number of minutes.
  - (iv) Players who are loaned to a Major league team will be ineligible to play in Novice league for the current week unless otherwise approved by the CRC.
  - (v) Players can only be loaned after the second add/drop period if the loan is being used to cover for another player's availability issues.
  - (vi) If a player rejects the opportunity to be loaned to a team in a week, they forfeit their right to accept any future loan opportunities for other teams in that league for that same week.
- (c) Priority
  - (i) Regular season
    - (1) The first team to contact a player will have priority to loan them for the upcoming week.
    - (2) Teams may not contact players for loan opportunities until after midnight ET following the default time of matches from the previous week.
  - (ii) Post-season
    - (1) The team which has loaned a player for the fewest total minutes (including the regular season) will have loan priority for the upcoming week.
    - (2) If the scheduled game time is less than 24 hours away, the first team to contact a player will have priority to loan them for the upcoming week.
- (d) Hot-subs
  - (i) Hot-subs will not be differentiated from loans and must follow the same procedures as any loan unless prior approval is granted by the CRC.
    - (1) The CRC may retroactively label a loan as a hot-sub for players who play <40% of a match (less than 2 out of 5 games). If labeled as a hot-sub the loan will be disregarded for future loan eligibility.
(2) Novice league:
- (a) If a Novice league team cannot field a full team for a week’s game, they may elect to loan a player from another team.
  - (i) In extreme cases, if no player can be found, the CRC may approve a loan for a player not currently rostered to an NALTP team.
- (b) All loans must be approved by the CRC before the player plays.
  - (i) Failure to acquire approval may result in punishments such as--but not limited to: forfeiture, forced replay, and waiver point penalties.
- (c) Loans within Novice league will only be approved in cases where a team would otherwise forfeit.
- (d) Players with significant Minor league minutes will not be allowed to be loaned within Novice league.
  - (i) Significant Minor league minutes will be defined as averaging more than 15 minutes of Minor league play per week.
    - (1) Example: If a player has played 40 total Minor league minutes through week 2, they may not be loaned within Novice league in week 3 (20 minutes per week average).
- (e) A loaned player may not play for 2 different teams in a single week unless approved by the CRC.
  - (i) Reasons for approval may include (but are not limited to) lack of minutes or perceived impact to league balance.

Section D - Captain Specific Roster Changes

(1) Playing captains who step down or are removed from their position may not be traded.
(2) Former captains may activate an option to be released in an add/drop period or into free agency within their rostered league.
- (a) In the case of captains who step down, this option will require mutual agreement by the former and the newly instated captain.
- (b) In the case of captains who are removed by the CRC, this option may be activated at will by the former captain.
(3) If a former captain is released in an add/drop period or placed into free agency, their old team may be given call-up priority or granted a number of positions determined by the CRC in the waiver wire as compensation.
(4) Members of a Duo DPC or double preliminary picks selected by an NPC may not be dropped or traded from their initial roster.

Section E - Dual Eligible Players (DEPs)

(1) By accepting a call-up offer, a player is assigned DEP status by default and would continue playing in both leagues for the remainder of the season.
(2) In order to accept a call-up to another league and not obtain DEP status, the player and the captain of the lower league team must both agree to release the player from the lower roster.
(3) Players who are called up to a Majors league team AND play in Majors league games will be ineligible to play in Novice league for the current week unless otherwise approved by the CRC.

Article V - Proper Position and Scheduling Restrictions.

Section A - Proper Positions

(1) In the Major and Minor leagues, proper positions will be enforced for all players who list that they will play only one position ("Offense only" or "Defense only") in their signup.
- (a) A proper position indicates the side of the map a player will default to when there are no external influences on their decision making. Players with a proper position are not required to adhere to rigid guidelines and may often find themselves 'outside' their position when doing so is the best strategical play available to them.
- (b) At their discretion the CRC may deem individual players ineligible for proper positions, in which case their signup will be locked as eligible for both positions.
  - (i) Any player who is ruled ineligible for a proper position may be removed from the draft entirely if the CRC determines that they are continuing to use positional preferences to manipulate their draft stock.
(2) In Novice league, proper positions for offense or defense will only be enforced if the player's most recent season in the position opposite their current signup resulted in a positional NISH of 70 or greater.
- (a) Examples:
  - (i) A defender earns the 70 DNISH in the previous season and signs up with an offensive proper position. The position will be enforced.
  - (ii) A defender earns the 70 DNISH in the previous season and signs up with a defensive proper position. The position will not be enforced.
- (b) If the player has never played a season where their primary position was the opposite position from their current signup, no restriction will be applied.

Section B - Scheduling Restrictions

(1) The CRC may enforce minute restrictions on a player commensurate with the availability they indicate in their signup comments.
- (a) These minute restrictions will be communicated to the player and all captains prior to the relevant draft.
- (b) Minute restrictions will be determined by subtracting the number of weeks a player will miss multipled by 50 from the total number of available minutes in the given season.
  - (i) Ex: If a player is missing 1 week in a 6 week season, they will be given a 250 minute restriction (300-(1x50)).
  - (ii) Minute restrictions are not linked to the specific week(s) a player is missing. If the player's conflict is resolved the restriction will still apply, but their captain may choose to play them and fulfill the restriction by sitting them a different week.

Article VI - Maps

Section A - Map Selection

(1) For each tier, the CRC will be responsible for selecting 15 predetermined maps by a method of their own choosing.
(2) Map rotations will be standardized across all tiers of NALTP.

Section B - Map distribution

(1) There will be three tiers of maps selected.
- (a) High priority:
  - (i) There will be 4 maps played 4 times each and 1 additional map played 5 times.
- (b) Medium priority:
  - (i) There will be 4 maps played 2 times each.
- (c) Low priority:
  - (i) There will be 6 maps played 1 time each.

Section C - Playoffs

(1) All predetermined maps from the regular season will be eligible for pick/ban in playoffs.

Article VII - Matches

Section A - Match Scheduling

(1) At the beginning of the season and after the draft, each captain will be asked to submit their team’s default game time. The times must fall within boundaries to be determined by the CRC.
(2) The default gametime will be the average of the two teams’ default game times.
- (a) Example: Team A’s default gametime is 8:30 PM ET. Team B’s default gametime is 10 PM ET. By default, this match will begin at 9:15 PM ET.
(3) Default days
- (a) Major league games will take place on Sunday nights.
- (b) Minor league games will take place on Monday nights.
- (c) Novice league games will take place on Wednesday nights.
(4) At any point, both captains may agree to move a match to a date and/or time other than the one indicated by the schedule so long as it is within 72 hours of the default game time. The CRC must be notified if this happens.
- (a) Reschedules may be declined by the CRC at their discretion, especially in instances which place a match outside of the designated 72 hour period or that may delay free agency, playoffs, or anything else deemed important by the CRC.

Section B - Settings

(1) Regular Season:
- (a) For each week there will be one match consisting of five games.
- (b) Maps and starting color:
  - (i) Maps may be played in any order so long as the correct maps and colors are played that week. Changes in map order require captains agreement.
  - (ii) Maps will follow the schedule posted by the CRC.
    - (1) In Season 34, each match will have 2 maps in the following format. Each letter represents a unique map.
      - (aa) Week 1: AAABB;
      - (bb) Week 2: CAADD;
      - (cc) Week 3: EFFGG;
      - (dd) Week 4: HGGII;
      - (ee) Week 5: JIIKK;
      - (ff) Week 6: LKKMM;
      - (gg) Week 7: NMMOO;
  - (iii) Team colors will alternate RBRBR for each match.
    - (1) The CRC will balance colors as much as possible and publish assignments with the full schedule for the season.
- (c) Game settings:
  - (i) Capture limit set to none;
  - (ii) Time limit set to 10 minutes;
  - (iii) Overtime set to on;
    - (1) Overtime respawn increment: Disabled;
    - (2) Overtime bonus Juke Juices: Disabled;
  - (iv) Mercy rule disable;
  - (v) Acceleration set to 100%;
  - (vi) Top speed set to 100%;
  - (vii) Bounciness set to 100%;
  - (viii) Player respawn time set to 3 seconds;
  - (ix) Boost respawn time set to 10 seconds;
  - (x) Bomb respawn time set to 30 seconds;
  - (xi) Powerup respawn time set to 1 minute;
  - (xii) Powerup delay set to 60 seconds;
  - (xiii) Kissing Flag Carriers: Disabled;
  - (xiv) Userscripts: Disabled;
  - (xv) Respawn Warnings: Disabled; and
  - (xvi) Single World Joiner disabled and set to default server.
- (d) Server settings:
  - (i) At any point during or before a series, both captains may agree to play any of their games on a server other than the default. Either captain may elect to return to the default servers up until the match begins (or play resumes, if the agreement is mid-match)--at that point the servers are locked with the final agreement reached unless both captains agree to change them again.
  - (ii) All games will be set to Chicago by default. If Chicago is the only server in the central region, games are to be launched with the regional selection "Central". In the event that multiple central locations existing simultaneously, the Chicago server with the lowest associated number will be considered the default (e.g. Chicago1).
- (e) If overtime is unable to be played for any reason including but not limited to incorrect settings, game crashes, or back to group callouts.
  - (i) The involved teams will play a single ‘golden cap’ half with the following settings:
    - (1) Time limit set to 20 minutes;
    - (2) Overtime set to off;
    - (3) Capture limit set to 1;
    - (4) Mercy rule disabled;
    - (5) Acceleration set to 100%;
    - (6) Top speed set to 100%;
    - (7) Bounciness set to 100%;
    - (8) Player respawn time set to 3 seconds;
    - (9) Boost respawn time set to 10 seconds;
    - (10) Bomb respawn time set to 30 seconds;
    - (11) Powerup respawn time set to 1 minute;
    - (12) Powerup delay set to 60 seconds;
    - (13) Userscripts: Disabled;
    - (14) Respawn Warnings: Disabled; and
    - (15) Server set to the server used for the previous game.
  - (ii) The CRC may award the overtime point(s) to either team in a follow up review based on at-fault status, player positioning before an abrupt ending, or anything else deemed relevant.
  - (iii) No substitutions may be made out of game.
(2) Playoffs:
- (a) Format:
  - (i) There will be one best-of-seven-games series per week for each playoff team.
  - (ii) Maps and starting color (Pick/bans):
    - (1) In playoff rounds requiring a pick/ban, captains will draft the maps and starting color according to the following:
      - (aa) The team with the higher seed will pick what team they would like to be for the Pick/Ban (Team 1 or Team 2)
      - (bb) Teams will take turns picking from the available maps and assigning them to available games. The first team may choose any map from the pool and assign it to any game from 1-7. The next team may choose any map except the first one and assign it to any remaining game, etc.
        
        (I) At any point during the Pick/Ban either team may choose to select a color order (assign their team to Red or Blue for games 1/3/5/7) instead of selecting a map. After this is done once by either team neither team may use this option again.
        
        (II) At any point during the Pick/Ban, either team may choose to ban one map instead of selecting a map. This option may only be chosen one time per team.
    - (2) Majors:
      - (aa) Pick/bans will be completed 10 minutes before the matchup.
    - (3) Minors and Novice:
      - (aa) Pick/bans must be completed no later than 48 hours before the matchup.
      - (bb) All playoff matches require pick/bans.
- (b) Game settings:
  - (i) Games 1-7:
    - (1) Capture limit set to none;
    - (2) Time limit set to 10 minutes;
    - (3) Overtime set to on;
      - (aa) Overtime respawn increment: Disabled;
      - (bb) Overtime bonus Juke Juices: Disabled;
    - (4) Mercy rule disable;
    - (5) Acceleration set to 100%;
    - (6) Top speed set to 100%;
    - (7) Bounciness set to 100%;
    - (8) Player respawn time set to 3 seconds;
    - (9) Boost respawn time set to 10 seconds;
    - (10) Bomb respawn time set to 30 seconds;
    - (11) Powerup respawn time set to 1 minute;
    - (12) Powerup delay set to 60 seconds;
    - (13) Kissing Flag Carriers: Disabled;
    - (14) Userscripts: Disabled;
    - (15) Respawn Warnings: Disabled; and
    - (16) Single World Joiner disabled and set to default server.
- (c) Server settings:
  - (i) Identical to regular season settings.

Section C - Points and Scoring

(1) A points system will be used alongside a team's record to determine league standings:
- (a) 3 points are assigned for winning a game;
- (b) 2 points are assigned for an overtime win;
- (c) 1 point is assigned for an overtime loss;
- (d) 0 points are assigned for a loss.

Section D - Minute Minimums and Maximums

(1) Majors and Minors leagues:
- (a) There is no minute minimum.
- (b) There is no minute maximum.
(2) Novice league:
- (a) There is a 20 minute playing minimum for any players present on game night.
  - (i) Exceptions will require CRC approval and will be restricted to availability issues, lagouts, or anything else deemed relevant by the CRC. Due to the time sensitive nature of some decisions, if only one CRC member is online at the time of the conflict they will be given the deciding say on this matter.
- (b) There is no minute maximum.
- (c) There is no minute minimum for Novice league games during playoffs.

Section E - Timeouts

(1) Majors and Minors leagues:
- (a) Early game:
  - (i) Timeout may be called if a game is launched but a player who was correctly positioned on the group page is not entered into the game.
  - (ii) Timeout must be called during the initial countdown or within the first five seconds of game clock to be considered early game.
  - (iii) Captains, official co-captains or an approved stand-in, and players in-game are the only group members permitted to call timeout.
- (b) Mid-late game:
  - (i) Timeouts will not be permitted. Teams are encouraged to have subs ready if they are experiencing connectivity issues. Please see Article IV Section C for more information on hot-subs and loans.
(2) Novice league:
- (a) Early game:
  - (i) Timeout may be called if a game is launched but a player who was correctly positioned on the group page is not entered into the game.
  - (ii) Timeout must be called during the initial countdown or within the first five seconds of game clock to be considered early game.
  - (iii) Captains, official co-captains (or an approved stand-in) and players in-game are the only group members permitted to call timeout.
- (b) Mid-late game:
  - (i) Timeout may be called if two or more players from the same team exit the game at the same time. The timeout may only be called by the team missing two players.
  - (i) Captains, official co-captains (or an approved stand-in) and players in-game are the only group members permitted to call timeout.
  - (ii) Once timeout is called, the following must happen:
    - (1) The team calling the timeout must return their flag to their base before the timeout takes effect. This does not require a full reset; the timeout will begin upon the return even if the flag is immediately transferred to regrab.
    - (2) If the team calling the timeout is winning when the timeout is called, the time will be rounded up to the nearest whole minute.
    - (3) If the team calling the timeout is losing when the timeout is called, the time will be rounded down to the nearest whole minute.
    - (4) Game settings will remain the same, except remaining time as outlined above.
    - (5) Remember to save .eus from before and after the timeout, as TagPro League can handle timeouts.
  - (iii) The CRC may assess caps, standings points, or game penalties in matches where a timeout is believed to have given either team an advantage.
    - (1) A team returning to a 4v4 match is not considered gaining an advantage.
- (c) Inappropriate timeouts:
  - (i) If a team calls for a time out when they are not eligible to, the CRC may enforce forfeits, standings point deductions, or waiver wire penalties at their discretion.

Section F - Substitutions

(1) Major, Minor, and Novice leagues:
- (a) Any eligible players may be substituted between halves so long as they will not otherwise conflict with the rulebook at the conclusion of the upcoming or in-progress half. Please see Article IV Section C for more information on loans and hot-subs.
- (b) Live substitutions, or “hot-subs”, are permitted during league games.
  - (i) Teams can make as many substitutions as they like.
  - (ii) If players are having trouble with lag, they will be permitted up to two refreshes before their captain may demand they substitute out.
  - (iii) The substitute can be in the "Spectator" slot and can be listening in on Discord, but they must be muted until the substitution is made.
  - (iv) If a substituting team has more than four active players for an extensive amount of time, the team may be assessed a penalty determined by the CRC.
  - (v) If a player is unable to leave the match, an inactive fifth ball may remain in play, provided it is not in a spot that disrupts play. If the inactive ball is in such a location for an extensive amount of time, the four active players must attempt to move the inactive player to a less disruptive spot. Teams with a fifth inactive ball that disrupts play may be assessed a penalty determined by the CRC.

Section G - Game Start Time Rules, Forfeits

(1) Either team may share the group link to the other team whenever they are ready.
- (a) A group link is considered shared when it is sent to every player on a team or to a player who confirms they will share it with their team.
(2) The group leader for a match may be a member of either team, captain or official co-captain of either team, or a third-party accepted by both teams.
(3) If a captain or majority of both teams request the group leader to start then the game may be started at any time.
(4) If a captain or majority of either team requests the group leader to start, they must start the game if all the following conditions are met.
- (a) The current time is past the scheduled game time.
- (b) The group link was shared at least 5 minutes ago.
(5) Once a match has started the group leader will launch each game after a captain or majority of both teams indicates they are ready.
- (a) A team must indicate they are ready within 3 minutes of the previous game, unless a break is requested.
- (b) A team may only have one break per match, this break may only last up to 5 minutes.
(6) Any team delaying a game by breaking these rules may receive a forfeit or deduction in standing points as penalty.
(7) If a game must be delayed for a CRC decision there will be no forfeiture due to delays.

Section H - Voice Channels

(1) Players:
- (a) Microphone restrictions will not be enforced.
- (b) Players who are not actively playing are considered “Non-Players” for the half.
- (c) Mid-game substitutes are permitted to begin using a voice channel once they have joined the game. The player being replaced must stop using the voice channel at the same time.
(2) Non-Players:
- (a) For the duration of the game all microphones must be muted. Failure to mute may result in priority or waiver wire penalties, point deductions or forfeiture at the discretion of the CRC.
- (b) Screen sharing via discord will also not be permitted for non-players.
- (c) Players from teams other than the team using a voice channel may face disciplinary action or have their team penalized for unmuting during a game.
- (d) One Captain or official Co-Captain per team is allowed to spectate and make in-game comments during the regular season Novice league matches to help develop Novice league level of play. This does not continue into the playoffs.

Article VIII - Playoffs

Section A - Team Eligibility

(1) Major League:
- (a) The top (TBA) teams will advance to the playoffs.
(2) Minors League:
- (a) The top (TBA) teams will advance to the playoffs.
(3) Novice League:
- (a) Every team will advance to the playoffs.
(4) Teams may not decline or otherwise remove themselves from playoffs without being eliminated.

Section B - Seeding

(1) Seeding will be determined by the number of points earned during a season after penalties as outlined in Article VII Section C.
(2) Tiebreakers between two teams with an equal number of points will be determined by the following:
- (a) Head-to-head record;
- (b) Points acquired vs. common opponents;
- (c) Cap differential against common opponents;
- (d) Total cap differential;
- (e) Total caps scored;
- (f) A 5-minute OFM with one player from each team. The player must be eligible for that team’s league (i.e., an A-teamer cannot OFM for a B-team matchup), and the captain will be allowed to choose the player.
(3) Tiebreakers between three or more teams with an equal number of points will be determined by the following:
- (a) Points acquired in head-to-head matches; if all tied teams have not played each other, then this rule is skipped;
- (b) Points acquired vs. common opponents;
- (c) Cap differential against common opponents;
- (d) Total cap differential;
- (e) Total caps scored;
- (f) A 5-minute OFM round-robin tournament with one player from each team. The player must be rostered on the team, and the captain will be allowed to choose the player.
(4) If the seeding of one team is determined in a three-or-more team tiebreaker but other seeds aren't, tiebreak rules continue as they are and do not reset for the remaining teams.

Section C - Rounds

(1) Initial round of any number of teams announced by the CRC - “Play-in round.”
(2) First round of 8 teams (quarterfinals) - "Equidistant Eight."
(3) Second round of 4 teams (semifinals) - "Foci Four."
(4) Final round of 2 teams (finals) - “Superball”, “Muperball”, and “Nuperball.”

Article IX - Cheating

Section A - Cheating

(1) Cheating is strictly prohibited.
(2) Any player caught cheating will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis as determined by the CRC. The more severe the cheating, the more severe the punishment. The CRC may also take any other actions (whether related to cheating or not) which they feel are for the good of the league.
- (a) Certain scripts are prohibited on any production server and are illegal in both public, private, and league matches. If a player uses a prohibited script on a production server, their name will be forwarded to the CRC to determine a punishment determined on a case-by-case basis.
  - (i) Punishment for certain scripts may not be contained to NALTP. The CRC may forward relevant information concerning the use of illegal scripts to the TagPro moderators and/or developers.
- (b) Responsibility lies solely with the player to stay informed of any prohibited scripts on production servers.
(3) Cheating includes, but is not limited to: smurfing within the league, zoom-out scripts, and non-playing teammates communicating with playing teammates.
- (a) Smurfing: The act of playing or signing up under a different name than a player's most well known name, without disclosing that name in the signup. A player's name on TagPro League is a good example of their most well known name.
- (b) Impersonation: All players will be expected to play under the registered name that they used in their signup. Please take this into account when submitting your signup. Failure to comply when requested may result in penalties, including but not limited to team waiver wire penalties, team point deductions and suspension from the league.
  - (i) Failure to comply during the playoffs may result in forfeiture.

Section B - Scripts

(1) Games are played with the "no scripts" option in groups and therefore no tagpro scripts are allowed.
(2) All scripts not found in the "no scripts" group option are prohibited.
(3) Bomb/boost/powerup timers are strictly prohibited.
(4) Bots are strictly prohibited.

Section C - Whistleblowing

(1) Any person who has proof or suspicion of cheating in any way should send a detailed message to the CRC, message an individual CRC member or fill out this form. If requested, commissioners will not disclose the name of the whistleblower.
(2) Any person who has proof or suspects all CRC members of cheating in any way should send a detailed message to any/all captains.
(3) Serious accusations of cheating are prohibited in any public setting without first conferring with multiple captains or CRC members.
(4) All whistleblowing posts on reddit made from throwaway accounts will be deleted without consideration for source material.

Section D - Stock Manipulation

(1) Draft stock:
- (a) Manipulation includes, but is not limited to: lying about availability, lying about ping or location, providing any other false information in signups, providing captains with different information, or making concerted efforts to land on a specific team.
- (b) If a captain asks a player if they want to play for them, the player is allowed to say no. This includes interest forms, direct messages, or any other form of communication. However, signup comments or messages sent to captains through any forum indicating that the player will be unlikely to attend most or all games will result in the signup being removed.
- (c) If a player informs a captain that they do not want to play for them without being solicited by the captain, it will be considered manipulation.
(2) Trade stock:
- (a) Players determined to be manipulating to alter their trade value may also be punished. Teams who benefit from this may be punished as well.
  - (i) Giving captains an ultimatum to trade you is not acceptable. For example, “Trade me or I’m ghosting” is a bannable offense.
  - (ii) If there is a problem with a team, you can always ask for a trade and explain your reasoning to the captain. However, you signed up to participate in the league and will be expected to do so regardless of which captain drafts you or what team you end up on.

Article X - Etiquette

(1) This is a fun game, and a fun league. This is not very serious, we are just out there to have a good time.
(2) Any hate speech in NALTP and/or NALTP adjacent channels or forums will result in an immediate ban from the season with additional bans for future seasons as determined by the CRC.
(3) Players are encouraged to talk up their own skills, and even be arrogant about it, but are not allowed to put down other players or teams unless it is clear it is a joke.
(4) Players are encouraged to talk smack before the match, but afterwards be cool about everything - especially the winning team.
(5) Teams are subject to punishment if their players or captains partake in any of the following: Unnecessary spam to reddit or spam to Discord channels.
(6) There is a catch-all "Don't Be a Dick" rule, which can encompass any number of things. Violations of the "DBAD" rule will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis as determined by the CRC.
(7) Excessive or targeted group chat during league games will result in a warning and may result in a ban or team forfeiture if the problem persists or is deemed unruly by the CRC.
(8) At any point during regular season or playoff games, either captain may request to trim a group and can expect full compliance from both teams. A trimmed group requires all non-essential members to leave. Players who may stay include:
- (a) The eight players scheduled to play in the upcoming half;
- (b) Up to two legal substitutes per team for playoff games;
- (c) Any member of either roster for regular season games;
- (d) The official captain;
- (e) The official co-captain;
- (f) A CRC approved stand-in only in the absence of both the official captain and co-captain;
- (g) The official streamer of the match;
- (h) Any CRC members; and
- (i) Any League Managers.
(9) CRC members have the right to enter any official NALTP match group if requested.

Article XI - Statistics

Section A - TagPro Analytics and TagPro League (TPL)

(1) TagPro Analytics:
- (a) Each captain and co-captain must install the script from the TagPro Analytics site.
- (b) Captains are responsible for submitting the "tagpro eu" from each half to the Captain's Hub of TPL.
- (c) TagPro eu's must be submitted to TPL within 24 hours of the match.
(2) TagPro League:
- (a) Statistics for all leagues are kept on TagPro League.
- (b) Each captain will be given access to the "Captain's Hub" of TPL where they will be able to submit stats for each match.
- (c) CRC members will have basic access to TPL to help with stats and rosters, but the owner of TPL may be contacted about issues via the "Submit and Issue or Feature" button at the bottom of the page.
(3) Saving CSVs is the responsibility of both participating teams, and any match with incomplete or late submissions are subject to penalties from the commissioners.
(4) Teams are required to submit scores and tagpro eu's for all regular season and postseason games on request.
(5) If teams are not able to get tagpro eu's for any reason, then a direct link to the TagPro replay will be acceptable. Keep in mind this is not ideal.
(6) If at any point a half is played 3v4, or if the game is determined noncompetitive by the CRC, it runs the risk of being thrown out statistically at the discretion of the CRC.
(7) If a player should receive more than the maximum number minutes for any reason, excluding overtime, their stats will be pro-rated to the maximum number of minutes.

Article XII - Votes, Vetoes, VONC’s, & Rule Changes

Section A - Votes

(1) Voting on official league business will be done via the captains’ chat (a private discord channel) for most issues, and via private message to the CRC on sensitive issues.
- (a) Votes may also be collected through forms or via the TToC_Bot
(2) Only GMs, captains, or official co-captains in the event the captain is unavailable and with prior approval from the CRC, are allowed to formally vote on issues.
(3) The people who will be able to access the captains’ group chat will be the following:
- (a) Members of the CRC for the given season.
- (b) Captains or GMs officially approved by the CRC.
- (c) Official co-captains in the extended absence of the captain with CRC approval.
- (d) Any community member who is confirmed to be drafting in the absence of a captain or GM and approved by the CRC.
  - (i) Any such player will be removed at the conclusion of the draft.
(4) In the event that a Captain is not available and the official Co-Captain is forced to talk/vote, they will need to remember that their message is the official representation for their team - and their captain is responsible for any comments or votes that their co-captain takes while representing them.

Section B - Rule Changes

(1) New rules can be introduced to NALTP with a majority vote from the CRC.
- (a) Larger, structure-altering, rules will be restricted to off-seasons as much as possible. Smaller rule changes may take place at any point during the regular or post-season.
(2) Rules are to be interpreted by the CRC only. In the event of a disagreement, the interpretation of a rule that is applied to NALTP will be decided by a majority vote from the CRC.
(3) If any member of the CRC is personally involved or their team is involved in a dispute that needs a ruling they will be forced to recuse themselves from the relevant CRC discussions, and subsequent vote. The CRC can, at their discretion, question these recused members if they have inquiries during their investigation.
- (a) In the event of an even number of voting members, a tied vote will be considered failed.
(4) Any rule change that will affect an upcoming or ongoing season is available for veto by the relevant GMs or Captains of the affected season.
(5) Changes to CRC structure can only be made through CRC vote, an independent committee and/or public referendum. These changes are not available for veto.

Section C - Vetoes

(1) If the captains wish to overrule a rule change or decision made by the CRC it must be done through an official veto.
- (a) Captains' vetos may be used to undo new rules and/or rulings made by the CRC.
- (b) Captain's vetos may be used to enforce prior CRC rule changes which have been undone by a CRC vote.
- (b) New rules and/or rulings may not be generated by captains' veto.
- (c) Trades accepted by the CRC are not eligible for captains' veto.
(2) To submit a request for an official veto there must be a ping to the CRC in the captains chat or a direct message to a CRC member with the specific decision to be vetoed and clarification that the request is not in jest. In both cases the CRC will notify the rest of the captains for someone to second the motion unless a second has already come forward.
(3) Upon receipt of an official veto, the CRC will organize a vote amongst the captains in private through a form with a deadline for voting. The results will be announced at the stated deadline or when the final vote is cast, whichever occurs first.
(4) There may be more than one veto requested at one time. Timelines will be entirely at the discretion of the CRC.
(5) A successful veto will be decided by a 2/3 vote in favor of the veto. Captains who fail to vote will be counted as against the veto.
- (a) If a veto involves a player on a specific roster or the standings points of a specific team, the captain of that team will be ineligible to vote in the relevant veto unless otherwise granted permission to vote by the CRC.

Section D - Vote of No Confidence (VONC)

(1) At any point in the season, a captain will be allowed to formally request a vote of no-confidence for a CRC member. If the request is seconded by another captain, a vote will be held.
- (a) If at least 75% of captains across all tiers vote in favor of the CRC member’s removal, the CRC member’s position will be voted on by the remaining four CRC members. If 3 of the remaining CRC members vote in favor of removing the CRC member, they will be removed from the CRC immediately. If the CRC members do not vote in favor, the member is not removed.
- (b) See Article II, Section A, Part 5 for vacancy information.

Article XIII - Appendix

(1) Teams are subject to punishment if their players or captains partake in any of the following: violation of the DBAD rule, spam on Discord, spam on Reddit, or any other action that breaks the NALTP rules.
(2) In the event of a forfeit of a match, the wins and losses will count as usual in the standings, with the cap differential for the winning and losing team being the third-largest positive and negative cap differential for all other matches that week, respectively. If only one game is forfeited, the cap differential will be the third-largest differential for that game of the week. (Ex. If Game 2 is a forfeit, the cap diff is that of all other Game 2's for that week.)
(3) The NALTP CRC may demand full access to a team's subreddit (including modmail), Discord, or other form of communication without needing to provide a reason, and shall be granted this access with speed.
(4) The CRC agrees that an attack against one or more of them on the subreddit, Discord, or any other public forum shall be considered an attack against them all and consequently they agree that, if such an attack occurs, each of them will assist the CRC Member or Members so attacked by taking forthwith, individually and in concert with the other CRC Members, such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force, to restore and maintain the security of the CRC.
(5) Any player who becomes banned from playing TagPro will be ineligible to play in NALTP. They may remain on the roster and resume playing when they are no longer banned from TagPro. Playing on an alternate account to avoid the ban will result in league punishment and referral to the TagPro Moderators.
(6) The CRC has the right to interpret rules on a case-by-case basis for the sake of the league’s integrity and competitiveness.

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Official Rules for North American League TagPro (NALTP) Season 34

Table of Contents

Article I - League Overview

Section A - Resources

Section B - Leagues

Section C - Teams

Section D - Schedule

Section E - Servers

Section F - Games

Article II - Leadership Roles, Member Roles & Eligibility

Section A - The Committee for Rules and Coordination (CRC)

Section B - The League Managers (LM)

Section C - Captains and Co-Captains

Section D - Players

Article III - Drafting

Section A - General Draft Information

Section B - The Auction Drafts

Section C - The Snake Draft

Article IV - Roster changes

Section A - Trades

Section B - Drops, Call-ups, Free Agency

Section C - Loans

Section D - Captain Specific Roster Changes

Section E - Dual Eligible Players (DEPs)

Article V - Proper Position and Scheduling Restrictions.

Section A - Proper Positions

Section B - Scheduling Restrictions

Article VI - Maps

Section A - Map Selection

Section B - Map distribution

Section C - Playoffs

Article VII - Matches

Section A - Match Scheduling

Section B - Settings

Section C - Points and Scoring

Section D - Minute Minimums and Maximums

Section E - Timeouts

Section F - Substitutions

Section G - Game Start Time Rules, Forfeits

Section H - Voice Channels

Article VIII - Playoffs

Section A - Team Eligibility

Section B - Seeding

Section C - Rounds

Article IX - Cheating

Section A - Cheating

Section B - Scripts

Section C - Whistleblowing

Section D - Stock Manipulation

Article X - Etiquette

Article XI - Statistics

Section A - TagPro Analytics and TagPro League (TPL)

Article XII - Votes, Vetoes, VONC’s, & Rule Changes

Section A - Votes

Section B - Rule Changes

Section C - Vetoes

Section D - Vote of No Confidence (VONC)

Article XIII - Appendix

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