11-JAN-2021⚓︎

Additions⚓︎

(Old) [1003.7] - No Live Coaching⚓︎

Coaching, either for online and offline RGL events, is strictly prohibited while a match is active. The use of any personnel for coaching to relay information to players in a match must be done before the games, during pauses, halves, or after the match has officially been included. If this behavior is discovered, all players involved will be subject to suspensions.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic led to the cancelation of the RGL LAN, RGL had a rule in place regarding live coaching, where live coaching from individuals to the respective teams was prohibited while matches are active. Any coaching would be strictly prohibited before games, during half-times, pauses, or after games. With the shift of TF2 being played in an online environment, the topic of whether or not "online coaching" would be allowed became a bigger topic. This relay of information, often given through an individual watching from a player's stream (often through Discord) gave an unfair and unearned acquisition of information, similar to ghosting. With international TF2 LANs, as well as the RGL LAN, preventing the use of live coaching during games, (Old) [1003.7] - No Live Coaching will be applied to online events to make this rule consistent.

[1008.5.1] - Invite STV Demos for RGL matches must be uploaded⚓︎

Every Invite RGL match must have its STV demo uploaded for all halves and maps played.

The team that provided the server is obligated to upload the appropriate files to the respective match comms page. This must include a link to the demos.tf page.

Failure to upload the STV demos within 72 hours after the match has officially concluded will lead to a minor team penalty for the team responsible for uploading the demos.

Team Penalties

• First Time: Minor Penalty
• Third time or more: Major Penalty

[1008.5.1] - Invite STV Demos for RGL matches must be uploaded is a new rule addition going into effect for our 2021 seasons. Invite teams for all RGL formats must upload the STV demo for all maps played in an RGL match. This is to be uploaded on demos.tf and be linked to the match comms page. The failure of the team responsible for providing a server to upload the STV demo for the match will incur a minor team penalty.

(Old) [1002.4.2] - Permanently banned players in a scrimmage⚓︎

Permanently banned players with bans for one of the following are not allowed in an RGL scrim or pickup game scrim consisting of RGL players:

• Breaking RGL's player code of conduct
• Harassment (doxxing, using slurs, death threats, etc.)
• Cheating

The leader(s), active RGL player(s), and/or scrim organizer(s) responsible for that player's participation are subject to a possible league ban, in addition to a minor team penalty.

Based on questions asked in the RGL Conduct Survey #3. We asked the community about the possible rule additions regarding permanently banned players participating in scrimmages. With a sizeable majority of the individuals believing that there should be penalties on the individual(s) that were responsible for their inclusion, (Old) [1002.4.2] - Permanently banned players in a scrimmage will be added. View the full results in the article RGL 2021 Winter Off-season Rule Updates.

(Old) [1002.4.1] - Using a banned player in a scrimmage⚓︎

If a banned player is playing in an RGL scrim or pickup game scrim of RGL players and said player commits an act that would result in further bans, then the leader(s), active RGL player(s), and/or scrim organizer(s) responsible for that player's participation are subject to a possible league ban, in addition to a minor team penalty.

The banned player must meet the following criteria:

• On a 6-month or longer ban (not permanent)
• The players ban is similar to their discipline history in the league (e.g. A banned player uses a slur and has a history of being penalized for this in the league.)

Based on the results of the RGL Conduct Survey #3, we found that a majority of players were in favor of a penalty for players that repeat their infractions while being banned for 6 months or longer. View the full breakdown of results in the article RGL 2021 Winter Off-season Rule Updates.

[1003.3] - Game Exploits⚓︎

Added:

• Shooting through the shutter on the last point of cp_gullywash is not permitted.

This has been added to [1003.3] - Game Exploits . The above exploit has largely been an unwritten rule throughout its stage of existence but will be explicitly written to be clarified that this exploit is not allowed.

If you are unsure about the legality of certain in-map actions or exploitative weapon usage, please contact an admin to clarify the situation before playing. Usage of map or weapon exploits may result in the overturning of games or rounds or possible league bans.

For map/weapon exploits, each case will vary based on the intent and impact that it has during the match, which will affect the form of penalty issued.

[1003.3] - Game Exploits⚓︎

Added:

Examples of NOT allowed mods:

• Overheal particles

(Old) [1002.4.8] - Admin Support Abuse⚓︎

Contacting other admins in search of a different answer after receiving an admin's answer ("Admin Shopping") is prohibited, and may result in a team penalty or warning (with increased penalties for repeat offenses).

Appealing a decision to a more senior admin (division moderator > division admin > head admin) is allowed. Contacting multiple admins for a quick answer (such as about a dispute in a match) is permitted, but the first answer received will stand unless explicitly overridden by the relevant division's admin or head admin. We recommend opening a support ticket in the RGL discord to avoid this problem and achieve the fastest response.

(Old) [1002.4.8] - Admin Support Abuse is a new rule addition. This refers to the concept of "admin shopping", where after an individual receives a response from an admin -- said individual contacts, other admins, with the intention of a different answer/decision.

(Old) [1002.4.7] - Appeals⚓︎

This form will be for appealing indefinite bans in RGL.gg and this or will be for appealing all other bans in RGL.

Part of the requirement for an indefinite ban appeal is that the writer shows an understanding of their bans and outlines their steps to end the behaviors that caused it, both of which should also be reflected in their interactions inside of the community. As such, the player must show a pattern of improved behavior in the community. When considering an appeal, admins look at any reports of misconduct and/or negative actions that affect others that are received, even if the individual actions would not be individually worthy of a league penalty. Admins are looking for players that have improved the way they interact with the community as a whole - not just players that have learned to skirt the RGL guidelines while continuing to violate misconduct guidelines outside of the league.

For a denied appeal, the following serves as a guideline of how long a player must wait before a re-apply. In specific cases involving longer bans, cases where recent actions of misconduct and/or negative actions occur, the first denial for reapply may be longer than the guideline.

• 1 month min. (e.g. low-effort appeals)
• 1 season min. (e.g. continued bad behavior in the community)
• Any further denied appeals will lead to increasingly longer reapply lengths

(Old) [1002.4.7] - Appeals outlines the requirements of the appeal process, as well as what admins are reviewing in an appeal. This does not add anything new but serves to allow us to publicly outline how this process is done.

(Old) [1007.2.3] - Fraud⚓︎

If a team or player is found to be committing or supporting fraud, they will face penalties.

This includes the following, but is not limited to:

• (Old) [1003.5] - Fraud
• Unapproved profiteering of the league
• Selling roster spots
• Monetizing RGL content (official RGL Twitch and Youtube content)
• Any fabrication or manipulation of match results, league reports (misconduct, anti-cheat, etc), chat logs, screenshots, etc.
• Do not impersonate any staff or players with the intent to profit or gain an unfair advantage.
• Payment fraud means that we have provided you a service, and you have tricked a payment processor into believing we have not, thus gaining yourself a fraudulent refund.

Punishments will depend on the severity of the situation but are not limited to: major penalties being applied, suspensions to players who took part in the scheme, and winnings being forfeited.

(Old) [1007.2.3] - Fraud outlines examples of fraud that are not allowed in RGL.

[1010.1.4] - Casted Matches Cancellations⚓︎

Matches that are to be casted must be played on the match time agreed in match comms, or they can reschedule if agreed to twelve hours beforehand so that casting can be coordinated with the production team of the casting organization. Teams that violate this rule will receive a major penalty. An appeal process can be opened up to get this reduced to a minor penalty if it was unintentional (e.g. emergency or unforeseen event pops up).

[1010.1.4] - Casted Matches Cancellations is a new casting rule addition that covers the event that a casted match is rescheduled less than 12 hours beforehand of when the scheduled match is to occur.

Modifications⚓︎

[1005.2] - Region⚓︎

Recharge Gaming League contains separate formats and separate regions. Players outside of a league’s default region are welcome to sign up, but teams are under no obligation to accommodate their play (e.g. in a North American League, teams cannot be forced to play on a NY server to accommodate a non-NA player’s ping).

Each team has a maximum capacity of a third of the roster having connections exceeding 150 ping to the league's default region central server. You may not ring a player exceeding this limit when your roster already has players rostered that are above the limit. This maximum capacity for each format is as follows:

• Highlander - 3 players
• 6v6 - 2 players
• Prolander - 2 players

Previously, [1005.2] - Region contained a maximum capacity of two players who are not from the player's respective region. This rule will be updated to only affect players that exceed a 150 ping threshold in the league’s default region central server.

[1008.4.6] - Match Configs⚓︎

Match servers must use the latest version of configs and the correct version of the map listed on the match page. The hosting team receives a minor penalty for executing incorrect maps, configs, or whitelists.

Players are barred from using weapons that are banned in the latest RGL whitelist for their respective formats. If at any point the player leaves spawn with a banned item or begins to have an impact on the match(e.g. near the front lines, using banned items, equipped passive weapons, etc), that team immediately forfeits the round and receives a minor penalty. Players who refuse to switch out the banned weapon may incur major penalties for the team and player as well as a full match overturn.

[1008.4.6] - Match Configs has been updated to clarify what happens if a player uses a banned weapon during a match.

(Old) [1009.3.3] - No Permanent Ringers⚓︎

A player can ring once per team after roster locks have taken place. This is regardless of if the player has been default rang or approved by the enemy team. When a player has been rung once for a specific team after roster locks, they will be considered a permanent ringer for that team and cannot be rung again for the rest of the season.

Players that are caught or reported permanently ringing for a team will have their case evaluated by the admin team. Penalties and match overturn are possible consequences.

In the event of extenuating circumstances or unforeseen events, a permanent ringer may be approved by a division admin.

(Old) [1009.3.3] - No Permanent Ringers has been updated to include a clause that would lead to an exception to this rule. These exceptions must be for legitimate and concernable reasons, such as real-life events that may affect a player's continued play in a season.

[1004.2.1] - Penalties during Playoffs⚓︎

Minor and major penalties acquired during playoffs will result in the loss of prize money. Minor penalties will reduce prize earnings by 10%, with a major penalty reducing prize earnings by 30%. For example, this means that the first two minor penalties lead to 20% being deducted in total, with the 3rd minor resulting in a major penalty that will result in a 30% deduction.

Forfeits during playoffs will lead to a 50% reduction in cash prizes.

[1004.2.1] - Penalties during Playoffs has been updated to include minors resulting in prize pools being docked. Forfeits will now lead to a 50% reduction in cash prizes.