1. General Information
1.1 Conditions of participation
Every tournament participant must be also participant of the „The Settlers DEDK – Events“ Discord and registered by 17.11.2024 at the latest through the official registration form at the tournament management.
An exclusion from the “The Settlers DEDK – Events” Discord implies the exclusion from from the whole winter tournament. It does not matter whether the exclusion took place before or during the tournament.
The tournament management reserves the right to make rule changes at any time, even during the ongoing tournament, if necessary. The tournament management informs all participants in a timely manner about any changes of any kind. If, after a change in the rules, a situation arises where a previous action is now considered a rule violation, it will not be penalized.Smurfing and participating in the tournament with a secondary account are not allowed and result in disqualification, both for the secondary account and the main account.
1.2 Team Name and Icon
Each team should ideally choose its own team name and an icon. The following rules apply to the selection:
The team name and icon:
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- Must not be offensive.
- Must not be racist, morally reprehensible, culturally hostile, or inappropriate.
- Must not contain the names of other players unless they have given their approval.
- Should not exceed a maximum character length of 32 / should not exceed a size of 256×256.
If any of these points are not met, the tournament management will first contact the affected team. In case of doubt, the tournament management reserves the right to modify the name or not allow the team to participate in the tournament. If the team name is too long, it will be shortened in the tournament bracket representation.
1.3 Tournament Period
The Winter Tournament 2024 starts on November 25, 2024, and is scheduled to run until February 16, 2025. All matches are to be completed within the specified deadlines (see Section 2.7.1 and Section 2.8.1).
1.4 Tournament Management
In this year’s Winter Tournament, the tournament management consists of Laulo_O, ThePhoenix, and RobbiTheFox. For any questions or uncertainties, please contact the tournament management. To ensure the smoothest possible flow of the tournament, the tournament management reserves the right to adjust the rules and possibly add special rules during the tournament. The tournament management has the final word in all matters!
Additionally, this year, the tournament management is supported by Novator12, Fritz98 and Roma_Invicta. They provide advisory support to the tournament management and ensure that you are supplied with innovative maps for the tournament, while also ensuring their functionality by fixing any bugs and other issues.
1.5 Netiquette
All tournament participants, the tournament management and all other members of the Event & DEDK Discord are to be treated with respect all the time. In addition to the rules contained in this document, the general rules of the “Die Siedler DEDK Multiplayer” Discord also apply. Constructive criticism, posted either in the discussion channel or directly communicated to the tournament management, is explicitly encouraged and serves the continuous improvement and future tournaments.
1.6 Handling of Violations
Insults and taunts between any parties on the tournament Discord, in-game, or in voice chat are internally evaluated by the team and, depending on the nature and occurrence, dealt with by the tournament management. The same applies to unsportsmanlike behavior before, during, and after the game. Circumvention of tournament rules is strictly and promptly penalized to avoid disrupting the tournament. Depending on the severity of the violation, a warning will be issued. If a second incident occurs after an already issued warning, it will result in disqualification.
Both a warning and a disqualification applies to the entire team.
1.7 Gentlemen‘s Agreements
Teams are free to agree on additional restrictions during a match. These restrictions must not override the specified map rules and must be communicated to the tournament management before the start of the game and approved by them. Violations of additional restrictions agreed upon in consensus before the game will not be sanctioned by the tournament management.
1.8 Player Dropouts
If a player from a team drops out during the tournament (from November 25, 2024, onwards) and a replacement is found, the replacement player may take the place of the departed player under the following conditions:
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- The tournament management must be informed and must approve in advance.
- The player must not have been disqualified.
2. Game
2.1 Server Side Settings
Each game is played with Chain Construction (CC) enabled and without the Reload Fix. Both teams must adhere to these settings. If teams agree on additional settings, the tournament management must be informed by both teams beforehand.
If a tournament participant decides to play with LuaDebugger enabled, he/she must make sure, that the LuaDebugger version is 0.5.2 which is available in the MP Updater. Higher versions are likely to produce a crash on some maps.
2.2 VC Trade
This rule does not apply to the BS versions!
Each player may only use as much VC slots as the maximum capacity of the village centers assigned to him allows. With three available village centres, this capacity is e.g. 375 places, 500 places with four village centres. It is not obligatory to use only the designated village centres on one’s own position. Players can flexibly swap the location of village centers with their teammate, as long as the maximum capacity (see above) is maintained. Village centers on the enemy side, on the other hand, can be captured and used in any number, even if this exceeds the originally set maximum capacity.
2.3 Desyncs & Technical Issues
If an issue arises preventing the continuation of the game, all participants must first attempt to load the saved game. If this does not resolve the problem, the match must be replayed on the same map with the same mode. The usual deadlines apply to the replay. If the problem occurred due to gross negligence by a team, that team automatically loses. If the match is not decided by the deadline, the rules for unplayed games apply.
2.4 Post Match Review
The tournament management is entitled to review already played games upon request. This may be necessary if no member of the tournament management could spectate the match live or if there were discrepancies in the game.
2.5 Scheduling
Deadlines will be announced after the registration deadline, once the group distribution is known and integrated into the rule set. The tournament management will attempt to organize groups based on the times provided by the teams and provide an overview of possible dates. If games are not played within the specified period, the team with significantly higher availability will be declared the winner. If no clear decision can be made:
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- in the group stage, no points will be awarded for the game.
- in the knockout phase, both teams will be eliminated, and a loser from a previous match will advance.
2.6 Maps und Modes
The tournament maps (see pages 5, 6 & 7) are available via the S5Updater. Please regularly update the map directory. If bugs are fixed, you will receive the latest version directly from the updater. Typically, the tournament management or the respective mapper will inform you of updates.
If the teams agree on further additional settings, the tournament management must be informed in advance by both teams.
If no agreement can be reached, you must play with the standard settings of the map.
If you notice errors while testing the maps, please promptly inform the mapper or the tournament management so they can be addressed. If it turns out that you deliberately did not report a bug in order to exploit it in a game, you may be deprived of a victory.
2.7 Maps
You can find the description of the tournament maps here on Siedelwood at the page Winterturnier S5 – Turnierkarten.
2.8 Group phase
2.8.1 Time Period
The group phase begins with the start of the tournament on 25.11.24 and ends on 23.12.24. Group phase matches that do not take place during this period will not be counted.
2.8.2 Structure and team constellation of the groups
The groups will be announced after the registration deadline has passed and then be announced on Siedelwood and the event Discord.
The groups are divided in such a way that neither “death groups” nor pure beginner groups are created. For this purpose, the teams are distributed evenly among the groups according to their strength.
2.8.3 Map- & Mode Selection
Immediately before the start of a game, a coin toss is made. The winner of the coin toss has the choice of either determining which team gets to ban first or determining the position (side choice) at the end.
After the decision on the starting ban, the ban phase begins:
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- First, Team 1 bans a map
- Team 2 then bans two maps in a row
- Finally, Team 1 banishes the fourth map
The remaining map will be played. Alternatively, both teams can agree on a map (gentlemen’s agreement). If the winner of the coin toss has opted for the starting ban, the choice of position at the end is automatically up to Team 2.
2.8.4 Scoring
Each win is worth 3 points, each draw 1 point and each defeat 0 points. A match will be considered a draw if both teams agree to abandon the match in agreement with the tournament management. If two teams have the same number of points at the end of the group stage, the team that won the head-to-head against the other team will be placed higher. If the direct comparison is a draw, it will be decided at random which team will be placed higher
2.9 KO Phase
2.9.1 Time Period
The deadlines for the KO phase will be announced at the end of the group phase on Siedelwood and the Event Discord.
2.9.2 Map-& Mode Selection
Immediately before the start of a game, a coin toss is made. The winner of the coin toss has the choice of either determining which team gets to ban first or determining the position (side choice) at the end.
After the decision on the starting ban, the ban phase begins:
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- First, Team 1 bans a map
- Team 2 then bans two maps in a row
- Finally, Team 1 banishes the fourth map
The remaining map will be played. Alternatively, both teams can agree on a map (gentlemen’s agreement). If the winner of the coin toss has opted for the starting ban, the choice of position at the end is automatically up to Team 2.
2.9.3 Format
In the Knockout Stage, the tournament bracket consists of three sections: Upper Bracket, Lower Bracket and Novices’ Final. The group winners and runners-up qualify for the upper bracket, while the third-placed teams advance to the lower bracket. The fourth-placed teams in each group compete against each other in a separate tournament tree in the Newcomer’s Final to determine the best team among themselves. This Novices’ Final runs parallel to the upper and lower brackets.
In the first round of the upper bracket, the group leaders will play against the group runners-up of other groups. The third-place finishers will be randomly seeded for the first round of the Lower Bracket. The beginner’s final is played in a “round-robin” procedure, in which each team plays against each other. The team with the most points wins the Novices’ Final. In the event of a tie on points, the direct comparison decides.
2.9.4 Scoring
In the Knockout Stage, each game is played in full, with the result always determined as a win or defeat – draws are not possible. A team that loses a round in the Upper Bracket will be relegated to the Lower Bracket, while the winner of the round will advance to the next round of the Upper Bracket. In the Lower Bracket, the losing team of each round is eliminated from the tournament. The winner of the Lower Bracket Final will compete against the winner of the Upper Bracket in the Grand Final to decide the tournament victory.