Certain
02-22-2014, 04:55 AM
http://i.imgur.com/uAJesXX.png
Season 3 rules
Moderator: Certain
Basic competition rules
Deadlines:
Verses will be due Fridays at 11:59 p.m. PT. There are no extensions.
Verses must be a maximum of 48 lines or 650 words unless agreed upon by the opponent.
Votes will be due Sundays at 11:59 p.m. PT.
Shutout battles will be closed when voting reaches 8-0 or, by Sunday, 5-0, at the discretion of the moderators.
In the event of a tie at the voting deadline, battles will be left open in a sudden-death format, likely voted on by Certain.
Voting:
Each competitor must vote on three battles.
Anyone who wins his or her battle but does not vote on three battles will receive a loss. Anyone who loses his or her battle but does not vote on three battles will be suspended for one week.
Each competitor will receive a one-time opportunity to make up missed votes and turn a loss into a win by making up the voting difference in the following week. This rule does not apply to Week 16.
Votes must be explained. Single-sentence votes that do not reflect having read the verses will not count.
Battles will be closed if voting reaches 8-0 at any point or 6-0 on the day of a voting deadline, provided there are at least four other open battles.
Disqualifications:
Direct plagiarism or "biting," as in stealing another author's words. This offense also will result in a ban from the league and consideration for a site-wide ban or suspension.
Recycling, as in using a verse or lines previously posted.
Editing a verse after specific benchmarks. Both competitors may edit their verse until either the first vote or the extension deadline (Fridays at 11:59 p.m. PT), regardless of posting order.
Swaying voters, after one warning. This constitutes discussing votes, explaining a verse and discussing an opponent's verse.
Exceeding length stipulations. This decision will be made by the competitor, who must resolve his or her decision before the first vote is cast. Battles in which one competitor has not followed the line restriction will be closed until the other competitor has decided to let it stand or not.
Disqualification losses will be treated as normal losses on the record and in terms of the requirement to vote to stay in the league.
Also, a competitor with three no-shows in a row will be suspended for the rest of the season.
Regular-season format
The regular season will go 16 weeks.
Topics will alternate between four different styles, with each week focusing on a specific theme. Week 1 will be phrases, Week 2 will be quotes, Week 3 will be story leads and Week 4 will be pictures, with the cycle going around four times.
Matchups will be determined based on a ranking system that will focus on advancing hot competitors over keeping established ones near the top. The ranking system will be unveiled entering Week 5.
Title matches will begin in Week 6. Regular-season title holders will receive a mention under their "Champed" list. Contendership matches will begin in Week 5.
Playoff format
The playoffs will feature 12 to 24 competitors, as will be determined by no later than Week 14 by the moderators based on number of automatic bids and other stipulations. Competitors who want a bid in the playoffs will need to sign up for the playoffs during Week 16.
Bids will go to:
anyone who held the regular-season title.
anyone who competed in 14 weeks of the regular season without a no-show, disqualification or lack of votes. Note: Every verse posted must be rhymed and related to the topic to some degree.
anyone who qualifies by record, including tiebreakers, following the formula below.
Qualification tiebreakers:
Wins. This means 6-10 is better than 5-1.
Win-loss record. This means 5-1 is better than 5-2.
Head-to-head record. So two 8-5 people who faced each other would be seeded according to who won a head-to-head battle.
Common opponents. If the two 8-5 people never faced or split two matchups, results against common opponents will be taken into account to break ties.
Strength of wins. This tiebreaker will look at the number of wins accumulated by the competitors each person in the tie has beaten.
Voting margin. This part of the process hopefully will not come into effect with other margins factored in, but if necessary, the total margin of votes in all matches will be used as the final tiebreaker.
The title-holder at the end of the regular season automatically receives the No. 1 seed for the playoffs. All other seeding will be based on the qualification tiebreakers.
Season 3 rules
Moderator: Certain
Basic competition rules
Deadlines:
Verses will be due Fridays at 11:59 p.m. PT. There are no extensions.
Verses must be a maximum of 48 lines or 650 words unless agreed upon by the opponent.
Votes will be due Sundays at 11:59 p.m. PT.
Shutout battles will be closed when voting reaches 8-0 or, by Sunday, 5-0, at the discretion of the moderators.
In the event of a tie at the voting deadline, battles will be left open in a sudden-death format, likely voted on by Certain.
Voting:
Each competitor must vote on three battles.
Anyone who wins his or her battle but does not vote on three battles will receive a loss. Anyone who loses his or her battle but does not vote on three battles will be suspended for one week.
Each competitor will receive a one-time opportunity to make up missed votes and turn a loss into a win by making up the voting difference in the following week. This rule does not apply to Week 16.
Votes must be explained. Single-sentence votes that do not reflect having read the verses will not count.
Battles will be closed if voting reaches 8-0 at any point or 6-0 on the day of a voting deadline, provided there are at least four other open battles.
Disqualifications:
Direct plagiarism or "biting," as in stealing another author's words. This offense also will result in a ban from the league and consideration for a site-wide ban or suspension.
Recycling, as in using a verse or lines previously posted.
Editing a verse after specific benchmarks. Both competitors may edit their verse until either the first vote or the extension deadline (Fridays at 11:59 p.m. PT), regardless of posting order.
Swaying voters, after one warning. This constitutes discussing votes, explaining a verse and discussing an opponent's verse.
Exceeding length stipulations. This decision will be made by the competitor, who must resolve his or her decision before the first vote is cast. Battles in which one competitor has not followed the line restriction will be closed until the other competitor has decided to let it stand or not.
Disqualification losses will be treated as normal losses on the record and in terms of the requirement to vote to stay in the league.
Also, a competitor with three no-shows in a row will be suspended for the rest of the season.
Regular-season format
The regular season will go 16 weeks.
Topics will alternate between four different styles, with each week focusing on a specific theme. Week 1 will be phrases, Week 2 will be quotes, Week 3 will be story leads and Week 4 will be pictures, with the cycle going around four times.
Matchups will be determined based on a ranking system that will focus on advancing hot competitors over keeping established ones near the top. The ranking system will be unveiled entering Week 5.
Title matches will begin in Week 6. Regular-season title holders will receive a mention under their "Champed" list. Contendership matches will begin in Week 5.
Playoff format
The playoffs will feature 12 to 24 competitors, as will be determined by no later than Week 14 by the moderators based on number of automatic bids and other stipulations. Competitors who want a bid in the playoffs will need to sign up for the playoffs during Week 16.
Bids will go to:
anyone who held the regular-season title.
anyone who competed in 14 weeks of the regular season without a no-show, disqualification or lack of votes. Note: Every verse posted must be rhymed and related to the topic to some degree.
anyone who qualifies by record, including tiebreakers, following the formula below.
Qualification tiebreakers:
Wins. This means 6-10 is better than 5-1.
Win-loss record. This means 5-1 is better than 5-2.
Head-to-head record. So two 8-5 people who faced each other would be seeded according to who won a head-to-head battle.
Common opponents. If the two 8-5 people never faced or split two matchups, results against common opponents will be taken into account to break ties.
Strength of wins. This tiebreaker will look at the number of wins accumulated by the competitors each person in the tie has beaten.
Voting margin. This part of the process hopefully will not come into effect with other margins factored in, but if necessary, the total margin of votes in all matches will be used as the final tiebreaker.
The title-holder at the end of the regular season automatically receives the No. 1 seed for the playoffs. All other seeding will be based on the qualification tiebreakers.