Wireplay PC Gamer's Champions' League

HOW TO PLAY

It's pretty simple, honestly...

1. First, you need to register. At the moment the first two leagues are
in the Power Play area of Wireplay which requires you to have Wireplay
as your ISP. This service is now free ? to join up simply pop CD GAMER
Disc 1 in your computer and press the Wireplay button.

2. You now need to register for the league you want to play in. Choose a
nickname by which you wish to be known in the league and stick to that
name whenever you play. You are only allowed one account and one name on
each ladder. This is partially a security measure, and also a way of
keeping the ladder dynamic.

3. The ladder will only work if your details are entered correctly. This
only needs your nickname and e-mail address, but the entry of a working
address that you read regularly is vital if anyone else is to challenge
you. If you are found to be entering any inappropriate or obscene
information, or imitating another player, then you will be thrown off
the ladder and barred from re-registering. We mean it.

4. Please do not register if you do not intend to take part seriously.
If you play in a ladder match you must use the ladder nickname you
entered when you registered, or unnecessary confusion can result.

5. Whenever you or your clan/team registers on a Wireplay ladder, you
start at the bottom and you will be classed as an 'unranked' player/team
until you play your first game. You are able to challenge any player you
like (there are rules for challenging top ten players, see later) and if
you beat them, you climb up half the distance between the ranks.

6. For example, you are ranked 100th and someone is number 50. If you
beat that player, you will rise up to 75th place. Your rank on the
ladder does not go down if you lose a match unless your opponent is
ranked DIRECTLY below you.

7. If a player lower than you beats someone higher than you, you will
begin to move down the ladder. To keep your place or move upwards, you
must keep winning against higher-ranked players. Number One will only
stay there by fending off all-comers.

8. To make a challenge, use the ladders challenge mechanism. This
e-mails your opponent an official ladder challenge. Please do this only
once per challenge. Anyone found to be spamming other players will be
removed from the ladder.

9. It is the responsibility of the losing player to report the result of
the game. This is done by simply going to the ladder page and clicking
the ‘Log Loss’ link. Whether you are in a team or are an individual, it
must be treated as one i.e. you need to agree with your team-mates who
registers in the team name and then reports on behalf of the team. In
‘free for all’ matches (or matches in which multiple opponents are all
competing against each other without partners) each of the losers of the
match reports a loss to the one overall winner.

10. At a set cut-off date each month, PC GAMER will take the league
standings and print them in its current issue. The person on top of the
chart at that particular time will be declared the PC Gamer Champion of
the Month, and will be mentioned in the magazine. The cut-off dates will
be fully publicised in advance.



Q&A

You'll have some questions by now. Here are the answers.

Q. What happens if I can’t play in the leagues for a while ? if I go on
holiday, for example?
A. We will run an analysis of the players every 30 days. If you have not
played in that period of time, we will remove your name from the ladder.
This way, the ladder is kept clean as we can’t have a ladder with 1,000
names and only 50 actually playing! Furthermore it means you can be
assured that you are actually challenging active players, and not
someone who registered and has not played for three months.

Q. How often can I play?
A. You can play as many different people as you’d like on any given day,
but you can only play the same player once in a 24-hour period.

Q. How do I know my opponent is a registered player?
A. Use the search facility or look on the ladder to verify if that
player actually exists on it.

Q. Is there any challenging and playing etiquette?
A. Yep, there has to be or ladder civilisation will come crashing down
all around us. Here they are:
* If you receive multiple challenges (most likely if you are top ten,
for example) then you should play the highest-ranked challenger.
* If you receive one challenge, you should accept it as everyone needs
to have a chance to progress, as much as you should have the chance to
defend your place. You must accept a challenge and must not discriminate
against a player because you think they will advance too far if they
beat you, or if you don’t want them to progress.
* All games are valid as long as both players have agreed on the game
parameters before the game begins.
* To make sure the top ten players are not bombarded with challenges,
only players in the top THIRTY may challenge a top ten player.

Q. What if I drop out through technical error or my opponent leaves the
game if they are losing, or I’m losing and I want to quit?
A. You quit, you lose, simple as that. Chickens don’t deserve to win.
However, it is hard to tell the difference between a yellow belly and a
good old fashioned disconnection ? so if this occurs, the person who was
losing must report it as if they had lost. However, if there is no clear
agreement, then the two parties must either agree to play again or
report the situation to the ladder admin. In a team game, if a member
loses connection then the match must continue even if the player cannot
reconnect, and the losers must report the results.

Q. Who can I play?
A. Play anyone you want, even the dog, just try and take on everyone and
not the same three mates ? everyone deserves a chance to move up the
ladder. Please observe the etiquette related to challenging top ten
players.

Q. How should I behave?
A. With dignity, valour, and respect. Anyone caught trying to disrupt
the ladders, dropping from games when they are losing or generally being
a bad egg will be barred from the Wireplay ladders forever more. This
could mean being reported to the ladder admin or a Wireplay Gamepro if
one is online.

Q. How do I know I’ve won?
A. You have won the match when your opponent/opponents is/are wiped from
the face of the earth, crying like a baby.

Q. How do I report the loss?
A. Once you have lost, then we request you rub salt into your own wounds
by reporting the loss immediately. This is done by simply going to the
ladder page and clicking the ‘Log Loss’ link.

Q. What if my opponent fails to report the loss?
A. Most unreported matches are a simple case of forgetfulness on the
part of your opponent, so simply email them with a polite reminder
message. If they have not posted the result within a couple of hours,
e-mail the admin with an explanationr. All users are expected to post
immediately, but will be given 24 hours to make a post or we will do it
for them.

Q. What about cheating?
A. Don’t do it or you will feel our wrath. If you see cheating, or
suspect it, then leave the match and report it to the ladder admin. You
don’t need to report it a loss.

Q. What happens if I’m really good and find myself sitting smugly in the
Top Ten?
A. Well done, but there are extra pressures on you. We have some extra
rules for you folk because the coveted top ten slots need to be
especially dynamic. Firstly, we recommend that numbers one and two do
play each other regularly to keep the battle up for the top slot.
To this end, number one must play the highest ranking challenger if they
have multiple challenges i.e. if number one is challenged by two and
three then he must play number two. Furthermore, we recommend that
players in the Top Ten should try to play the person ranked directly
below them at least once every three days. We’ll be keeping an
especially beady eye on the top ten players because they are the créme
de la créme of Wireplay.

Q. What if I play in the Top Ten and my modem explodes, or I go away on
holiday?
A. It’s a cruel world, but you must play once a week or we’ll drop you
five places to make way for others. Sorry, no exceptions. You’ll simply
have to battle your way up again, but that shouldn’t be too hard for
someone of your calibre, eh?

Q. What if I’ve spotted a flaw in your rules or if I have suggestions?
A. We always appreciate feedback. If you have any, or simply want to
hurl love or abuse at us then e-mail ladder.admin@wireplay.com