ACES_homepage

ACES HOMEPAGE !

The following will introduce you to Cases Ladder that is followed to play Team Ladders on the Zone. Followed by Campfire League rules and our team rules (aces) Please read and book mark this page for future reference!

The Ranking System:
Case's Ladder has one of the simplest ranking systems ever used for competitive play. We call it a "Ladder" because each team has a unique rank or "rung" that represents their standing among other teams. The highest ranked team holds the #1 position. Someone ranked #2 is ranked below the #1 team. So, the goal is to "climb" the Ladder all the way to the top.
When you first join you are placed in the "Unranked" category of the Ladder.
You become "Ranked" after winning your first Ladder match. (Unranked teams can play each other and the winner becomes ranked at the bottom of the ladder.)
When you defeat a higher ranked team you move up half the distance between their rank and your own.
Your rank on the Ladder does not go down if you lose a match unless your opponent is ranked DIRECTLY below you.
When other teams beat teams above you and jump over your team in rank you will slide down.
Some special rules exist for teams ranked in the Top Ten.

Account Rules:
Since your Ladder account is where all your records are kept we have some special policies regarding it. These are very important and you should pay close attention to them.

E-mail Address:
Your E-mail address must be kept current on the site, as it is the only way we have of contacting you. Use the 'USER EDITOR' if you need to change it.
If your E-mail address is found to be invalid your account will be penalized or removed.

Ladder Names:
If your Ladder name is offensive to other users or contains profanity your account will be removed.
If your Ladder name is found to be abusive towards another user your account will be removed.
If your Ladder name is found to be too similar to an existing user's nickname you will have to choose another.You are only allowed to change your Ladder name once per week.Your Ladder name must match the name you use in chat and play your matches under exactly. This includes spaces, underscores and other keyboard characters. If it doesn't the match is invalid and your opponent is not required to report any losses to you.Teams should never report a loss to a name that is different than the one their opponent used during the match.

       CAMPFIRE LEAGUE RULES

These are the minimum standards set for the CampFire ladder. Team Captains may, at their option, require more stringent rules for their teams.
CampFire Spaders is a Team Ladder based in the MSN Gaming Zone.
CampFire Spaders games are to be played in Ladder Room 5. Our overflow Room is Ladder Room 7
If the reporting page is out of service, all games will continue to be played on an open table, as usual. Please keep a written list of games played, so later on, when the reporting page resumes working properly, you may report losses in the order of play.

CAMPFIRE SPIRIT:
On October 15th, 2001 CampFire Spaders Team Ladder was created.
The vision of the creators and those that followed was: the existence of a friendly team ladder where sportsmanship was a top priority; a ladder where obnoxious, hurtful or dirty comments in the lobby would be dealt with instead of ignored; and a ladder where proven cheaters could be permanently banned.

SPORTSMANSHIP:
Definition of Sportsmanship: Fair Play, Respect for Opponents and Gracious Behavior in Winning and Losing. Definition of Insinuation: To introduce in a clever way. Too imply. An insinuation " IS A CLEVER WAY " to accuse someone of cheating without actually saying the word "cheat".
Winning and losing GRACIOUSLY is what this ladder is all about. Bad Attitudes have no place here. If you can't say something nice - don't say anything at all!!
IF UNsportsmanlike conduct ( the reverse of the above definition ) is displayed with proof at a table, in a game comment, in the lobby, in the forum or via any messaging system ( including zm's ) penalties may be imposed. This is subject to and may include insinuations of cheating and it's definition as set forth.

FORUM POLICY:
Posting in the Message Forum is a privilege reserved for members of a team on CampFire Spaders. It is intended as a place for announcements, congratulatory statements, questions and constructive criticism.
Posts by individuals not on a team, with the exception of those new members LOOKING for a team in the post, will be pulled. Posts by individuals not on our Ladder will also be pulled.
Posts that bash individuals or teams by name will be pulled including those that do not specifically name names but do offer so much information that the individual or team in question is readily identifiable.

NO FIGHTING:
If you are publicly fighting in this ladder, you may be permanently banned. Remember, it takes two (or more) to fight. A fight is considered public if it is held in the Lobby or the Message Forum. Unacceptable Lobby and Forum conduct includes no cussing and no sexual innuendoes. Complaints on questionable lobby chat may be filed by any member of the ladder and should be copied and mailed to                               or

HOW TO GET A GAME:
The only TWO (2) ways to get a game are:

1. Sit at an empty table and advertise ("CF @ XX", "Need a CF team at table XX please" or "CampFire ABC's at table XX")
2. Join someone already advertising.

You may not:

1. Request a team by name or rank in any manner.
2. Include your rank in your advertisement.
3. Bid, challenge or blind challenge in any manner.
4. Include variations as part of your advertisement.
5. Request a game at a table.

The mention of rank in the lobby is restricted to congratulations for a new #1 team.

Back-to-back games are allowed with the same or different players. There is no limit on how many times a day you may play a particular team. Second games are always optional and should be stated, politely, in the lobby as the reason for refusing a game. (Note: Refusing a second game should be a rare occurrence.)

NICK NAMES:
The nickname you choose cannot be objectionable to the Administration. Names similar to those already existing in CampFire Spaders, are not allowed and you WILL be asked to change it. Several teams have identifiers that they require within the nickname. Please check with your captain.

KIBITZING:
Kibitzing is permitted but not to ask for a game. Kibitzers, please remember that you are the guest at the table. Please keep the chatter to a minimum so as to not aggravate the two teams playing. If all of the team members are chatting and do not mind, then join in. But please remember, the game belongs to the four sitting and playing. If requested, please refrain from chatting. If the person you are kibitzing ask u not to kibitz them, please abide by their wishes. You are not allowed to request any other kibitzer to move.
Kibitzing is permitted unless ALL the players agree to close the table. Kibitzers are allowed to talk unless ALL the players agree to silence them.
LADDER ADMINISTRATORS, TEAM CAPTAINS, and SYSOPS are always allowed to kibitz a game in progress. If a game is a closed game, the table MUST be opened when requested by an Administrator, a Team Captain or a Zone Sysop. None of these may be booted from a table...doing so can result in a loss of privileges and/or in a penalty, to be determined by the Ladder Administrators and/or Sysop (if needed).
Kibitzers must not ever make any reference to the cards in the hand of the player they are kibitzing.

BE RIGHT BACKS:
In order to avoid accusations, try to time your BRB before the end of a hand and request the last card be held (hlc), then you can go change a diaper, go to the bathroom, get a sandwich, or get a drink. Understandably, that is NOT always possible, but if it is, please be considerate of others.

BOOTS:
When a player is booted from the table, those left, must wait a minimum of 5 minutes. If the booted player has NOT returned, the partner (of the booted player) may choose a sub or continue with a bot. If a sub from their team is not available, anyone registered with CampFire Spaders may be called upon. The MSN Gaming Zone sometimes works in mysterious ways. If your partner or opponent is lagging, we ask that you type the word "test" to determine if you are the one causing the lag.
No game may be started with a substitute. When substitutes are used, the original 4 players are always credited with the win or loss.
The game has NOT started until the first card has been played. Anytime a player is booted before the first card of the hand has been played, it is mandatory to offer a reseat. Common courtesy would be to also offer to reseat if a boot occurs early during play of the first hand.

TABLE TALK:
Table talk about the cards in the current hand, whether or not it effects the outcom eof the hand is not permitted. Discussing the cards, after the last card of a hand, is fine but NEVER during the play of the current hand.
Example: You cannot tell your pard to bag the other team, set them, give them one more, double nil, or nil. Cover me partner (cmp) and I am nil are also table talk. All of those examples and more are considered table talk. NONE is acceptable.
All instances of perceived table talk MUST be mentioned in the table chat at the time of the occurrence. The accused team may forfeit at that time with no further penalty. If the accused team refuses to forfeit the incident may be filed through your Team Captain to the Admins along with a copy of the completed game's table chat as proof. If the Admins determine that table talk took place a forfeit will be awarded (if necessary) as well as a team and possible individual penalty. If the accusing team refuses to accept a forfeit the incident may not be filed.

MULTIPLE ACCOUNTS:
We only allow a set number of accounts from one location. If this number is exceeded, your accounts will be investigated and possibly removed. We have an automated security system to keep track of this information, and all new account info is logged. It is illegal for one person to have multiple accounts or be on multiple teams. Only one account is allowed per person.    Members of the same household are not allowed to play with OR against each other. The program does not allow reports to or from people in the same household.

RANK HOUNDING:
Every #1 team will be rung to the bottom of the ladder once they have held the position for 24 consecutive hours. *See Admin Guidelines for more information.
Let's keep the top ranks active and fair. If you are a top ranked team, give all teams a shot, not only those ranked immediately below or above you.

CHEATING:
PROVEN CHEATERS WILL BE PERMANENTLY BANNED from the ladder. There will be NO second chances. An accusation without proof is NOT acceptable. Proof means a cheating Zone Message that has been captured in a screen shot, cards or instructions typed into the table chat or elsewhere, or similar proof.   If you have proof someone is cheating, do NOT leave the table. Stop the game in progress and request an administrator to come to the table. Whether one is available or not, take a screen shot of the table, any zm's and the entire table chat and send to                                 or
If an administrator tells you to continue a game, you must continue the game or report it as a loss. The only time you are not required to finish a game, is if an Administrator cancels the game, or, if an Administrator is not available AND it is PROVEN cheating. The rule of thumb is to get an Administrator and let us make that decision.
Automated card-counting programs are also illegal in the CampFire Spaders Ladder. If a card counter is captured in a screen shot as open and BEING USED on the screen it will result in a permanent ban.

REPORTING A LOSS:
When the game is over, at least one member of the losing team must stay at the table until the report is finished. This allows the reporting person to know who ALL the players were and there should be no misreports made. If you get the five-minute wait message, the easiest thing to do is keep an eye on your computer clock and click submit on each new minute.
If the winning team notices the match does not show, write down the names of the team and players. Continue with your games. If said game is still not posted when you are done playing for the day, send an e-mail with ALL information to your captain. Your captain can then contact the other team's captain and they can work it out from there.

UNREPORTED MATCH:
If the team captain has tried to settle an unreported match complaint, and the match is still not reported after 24 hours, an unreported match complaint should be sent to Unreported Match!
Upon receipt of an unreported match complaint, Administration will ask for action from the reporting teams' captain. Said captain has 24 hours from date and time of Administration's notice to verify and post the match. If the match is still unreported after the allotted time, Administration will post the match and a TEAM WARNING will be issued. (See Penalty Guidelines for imposed penalties on unreported matches)

GAME SETTINGS:
There are not any settings for ladder matches played in the Zone. Although "Regular with Double Nil" is the default setting, any variation of spades may be played as long as all 4 players agree after sitting, but before start of the game. If only one player does not want to play the variation, the table must revert back to the default. You cannot refuse a game if the opposing team does not want to play your variation.

FILING A COMPLAINT:
Aside from proven instances of cheating or questionable lobby chat, all official complaints must be submitted by your Team Captain. All evidence of wrong-doing should be sent to your Team Captain to resolve the matter. Team Captains are encouraged to resolve the situation between themselves BEFORE an official complaint is filed. A complaint only becomes official once it is mailed by a Team Captain.
If the Team Captain is unavailable, and your problem needs immediate attention, you may seek out our co-cappy Lil_Deer_N_Aces or an Administrator for guidance.

EXCEPTIONS:
There are exceptions to EVERY rule. Without exceptions there would be a need for MORE rules.
To minimize the need to make rule on top of rule, and to allow Administration to act effectively in the best interest of this ladder, it is at your CampFire Administrators discretion to determine what should or should not be considered an "exception" to the rules or penalty guidelines.   In other words, if it is not written here or in the penalty guidelines, it does NOT mean it is allowed. It does NOT mean you won't be penalized/boxed/rung/banned just because it isn't written.

Something not being written does NOT mean it is allowed. Be sure to review rules occasionally as they are changed and updated. It is suggested all players periodictly read the two sections under the heading of RULES at the following web page

[email protected]

WHO WE ARE

WE ARE A FUN, FRIENDLY AND HONEST SPADES CLUB WHO PLAYS IN LADDER ROOMS 5 AND 7 OF THE CAMPFIRE SPADERS LEAGUE. WE SEEK HARD FOUGHT, WELL PLAYED, COMPETITIVE SPADES GAMES. OUR GOAL IS TO BE RESPECTED FOR OUR PLAYING SKILL AS WELL AS OUR HONESTY AND SPORTSMANSHIP.

www.campfirespaders.com/

TEAM RULES

1.) NO CHEATING: If your partner zone friends you his/ her cards or asks you if you can cover certain cards. Forfiet game , Report the game and contact me at
                           or All4aces2 at

2.) MINIMUM GAMES: All players are required to play at least five (5) games a week. New players are to play ten (10) games a week while on their three (3) week probation period. If you can not make your minimum games for a given week contact me at                               or all4aces2 at

3.) STAY SEATED: When game is over all stay seated until report has been completed win or loose . This way if your partner needs help reporting you can do it for them. Or so your opponents can get the game reported to the right teamies. THANKS !!

4.) KIBITZING: Sit on the lady in red or the man in purple depending on where our teamies are sitting . This keeps the opponents from yelling foul play. THANKS !!

5.)UNREPORTED MATCH: You have twentyfour (24) hours to report a loss. If the campfire web page is down write down opponents nics and team name and assign one teamie to make report. If you are unable to report in the given time frame contact me so I can make report for you.   First offense warning second removal from the team.

6.) RUDE BEHAVIOR: NO RUDE BEHAVIOR WILL BE TOLERATED . No rude comments by zone friends, table chat or lobby chat to opponents, teamies or administration .   First offense warning second removal from the team.

7.) MIS REPORTING: Making report with another teamies nic in place of yours will not be tolerated. First offense warning second removal from team. ( Mistakes happen, if you catch your mistake and report to me it will be treated as a correct report.)

"GONE WILD"

[email protected]