10-02-2014 Rule Update Patch preview.

[G]

The Long awaited rules updates. These are to become official upon start of the Fall Cycle which beings 10/02/14. These rules are the culmination of over two years of discussions.

Rings of Honor: Duel of Swords 14.10.2 Patch Preview

New Rule Bullet Points

Changes to SoA and Challenges

* The Show of Activity (SoA) will no longer be a requirement to challenge.
* SoA is replaced by "Challenge Rights."
* The cost of a challenge is” (1) One Challenge Right = Challenge Baron, (2) Two Challenge Rights = Challenge Overlord.
* Each Warlord, upon ranking to Warlord on the standings, is awarded 2 Challenge Rights per cycle.
* You are required to duel -ONCE- every cycle to continue to gain these rights.
* If a duelist goes through a cycle without a duel you will be taken off the standings and placed on the Old Duelist List.

* Upon reinstatement a Warlord must wait 14 days following their first duel for eligibility to challenge. This duel will be verified by way of the Shift Reports and does not have to wait for the Official Standings.
* Warlords are unable to challenge the same Barony twice in a row. (I.E. Seaside, and then Seaside again.)
* Warlords, should they fail in their challenge, must wait 14 days before they can issue another.
* Titleholders, should they fail to defend their challenge, must wait 7 days before they can issue a challenge.
* Titleholders (Barons/Overlord) who lose their challenge are eligible to issue a challenge for that Title they failed to defend following the 7 day wait. (I.E. The Former Baron of Seaside may challenge to Seaside after 7 days)
* The 7/14 Day Recess period begins upon the updating of the Official Standings.

* When Challenging the Overlord, The Overlord has the right to appoint anyone as champion to test the challenger provided they appear on the current standings.
* Renegade Barons have the ability to defend a Warlords right to challenge Barons or Overlord.
* Renegade Barons, when challenging the Overlord, have the right to appoint a Warlord or another Renegade Baron as champion when tested by the Overlord provided they appear on the current standings.
* Warlords are unable to appoint a champion for any tests.
*A duelist must appear on the standings in order to issue a challenge. This includes any special grants issued including the Overlord Grant.


Overlord and Baron Challenges and the Council

* A Barons Council will no longer be required to provide votes / judgment on challenge issues.
* There is a 30 Minute leeway given to duelists in a challenge to arrive after the scheduled time. (I.E. Challenge is scheduled at 8pm, you have until 8:30 before the following rules commence)
* If an Overlord, Baron, or Challenger fail to arrive to at the scheduled challenge time, they are given 7 days to complete the challenge. No extensions beyond this will be given. Should one fail to show at the second appointed time, the missing party or parties will be stripped of their title/grant.
* If the Overlord is stripped while under challenge, the Senior most Baron will defend it.
If defended, the title will go to a Baron's Tournament. This is the only tournament allowed to decide the Overlord.
* If a Baron is stripped while under challenge, the Senior most Baron will defend it.
If defended, the title will go to a Tournament decided by the Administrative Staff.


If Overlord or Barony is Retired Without Challenge

*If the Overlord retires their title, the title is placed in a Double Elimination Barons Tournament.
*If the Baron retires their title, the title is placed in the Double Elimination Warlords Tournament as initial choice or a Tournament decided by the Administrative Staff dependent on length of time until the next WLT.

Stripping of Challenge Rights for Rescinding Challenges

*If a player challenges for a title and then rescinds their challenge (2) two or more times in a cycle, upon the second time they do this that Challenge Right will be stripped of them. This is reset upon conclusion of the following cycle.
(I.E. Duelist rescinds twice in Fall Cycle. That duelist is stripped of a Fall Cycle Grant. This will come off that duelists record upon completion of the Winter Cycle. If they were to rescind one in the Winter Cycle, they are stripped of that grant.)


Improperly Issued Challenges

* Challenges, should they be issued incorrectly, shall be considered null and void. Upon the (2nd) second improperly issued challenge in the same cycle, that challenge right shall be revoked. This resets at the end of the cycle.

Changes to Alignment System

* Loyal / Renegade System stays in place
* Removal of the ability for a "Loyal Wall"
* An Overlord is still able to test challengers
* An Overlord is still able to intercede on challenges to Barons
* Changing the word "Intercede" to "Test" for both situations
* The Overlord Grant remains unchanged.

Standings:

* The DoS Standings will be considered Official on Thursday, 6PM EST. If they are posted before then, any challenges made before 6PM EST on Thursday will be considered null and void, allowing other challenges to be issued properly.

* Title Changes are not considered official until they are listed in the standings. This means should a challenge take place on a Friday, and the Baron or Overlord lose their defense, they still gain the benefits of that rank until the new standings take place.(Fancies, Grants, Testing, etc.)

* Challengers, while they may be considered the new titleholder upon victory, will not gain the benefits of that new title until such time as the Standings reflect their victory. (I.E. Warlords, should they win a Barony, will maintain their 4 fancies until the new standings)


Events 2014

* Halloween Havoc: Up To 8 Challenge Grants may be given to those who complete an event task, Event pending. These challenges are eligible for testing.
* DoS Madness: Test Free Grant to winner and Second Place. Grants become Non-Test Free grants if given out to others.
* Warlord Tournament: Shall now always be in a double elimination format. Previously this was up to the person running the tournament.
* Talon: Remains a single elimination tournament. Is no longer limited to 16 entries but may accept as many as wish to enter. Wins gained throughout the tournament will be added to duelists WoL.
* There are several other events planned, but there are details that must be worked out. It is possible, however unlikely, that they will be awarded a test-free grant.


Additional Notes:

* With the removal of the “Loyal Wall,” There is no more need for extra Test Free challenges.

* DoS Madness is the super bowl of DoS. A Test-Free Baronial challenge will be awarded to the winner and a Test-Free Baronial to Second place. Those who are gifted a grant by a Victor or Baron who wins are eligible to be tested.

* One Test-Free Baronial Challenge Grant will be awarded in the Warlord Tournament. This is in addition to the Test-Free Overlord Challenge awarded. Should there be (1) One or More Vacant Baronial Titles available, these will be offered in the Warlord Tournament in lieu of the Test-Free Grant.

* All Grants given in tournaments or special events do not count towards the regular allotment of grants to a Warlord.

* DoS Madness is the Super Bowl of the Duel of Swords. A Test-Free Barony challenge will be awarded to winner and a Test-Free challenge will be awarded to Second place. Those who are gifted a grant by a Victor or Baron who wins will be eligible to be tested. This will leave only 6 Test-Free Barony challenges per year.

* Any bugs in this patch will be addressed on a case by case basis in order to correct them so that they may work as intended.

As always:

Any dispute that is not clearly covered under the preceding rules shall fall under the jurisdiction of the Duel of Swords Supervisor. This Judgment shall be considered final and may only be overturned by the Dueling Coordinator.

[DUEL Apple]

Original Post: Link to the Post

This is a Copy & Paste of G's original post from 03 Sep 2014

___________________________________

I received requests for clarification a while back. I apologize for not getting to this sooner. Hopefully these will answer the majority of the questions brought up overall.

I should note that the preview is pretty much a done deal. The only alterations would likely be to the details. Things that have changed (But are not reflected on the preview patch notes yet) are a change to a length of time after failed challenges of 14 days being changed to 7 days, Renegades only being allowed to appoint Warlord champions instead of anyone on the standings, being unable to challenge the same Baron twice in a row in the same cycle, etc. Most of it will be covered below.

Question 1: * The DoS Standings will be considered Official on Thursday, 6PM EST. If they are posted before then, any challenges made before 6PM EST on Thursday will be considered null and void, allowing other challenges to be issued properly.

This is only when something wouldn't be updated until the new standings, right? Like if Gren defeats Morgan Thursday, no one can challenge Gren for OL until the next Thursday at 6 pm. But since there's barons currently challengeable, like Aya, Claire, Jake, Napoleon, they can still be challenged on any day as it isn't contingent on the new standings, right?

Or if a baron changes loyalty, it isn't in effect until the new standings come out, right? What if Shadowlord changes his alignment to loyal on Tuesday, the Shadowlord/Teagan duel is slated for Wednesday, can Morgan intercede or not?

How does this affect a baron's right to immediate challenge if the Overlord changes his/her alignment from renegade to loyal? Does the newly renegade baron have to wait until the standings reflect this to challenge, and does this right to immediate challenge supersede all others regardless of time stamps? "

Can, at anytime, switch the alignment of a Loyal Baron with reason given in writing to all Barons and to the Standings Keeper provided a WoL record of 15 is maintained. If the Overlord should banish a Loyal to a Renegade alignment, then the Overlord must accept an immediate challenge of title if issued by that Baron. This challenge will supersede any other challenges, including that of a WLT winner."

Q1. Part A:
Should a challenge match take place after the Standings are considered official, that Result is not considered complete until the next standings. I.E. If Gren defeats Morgan on Thursday night, Morgan will still be considered Overlord until the next standings. She would be allowed to test challengers for Loyal Barons. All other unchallenged Baronies remain the same. This will also apply to all alignments. Example, if Gren defeats Morgan, a Baron may declare renegade to him, but will remain loyal to Morgan until the next standings are posted.

Any Barons who are eligible before the standings remain so. Nothing changes there.

Q1. Part B: Providing a post is made on the forums, switching alignments to Renegade will be considered official instantly. A Renegade Baron must publicly petition on the forums and be publicly accepted by the Overlord to be Loyal. The Baron will be instantly recognized as Loyal upon acceptance of the Overlord. All challenge rules then apply upon these alignment switches.

Question 2: Renegade Barons have the ability to defend a Warlords right to challenge Barons or Overlord.
* Renegade Barons, when challenging the Overlord, have the right to appoint anyone as champion when tested by the Overlord provided they appear on the current standings.

Does this overwrite the current rule that says a renegade has precedence over another renegade's champion?
"Renegade intercession takes priority over a Renegade Baron's champion. The first Renegade Baron to state intention to intercede shall have precedence. Though not a requirement, the time and date of the sending of a letter delivered to the Standings Keeper declaring the Baron's intention to intercede shall be the only proof accepted on this issue."

It does.

Renegade Barons may only choose a Warlord or another Renegade Baron as a champion in a test from the Overlord. Warlords do not get to choose a champion, but a Renegade Baron may step in on their behalf.

Question 3: What is the rationale for changing intercession to test?

For the sake of simplicity. Too many questions come up in regards to intercession vs test and which means what. People have used both terms interchangably both correctly and incorrectly. To do away with this issue, it's simpler to just make it one word. An Overlord can test Loyal Baron's challenger, and the Renegade Baron can Counter the test.

Question 4: * Titleholders (Barons/Overlord) who lose their challenge are eligible to issue a challenge for that Title they failed to defend following the 14 day wait. (I.E. The Former Baron of Seaside may challenge to Seaside after 14 days)

"Does this effectively give the losing baron a grace period? So no one can challenge the new baron until the 14 day period has expired without losing baron challenging? Or can a warlord still challenge once the standings are posted (assuming they have the challenge rights to do so) and the losing baron is out of luck?"

First, it should be noted that the length of time is being changed to 7 days. Regarding the question, The victorious party in a challenge match does not receive a grace period. The Losing Baron would not be eligible to issue any challenges for 7 days after the standings reflecting the challenge results are posted. I.E. Aya loses her Barony on a Thursday the 7th. The standings reflecting this will be posted on Thursday the 14th. She would not be eligible to issue a challenge until Thursday the 21st. Loyal Barons can only be challenged once per calendar month(The new Baron would be able to be immediately challenged in the example above on the 14th) and Renegade Barons still will have a queue. The 7 days is only for the loser of the challenge.

Question 5: * There is a 30 Minute leeway given to duelists in a challenge to arrive after the scheduled time. (I.E. Challenge is scheduled at 8pm, you have until 8:30 before the following rules commence)
* If an Overlord, Baron, or Challenger fail to arrive to at the scheduled challenge time, they are given 7 days to complete the challenge. No extensions beyond this will be given. Should one fail to show at the second appointed time, the missing party or parties will be stripped of their title/grant.

Q5. Part A: OK, just thinking about this because of things like this happening in TDL. What if the first scheduled time it was the challenger that no showed, so seven days later, the challenged doesn't show? (or switch challenged in the first time, challenger second time).

This is more difficult, and a valid question. At this time, we are looking at it as a 7 days only extension. Whichever party fails to show on the second challenge would be considered forfeit. By the time the reschedule is made, everyone involved should know to allow time to be there for the challenge.

Q5 Part B: And... I assume extensions/exceptions can be granted on a case-by-case basis, but what if I had a challenge scheduled, the challenger no shows, but I'm going on vacation so can't get it scheduled within seven days?

Extensions and Exceptions will be on a case by case basis. I would recommend, however, that should a vacation be looming to not schedule a challenge at the last minute. Providing advance notice, however, is appreciated and would be taken into consideration. I.E. A challenge is issued, "I've got a vacation coming up in two weeks." At this point, I would hope that the challenge match is not scheduled on day 14 just to have one no show.

Question 6: On the part with not challenging the same barony twice. "* Warlords are unable to challenge the same Barony twice in a row. (I.E. Seaside, and then Seaside again.) "

Is that in the same cycle? What if I challenge for New Haven in August, then next March I want to challenge for New Haven again and didn't press any other challenges in between?

I *think* the intention here is to avoid harassing/targeting the baron using zerg tactics (throwing bodies at your enemy until the enemy runs out of defenses). I know it confuses issues, but could (assume they are both warlords) Morgan challenge for New Haven, lose, then Napoleon could challenge for New Haven? If so, it doesn't really avoid harassing/targeting the baron if someone has 5 or more warlords and effectively gets 10 challenge a cycle to target someone they don't like OOC. All it really does is stop a 10th ring/Var thing where he would constantly challenge for the 10th ring because he thought it was his.

So I guess my real question is what is the intention behind restricting a warlord from challenging the same barony twice in a row? And does it hold if the barony switches hands?

A Warlord will be unable to challenge for the same Barony twice in a row within the same cycle. ( ie: Challenge for Seaside once, lose, Challenge for Seaside again.) They could, conceivably, challenge for Seaside at the end of one cycle, lose, and challenge for Seaside at the beginning of the next. That scenario is alright, as they would not be able to challenge for that Barony again in the second cycle with exception to the following rare example:

End of Cycle A
Challenge Right used to challenge for Seaside
Beginning of Cycle B
Challenge Right used to challenge for Seaside
Second Challenge Right used to Challenge for New Haven
WLT Challenge Grant used to challenge for Seaside
All in the same cycle.

The main intention for this is to allow for the ability for others to challenge for that Barony instead of having it locked up by one character. In the example given of 10 Warlords for one player, this does cut it down to potentially 5. Right now the most characters under one player ranked Warlord is 3. So while that would allow three challenges, it can also be considered an unlikely scenario to be abused. However should it be abused, we can address it then. While I don't anticipate a rush on one individual Baron at this time, it is something I will closely watch. Especially as there are those who could have many Warlords taken off the inactivity list.

We also don't know everyone's alts. And while we do know quite a few and most people don't seem to keep it secret anymore, I don't want to be that intrusive. If they are known, then we can address that situation.

Question 7: * When Challenging the Overlord, The Overlord has the right to appoint anyone as champion to test the challenger provided they appear on the current standings.
* Renegade Barons have the ability to defend a Warlords right to challenge Barons or Overlord.
* Renegade Barons, when challenging the Overlord, have the right to appoint anyone as champion when tested by the Overlord provided they appear on the current standings.
* Warlords are unable to appoint a champion for any tests.

Historically, only the Overlord could choose anyone of any rank. Challenging Barons could only choose a Warlord as their champion. I believe that should remain unchanged. Overlord anyone. Challenging Baron a Warlord.

This is an acceptable point. We will be changing it to limit the Baron's choices to Warlord only. Also, see response to Question 2.

Question 8: Though I am not sure I think a Warlord should immediately be able to challenge upon gaining Warlord rank. They should at least fall under the 14 day waiting period a Baron does upon losing their title.

It's been considered, and as we feel that the new Warlord has put in their time and effort to gain 15 WoL to earn the rank, they have earned that challenge. There is no anticipation for this to be abused as there are not many characters that are closing in on the Warlord rank at the moment.

[DUEL Apple]

Original Post: Link to the Post

This is a Copy & Paste of Apple's original post from 17 Nov 2014

___________________________________

Main post has been updated to read.

Renegade Barons may only choose a Warlord or another Renegade Baron as a champion in a test from the Overlord. Warlords do not get to choose a champion, but a Renegade Baron may step in on their behalf.

* Renegade Barons, when challenging the Overlord, have the right to appoint a Warlord as champion when tested by the Overlord provided they appear on the current standings.

First, it should be noted that the length of time is being changed to 7 days. Regarding the question, The victorious party in a challenge match does not receive a grace period. The Losing Baron would not be eligible to issue any challenges for 7 days after the standings reflecting the challenge results are posted. I.E. Aya loses her Barony on a Thursday the 7th. The standings reflecting this will be posted on Thursday the 14th. She would not be eligible to issue a challenge until Thursday the 21st. Loyal Barons can only be challenged once per calendar month(The new Baron would be able to be immediately challenged in the example above on the 14th) and Renegade Barons still will have a queue. The 7 days is only for the loser of the challenge.

* Barons, should they fail to defend their challenge, must wait 7 days before they can issue a challenge.
* Titleholders (Barons/Overlord) who lose their challenge are eligible to issue a challenge for that Title they failed to defend following the 7 day wait. (I.E. The Former Baron of Seaside may challenge to Seaside after 7 days)
* The 7/14 Day Recess period begins upon the updating of the Official Standings.

Edit: Edited to fix an error in "* Renegade Barons, when challenging the Overlord, have the right to appoint a Warlord as champion when tested by the Overlord provided they appear on the current standings." Now correctly reads "* Renegade Barons, when challenging the Overlord, have the right to appoint a Warlord or another Renegade Baron as champion when tested by the Overlord provided they appear on the current standings."

[DUEL Apple]

Original Post: Link to the Post

This is a Copy & Paste of Apple's original post from 02 Nov 2014

___________________________________

Blue is the newest Talon of Redwin!

With six competitors wanting looking to take the Talon home, it was Blue who fought though the single elimination tournament to win the dirk.

Important: A new rule has been added to the Talon of Redwin starting from the beginning of this tournament. From now on, due to the *always* Single Elimination format, wins gained during the Talon of Redwin will be transferred to a duelists Wins over Losses. Losses will not count. Byes will not gain any WoL.

WoL Gain during this Tournament

Blue: 3
Grace: 1
Sabine: 1
___________________________________

Edit to main post:

* Talon: Remains a single elimination tournament. Is no longer limited to 16 entries but may accept as many as wish to enter. Wins gained throughout the tournament will be added to duelists WoL.

[G]

* Barons, should they fail to defend their challenge, must wait 7 days before they can issue a challenge.

Corrected to read..

* Titleholders, should they fail to defend their challenge, must wait 7 days before they can issue a challenge.