The following rules apply to Division 2 and all its sub-divisions except Phase 3 Division Lower, which will be covered by the General League Rules.

Overview




  1. General Rules
  2. Teams and Players
  3. Schedule and Punctuality
  4. Hosting and Settings
  5. During a game
  6. Betting and Gambling
  7. Rule Violation and Punishment
  8. Prizes
  9. Legal Process



General Rules



Administration



Everybody who is authorized by Freaks 4U Gaming to administrate the joinDOTA League based on its rules and regulations will be called an "admin" in the following, the collection of all admins will be called the "administration".

Participants and Commitment

(updated)

Every individual with a valid steam account, unless officially banned, is allowed to participate in the joinDOTA League and will be called "participant" in the following. A group of participants fulfilling the minimum required number of team members will be called a "team" in the following.



By signing up to the joinDOTA League, participants acknowledge without limitation to comply with the rules and regulations and with the statements and decisions made by the administration.



Every participant acknowledges the right for the administration to modify the rules and regulations for adjustments at any time without notice and, if necessary, overrule those to ensure fair play throughout each season.



Every participant must always have the newest version of Steam and Dota 2 installed and must check for updates with enough time to download and install them before each match. Unless a new version comes out right before the match, patching is not a valid reason to delay it.



Every participant including stand-ins must be registered on joindota.com and have his or her correct steam ID entered as a game account in the GameSports network.



Every team must sign up for each season of joinDOTA League on joindota.com, following the requirements described on the website. If any issues emerge with Division 2, the following admins should be contacted through Discord or support ticket in the given regions:


  • Europe: Drakolych
  • Asia: Helga
  • America: Drakolych



Every team and participant must try to win every game at any point of the joinDOTA League. Purposefully losing for any reason is strictly forbidden.



Vulgar, racist, sexist or otherwise offensive team or players names are forbidden. Names with deliberately changed size and format are also not allowed.



Communication



The primary communication platform is Discord. At least one representative of each team must be available as much as possible on the official joinDOTA Tournament server.

Confidentiality



All direct communication between teams and the organizers is confidential. This includes reports, protests or any form of interactions with admins. The publication of any of the above is forbidden, unless the organizers give explicit permission in a written statement.

Teams and Players



Team Size



A Team must consist of at least five (5) and at most seven (7) participants. Those persons will be called "team members" or "members" of the team in the following.

Lineup Info



All teams must provide the administration the following information upon request at the start of each season:

  • Full name of all members
  • Steam accounts of all members
  • Primary nicknames of all members
  • Nationality of all members
  • Identity of the captain and optionally of the manager
  • Member to receive DotaTV ticket access (see Rule 4.1.1)
  • Team name and short-form team name
  • Team nationality
  • Team logo (100x100px)
  • Discord account of the captain and/or manager
  • Schedule preferences for the given season


The team's official lineup for the competition is its team profile on joindota.com. It is the team’s responsibility to keep their League profile up-to-date.

Roster Changes

(updated)

Team members can be removed any time as long as at least five members are left. To request a removal, the captain or manager of the team or the affected member must contact an admin about it.



A new member can only be added if they haven't played a game for another team in the same group of the current phase of the league. To request an addition, the captain or manager of the team must provide the administration all additional information to comply with rule 2.2.



A team may only add one new player in each phase during the season.



If any data about the team needs to be changed, the captain or manager of the team can request this from an admin at any time. If any data of a specific team member needs to be changed, the member or their captain or manager can request this from an admin at any time.



If a new team member is declared captain or manager of a team, this must be confirmed by either the former captain/manager or at least four other members of the team.



Eligible Players

(updated)

A player may only take part in a match as a team member if they haven't joined the team within 24 hours of the official match time. Otherwise, they will count as a stand-in and the team must comply with the stand-in rules.



A player needs to apply to change the Steam ID associated with their GameSports network account at least 24 hours before the official match time.




Stand-ins

(updated)

Stand-ins are players used by a temporary team as a member during a match without being an permanent team member.



The maximum number of a team’s stand-ins is limited to two (2) players per game.



A stand-in may not be a member of a team from a higher sub-division during the season or the same group in the current phase.



Player and Roster Restrictions

(updated)

A player may only play for up to three (3) different teams per season. This includes standing in for a team.



A player may only change a team once per season. This implies a player cannot leave their team and then join it again.



If a player has already played for three (3) different teams in a season and then joins another team, they are not eligible to play for this team.



A team may use up to two (2) different stand-ins and the same stand-in once during each phase of a season.



Smurf accounts are considered ineligible stand-ins and are therefore not allowed.



Ingame Names



Each player must have the official info (also called competitive profile) set up properly in Dota 2.

Schedule and Punctuality



Match times



Each week’s schedule will be communicated to the teams by the Wednesday before.



Each team may freely request rescheduling until the end of Friday. In this time period, the initially released schedule will receive multiple changes as rescheduling requests are processed.



On Friday, the schedule is locked and no more changes are made unless there are exceptional circumstances, which will be solely at the discretion of the administration.



Each team receives one (1) wildcard. A wildcard can be used to postpone a match even after the schedule is locked. To claim the wildcard, a member of the team must contact an admin at least 24 hours before the match time and clearly state their wish to use the wildcard.



Punctuality

(updated)

If a team is not ready to start a game in time, the following punishments will be applied by the admin:


  • 1 minute late => Level 1 Draft Penalty
  • 6 minutes late => Level 2 Draft Penalty
  • 11 minutes late => Level 3 Draft Penalty
  • 16 minutes late => Forfeit of the game (but not the match)


X minutes late means that the team is not ready to start until X minutes after the official start time of the game.



If there is no communication from a team and no members are in the lobby, a default win for the whole series will be given to their opponents after 15 minutes.



In extraordinary circumstances, the admin may decide to abstain from this punishment.



After the first game within a series ends, the starting time of the following game is automatically 5 minutes after the Ancient fell. Penalties for Game 2 will be counted based on the new starting time. The match admin may determine a later time as starting time if they see it fit.



Hosting and Settings



DotaTV Ticket



One player of each team will receive access to host on the DotaTV ticket. When the team provides the information required in 2.2, they must clearly state which player should receive ticket access.



The ticket is only to be used for official joinDOTA League matches.



Lobby Hosting

(updated)

The schedule will be distributed to the teams each week on their respective Discord group.



In the information provided on Discord one team per match will be marked as “Hosting team”. This team must host the lobby at least 15 minutes before match time, using the lobby name and password listed in the document.



The player hosting the match must be the player who has access to the ticket (see 4.1.1). If that player is unavailable for a match, the other team must host the match on the ticket.



Participants are not allowed to share the password with anyone but the other members of their team and the stand-in(s) for the match.



Lineup Submission and Ready Up



The leader or captain of each team must select the five (5) players for the match on the match page prior to the official match time. All eligible team members and stand-ins according to Rules 2.5 and 2.6 will be selectable.



Each player who was selected for the match must confirm their participation for the match on the match page within 15 minutes after the official match time. Failing to ready up in time will result in a default loss.



If the roster changes for the second game, the leader or captain must communicate this on the match page.



Roster and Lineup Check



Both teams are responsible for checking their opponent's roster before the start of the game. If a roster is found not valid according to the rules, then the team can refuse to start the game.



As soon as the first creepwave spawns, the game is considered ongoing and protests about the roster are no longer accepted.



Delays caused by invalid rosters are treated like any other delay and are covered in the Punctionality rules. However, every team has at least five (5) minutes to fix an invalid roster regardless of how much time is remaining.



Spectators



Only admins, official broadcasters, joinDOTA staff members, anyone authorized by an admin, and the ten players are allowed in the game's lobby. Team managers or coaches may join the lobby, but must leave before the game starts. Everyone else has no permission to enter.

Server Location



The default server location depends on the region:

  • joinDOTA League Europe: Europe West (Luxembourg)
  • joinDOTA League America: US East
  • joinDOTA League Asia: Singapore



A different server can be used if both teams agree to it or an admin decides to.



Sides and Drafting Order



The automatic selection priority system of the in-game client is used to decide sides and draft order. If for some reason this in-game function does not work, an admin will manually do the procedure.

Game settings



  • GAME MODE - Captains Mode
  • Lobby Password: Taken from the OneDrive document
  • Server Location: See 4.6
  • Lobby visibility: Public
  • Enable Cheats: No
  • Selection Priority: See 4.7
  • Penalty Radiant/Dire: See 3.2.1
  • League: chosen by the admin (current season of jDL)
  • Spectators: Enabled
  • Dota TV Delay: 5 Minutes
  • Pausing: Unlimited
  • Series Type: Depending on the stage of the competition
  • Bot settings: No


During a game



Picks & Bans



The hero pool always consists of all heroes the game mode allows and therefore could change during the competition.
Standard Captains Mode rules apply for the drafting phase.
The game must not be paused during the draft unless a drafter disconnects.

Pauses



Each team has the right to pause the game for an acceptable duration. The game must not be resumed before both teams agree on it. When the number or the duration of breaks becomes too high or long, the administration may force the continuation of the game.

Disconnects



If a player disconnects, the game is to be paused instantly. Every player has up to ten (10) minutes to reconnect to the game in total. If this time is passed, the opposing team may continue the game.


Broadcasting



Everyone who is allowed to spectate according to the spectator rules (4.5) is allowed to provide a video stream with a delay of two minutes.



Broadcasters who use Dota TV to spectate the game may stream without any additional delay.



Players may never watch or listen to any broadcast of a match they are playing. Any participants logged in to the chat of a match's broadcast will be considered a spectator of that broadcast.



Bugs



Abusing a bug is strictly forbidden. Players are required to report any bugs they find during the match, so the referee can make a decision on how to proceed.

Cheating



The usage of any Dota-related tool aside from Steam during a match is strictly forbidden.

Ending



A game is finished when an Ancient is destroyed, when the majority of a team disconnects on purpose or when the administration decides on it. A game is not forfeited when a player types "gg" or "ff".

Betting and Gambling



Players, coaches or any other members of a signed up team or organization can not participate in any gambling activity that is connected to the joinDOTA League.
In addition, they are not allowed to provide any information that would directly influence bets made in connection with the tournament to anyone.
Teams or players betting against their own team results in immediate disqualification and a two-year ban to everybody who participated in the betting.
All other punishments regarding gambling or betting will be determined by the organizers on a case by case basis.

Rule Violation and Punishment



Infraction Points



Teams can earn Infraction Points for:


  • Not appearing for a match (3 points per match)
  • Forfeiting (3 points per match, 1 point per single game)
  • Bad manners (case dependant)
  • Not submitting roster information (1 point per game played)



If a team receives 6 or more infraction points, it will be disqualified from the season. All its matches will be closed with a 0-0 result.



Punishment



Breaking the rules or ignoring the instruction of an admin may result in a punishment for the whole team or a specific player. Type and amount is chosen by an admin.



Possible Punishments include but are not limited to:

  • Draft Penalty
  • Loss of one game
  • Loss of a match
  • Disqualification from the season
  • Disqualification from future seasons
  • Prize Money Reduction



Rule violations on external Dota 2 leagues or tournaments may also result in punishments for joinDOTA competitions.



Prizes



The prize pool and distribution for each season is stated in an official announcement on our website.

Legal Process



Legal proceedings are not permitted.

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Last update: 21.02.2019