The following rules apply to the Premier Division and the Premier Division Finals only.

Overview




  1. General Rules
  2. Teams and Players
  3. Schedule and Punctuality
  4. Hosting and Settings
  5. During a game
  6. Finals
  7. Betting and Gambling
  8. Rule Violation and Punishment
  9. Prizes
  10. 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



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 overrules those to ensure fair play throughout each season.



Every participant must show respect towards admins and other participants. Insults and unfair or disrespectful behaviour towards anyone are not tolerated and will be punished.



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 the Premier Division, 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 every stage 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 administration are 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
  • 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.

Roster Changes (updated)



Team members can be removed anytime as long as at least five members are left. To request a removal, the captain or manager of the team or the affected member himself must contact the admin responsible for the division.



Any player who was in a Premier Division team's lineup cannot join a lower Division team in the same season.



A new member can only be added if the player hasn't played a game for another team in their group. To request an addition, the captain or manager of the team must provide the administration all necessary information to comply with rule 2.2.



A team can only add up to two new players during the season.



If any data about the team needs to be changed, the primary contact of the team can request it from the division admin at any time. If any data of a specific team member needs to be changed, the participant or his captain or manager can request this towards the division admin at any time.



If a team would like to change the primary contact (be it team member or manager), it has to be confirmed by either the current (old) captain/manager or at least four other members of the team.



Stand-ins



Stand-ins are participants used by a given team as a player during a match, without them being an official member of said team.



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 within the same group.



Each stand-in must be registered on joindota.com to be eligible to play.



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



In-game Names



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


Schedule and Punctuality



Match times



The preliminary schedule of each week will be provided by the admins by at least the preceeding Wednesday through a dedicated Discord group.



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. Teams are responsible for keeping up to date during the schedule period and making sure that they are aware of the schedule for the upcoming week.



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.



Punctuality



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


  • 5 minutes late => Level 1 Draft Penalty
  • 10 minutes late => Level 2 Draft Penalty
  • 15 minutes late => Level 3 Draft Penalty
  • 20 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 will be given to the 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



Lobby Hosting



Every game will be hosted by an admin. The teams will receive the lobby password from him about 15 minutes before the match time via the Discord server. At least one member of each team must be present at that time to communicate with the opponents and administration.



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



Spectators



Only admins, official broadcasters, joinDOTA staff members, anyone authorized by an admin, and the ten players are allowed to inside the game 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 on sides and draft order. If for some reason this in-game function does not work, the admin will manually do the procedure.

Game settings



  • GAME MODE - Captains Mode
  • Lobby Password: Must be set
  • Server Location: See 4.3
  • Lobby visibility: Public
  • Enable Cheats: No
  • Selection Priority: See 4.4
  • 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 (Bo3 for the Group stages)
  • 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 (4.2) 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 into the chat of a match's broadcast will be considered as a spectator of said broadcast.



Bugs



Abusing a bug is strictly forbidden. Players are expected to report any bugs they find during the match so that the admin 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". Always wait for the ancient to be destroyed.


Finals



For the playoff stage of each season of the joinDOTA League, the following rules apply in addition to the regular season rules.

Scheduling rules for playoffs


During the playoffs, matches will be scheduled as the bracket progresses. If both teams agreed on a match time, the participants can only move the matches under extreme circumstances and with at least two days before the official match time.
Requesting reschedule on a short notice during the playoffs could mean losing the given match if there are no alternatives in scheduling.

Forfeiting playoffs


A team can decide not to participate in a given playoff. If so, they have to contact the responsible supervisor before the start of the playoffs. Failing to inform the administration or providing a valid reason will lead to relegating the team to one division lower than their possible lowest destination would have been in the playoffs. For example: A team meant to participate in Premier Division playoffs would be relegated to Division 3.
The validity of reasons is based on solely the discretion of the administration.

Forfeiting game 2 without reason in the playoff stage


Participating teams agree to play all their games to the best of their abilities. Forfeiting games within a series without a valid reason is not allowed. If a team forfeits game(s) on 2 occasions without a valid reason, they will be relegated one division lower than their possible lowest destination would have been in the playoffs.
The validity of reasons is based on solely the discretion of the administration.

Forfeiting Finals


If a team decides not to participate in the Premier Division Finals it loses all eligibility to receive prize money.


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 anyone 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



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 the entire match
  • Disqualification from the season
  • Disqualification from future seasons
  • Prize Money Reduction



Rule violations in 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