Outer Rim War III

Outer Rim War III: The Subterrel Conflict (ORW3) is a multi-club, multi-player competition organized by the Rebel Squadrons. It is the latest in a long line of competitions that includes Outer Rim War (ORW), Outer Rim War II (ORW2), the Minos Conflict, and Celestial Fury (CF). Its start date is the weekend February 3rd, 2007. The competition features multiplayer gaming of a variety of types, from X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter to Empire at War.

The rules on this page are now mostly definite and may be considered final pending small changes after the practice skirmish.

The War

This is a multiplayer gaming competition involving many SW clubs fighting over territory, in the form of planetary systems, set in the Outer Rim. The War ends when one group has captured all of the systems in the Subterrel Sector.

This ORW, rather than featuring all of the clubs at odds with each other, will use three "factions" of clubs that have formed temporary, uneasy alliances with each other whose enemy are the other two factions. The three factions are "Rebel," who are affiliated with the New Republic; "Imperial," several remnants of Palpatine's Galactic Empire; and "Sith," Force-using followers of the Dark Side who are gradually conquering the galaxy.

The factions are intended to be as balanced as possible. After the War has begun, clubs may join the war at any time, pending a majority vote by the ORW Council, if it is possible to keep factions balanced. Clubs may also switch factions during the War, pending a 2/3 vote by the ORW Council, although this is not recommended except to rectify any major unbalanced factions.

A Skirmish to test the balance of the factions took place on Sunday, January 21st in #Outerrim. No problems with the match-ups determined were discovered.

Fictional background

Twelve systems in the Subterrel Sector in the Outer Rim have been occupied by the three factions, and events have led to war. Who will emerge the victor of this fight?

The Imperials originally discovered a mysterious secret in one of the systems of the sector. The secret was soon also discovered by the Sith, who began fighting the Imperials for possession of the sector and the secret. A New Republic spy discovered the secret and rushed back to NR space, but was intercepted and destroyed by the Sith. The Imperials, unaware of this, attacked the nearest New Republic installations, unwittingly bringing the NR forces into a three-way war against them and the Sith. The true reason for the immense war brewing in the Subterrel Sector is known to only a few.

Location

The Subterrel Sector is the staging area for ORW3. This region of space is viable for a number of reasons.

• It is beyond the Outer Rim (beyond civilised space), out in Wild Space (mostly uncharted).
• It's nowhere near any major trade routes.
• The galaxy at large don't know or care about the region.
• Due to its lack of importance, there is practically no canon information available, so we cannot be contradicted by canon material (the only major event of significance was that Luke and Leia Skywalker were born in this region, but not even they know that).
• It's neutral ground, where none of the clubs have a foothold.
• It is a fair distance from RS space (and several other clubs), but not prohibitively so (it's halfway between the Rimma Trade Route -- our location -- and the Hydian Way).

Possessions

• The three factions will begin with four planetary systems each.
• After each week, the faction who scored the most points that week will capture one system from the faction with the lowest score and at least one remaining system.
• A faction without any remaining systems may continue to play, but must achieve the highest score in any given week to recapture a system. Note that this means every club may participate, and possibly still win, until the last day of the competition.
• The war is over when one faction has captured all twelve systems.
• The systems will be divided among the faction according to their fraction of total points earned during the competition.
• The determining of exactly which system is captured and occupied each week by which club, under the restrictions above, will be determined by a small number of people, who will announce the result in the ORW NL. This determination only affects the fictional side of things, as all planets will be strategically equal out-of-character.

Competition Sector Map Schematic

This is a rough map of the arrangement of systems to be fought over, presented on the sector map.

A more detailed and professional looking campaign map that will be updated weekly is currently in production.

• Before each weekly battle of the Subterrel Conflict is fought, the ORWIII design team determines which worlds are being fought over — this competition does not use strict rules determining which worlds are to be fought over, as the locations as indicated on that map draft will be randomised slightly to make a more organic-looking configuration that is roughly in that shape (akin to constellations as seen in space that look sort of like object, but aren't perfectly formed).
• Any world is potentially available to be fought over per battle, however the guideline will be to attempt to designate the worlds closest to each other for logistics/storyline reasons — such details will be decided by the council before each battle.

Newsletter

• The ORW newsletter, The Outer Rim Times, will be published each week and will highlight the main aspects of that week's competition.
• Staff should be drawn from all three factions, and may include any number of members from each club.
• Each week's newsletter will contain the current map of systems owned as a centerpiece.
• The newsletter will be entirely in-character and will involve a fair amount of fictional extrapolation from numbers. No numbers from the actual matches are likely to be used.
• The NL aims to be as unbiased as possible and not be centered on any particular club. Individual clubs or factions may produce their own newsletters from a different point of view.
• Another idea is to have the newsletter as an intelligence report from an operative that has successfully infiltrated all three factions, reporting to an unknown external organisation that is not named. This allows for the wealth of information being freely known by the author, and is a way to provide an unbiased narrative, as the operative is affiliated with none of the battling factions.

Staff:

• RS: David Vaughan, Eric Skrevski
• Many more writers and editors will be accepted; please contact Dave at fc@rebelsquadrons.org if you are interested.

ORW Council

The Outer Rim War Council is the top authority in ORW3. The Council will consist of one official representative from each club (likely their leader), who will vote for that club on any matter necessary. The Council will resolve large disputes, officially approve and modify the ORW3 rules, oversee faction alignment, and any other matter involving clubs as a whole. A small number of additional members from each club may listen to and participate in ORW Council discussions, but each club will have one vote. Clubs may change their representative at any time except during a vote. They may also have a backup representative in case of absence.

Clubs

Club name	Status	Contacts	Type	Past wars	Notes
Rebel Squadrons (RS)	Confirmed	Fleet Admiral Dave Trebonious-Astoris, Fleet Commander, fc@rebelsquadrons.org; General Michael Raven, Executive Officer, xo@rebelsquadrons.org; Lieutenant General Jon Anchorage, Operations Officer, jonanchorage@mchsi.com; Lieutenant Colonel David Vaughan, Logistics Officer, david@melda.com.au	New Republic-affiliated	ICTE, CF, ORW2, ORW, Minos	DB ally; BattleStats club: most games (29 members); #RS_Bar_and_Grill on irc.undernet.org
Dark Jedi Brotherhood (DB)	Confirmed	Grand Master Jac Cotelin, JacCotelin@gmail.com; Dark Jedi Master Aristan "Sarin" Dantes, Deputy Grand Master, djm_sarin@yahoo.com; Templar Lucius Xerxes Entar, nevergood@gmail.com; Exarch Duga Taldrya Arkarso, Consul of Taldryan, DugaArkarso@gmail.com; SW Karel Bruth`Kothae, #Outerrim admin, karel.bruthkothae@gmail.com	Dark Side of the Force (Sith, Obelisk, Krath)	ICTE, CF	RS ally; #DB on irc.undernet.org
Force Elite Soldiers (FES)	Unconfirmed	Rasr Culdan (Rage), Head Ambassador, Rage@fesgaming.com; Winfil Motti (Motti), Multi-Club Ambassador, Motti@fesgaming.com; Kalra Jessorn (Kalra), Multi-Club Ambassador, Kalra@fesgaming.com	Dark-affiliated	ICTE	RS, DB ally; #FES on irc.fesgaming.com
Emperor's Hammer (EH)	Confirmed	Grand Admiral Astatine, Fleet Commander, fc@emperorshammer.org; Sector Admiral Cyric, Executive Officer, xo@emperorshammer.org; Admiral Ramos Kanzco, Combat Operations Officer, ramos.kanzco@gmail.com	Imperial-affiliated	ORW2, ORW, Minos	BattleStats club: most games (11 members); #Emperor's_Hammer on irc.undernet.org
New Republic 5th Fleet (NR5F)	Confirmed	Grand Admiral Michael Simon, Fleet Commander, manfred.simon@t-online.de; High Admiral Commskywalker, Fleet Executive Officer, commskywalker@hotmail.com; Rear Admiral Mattias Gustafsson, Republican Diplomatic Corps Commander, the_tax_collector@hotmail.com	New Republic-affiliated	ICTE, CF, ORW2, ORW	RS, DB ally; #New_Republic on irc.dal.net
United Pilots Alliance (UPA)	Confirmed	Supreme Council, upahq@upahq.org; UPA_Falcon, Head of UPA Website, falcon@upahq.org; UPA_GoldLeader, Head of Expanded Universe, goldleader@upahq.org	presumably New Republic-affiliated	CF	BattleStats club: 6 BF members, 8 XvT/XWA members
Star Vipers (SV)	Confirmed	Sector Admiral Phoenix Berkana, Fleet Commander, phoenix@crimson-net.org; High Admiral Gaius Horn-Berkana, Executive Officer, keldorn@btinternet.com	Imperial-affiliated	ICTE, CF, ORW2, ORW	RS, DB ally; #SVLobby on irc.undernet.org
Vast Empire (VE)	Confirmed	Grand Moff Kadann, Head of the High Council, kadann@vastempire.com; Grand General Talon, Operations Officer, talon@vastempire.com	Imperial-affiliated	ORW2, ORW	RS ally; #Vast_Empire on irc.vastempire.com
Galactic Empire: An Empire Reborn (GE)	Confirmed	Fleet Admiral Fel, Supreme Commander, fel@empirereborn.net; System Governor Vortagh, Strategic Development Director, grandmofftarkin@grandmofftarkin.net; General Jacob Jansen, Ambassador, jansen@empirereborn.net	Imperial-affiliated	ICTE	DB ally; #Galactic_Empire on irc.undernet.org
Imperial Dominion (ID)	Unconfirmed	Admiral Drax Remlinger, Fleet Commander, tombtrooper@aol.com; Admiral Erryc Lasitter, Executive Officer, spencer79@houston.rr.com	Imperial-affiliated		#Imperial_Dominion on irc.undernet.org
Crimson Mercenaries (CM)	Confirmed	Grand Master Spince, cmspince@crimsonmercenaries.com; Master of Logistics Peter Owen (Enforcer), enforcer@crimsonmercenaries.com; Master of Affairs Wrathious Ockisala (Wrath), wrath@crimsonmercenaries.com; Master of Operations noWedge, capitalist_dog@hotmail.com	Mercenaries		BattleStats club: most games (25 members)
Escuadrón Lores del Sith (ELS)	Confirmed	Commanding Officer Nolferek Darkbringer, nolferek@yahoo.es; Executive Oficcer Demonhunter, cortomaltes85@yahoo.es	New Republic-affiliated		BattleStats club: most games (8 members); #escuadronls on dune.irc-hispano.org
New Republic Navy (NRN)	Unconfirmed	Fleet Admiral Das717, das@nrnr.org; Admiral Mother, kay@southwood243.fsnet.co.uk	New Republic-affiliated		BattleStats club: XvT, XWA (12 members)

(* members) for clubs listed on BattleStats refers to BattleStats membership, not total club membership. For example, the RS has 29 people in the BattleStats club, but 200+ in the club proper.

The Factions

Rebel

• (*) Rebel Squadrons
• (*) New Republic 5th Fleet
• (*) Escuadrón Lores del Sith
• United Pilots Alliance
• (New Republic Navy)

Imperial

• (*) Emperor's Hammer
• (*) Galactic Empire
• (*) Vast Empire
• Imperial Dominion
• (Tie Fighter Alliance)

Sith

• (*) Star Vipers
• (*) Dark Brotherhood
• Force Elite Soldiers
• Brotherhood of Selected Sith

(*) Confirmed participant in ORW3

Scoring

The scoring system of ORW3 will aim to reward participation and not just victory. This system also rewards according to the number of plays involved in a match, so in a 4v4, many more points are awarded than would be in 4 1v1s. The specifics of the system follow:

(# points - item [fictional equivalent])

• 1 vs 1
  • 6 - win [victory on the battlefield]
  • 4 - tie [stalemate on the battlefield]
  • 3 - loss [defeat on the battlefield]
• 2 vs 2 & more
  • 4 - team win (per person) [large victory]
  • 3 - team tie (per person) [large tie]
  • 2 - team loss (per person) [large defeat]
• 1 vs 1 vs 1 (FFA: Free-For-All)
  • 8 - 1st place
  • 5 - 2nd place
  • 3 - 3rd place
• Certain games (EaW, BF2, BF) will earn the players double the merits for all of the above, due to their longer length of play.
  • In the event of a disconnect in a 1v1 match both parties involved are to resume the match within fifteen (15) minutes of the incident. If the disconnecting party does not return within that time span, he will be given a LOSS. The party that remains to play the match will be awarded a WIN.

Please note: If the non-disconnecting member does not make him/herself available for the 15 minute duration, he will be awarded a LOSS if the disconnecter returns to play the match.

If during the resumption of the game a second disconnect occurs, the disconnecting player recieves a LOSS and the other the WIN.

Multiplayer games are to continue as normal if a disconnect occurs.

If a game's progress can not be easily resumed (IE: Empire at War) the game is to be replayed, and the disconnecter reported to the ORW Moderators.

• • Win by forfeit [enemy turns tail]

A forfeit may be called for any of the following reasons, if the other party so desires: No attempt to play the match by one of the participants within 15 minutes after the match is assigned

A forfeit mid-match (Either issued individually in a 1v1, or AS A TEAM in multiple-person competitions) is treated as a LOSS for the forefeitting side, WIN for the side receiving the forfeit. (They receive maximum points)

• Bonuses:
  • 150 points or higher in a week yields mention in the newsletter.
  • 225 points or higher in a week yields a paragraph or news flash in the newsletter.
  • 300 points or higher in the week yields at least half an article in the newsletter.

These values may be modified after Week 1 if deemed necessary.

A club's score will simply be the sum of all of its members' scores.

Possible club strategies:

• Attrition: Fielding a large number of lesser-skilled players who nonetheless overwhelm -- by scoring more overall points -- one or two excellent players on another club, by utilizing the "patrolling territory" bonus. Counterpart: Massacre. This was a strategy not available in Celestial Fury.
• Massacre: Fielding one or two highly skilled players who defeat every player they encounter, from a variety of clubs, and play continuously. Counterpart: Attrition. SV utilized this during Celestial Fury.
• Balanced attack: Fielding several players each in a wide variety of games, to damage forces of all types and win through sheer numbers. Variant of Attrition.
• Concentrated attack: Focusing on one particular game and fielding large numbers of players just for that game, of a variety of skill levels, that carry the club to a victory in that game and, possibly, the event. Variant of Attrition.

Rules

Meta-rule: Rules, factions, and the scoring system may only be changed in between the overall battles.

Cheating

• In an effort to promote a 'clean' competition environment, the ORW council has decided to take a VERY firm and VERY precise stance on cheating in the competition. Suspected cheaters are to be reported to the council with all pertinent evidence (Screenshots, testimony, etc.) and a ruling will be made.
• On the first confirmed instance of cheating, the match will be ruled a WIN for the opposing team, the cheater's personal points will be ZEROed for the entire competition up to the point the offender is confirmed to have been cheating; and the offender will be banned for 24 hours.
• While harsh, we all feel that cheaters have no place here in our competition, and should be dealt with appropriately.
• Please note that the ORW Council may deem that a violation of the spirit but not the letter of the regulation is to be punished.

Games

The following games will be accepted for ORW3:

• (*) Empire at War** (space)
• (*) Empire at War** (ground)
• (*) Battlefront 2
• (*) Battlefront
• Republic Commando
• Jedi Academy
• Jedi Outcast
• X-Wing Alliance
• X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter
• (*) Galactic Battlegrounds (possibly, although perhaps replaceable by EaW)

(*) eligible for double merits, as outlined above

** For the sake of the competition, Empire at War is being treated as two separate platforms: ground and space. The competition bot will need functionality for !signup EaWGround and !signup EaWSpace

Not on the list:

• Jedi Knight: outmoded
• Rebellion: outmoded
• Force Commander: outmoded
• Role-playing (D6 or D20): too logistically difficult
• Fiction writing: not really "real-time"
• Allegiance: popular for its space combat system, but not a Star Wars game

Game Settings

Empire at War (space)

• In-game settings:
  • Starting units: on
  • Heroes and superweapons: off
  • Victory conditions: destroy enemy station
  • Credits: 5000
  • Note: Should both parties agree, these settings may be changed.

Empire at War (land)

• In-game settings:
  • Starting units: on
  • Heroes and superweapons: off
  • Victory conditions: destroy enemy command center
  • Credits: 5000
  • Note: Should both parties agree, these settings may be changed.

Battlefront 2 - Proposal

• Best connection should host and using a dedicated server should be used, if available.
• Each map has to be played twice (with teams changing faction for 2nd match to assure a fair match)
• In-game settings:
  • AI bots to be 10 on each team
  • AI on elite
  • Awards: off
  • Player names: off
  • Team damage: on
  • Heroes: off
  • Reinforcement Ticker Count in game: 225 (in settings 150 percent)
• Individual performance to be determined by player's VP score.

Battlefront - Proposal

• Each map has to be played twice (with teams changing faction for 2nd match)
• In-game settings to be added, but basicaly same as for BFII

X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter - Proposal

• Melees to be played on hard difficulty
• Only melees which are in open space may be played. (ie. no asteroids, minefields, or turkey shoots)
• No AI opponents are to be allowed.
• The nav bouy in the center of the map is not to be targeted and destroyed. If it is apparent that this has occurred, then the match will be voided and replayed. (note: there may be a score adjustment listed on the BSC WoW rules site)
• For games which are 1v1, hosting must be split to 5 mins on each host (and counted as one match with scores added together), unless otherwise agreed upon by both parties.
• For 2v2, 3v3, 4v4, or FFA matches, matches will be played for the full 10 mins. The person with the best connection should host. e.g., Cable over dialup. (unsure on how large or how many teams the bot will make the matches)
• Note on 3v3's: all parties will need either the ImpTac patch or the 10in1 melee patch. The game supplied 4v4 will add AI's if played with 3 people per team.(ditto on previous note)
• Matches must be played with all teams flying the same craft. Although uncommon, if a mixed craft melee is wanted, each team must be comprised of the same mix (ie. 1 X-W and 1 Y-W per team)
• Craft selection must be agreed upon by both teams. If a craft cannot be agreed upon, it is recommended to play two matches, with each match using a separate craft.
• When flying a craft with ION Cannons, any configuration and the use of the W key IS allowed.
• Any craft available through the original game (or with the ImpTac patch)? will be allowed for use in a match.
• In regards to the 3 matches/person/day rule, how should this be worked into 2v2's and such when teams may change composition?

Other Games

• To be specified

ORW location

• Channel: #Outerrim on irc.undernet.org
• When: 9am EST Saturday morning - 12am EST Sunday night. This allows for 39 continuous hours of gameplay over the course of the battle.
• Bot operators (ORW3 admins): Anyone available that is known to be trustworthy; there needs to be an admin on hand at all times, if possible. SW Karel of the DB will be the chief moderator.

Matchups

• Only one match may be played at a time; all participants must re-sign up after a match to play again.
• Combatants may not play against their own club at any time in official ORW combat.
• A person may play the same opponent in a 1v1 a maximum of three times per week and per game.

Example: In one week, three matches in JA, and then also in JO, is allowed by this rule.

• In 1v1s, combatants may only play against members of their own faction three times per week. [Fictionally, this will be considered along the lines of "military drills", or in some instances, "squabbling allies".]

In same-faction combat, the winner will receive 4 points and the loser will receive 2 (equaling the amount the faction as a whole would receive from winning an opposing-faction match). The numbers would be doubled for a double-points platform such as EaW. This is to ensure that factions cannot wrack up huge amounts of points by simply playing themselves.

• In all other types, players may not oppose members of their own faction.

Example: AB may play CC, but AC may not play BC.

• Following from this, in free-for-alls, all three participants must be from different factions.
• 3v3s and 4v4s will be treated differently than other types of matches:
  • The bot will not automatically assign matches; players must determine teams themselves.
  • Multiple games may be played without exiting the game and signing up again.
  • Players should sign up using the bot as with other types, but patrolling points are not available.
• If a person is in multiple clubs, he or she may only play for one club per week.
• After a lag-out, the same opponents may not play each other again that week.
• After yielding two forfeits, a person may not sign up again that week.
• If a person's lag-out total is three or higher and 50% of matches or higher, that person may be asked by the admins to stop playing until the connection issues are resolved.

Maps

In games where unique maps can be chosen; if a consensus can be reached any map may be used for the battle. In the event a consensus can not be reached the ORW council will issue a 'default' map each week for each platform that will be used in this case.

Post-match

• Any participant may report the results of a match by emailing them to ORW_Report@googlegroups.com.
• It is highly recommended to take a screenshot of the results screen of every match. The host must stay at the results screen for at least 5 seconds to allow all participants to take a screenshot.
• Disputes are to be filed to the ORW_Report@googlegroups.com group for consideration by admins.

Coding

The remainder of this page concerns technical details of the ORW3 website and IRC bot.

IRC bot (currently unavailable)

• Coder: Mystic (from scratch)
• Announce all activity in the main channel
• Signups for 1v1 and 2v2, to be done via PM !signup; will require a handle and password to do so
• Removes for 1v1 and 2v2 upon parting channel or quitting, or via !remove
• Topics - Checks for updates to the score every 5 minutes and updates topic accordingly. (Or, the website can notify the bot to change the topic when necessary.)
• Turning on/off - Websites are more reliable than IRC connections, so the bot simply needs a local on/off button.
• Interfaces with the ORW3 website to obtain data.
• For the sake of the competition, Empire at War is being treated as two separate platforms: ground and space. The competition bot will need functionality for !signup EaWGround and !signup EaWSpace

Website (mostly available)

• Coder: Mystic
• Graphics: Terrak
• The code for assigning and reporting matches will be PHP, instead of mIRC as before.
• Place controls for admin match modifying and turning the competition on/off.
• Pages:
  • Reporting - drawing from list of active matches
  • Disputes - a form that emails to the admins egroup
  • Rules
  • Ladder - Individual achievement; allow for display of any given week as well as cumulative (LIC-style)
  • Standings - Club standings, by week or cumulative
  • Newsletters (or "The OR Times") - containing news, maps, etc.
  • Updates - Non-fictional updates, such as changes to the rules, website, staff, or admins.
  • Clubs - Listed by faction and activity, this will contain brief info on each club.
  • Home - Hub of information: brief "about" section, factions' planet holdings, top 3 or 5 players from each club, top 10 overall, top 2 clubs for each game,
  • Contact - List of contacts for each club, list of ORW3 admins, including an email form to contact them
  • Profiles - a player profile for each person: name, club, IRC nick(s), link to profile at club's site, email address, other contact information (AIM, ICQ, MSN, Yahoo, Xfire)
  • Matches list
  • Login/logout
  • Register
  • FAQ
  • Active matches - includes those waiting on the signup list
  • Admin controls - edit report, turn competition on/off (for a particular day or week)

Coding Progress Note

Please be aware that at this time, the above two entries on webpage and bot are not valid. Work on these will continue, but for now ORW3 will use a modified version of the ICTE bot combined with manual score-keeping. This system proved successful at the skirmish and will continue to be our main system of moderation during the competition. The ORW3:The Subterrel Conflict webpage is complete with graphics, rules, and fictional background to the competition, but does not currently have the ability to login or record individual matches.