Rules

OVERWATCH RULESET

These rules are specific to Overwatch. Please refer to the general rules for information about tournament format, substitutions, rematches and sportsmanship.

Contents

  1. Player ​and ​Team ​Eligibility
  2. Match ​Rules
  3. Penalties
  4. Glossary

Player ​and ​Team ​Eligibility

1.2. Player ​eligibility

1.2.1. To ​be ​eligible ​to ​compete ​in ​the ​British Esports Student Champs, ​each player ​must ​have ​satisfy all of the following conditions:

1.2.1.1. Be ​registered in full-time education ​at ​an ​Institution ​of ​Secondary or Further Education as defined in sections 1.1 within the General Rules.

1.2.1.2. If a student, as defined in 1.1.1.1, is over 19 years of age they must be DBS checked in order to take part in the Champs.

1.2.1.3. They ​must ​have ​a ​EU ​account on Overwatch.

1.2.1.4. A ​Players ​account ​name ​must ​not ​be ​offensive ​and ​if ​the BEA ​considers ​this ​to ​be ​the ​case, ​that ​player ​will ​be ​required to ​change ​their ​name.

1.2.1.5. A Player must be aged 12+ to compete.

1.2.2. Ineligible ​Students

The ​following ​students ​are ​ineligible ​to ​participate:

1.2.2.1. BEA tournament admins

1.3. Team ​eligibility

1.3.1. Each ​team ​must ​have ​a ​designated ​Leader that satisfies the following conditions:

1.3.1.1. A registered staff member at the Institution that the team represents. In exceptional circumstances, a student with written permission from their school or college may be designated leader, subject to British Esports Association approval.

1.3.1.2. Must act as representative and point of contact for BEA.

1.3.1.3. Must supervise all online interaction between Players at that Institution. This can include before and after games as well as during.

1.3.1.4. The leader cannot participate, only supervise.

1.3.2. A ​team ​must consist ​of ​between ​6 ​and ​8 ​players ​from ​the ​same Institution.

1.3.3. A ​player ​must ​be ​only ​on ​one ​team ​at ​once, ​however ​players ​may change ​teams ​throughout ​the ​season.

1.3.4. If ​a ​team ​splits ​up ​the ​majority ​of ​the ​team ​has ​right ​to ​ownership ​of the ​team ​and ​any ​seedings/qualification ​spots ​it ​has ​earnt.

1.3.5. A ​team ​may ​request ​a ​name ​change ​at ​any ​point ​during ​a ​season. ​To change ​a ​team’s ​name ​an ​admin ​must ​be ​contacted ​with ​desired change.

1.3.6. A ​Teams ​name ​must ​not ​be ​explicitly ​offensive ​and ​if ​the ​British Esports Student Champs considers ​this ​to ​be ​the ​case, ​that ​team ​will ​be ​required ​to ​change their ​name.

Match ​Rules

2.1. Match ​Setup ​

2.1.1. All ​games ​must be played ​on ​the ​European ​server.

2.1.2. Players ​must ​use ​the Battle.net ​account ​associated ​to ​their ​British Esports Student Champs profile. ​If ​this account ​information ​is ​not ​up ​to ​date ​it ​will ​lead ​to ​a ​loss ​of ​map pick ​in ​the first ​incident ​with ​increasing ​penalty ​for ​repeat ​offence.

2.1.3. Map choice.

“Home” team is the one displayed on the left of the fixture list. “Away” team is on the right. “Home” team get choice of Control map, then the loser of each of the subsequent maps chooses the next map. Winners choose the starting side (attack or defense).

2.1.3.1. Maps must be chosen from a pool of 8 containing: 2 “Control”, 2 “Hybrid”, 2 “Escort”, 2 “Assault”.

  • Control: Lijiang Tower / Ilios
  • Hybrid: King’s Row / Eichenwalde
  • Escort: Havana / Rialto
  • Assault: Temple of Anubis / Hanamura
  • Control: Lijiang Tower / Ilios (whichever wasn’t picked first)

2.1.3.2. Fixtures will be Best of 5. First to win 3 maps.

2.1.3.3. In the event of a map draw (e.g. 3-3 on Hollywood), one round of a “Control” map will be played to determine the winner of the drawn map. This map must be played immediately after the tied map before moving on. For Winter, this tiebreaker will be Oasis.

2.1.4. Either ​team may ​create the lobby ​and the captain of the opposing team must be contacted and invited to the lobby. PH353 is the lobby code for Overwatch fixtures. This code once inputted will help with ensuring the right settings are turned on, but teams will still need to choose the correct maps from the map pool

The ​lobby ​should ​be ​set ​up ​as ​follows:

2.1.4.1 Preset: Competitive

2.1.4.2. Lobby.

  • Map rotation: after a mirror match
  • Return to lobby: after a mirror match
  • Team balancing: off
  • Swap teams after match: yes
  • Team 1 max players: 6
  • Team 2 max players: 6
  • Max FFA players: 0
  • Max spectators: 2
  • Match voice chat: disabled
  • Pause game on player disconnect: yes
  • 2.1.4.3. Click ‘Modes’ then ‘All’
  • Enemy health bars: enabled
  • Game mode start: all slots filled
  • Health pack respawn time scalar: 100%
  • Kill cam: disabled
  • Kill feed: enabled
  • Skins: disabled
  • Spawn health packs: determined by mode
  • Allow hero switching: enabled
  • Hero limit: 1 per team
  • Limit roles: 2 of each role per team. This enforces 2-2-2 lock.
  • Respawn as random hero: disabled
  • Respawn time scalar: 100%

2.1.4.4. Maps

Disable all but the one to be played next. E.g. if Hanamura is next, turn all but Hanamura to “OFF”.

2.1.4.5 Click ‘Heroes’ then ‘Hero roster’

All heroes enabled, unless new (see 2.1.6, 2.1.7)

2.1.5. Once ​both ​teams ​have ​joined ​the ​lobby ​and ​stated ​they ​are ​ready, ​the lobby ​leader must click Start.

2.1.6. New ​heroes ​may ​not ​be ​used ​until ​they ​have ​been ​available in Competitive play ​for ​at ​least ​one ​week.

2.1.7. Heroes ​which ​have ​been ​reworked ​may ​not ​be ​used ​until ​one ​week has ​passed ​since ​patch ​date.

2.2. Casting ​of ​Games

2.2.1. Tournament ​admins ​and ​people ​that ​are ​explicitly permitted ​to ​spectate ​by ​British Esports Student Champs ​(e.g. ​shoutcasters or ​streamers) ​may ​ask ​to ​spectate. ​You cannot refuse to invite a tournament admin.

2.2.2. Players ​must ​wait ​for ​casters ​to ​declare ​they ​are ​ready ​before starting.

2.2.3. Coaches, managers or anyone not explicitly permitted to spectate may spectate with permission from both teams.

2.2.4. These spectators must be locked to the side of their affiliation e.g. a coach for the blue team must be “locked to blue side”.

2.2.5. Stream delay of at least 120 seconds must be enabled in the streaming software to prevent cheating.

Penalties

3.1. Any ​person ​found ​to ​have ​engaged ​in ​or ​attempted ​to ​engage ​in ​any act ​that ​British Esports Student Champs ​believes, ​in ​its ​sole ​and ​absolute ​discretion, ​constitutes unfair ​play, ​will ​be ​subject ​to ​penalty. ​The ​nature ​and ​extent ​of ​the penalties ​imposed ​due ​to ​such ​acts ​shall ​be ​in ​the ​sole and ​absolute discretion ​of ​the ​British Esports Student Champs.

3.2. If ​any ​team ​or ​player ​is ​suspected ​of ​breaking ​any ​rules, ​admins should ​be ​informed by the Leader. At this ​point ​admins ​may ​ask ​for ​screenshots ​or other ​evidence ​of ​misconduct.

3.3. Upon ​discovery ​of ​any ​team ​member ​committing ​any ​violations ​of ​the rules ​listed ​above, ​the ​British Esports Student Champs ​may, ​without ​limitation ​issue ​the following ​penalties to a team:

3.3.1. Loss ​of ​a ​map pick. In this instance, the opponent is given the map choice.

3.3.2. Issue of ​a ​warning on the team’s permanent record.

3.3.3. Forfeit ​of ​a ​match.

3.3.4. Temporary ​suspension ​of ​a ​player. If this results in <6 players on the team, the team will become ineligible (according to 1.4.2) unless a substitute is brought in.

3.3.5. Permanent ​ban ​of ​a ​player.

3.3.6. Deduction ​of ​points ​or ​seeding ​for ​the ​current ​or ​next tournament. Penalties are carried over with the majority of the offending team for the full academic year.

3.3.7. Disqualification ​of ​team ​from ​a ​tournament.

3.3.8. Disqualification ​of ​team ​from ​the ​British Esports Student Champs.

Spirit ​of ​the ​rules

4.1. These ​Rules ​may ​be ​amended, ​modified ​or ​supplemented ​by ​the ​British Esports Student Champs, ​from time ​to ​time, ​in ​order ​to ​ensure ​fair ​play ​and ​the ​integrity ​of ​the ​British Esports Student Champs.

4.2. All ​decisions ​regarding ​the ​interpretation ​of ​these ​rules ​lie ​solely ​with ​the British Esports Student Champs, ​the ​decisions ​of ​which ​are ​final.

Glossary

5.1. Institution.

A school or college as defined in sections 1.1 And 1.2.

5.2. Player

A student who plays esports in the British Esports Student Champs.

5.3. Admins

Also known as tournament admins, referees, umpires. Admins will create fixtures, calculate results, make sure that players adhere to the Rules and Code of Conduct, hand out penalties.

5.4. Leader

A Leader is an adult member of staff that represents an Institution. A Leader is responsible for supervising online interactions between players, checking-in an Institutions teams, reporting match results to the tournament system. One Leader can be responsible for multiple teams.

5.5. Team

A team is a group of players. A team represents its Institution in the British Esports Student Champs.

5.6. Check-in

The process of reporting a team’s arrival and commitment to play in that week’s matches. Check-in takes place the day before fixtures on the tournament website. Only a Leader can check a team in.

5.7. Map

A map is the main area where the game takes place. There are 4 different types of map – Control, Hybrid, Escort, Assault. The map pool is the wider group of maps, selected by admins, that a team can choose from.

5.8. Hero

A playable character in the game Overwatch. Players have choice of heroes at the start of the match and can change hero as many times as they want during the match.

5.9. Lobby

Lobbies are menu screens where players can set up the upcoming game session, change their settings, and talk to each other. In many games, players return to the lobby at the end of each session. In some, players joining a session that has already started are placed in the lobby until the start of the next. As lobbies consume very few resources they are sometimes additionally used as a “holding pen” for players while waiting for the next match. Opposing teams must be invited to the lobby for the match to proceed.

5.10. Disconnect

Also known as DC. Disconnect can refer to an internet shortage that removes a player from a game or a player intentionally leaving a game.

5.11. Casting

Commentating an esports match. Commentators are known as casters. This is short for shoutcasters, the original term used to refer to esports commentators which has been shortened over time.

5.12. Seeding

The process of preliminarily ranking teams in a tournament bracket to ensure the most fair outcome. Each team is a seed.

5.13. Game

The application, programme, or .exe file, of a game. For example, Overwatch.exe is the game Overwatch.