General Rules

BECOMEtheBEST Overview

Our leagues are run in a sim-style manner. We believe that sim gameplay and integrity are more important than winning at any cost. We want to win, but we want to do it the right way. We want sim game play from play calling to player movement on the field. We do not pad stats and believe in sim play vs both human and CPU opponents.

It is expected that all players conduct themselves in a manner that makes the game fun, fair, and challenging for both parties involved. With an active community, many of the cheap lobby tactics people face can be avoided since both players will be held accountable for the same rules.


Difficulty Level - Madden
Quarter Length - 10 Minutes
Accelerated Clock - 17 Seconds
Sim Rules


Play style:
Everyone has a play style of their own. These differences are more than welcomed as it makes for a diverse league, but it's still important to mix up your play calls. Mix up running and passing. Calling different types of man defense, zone defense, blitzes, and zone blitzes. While people have favorite plays in key situations, running it over and over in that situation should be avoided, such as screen passes on multiple 3rd and longs or FB Dives on every 3rd and Short.

No cheesing -- While EA has done a decent job of removing AI flaws in their games, should any cheap tactics like rocket user catching and nano blitzing be found, they will not be tolerated. Play the game against your opponent, not the AI.


Sportsmanship

Running up the score will not be allowed. This is a gentleman's league suited for mature gamers only. If you are up by 21 points or more in the 4th quarter, you must run the ball to burn the clock. You will be allowed to pass in order to obtain a first down on 3rd downs, but do not throw 50 yard bombs. If it is late in the game and you break a run to get a first down to seal the win, do not run up the score. Run out of bounds or take a knee. If you are up big in the 4th quarter, sub in some backups. Do not attempt to improve progression by tallying stats.

Do not curse or scream profanity at your opponent into the mic or on the boards. If anyone brings drama or airs their disagreements in the chat box or on the boards in an offensive manner they will be instantly removed from the league. If you have a gameplay issue then you can use the process outlined below.

Respect for each of our members is of the utmost importance. There will be no offensive name calling, racial slurs or any other profane behavior. There will be absolutely zero discussion involving politics on our boards. This is a zero tolerance policy. One strike here and you are gone for good.

Weekly Advances and Game Scheduling

BTB will advance every Sunday and Wednesday at 10:00 PM CST. This means that there will be a min of 2 games per week. This gives guys plenty of time late at night to get their games in if they have family commitments and other things that come up.

There will be a scheduling thread located in the forum for each week of the season. You MUST post in the scheduling thread each week. This is necessary in order to track who is making an effort to schedule and play their games. If you do not post in the scheduling thread, and you do not play your game, you will instantly suffer a one week suspension of your best player. Continued lack of posting in the scheduling thread will result in immediate dismissal from the league. Communication is a must for any successful league and this is no different. You are free to contact your opponent any way you see fit, but you must post in the scheduling thread that your game has been scheduled or that you are looking for the opponent to find out when he is available.

If you are unable to make a game or you are going to be on vacation, you must send the league commissioner and your opponents a message letting them know. This will allow the admins to boot you from the league until you return so the opponent can play the cpu. If you are going to be away, simply letting us know will ensure that your spot in the league remains secure and you will incur no penalties for not playing games.

CPU Games

It is very difficult to maintain a full 32 man league so there will undoubtedly be open teams. If you have a game against the cpu then you are free to play the game at any time before the weekly advance. ALL GAMEPLAY RULES APPLY FOR CPU GAMES. Do not run up the score against the cpu in order to help with progression. If you are up late in the game, sub in your backups like you would for regular games. All stats against the cpu will be examined and monitored for validity. For example, if you threw for 600 yards and 6 TDs, you are likely looking at a 3 game suspension of your best player. We do not wish to suspend or punish anyone, so in order to avoid this, simply play the computer like you would a person.

Do not use the supersim option to play your cpu games. We want the stats to remain intact. We have found that the supersim option seems to inflate stats and cause issues with the integrity of the games. You must play the cpu the same way you would play a human opponent. If you do not wish to play the cpu, then the game will be simmed. One or the other must occur, but you cannot play part of the game then super sim once you have a comfortable lead. NO CPU games will be replayed. You get one shot at playing the CPU. Make sure you have the time to get the entire game in before you start.

Disconnects

Disconnects will happen from time to time. There is no way to guarantee that network connectivity will always be optimal. If your game is disconnected, you must replay the game, regardless of when it happened. Quitting and disconnecting your ethernet cable in order to avoid a loss is grounds for immediate dismissal from the league with no exceptions. If you cannot replay the game after several disconnects, then the game may have to be simmed.

Playbook Usage

In an ideal world, we would have each team use a different playbook. We do not wish to inhibit player styles by restricting what playbook you wish to use. You may use any team playbook and any generic playbooks on offense and defense with the exception of the multiple-D playbook.

League Participation and Forum Activity

In order for the league to run smoothly, owners are expected to participate in league activities. This includes scheduling games, monitoring the forums and managing their team properly. You should check the forums every day at least twice a day as information from the commissioners will be posted often. This is especially important in the off season as there are several steps that owners must follow in order to properly manage their teams in the off season. There will often be deadlines put on tasks that we need individual owners to complete. If you do not complete the tasks we will not do them for you and you will most likely miss out on key elements to team management. We will be using Xtreme Football for the league and you are welcome to write blogs as weekly recaps for your games. It is not required to do so, but strongly recommended as it adds to the overall fun and camaraderie of the league.

Disciplinary Action and Gameplay Issues

The gameplay and league rules are non-negotiable and are expected to be followed at all times by all of our owners and league admins alike. The rules apply to EVERYONE who participates in the league. The rules are not designed to hinder anyone and exist solely to ensure a realistic, and enjoyable madden online franchise experience for all of our owners. If you are playing a game and you witness someone breaking any of the rules, you should first try to work it out with your opponent. We are all grown ups here and we expect a high level of maturity and respect for all league members. If you are unable to resolve the issue with your opponent then log the issue to be brought to the administrative team. If the issue involves gameplay tactics, be sure to save replays for examination by the admin team. Without some kind of replay proof it is often difficult to resolve issues or properly enact disciplinary action. We will not be getting into a "he said-she said" kind of situation with gameplay rules. The rules are very detailed and very clear and there are no exceptions to be made.

If you have a gameplay issue or grievance involving another owner DO NOT TAKE IT TO THE BOARDS OR THE CHAT BOX. Anyone who brings issues to the boards (or chat box) will be subject to further disciplinary action which could result in removal from the league. The proper action is to pm one of the admins with a detailed description of the problem and discuss it with us. We will come to a fair judgment and handle the situation as we see fit.

One thing that is very important to remember is that the admins do not enjoy inflicting disciplinary action. However, no one owner is bigger than the league and all rules will be enforced. Most penalties will involve the suspension of high profile players from your team. Repeated offenses will be grounds for dismissal from the league. If you simply obey the rules, respect the fellow members and have a good time, you will have nothing to worry about.

If you are found to have garnered a rule infraction, take the penalty like a grown up. Just because a penalty is inflicted, it does not mean anything personal. You will not be "watched" or "baby sat" just because you broke a rule. While we realize things happen from time to time, it's not hard to play fair and follow the rules. This results in a better experience for everybody. The rules will be enforced and punishment should be accepted and we move on from there. Remember, IT IS NOTHING PERSONAL. The goal here is to be fair and to realize that the rules apply to everyone in the league equally.

The administrative committee and myself will review all gameplay disputes and issues. If you are found to have committed a violation, the disciplinary action taken will result in either of the following:

1. Suspension of best player for 1 to 3 games
2. Suspension of the owner against their next human opponent
3. Dismissal from the league

The admin committee only wants to be fair and reasonable. How you react to breaking the rules and how you behave towards us and the other owners in the league will have an impact on the degree of your punishment. There will be no favorites or special treatment for ANYONE. That is not what this league is about. We all want the league to be fun and fair for ALL members. Simply abide by the gameplay rules and treat all other league members with respect and you will never have anything to worry about.




** Disclaimer - Some rules for this league was made possible form our friends at th No-Non-Sense Football League (NNFL) and are used with the permission of the NNFL commissioner. Please do not use these rules for your league with out permission from the NNFL commissioner lonetazdevil20. We appreciate all the hard work that was put in to creating these rules.

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