LEAGUE GUIDELINES
Powerhouse is one of the founding dynasties here on TGT. We have had our issues like most dynasties over the years but we strive first and foremost to be a league where people respect one and another. We may occasionally get upset in the heat of the moment but at the core it comes from competitive respect. It’s not enough to know what the rules are, as those that know the rules the best are often the ones trying to get around them. Respect is the #1 guarantee that a game will be played in a fair manner.
I believe the #1 reason Powerhouse has thrived is because of the camaraderie we’ve built over the years. We work together as a team for the betterment of Powerhouse which is something a lot of other dynasties can’t say. Camaraderie is the foundation of which this dynasty has been built upon - if a member decides to challenge that foundation he will be quickly removed. With that, I want to encourage everyone to get to know and respect their opponents. Genuine interest in NCAA Football, your team and our dynasty will go a long way towards meeting the goals of Powerhouse and abiding by the rules.
Outside of camaraderie the only other item I ask for is communication, if you do not communicate with the other dynasty members you will not be here long. If you don’t tell me you’re going on a vacation, I can’t set up your schedule to accommodate your absence and you won’t be able to play all of your games. If you don’t tell your opponent something has come up after you’ve scheduled your game, you will be more likely to get the game simmed or put on autopilot. By the same token, those that consistently communicate in a clear, concise fashion their needs and issues will get the most out of this dynasty.
ADVANCE SCHEDULE
Our goal is to advance as quickly as possible, the faster we keep things moving the more connected everyone will be so please do your part and get your game played as quickly as possible. Our advance schedule will be 72 hours, this should be plenty of time to get your game in – CPU games should be played within 24 to 48 hours and User vs. User games should be scheduled within the first 24 hours and if at all possibly played within 48 hours. A full 72 hours is available for those times where schedules don’t match up but the goal should always be to get all games played before the 72 hour mark. The decision to go past 72 hours will be up to the commissioner – I will typically favor those people who have something at stake. If a team is unbeaten and rarely needs extra time I will almost always wait, however if it’s someone who is usually last to play and has a loss or two already, we will usually go ahead and advance.
USER GAME SCHEDULING
The scheduling of games will be done in the weekly threads. As soon as we advance, a thread will be created to schedule games. It’s important that when this thread is created, you suggest a time and list other available times in your first post – the second party should reply to their opponents post locking in a time to play or suggesting alternative times if schedules do not align, if for some reason the game must be scheduled outside of the 72 hour window, commissioner approval will be needed.
RESCHEDULING USER GAMES
Once a time is locked in, every effort should be made to play the game at the scheduled time – we all understand that life happens, if something arises post a message in the weekly thread and send a SMS (text) message to your opponent letting them know. The goal however will still be to get the game played within the 72 hour window and commissioner approval will still be needed if the deadline needs to be extended. The earlier everyone is made aware of the situation the more favorable the outcome – if you wait until the last minute I will more than likely side with your opponent and keep us moving forward.
LINES OF COMMUNICATION
I will distribute a list of cell phone numbers via Private Message to everyone in the league. I encourage everyone to add these to your contact list or at the very least print off the list and keep it handy. If your cell number changes please update the entire group or the commissioner as soon as possible so an updated list can be distributed. The dynasty forum and PSN messaging are also great ways to communicate with other members of the dynasty – I ask however that any conversations pertaining to scheduling or any other pertinent league matters be summarized either in the weekly thread or in a PM to myself if there is an issue.
SCHEDULING REQUESTS
I will do my best to honor all scheduling requests. I will create a sticky post at the beginning of every season in order to provide as much time as possible to work out your schedules. You know your real life schedules/plans better than I do, please use your best judgment when constructing your schedule – if you’re a busy person I would encourage you not to schedule too many OOC User games. The biggest key is communication – if you let me know when you will need to be away I will attempt to work out your schedule as best as I can so there is minimal impact on your season.
ACCESSIBILITY
This is a hobby, in the end we are all just wasting time from our real lives, however we have a lot of fun doing so. I believe this dynasty has brought a great group of people together that share a lot of common interests. All I ask is that you make your best effort to be available and responsive. I’d encourage everyone to add each other as friends on PSN if you haven’t already and do your best to be active on the OD forum.
LEAGUE RULES
- Powerhouse is a sim-style dynasty. This means your gameplay should reflect that of a real life NCAA football team as much as possible. However, remember this is a video game and sometimes there will be exceptions to this rule. Every issue will be decided upon as a group with an eye for fair play within the constraints of the video game.
- No exploiting the flaws in the AI by running money plays over and over, this includes against the CPU as well. Against other users, the “run it till they stop it” mentality is acceptable to a degree, if you’ve found a play that is within simulation style standards and does not exploit a flaw in the AI but you’re opponent cannot stop it either due to lack of adjustments or a mismatch in talent you are allowed to call the same play as many times as you wish, the catch however is to do it from different formations – in other words don’t constantly line up in I-Form Tight and run HB Counter play after play after play, that’s not fun for anyone. For the most part Powerhouse is a self-policing dynasty, but sometimes that isn’t enough and I understand that. Contact the commissioner with any complaints. Sometimes I will act immediately, other times I will discuss the complaint with others to gather thoughts and come to a general consensus.
- On offense, establish a team identity and stick with it for the most part. If you are a power running team or a west-coast team and you’re default answer to go into 4- and 5-wide sets while running no-huddle anytime you get down, you may want to rethink your strategy. We want to avoid desperation, i.e. stretching the rules when a game is close late. We want to be a league that treats each other with respect, if what you’re doing doesn’t “feel right”, don’t do it. I don’t want to limit aggressiveness; however you should know when you’re taking it too far. It’s fair to have a win at all cost mentality, however you should not go to any length to do so.
- No running up the stats on either the CPU or another user. If you’re up late, pull your starters – I typically operate under the 35 point rule in the second half of games, meaning if I am up by 35 points in the second half of games I’ll pull my starters. Additionally, if I feel I have the game wrapped up in the 4th quarter I’ll put in my backups as well.
- Everyone must pick a play style (offense and defense) prior to the season and post it in the assigned thread. I would encourage everyone to give a brief description as to what they envision their offensive and defensive styles being. I would also encourage scouting reports to be posted as the season progresses. I would caution everyone to choose wisely, as if you pick an option playbook and your backup quarterback doesn’t fit that style you may have some problems if your starter goes down.
- I have never been a fan of limiting how many recruits a team can sign, however I would ask that you don’t go overboard. If you only have 5 seniors leaving don’t sign a class of 25 in an attempt to churn the bottom half of your roster, this tactic only weakens the CPU and while despite having a 12 person dynasty we still end up playing the majority of our games against the CPU.
- Players must play at their assigned position or a realistic switch. A realistic switch would be a TE playing FB, a OG playing OT or a CB moving to S. An unrealistic switch would be a 92 speed, 180-pound HB playing FB or a 95 speed, 190-pound FS playing MLB. There is a weight limit of 220 pounds/under 90 speed for any player being moved to FB or TE (if they progress above 90 speed due to training that is okay). Linebackers must be at least 220 pounds unless they’re in the original, unmodified recruiting database as a linebacker – this means prior to any position changes. There are exceptions to this rule however; especially when it comes to an ATH recruit, the best course of action would be to ask the commissioner and get a ruling. All position changes will be tracked and there will be violations for not adhering to these rules.
GAMEPLAY RULES
- Be realistic with your QB on pass plays. Dropping back 10-15 yards, rolling out past the far hash is not sim and should not happen. If you feel pressure you can roll out and scramble – everyone is different when it comes to feeling pressure however you must at least attempt to make a read prior to scrambling with the quarterback. This means you should not dart outside the second he receives the ball. Yes there are designed rollout plays, we’ve all played the game long enough to know what those look like, use your best judgment. Scrambling with the intent to draw the defense in only to throw over their heads is frowned upon, it does happen in real life, however it is rare.
- On defense the player you select to control on a play is the only one that can be manually moved prior to the snap. If you’re clicking on multiple players and changing their assignment that is fine, but only one player can be manually moved, and that’s the one you’ll be controlling at the snap of the ball.
- Prior to the snap all motioning should be done in a realistic manner – this includes things like motioning receivers and the defensive line/linebackers. Motioning should never be done in an effort to confuse the AI and gain an advantage the AI cannot account for. In example, if based on offensive formation you want to align your linebackers in a certain way, this is okay, if the offensive formation changes or if a receiver motions across the formation you can adjust as well. What you cannot do is continuously motion and move players around in an attempt to keep them in motion at the snap in order to confuse the AI.
- Currently all game plan settings and defensive keys are allowed, however if anyone is found to be abusing these, or if any complaints arise we will revisit. If something makes the game unbalanced, don’t use it. Please report any concerns to the commissioner so we can have a discussion about it.
4TH DOWN GUIDELINES
- A team may go for it on 4th down any inches at any time in the game, whether they’re leading, tied or trailing.
- A team may go for it on 4th down and 1 yard if they are past midfield/inside their opponent’s territory at any time in the game whether they are leading, tied or trailing.
- A team may go for it on 4th down at any length once they have reached the “on man’s land” between the 30-40 yard line on their opponents side of the field.
- A team may go for it on 4th down at any length from anywhere on the field if they are trailing in the 4th quarter by any amount.
- A team may go for it on 4th down at the end of the second quarter if time will expire on the next play.
- A team may go for it on 4th down regardless of distance or location if it’s under 2 minutes in the 4th quarter.
2-POINT CONVERSION GUIDELINES
- A team may go for a 2-point conversion if it will win or tie the game.
- A team may go for a 2-point conversion if it is the 4th quarter and the 2-point conversion will give them a 3- or 7-point lead.
- A team may go for a 2-point conversion if it will make the point differential a multiple of 3 or 7 (ex. Down 21-12).
- Any other time the XP must be kicked.
RESTART RULES
In the event of disconnect, the following rules will apply:
If one team is ahead by at least a touchdown and at least one quarter has been played, the game shall be restarted assuming that the score and time remaining is the same as if the disconnect had not happened. For example, Team A is ahead 7-0 early in the second quarter when disconnection occurred. The game should be restarted, and Team B is assumed to be behind by 7 points with 3 quarters to play. This rule should be followed as closely as possible. For instance if it is a 7 point lead with 3 minutes remaining in the third quarter, you should restart the game assuming one team has a 7-point lead and play ONE quarter and 3 additional minutes into the second quarter. The winning team will finish the game vs the CPU and the other will drop. If by chance there is a tie after the game would be "over" play out the entire rest of the game as "overtime."
If the teams are within 3 points or fewer with less than 2 quarters played, the game will be restarted from the beginning.
If the teams are within 3 points or fewer with at least a half played, the game will be restarted in accordance with the first example.
- Agree on the time or amount of quarters you're going to play
- Make sure whoever had the ball gets the ball first at ABOUT where they had it before, if it was past the 50, kick it short, etc.
- Keep track of what the score was. The person that was up is still theoretically up by that same amount. The person who was behind has to be winning by that same amount in order to "tie" and play till the end of the game. IF they are winning by MORE than that score they win and the person who was up quits out and lets them continue. If they are losing, or winning by less than the other person was up, they quit out and let the other person finish up.
- If a game disconnects because one member purposely pulls the plug and quits, that is grounds for immediate removal. There are no quitters here. Even if you’re getting your ass handed to you, man up and take it.
GENERAL BEHAVIOR
If you feel someone cheated you or cheesed, do not post in the forums. PM the commissioner, and I will handle accordingly.
Act like an adult. Talking shit and making fun of each other in a fun and joking way is fine. The minute it crosses the line and turns into a real argument, it ends. Period. This is supposed to be a fun dynasty among friends, remember that first and foremost always. This will be a league where people have genuine respect for the other players. People who don't fit that definition will simply not be a part of our dynasty. There are some great dynasties around and we want to set the pace in terms of camaraderie, commitment, and respect for opponents.
More rules might be added as we go on, and any existing one might be amended. If any of you ever need to reach me immediately, send a text. PM me on the board if you don't have it
