Spring '24 Docs Updates, Introducing callouts.tf + au.tf2pickup.org, Staff Changes, Infractions Updates & Game Server Bans

Spring '24 Ruleset & Docs Updates

In the last few posts, we've been teasing changes to our Global Ruleset, but we've been quite busy so we'd like to apologise for not getting this post out sooner. Nonetheless, below we have listed every major change to our rulesets that you need to know about.

Global Ruleset

8.9.1. Demo Checking updated, first offence is now a warning.
- Updated the rule's description as well as changed the first offence penalty to only a warning. Anti-Cheat Demo Requests that are failed will result in harsher second offence penalties and further offence penalties. We encourage everyone to go have a look at the updated rule.
7.4.1. Match Thread Requirements updated to 7.4.1. Match Info Requirements.
- Rule has been overhauled to better outline what is expected, and notes that the occasional missing info may just be filled in by an admin as it is just quicker/easier/less stressful for administrators, but notes that it is not the league administration's responsibility to ensure all required info is there on the Match Page.
2.9. Match Throwing removed, 2.9.1. Match Fixing moved to 2.9. Match Fixing.
- Whilst some may see this as a response purely to recent match issues in Premier, the rule was written poorly from the get-go, and after further discussion, we've opted to remove the rule as more than half of it was already covered elsewhere. What matters for players is: that any premeditation to ruin the match experience, or more to "fix" match results, will be punished, but we understand sometimes getting hulk smashed by better teams is sadly inevitable. Hopefully, we can work to improve the division environment in future seasons.
3.2.1. Player Alias updated to 3.2.1. Player Alias & Profile Guidelines.
- This rule now includes a person's name or likeness as prohibited, unless it is a celebrity or political figure. Please note, regardless of whether or not you obtain permission from a person to use their name or likeness, you are not allowed to use that person's name or likeness (unless as previously stated, they are a celebrity or political figure). Disclaimer added to this rule: "ozfortress staff reserve the right to make contradictory rulings to this on a case-by-case basis."
- This rule now also includes alias change eligibility, which details that we expect players to be using their new desired alias for some time in the lead-up to it being reviewed. This is in an attempt to cut down on the amount of meme aliases.
4.1.1. Team Alias Guidelines updated to 4.1.1. Team Alias & Profile Guidelines.
- This rule now includes a person's name or likeness as prohibited, like the changes to 3.2.1.
- These guidelines now also include the prohibition of copyrighted names or branding.
  - This includes copyrighted Esports Team/Organization's branding and name, business or corporate entities, and government entities. If you do not have express permission to use that name or branding, you cannot use it.
8.4. Distinct Aliases updated to note what we define as Distinct Aliases.
- ozfortress defines Distinct Aliases as a player's most recognizable alias, or current ozfortress.com alias.
9.2.1. Becoming an Approved Casting Organization moved to 9.2.2. New 9.2.1. added, Team Responsibilities.
- This new 9.2.1. rule (Team Responsibilities) was added to establish that teams are now expected to wait for Approved Casting Organizations to let them know they can start each map. Most teams already did this of their own volition, and we appreciate you guys for being awesome!
9.3.1. Failing to seek permission added under 9.3. Unapproved Casting Organizations.
- Unapproved Casting Organisations (or individuals) who fail to seek permission to cast a match from the captains of both teams involved in that official match will now receive penalties.
9.3.2. Banned Players covering official matches added under 9.3. Unapproved Casting Organizations.
- Anyone with an active ozfortress ban, is now prohibited from covering any official match on their own channels. Banned players are allowed to appear on, or cast for Approved Casting Organizations.
Updated 1.8.5. ozfortress Representation to more accurately point to infractions for malicious impersonation only.
- We previously changed our rules surrounding the usage of the "ozfortress" tag, and no longer expect staff members to have it in their Steam name. We also made a change so if a player uses the "ozfortress" tag, only cases of malicious impersonation would be punished.
12.3. Malicious Server Administration updated to 12.3. Malicious Server Administration & Server Abuse.
- Updated 12.3. to provide examples. That's it.
Moved Account Sharing to 3.3.2. Account Sharing.
- It didn't make sense so far on the other end of the ruleset, so we've moved it back to near our Alternate Account rules.

Introducing callouts.tf, our new League Partner!

Our friend Java has brought to life a project that aims to finally consolidate and standardize all map callouts for the community. A word from Java:

This project's goal is to unify at last all map callouts used within the TF2 comp community, so any new player in the world has a chance to learn and have an easier time integrating into the competitive scene. It also supports nominations for new maps that could be officially used, nominations for translations of already existing maps, and more. It is also a space for more experienced players to share knowledge and make a consensus on more specific callout names that could be helpful for everyone. I'm happy to have the chance to share my site with ozfortress, our site's first official partner, and a major exponent of comp TF2 on the other side of the world.

callouts.tf will soon be added to our sidebar, and we encourage everyone to go have a look at the project! We love the idea of this project, and hope it'll be a resource players of all levels will get some benefit from.

Introducing au.tf2pickup.org, our new League Partner!

Calling all Sixes puggers! We have been working behind the scenes with supra and tf2pickup.org to bring au.tf2pickup.org to fruition. Unlike other tf2pickup implementations, the spin-up for our region is run from within the official ozfortress Discord. We're excited to see everyone pugging - if you want to join, go to the "Channels & Roles" section of our Discord to get the Sixes Pug role.

Please note that currently, only Intermediate players and above are eligible to play, but this may change in the future. What makes tf2pickup special is that there are no captains, no picking, and no server booking. You sign up to play a class, and are then slotted into a balanced game.

Staff Changes

With the new season, comes seasonal change. This seasonal change is sad, as it brings the departures of catfish, hive and Rainy from our staff team. catfish will be stepping back solely into his role of Head of Anti-Cheat, but hive and Rainy are moving on. 😭

inStinct, Redja and woozy, our recent Trial Admin pickups, will now be stepping into the spotlight as full League Admins. We aren't picking up any new staff for this season but will be keeping an eye on applications, so if you think you have what it takes, submit an app! And don't worry if you already have, we are likely still considering you in the next round.

Late 2024 Infractions Ruleset Update

We have noticed an increase in harassment levied towards our league administration teams, beyond reasonable criticism of staff team decision-making, some of which has extended beyond just harassment.

Whilst those engaging in that behaviour will be receiving at the bare minimum a warning, we want to remind everyone that individuals within our league administration team are protected by the same infraction ruleset that everyone else is. However, we feel that currently, the Infraction Ruleset doesn't go far enough to protect those who volunteer so much of their time, passion and love to the community. Staff members are often unfairly targeted or singled out for the results of a decision, a decision almost always made by the staff team at large, but we understand that this is part of the process, and want to make it clear - we will never endanger your right within our community to make fair criticisms of the decisions we make, our processes, and more. What we will not tolerate, however, is behaviour that falls squarely in the categories of harassment, abuse, and the like.

I (core) have made it clear in the past that I will not under any circumstance tolerate any ~~room temperature IQ~~ poor behaviour against people who volunteer hundreds, or even thousands of hours of their time for the benefit of our community. And to be clear, this is only targeted at a very small portion of our community who think it is ok to engage in this behaviour - the rest of you, keep vibing, we appreciate you for being awesome, and for your continued support. Back to the scolding, I don't want to stand by and let harassment, abuse or any frankly creepy behaviour exist against anyone in our community, let alone our staff. So, to combat these ~~idiots~~ lovely societal failures, we will be introducing Infraction Modifiers.

What are Infraction Modifiers?

For now, Infraction Modifiers are a 2x penalty increase to certain Infractions (specifically our #101 Excessive trash talk, flaming, or repeated abuse/harassment., #302 Repeated serious abuse and/or harassment against an individual or group. and #304 Threats of violence/harm against an individual or group. infractions) when perpetrated against a member of our staff team. To be clear, we never want to introduce harmful segregation in our punishment of bad actors within ozfortress, but the goal of Infraction Modifiers is to introduce a more effective way of punishing severe breaches in our Infractions Ruleset/Community Guidelines that are perpetrated against members of our staff.

By doubling the points of these infractions (the previously mentioned #101, #302 & #304) when perpetrated against a staff member, these penalties will instantly incur a 3-Round Match Ban, or 1-Year League Ban, the latter of which we understand is incredibly harsh. We want to reassure everyone that the usage of Infraction Modifiers will be limited only to offences against members of our staff team, and will be limited to cases of more severe abuse, stalking, threats of harm - the bizarre stuff.

Game Server Bans Update

All currently banned players (League Bans, Infraction Threshold Bans, Evidence Bans & Permanent Bans) have had server bans applied via our new automated solution. In the last 3 months of any of these user's bans, they will be unbanned from ozfortress servers, but will not be able to use the in-game chat, or the in-game voice chat. This early unban from servers does not mean these players are eligible for league play (to be rostered or used as a mercenary). You can read more about our changes to server bans in our previous changes post here.