Although LZ5 is and hopefully always will be a team comprised of friends looking for friendly competition and camaraderie from like-minded players, it is necessary for us to have some guidelines in place for team play. Although LZ5 dispenses with the notion of ranks, etc., there are three team leaders - Bogey, Falcon, and Phil - who will take the lead on promoting the team (via match play, website, etc.) and ensuring that we run a fair game. For that reason, please respect their authority in the spirit intended, which is to make the team the best it can be.

To that end, we have developed a short series of guidelines that all LZ5 team members are expected to follow.

1. No cheating
While we acknowledge the amount of cheats and hacks in existence, and know that we have suffered by them, LZ5 team members will not install cheats or hacks of any kind. We also will not use map exploits. All of the above are reason for suspension in all ladder matches as well.

We would rather lose to a bunch of cheaters than win by cheating. Any LZ5 team member found to be using cheats or hacks will be expelled from the team immediately.

Cheats or hacks include wall and speed hacks, auto aim, etc. You may modify your ravenshield.ini to improve frame rates, etc.

2. No public accusations of others cheating
Again, acknowledging their existence, we know we will get owned occasionally by those using cheats, but NO ONE is permitted to PUBLICLY accuse a visiting player of cheating. Discuss it, if you will, on comms or in team chat when only LZ5 is present. Hopefully, PunkBuster's introduction will limit this type of skepticism.

As we all know, many things happen in online play that may look like someone has cheated you (spectacular shots, knowing where you are, etc.) but often what looks like cheating on your screen (or even to someone looking through your eyes), may not be what the server is "seeing." For that reason, try to give the benefit of the doubt, but is someone is seriously owning or getting to places they shouldn't get to as fast as they are, or hitting two players not in close proximity almost simultaneously, there may be something amiss.

3. Team security
Team members may be granted important information such as passwords and IPs. These are not to be shared with non-team members unless approved by Phil, Falcon, or Bogey. Breaking this rule will lead to you losing your admin privileges.

Additionally, because some of our players have been spoofed (i.e., others trying to play using our game names and perhaps damaging our reputations, the following requirements must be met while playing on the LZ5 server:

a. You must use your FULL AND ACCURATE team name AT ALL TIMES while playing on the LZ5 server. No backwards spellings or nicknames.

b. If suspicions arise about the validity of a player, appropriate questions should be asked and a visual check may be made for an armpatch.

c. It is your responsibility to make sure you have an LZ5 armpatch. Additionally, if you are asked questions, answer them. Don't be cute or evasive. If this becomes a chronic problem, we will begin IP-banning all suspected spoofers; if you are playing games, you may find yourself banned from your own server!

4. Communications
LZ5 currently uses Ventrilo for team communication during the game. During the course of an active round, players are encouraged to share any intel they can, including enemy location and strength, even post-death. In the event that you are killed, try to pass on (the information), quickly and efficiently, where and how many, as well as their possible direction of travel. If you are not 100% certain, then say that as well. That goes for many situations. If you see a head peeking around a corner and are not 100% sure it's an enemy, be cautious. Bad Intel is worse than no Intel.

Further, please save any other comments -- such as "No way he got me" followed by a lengthy explanation of the physics of bullet trajectory and the theory of relativity -- until the round is complete, so that active players can communicate or listen for ambient noises (footsteps, doors opening, etc.). THIS IS ESPECIALLY CRITICAL DURING MATCHES.

New members should listen intently to learn room names and descriptions and use them going forward.

5. Refrain from swearing (onscreen or on comms)
While recognizing that we are all human and prone to frustration, LZ5 STRONGLY discourages swearing, either on screen or using Ventrilo. As many of you know, several of us have children who play in our room (and sometimes use the parent's name), so keep it clean. We all know that the occasional "@#%$" is gonna fly out of your mouth, which is understandable but highly discouraged. We hope that the effort it takes to type a swear word would prevent such a slip.

If other players are swearing on our server, warn them once, then remove them from the server. See Booting Guidelines below.

6. Team play
Team-oriented play is highly desired. We have found great success in pairing up in twos or threes. This is a must in match play and highly encouraged during practice. Good communication between players wins games, and teamwork - HBSing, watching your six, etc. - is the other key ingredient. That's not to say you always have to buddy up, but it's a good practice. Work together on room-clearing techniques.

7. Match participation highly encouraged
Although not required to be a member of LZ5, participation in match/ladder play is highly encouraged. Currently we are playing 4v4, 7v7, and 3v3 Pistols onTWL. If you have not yet signed up for either, please do so.

We may add or subtract leagues in the future.

8. Website
LZ5 maintains a website at www.teamlz5.com. It is administered by Phil, but all are encouraged to contribute news, images, etc. We also have our forum, to allow for better exchange of information.

9. Free play
Obviously, you are free to play Raven-Shield on other servers and under other screen names under the following conditions:

a. If you play using your LZ5 name, you must keep the LZ5 tag.

b. If you change your name, remove the LZ5 tag, though we expect you to maintain the same game play standards (no cheats, etc.) The last thing we'd want is for someone to discover that an LZ5 player is cheating or being abusive even under a different name.

c. Membership on other teams is not permitted.

10. Booting procedures
a. We routinely kick people to make room for teammates, which I think is an acceptable practice. What is NOT acceptable is doing it without warning or explanation. Ideally, this would be the last person to join who is not a regular. Saying something, in effect, such as "I'm sorry Darkman, but we need to make room for a teammate who's trying to join the game. Would you mind leaving and trying back in 5 minutes?" or, if there is no response, simply say "Making room. If you are booted please feel free to try again soon."

It may sound like that's kissing butt, but I think it shows a great deal of class. Also, everyone else in the game will know why someone was booted. Boot them for only 1 minute if using PunkBuster.

b. We also have kicked people for not joining the appropriate team when asked. Unless there is an imminent threat to our side (someone joins our side with a name "DieLZ5Scum" for example), we should ask them to switch. We can tag team with one person asking for the switch and if it appears the person is clueless, another instructing how to change teams. I think after two rounds, they can be booted, or if they blatantly refuse, they can be booted. Make sure you are asking in global chat (as opposed to team chat) and that there is room on green for them to switch.

c. Booting laggers. Again, as with #1, we should ask them to leave based on their ping. If it seems to be affecting the match (and many times it won't), they should be booted after a reasonable attempt has been made to ask them to leave.

d. Booting TKers or TGimpers. Ascertain, to the best of your ability, if it was accidental. Boot if warranted; no explanation needed. Blatant massacres can lead to an immediate boot and a round restart.

e. Excessive stupid play (smoke, mines, changing player names to give position, etc) that is interfering with the enjoyment of the other 15 players. Warn about excessive camping, have the other team rat him out if needed, and boot on subsequent occasions. After the booting, the admin can tell the room why it was done, though everyone likely will already know.

f. Cussing or improper names. One warning. Players should be given ample time to change the name (probably 20 secs minimum needed). Anyone who is offended by any name can call for a change. People react differently to different names (some people are okay with Nazi, Beyatch, etc., others not). Let's always respect any team member's opinion.

g. At all times we should make sure we give a reason for booting. PunkBuster allows admins to boot and offer an explanation. If you need direction on how to do this, please ask.

If there's something I didn't cover or you would like to amend, drop us a line. Thanks for following these guidelines and for being part of the best damn team on RvS.