1. Definitions
1.1 Participants
1.1.1 Team Players
Players can participate in both the Major and Open tournaments.
1.1.2 Free Agent Players
Players participating on a Free Agent Team during a Zoned Out Gaming League Open Tournament. These are players who have not formed a team and need a team or teammate. Free Agents may only participate in Open tournaments and Community Tournaments.
1.1.3 Team Captains
Players who assume the responsibility of serving as their team’s point of contact. Team Captains are responsible for queuing their team for matches and reporting match scores.
1.2 Teams and Rosters
1.2.1 Teams
Teams registered with Zoned Out Gaming must form an esports Team, which is composed of players. For team members to participate in Zoned Out Gaming events, the Team Administrator will create rosters from team members for the respective games and enter them into tournaments.
1.2.2 Rosters
The roster consists of a group of players participating in specific games during a Zoned Out Gaming tournament. The size of a roster will vary depending upon the tournament entered.
1.3 Matches
1.3.1 Official Match
An official match is any match taking place during any Zoned Out Gaming Major or Open tournament. Regular Season, Playoff, and Final matches qualify as official matches.
1.3.2 Unofficial Matches
Any match that takes place outside of any Zoned Out Gaming Major or Open tournament. These matches include, but are not limited to, Scrimmage (Scrim) matches and Zoned Out Gaming Community Events.
1.4 Tournaments
1.4.1 Major Tournaments
A Major tournament (Fall/Spring) is a Zoned Out Gaming tournament in which the players must form a roster with other players enrolled in the league.
1.4.2 Open Tournament
An Open tournament (Winter/Summer) is a tournament run by Zoned Out Gaming, the participants of which may be players that satisfy eligibility requirements. Teams for an Open tournament may contain players that do not currently belong to a team.
1.5 Tournament Stages
Tournament stages are the designated rounds in which differing rules such as match length, new player/team registration, and match schedule take place.
1.5.1 Regular Season
The regular season stage of a tournament, which may also be referred to as the “Group” stage, is the main stage of a tournament. New players/teams will not be permitted to enter during this stage (teams may still be changed to add new players during this stage). During this stage, players/teams compete for the highest placements to move on to the postseason.
1.5.2 Playoffs
The playoff stage of the tournament is a single-elimination tournament among the highest placed teams/players from the regular season. The size of the playoff pool varies depending on the game being played. Playoff tiers include the per-quarterfinals, quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals/3rd place match.
1.5.3 Finals
The Finals stage of a tournament is the final match in the previous single-elimination bracket that consists of two teams. Open tournament finals should follow standard playoff match length and rules unless otherwise specified.
1.6 Match Format
1.6.1. Best of Matches
In a “Best of” match, teams/players play a series of games until a winner is decided. The matchwinner will be the first team/player to reach the required amount of game wins. Zoned Out Gaming “Best of” Matches may be comprised of the following settings.
For the specific match format for your game, please consult the specific Zoned Out Gaming rules page for your game.
1.6.2. Home/Away
A Home/Away series will always consist of two games, in which there is a possibility for players/teams to tie the series with no winner. The Home team is always at the bottom of the bracket.
1.7 Time Zone
The official time zone of the Zoned Out Gaming League is the Central Time Zone, designated (UTC -6), or 6 hours behind Coordinated Universal Time. All Zoned Out Gaming League streams, announcements, and web pages regarding competitions and schedules will always display time in the Central Time Zone unless otherwise stated.
1.8 Region
At the moment all participating teams must be U.S. and Canadian Based.
1.9 Disciplines
The games that are currently offered by Zoned Out Gaming are:
Games we are looking to add in the future:
Please note that all titles and platforms on this list may not always be available. Competitions are scheduled at the discretion of the Zoned Out Gaming administration.
2. General Tournament Rules
2.1 Liability
All participants are expected to acknowledge and abide by the rules of Zoned Out Gaming. Participants will not receive refunds or compensation for the inability to play as a result of incurring a penalty due to a violation of the league rules and regulations. Participation in official tournaments constitutes acceptance of these rules.
2.2 Administration List
2.3 Rule Changes
Zoned Out Gaming reserves the right to add, remove, or otherwise amend all rule sets without prior notice. However, we will use our best efforts to provide reasonable notice before any significant rule changes.
2.4 Confidentiality
The content of emails, support tickets, or any other correspondence with the Zoned Out Gaming administration is deemed strictly confidential information. The publication of such material is prohibited without express written consent from Zoned Out Gaming.
2.5 Match Broadcasting
All broadcasting rights are owned by Zoned Out Gaming. This includes, but is not limited to: IRC Bots, audio streams, video streams, match recordings, or television broadcasts.
2.5.1 Award of Broadcast Rights
Zoned Out Gaming has the right to award broadcasting rights to one or multiple matches to a third party or participants themselves. In these cases, broadcasts must be arranged with the administration or broadcasters before the start of the match. Zoned Out Gaming reserves the right to play, broadcast, and distribute all match recordings from a tournament.
2.5.2 No Right of Refusal
Players and participants cannot refuse to have their matches broadcasted by a Zoned Out Gaming authorized broadcast, nor can they choose what manner in which the match will be broadcasted.
2.6. Participant Accounts
2.6.1 Clean Accounts
Zoned Out Gaming defines a clean account as an account that has not received any form of a game ban in the past 365 days (not including competitive mode cooldown penalties), is clear of vulgar or inappropriate content, is at least 15 days old (exempt for the first 2 weeks of each event), and is a valid member of the Zoned Out Gaming Discord server to which it may be used for tournament participation. Players who have unclean accounts are prohibited from participating in all Zoned Out Gaming events, even on alternate accounts.
2.6.1 Game Connections
All players taking part in Zoned Out Gaming tournaments are required to have an active game account for the tournament they’re participating in, connected to their preferred platform of choice (ie depending on the game.) All game connection information shown on a team’s roster must match with the platforms in-game, players using different accounts or those not officially on the roster are prohibited from playing in matches.
2.6.2 Participant Profiles
All player names or profiles are prohibited from including:
2.7 Teams
2.7.1 Team Names
No two teams participating in the same tournament may use the same team name. Team names cannot be changed after the season officially begins.
2.7.2 Player Counts
Teams are required to have the minimum player count (as stated in each game’s ruleset) present on the team at all times once a season begins, or they may face automatic match forfeitures. This does not include players that are pending to be placed on the team.
2.7.3 Multi-Teaming
Players are prohibited from participating on more than one roster for the same game in a specific tournament, regardless if the game is offered on multiple consoles.
2.7.4 Roster Changes
Roster changes may be made at any point during or in-between seasons except during live matches and once the playoffs have begun. There is a 24-hour grace period from when a player is added to a roster before they will be permitted to play in official matches. Roster changes are prohibited for single-player and partnered (duo) game tournaments.
2.8 Prizing
If the minimum of 32 tournament registrants is not reached, prizing for that tournament may be revoked. All prizing will be distributed once all teams that have earned prizing submit the necessary information needed to verify the eligibility of the players on the team and all pending payments are completed.
If a team or player is missing any required criteria for verification or payment, the prizing will be held for 30 days after the conclusion of the applicable Zoned Out Gaming tournament. If a team or player fails to provide the required information or payments within those 30 days, they may forfeit all prizes from the tournament. Prizing will take between 3-6 weeks from completion of the tournament to be fulfilled.
2.9 Withdrawal
Teams may choose to withdraw from a tournament during the season and may rejoin at a later date if they choose to. Players or teams that choose to withdraw from a tournament will not qualify for refunds or receive compensation for their withdrawal. Only a Team Captain may submit a request to withdraw a player or team from a tournament.
2.10 Matches
2.10.1 Match Times
Each week, teams will schedule a day and time to participate in their match. Team members will be joined to the tournament lobby after registration and will communicate with each other on Discord.
The bracket will become visible once the tournament has started, then you may be able to see your opponents and schedule your upcoming round match up. The winning team must report the outcome of the match. In the instance of a match not being played by an opponent, the available team will be awarded a bye win and will be moved into the next match of the tournament. Only a single game per week may be played; once a team plays their match, they may not start the next round until the next allotted time.
Playoffs and Grand Final Matches
During the playoffs (including grand finals), special rescheduling rules are in place. Without prior approval of Zoned Out Gaming administration:
2.10.2 Contacting Opponents
Communication will begin once teams have been matched together through the queue. Teams must use Match Chat to communicate and share information regarding the setup of their match.
2.10.3 Match Results
Matches must be reported by the winning team immediately following the completion of their game. Players/teams are encouraged to document proof of match results if they are needed to verify the legitimacy of a match score report. Match reports must include the round score(s), and all results must be reported by 11:59 PM of the match day. After this, matches will be locked, and their scores will be uneditable. Points will not be awarded for matches whose scores were not submitted before 11:59 PM on the match day.
2.10.4 Match Disputes
Match disputes must be submitted no later than two business days after the match has concluded. Sufficient and undoctored evidence, including, but not limited to, screenshots, match recordings, match replays/demos, or stream VODs must be submitted per the request of the Zoned Out Gaming official handling the match dispute before any decision regarding the dispute will be made.
All match disputes should be submitted in Discord if possible, but should you need discretion, please submit using the following link: https://zonedoutgaming.com/tournaments/match-disputes
2.10.5 Playoff Seeding
For all tournaments, postseason matches will be seeded depending on the tournament size and the number of players/teams actively participating in the regular stage, at the discretion of the Zoned Out Gaming administration. If any ties occur that do not clearly determine which players/teams will advance to the postseason, the Median-Buchholz system will be used.
Any additional tiebreaker methods may be used at the discretion of the Zoned Out Gaming administration.
2.10.6 Multiple Game Series
2.10.6.1 Grace Period
Teams may have up to a 10-minute break between each game in a multiple-game series if they wish to do so.
2.10.6.1 Substitutions
In between matches in a multiple-game series, teams may substitute a player on their roster for a player currently in the match. Substitutions may only be made in team games; they are prohibited in solo and duo(partner) games. In games with a drafting period before a game, substitutions can not be made after the draft has begun.
2.11 Communication
2.11.1 Team Communication
Players/teams must communicate with their opponents through the match chat on the Zoned Out Gaming Discord Server. Third-party tools and social media platforms (Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, etc) are prohibited from being used when attempting to communicate with opponents.
2.11.2. Outside Communication
Players/teams may not have any communication with any outside sources, with exception of the Zoned Out Gaming Administration while their match is in progress, including, but not limited to: coaches, spectators, and substitutes. Players/teams may only have communication with outside sources during the grace period between games in a series or unless otherwise outlined in game-specific rules.
2.12 Spectators
Spectators are allowed in-game lobbies for the sole purpose of streaming their team’s match to their social media channel. Spectators streaming the match cannot be a team’s coach or another player on the same roster competing in the match. All spectator streams must be from the player’s point of view, the use of the skybox or view of another team’s player is prohibited. Any other use of a game’s spectator feature is strictly prohibited.
In the incident of a game having a solo spectator position, streaming rights will be given to the home team.
2.13.1 Participants Streaming
Participants may stream to their personal twitch or youtube channel if they’re participating in the match. The match may only be streamed from the participates in-game point of view and should have at least a 3-minute delay set to prevent possible incidents of stream sniping.
Participants may not at any time stream another player or team’s match on their personal channels.
2.14. Peripherals
Any controllers used in official matches must be the proprietary manufactured controllers for the console in question (including accessibility controllers) and cannot be modified in any way, including, but not limited to: trigger mods, sensitive buttons, custom thumbsticks, and thumbstick tension mods. For fighting games, all standard fight sticks and controllers are permitted. Any hardware with macro functions or on-the-fly profile switching is strictly prohibited.
Controllers may be used for PC games provided that they meet the requirements above, are an officially supported controller, and the game has native support for the controller in question, i.e. the player should not need to install additional software/drivers for the controller other than those from the manufacturer or included with the game.
The use of a Keyboard and Mouse on a console is strictly prohibited in official matches, regardless of whether or not the game has native support for it.
2.15. Cross-Platform Play
Players may only play on the platform(s) specified for a specific tournament. Doing otherwise may result in disqualification from that tournament.