1.01 The X3O Winter Classic 2008 is a video game competition composed of a single tournament, managed and organized by X3O, LLC (X3O).

1.02 The X3O Winter Classic 2008 will take place from January 24th, 2009 through January 25th, 2009 at X3O Gaming Center, 11640 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852, USA.

1.03 The rules and regulations of this competition are decided and written by X3O. X3O reserves the right to modify the rules and regulations without prior notice. It is encouraged to review these rules and regulations frequently in order to be apprised of any changes. These rules and regulations were last modified on 01/16/2008.

1.04 By attending this competition, players agree, without limitation or qualification, to be bound by, and comply with, these rules and regulations. Players agree that the application of these rules and regulations is at the sole discretion of the tournament director and that any decision from tournament officials will supersede these rules and regulations.

ARTICLE 2 – COMPETITION STRUCTURE

2.01 Tournament Format

2.01.1 The tournament will use the following format:

2.01.1.1 Step 1: Group stage – 6 groups of 4 teams, two first from each group advance

2.01.1.2 Step 2: Double Elimination – 12 teams and 4 BYEs

2.01.2 For Step 1 the structure is a group stage organized in 6 groups of 4 teams each. In each group, participants will play each other in a single-game match. Each match result awards points as follows: 3 Points for a match win, 1 Point for a match draw, 0 Points for a match loss. At the completion of each group, the following criteria will apply to determine the distinct position of each participant:

2.01.2.1 Higher number of points obtained in group matches; I.E. Team A (9 Points), Team B (6 Points), Team C (3 Points), Team D (0 Points).

2.01.2.2 Head to head – If the tie is between two teams, the team that beat their tied opponent advances.

2.01.2.3 Higher number of total rounds won in group play. Example: Team A Match Record (M1: 16-12 Loss, M2: 16-5 Win, M3: 16-10 Win) – Team B Match Record (M1: 16-14 Loss, M2: 16-12 Win, M3: 16-1 Win). Team A Total Rounds Won: 44; Team B Total Rounds Won: 46. Team B advances.

The two highest scoring teams from each group will advance to the next step. The six teams that advance first out of their group will be seeded by least total rounds lost during their group play. The top four seeded teams will receive a BYE in Round 1 of the double elimination bracket. The six 2nd place teams from each group will be seeded according to 2.01.2.3.

2.01.3 For Step 2, the structure is made of a double elimination bracket of 16 participants (12 teams, 4 BYEs). Each round, teams will compete in a single-game match. The winner of each single-game match will advance to the next round.

2.02 Match Format

2.02.1 A single-game match is played on one map in two half-times of 15 in-game rounds, between two teams of 5 players. For each half-time, teams play alternatively terrorist and counter-terrorist, and score one point by winning one in-game round. The winner of a game is the first team that has won 16 in-game rounds (16 Points).

2.02.2 During single or double elimination bracket play if both teams are tied at the end of the two half-times, overtimes are played until a winner is declared. Such overtimes are composed of 2 half-times of 3 in-game rounds and use particular game settings (see Game Settings article).

ARTICLE 3 – GAME SETTINGS

3.01 The competition uses the Half-Life Counter-Strike version 1.6 video game as published by Valve and distributed through Steam.

3.02 All players are required to use the X3O Game User Interface (GUI) throughout the entire competition. The X3O GUI will be made available to all players at the venue.

3.03 The following settings must be used on the player’s PC:

• Performance and Quality Settings may be set by the player
• vSync can be on or off
• Contract and Brightness must be set at default
• Gamma can be set until a maximum of 1.31, unless authorized by a tournament official
• Digital Vibrance can be set until a maximum of medium

Use of external software which allows modification of the graphics card settings is forbidden.

3.04 The following game settings will be used by default on the server:

3.05 The following game settings must be used by players:

3.06 The following game settings will be used specifically for overtime half-times:

• mp_startmoney 10000

3.07 The following maps may be used for the tournament:

• de_Dust2*
• de_Nuke*
• de_Tuscan
• de_Inferno
• de_Train*

*These maps are available for download on the X3O official website: http://www.x3o-gaming.com/files/tournaments/cs/maps/flashbug_mappack_by_drax.zip.

ARTICLE 4 - RESPONSIBILITIES

4.01 Players agree to comply with all terms of service set forth by X3O on www.x3o.com and www.x3o-gaming.com and to respect the following rules:

• Discrimination leading to unfair treatment of any individual is strictly prohibited
• Players agree to comply with these rules and regulations in their entirety
• Players agree to accept the decisions of tournament officials
• Players agree to not use any unlawful or unfair proceedings
• Players agree to respect the spirit of fair play and non-violence
• Players agree to fulfill their commitment within the limit of their means

4.02 Players agree to not mislead or dupe tournament officials by any means

4.03 Players agree to not interfere or communicate with other competitors while playing in an official match

ARTICLE 5 – VENUE SPECIFIC REGULATIONS

5.01 The entire X3O Gaming Center at 11640 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852, USA is considered the tournament area.

5.02 No outside food or drink that was not purchased from X3O will be permitted in the tournament area. Outside food or drink will be immediately thrown away by a tournament official or X3O employee. Players are welcome to consume any food or drinks outside of the gaming center or at adjacent restaurants.

5.03 Only players that are actively competing during Step 1 on Saturday, January 24th, 2009 will be allowed in the tournament area. All other players will not be allowed in the tournament area until the start time of their scheduled match session. There will be no spectators allowed in the tournament area during Step 1.

ARTICLE 6 – TOURNAMENT PROCEDURE

6.01 Tournament Schedule

6.01.1 The tournament schedule indicates the time and place at which players are required to be present in order to play their official matches. This tournament schedule is provided prior to or at the beginning of the tournament. Players are advised to be present and ready a few minutes before the schedule to avoid any unpredictable delays.

6.01.2 Players must be present in the tournament area with their whole team at their scheduled time in order to start a match session. A match session includes the players’ setup and one or more matches as defined in the tournament schedule. Once their match session is finished, players must leave the tournament area.

6.01.3 Players must accept the particular stage/playing conditions defined by the organization including but not limited to special lights, physical playing space, the wearing of specific shirts, the use of proper language in game and the use of special headphones. Specific required accessories or apparel will be provided by the organization.

6.02 Setup and Warm-up

6.02.1 Players must play on the computer or console (as defined in the game settings) designated by the tournament officials.

6.02.2 Players are expected to bring their own gaming accessories and peripherals including: Mouse, Keyboard, Mousepad and Headphones. There will be no computer equipment available to rent or borrow during the event.

6.02.3 Players are responsible for the good installation and functioning of their accessories and peripherals. This includes providing and installing the adequate drivers when necessary and providing the adequate type of cables or adapters. Tournament officials may help players with technical issues but may not delay the tournament schedule. Players must be prepared to compete in the event that their drivers or accessories do not work as intended with the tournament computers/configuration.

6.02.4 Players may not bring, install or use any external software or hardware that interacts with game play or any form of modification that would alter the game or allow a player to execute automatically more than one in-game action, or any configuration file unless expressly authorized by a tournament official.

6.02.5 Players may not change any settings on the hardware, operating system, TV Screen or monitor unless expressly authorized by a tournament official.

6.02.6 Players have 30 minutes from their notification schedule to complete their setup, warm-up and be ready to play their designated match.

6.03 Match Procedure

6.03.1 Matches are played according to the tournament structure and the schedule provided by the tournament officials. Players are encourage to keep themselves informed about the schedule in order to avoid any delay or default loss.

6.03.2 Teams must have at least four players present and ready to start their match at their scheduled match session start time to avoid a forfeit default loss.

6.03.3 Before the start of a match, each team must introduce their team captain to the tournament officials. It can be any one of their 5 players or their official coach. The team captain must remain the same person during the entire tournament. The team captain is the person in charge of his team toward the tournament officials. They have to do the map and side choices for appropriate matches, submit official disputes or communicate any other problems to tournament officials.

6.03.4 For a single-game match during Step 1 of the tournament, a pre-set map rotation will be used. Available maps for this rotation are outlined in the tournament procedures (3.06). The same rotation will be used for each group in Step 1.

6.03.5 For a single-game match during Step 2 of the tournament, the map choice must respect the following procedure:

• Team A removes one of the 5 maps
• Team B removes one of the 4 remaining maps
• Team B removes one of the 3 remaining maps
• Team A removes one of the 2 remaining maps

The match is played on the map which wasn’t removed by the teams. The Team A and Team B are determined by a coin toss. The side is chosen by a knife round in which all five players on each team will use a knife only to determine the round winner. For overtime the team which ended as terrorist during the regular match will star as terrorist in the first half.

6.04 During the match

6.04.1 An official match may only be started and played when a tournament official has given the signal to start. A match started without approval of a tournament official will be considered a non-official match. When a match is ready to be started by an official, players have one minute to prepare and be seated for the match to begin.

6.04.2 During an official match, players may only communicate with people involved in the match, even when there are pauses in the game. People involved in the match are the players of each team, the coach and tournament officials.

6.04.3 Players are not expected to leave an official game in progress unless it is authorized by the match format or it has been expressly authorized by a tournament official.

6.04.4 If a match is involuntarily interrupted (player crash, server crash, network outage, etc.) the tournament officials may decide to replay the match according to the following rules:

• If the problem took place before the end of the first round of a half for a player still alive in-game, the whole half-time will be replayed.
• If the problem took place after the end of the first round, the half-time will be continued with the number of remaining rounds and the scores of the interrupted half-time will be added to with the 1st/2nd half-time as appropriate to complete a match.
• No compensation will be given for money earned in-game and lost due to the interruption of the game.

6.04.5 If one of the players crashed or is disconnected, he must come back as quickly as possible. A team may pause the game at the end of the current round to allow the player to come back. A team cannot pause the game during the current round unless it has been expressly authorized by a tournament official.

6.04.6 Between the two half-times of a game, players are not expected to leave their place unless it has been expressly authorized by a tournament official. The 2nd half time will be started immediately at the completion of the first half, and all overtime halves will be started as quickly as possible.

6.05 After the match
6.05.1 When a team feels that they were a victim of rules violations during a match they are compelled to notify a tournament official at the time the violation occurred. The tournament official will decide whether to continue to play the remainder of the match or to stop for immediate investigation. Once the match is over, the team captain may officially ask for an investigation of the noted issue. It is strongly advised to provide valuable information that may help the tournament director in their investigation.

6.05.2 At the completion of a match, both team captains must report the match score to the tournament official and sign the report match paper. After signing the report match paper a team can’t alter the score or file a dispute.

ARTICLE 7 – RULE VIOLATIONS

7.01 Definitions

7.01.1 Each match session is controlled by a tournament official who has full authority to enforce the regulations in connection with the match to which they have been appointed. The tournament official has the authority to give warnings to a player.

7.01.2 The tournament is controlled by a tournament director who has full authority to enforce the regulations in connection with the tournament and all matches played in the tournament. The tournament director assigns the tournament officials to each match, has the authority to give warnings, to disqualify a player or an entire team, and to take part in the study of disputes. These rules and regulations are subject to the interpretation of the tournament director and may be altered to accommodate changes as necessary, without prior notice to any players, at their sole discretion.

7.02 Specific Rule Violations

7.02.1 The following actions are strictly prohibited during a match and may result in a warning, round loss or disqualification of a player or team from the tournament:

• Using the console at any time
• Any form of a script
• Using bugs/glitches which change the game principle (i.e. spawn bugs)
• Moving through walls, floors or roofs
• “Silent Bomb Plants” (i.e. planting a bomb which doesn’t make sound)
• Planting a bomb so that it cannot be defused; This does not include planting a bomb that requires multiple players to defuse
• Defusing a bomb through walls or roofs
• Boosting with the help of another player is allowed in general, but is illegal in places where textures, walls, ceilings or floors become transparent or penetrable
• “Fireboost” (i.e. firing below a player to push him)
• “Flashbugs” (i.e. throwing a flash grenade that flashes an area where the player can not clearly see the flash grenade)
• Throwing grenades under walls
• “Mapswimming” or “floating”
• “Pixelwalking” (i.e. sitting or standing on invisible map edges)
• Binding “+duck” to the mouse wheel
• Once a player is killed, their screen will fade to black. Once a player’s screen is completely black as a result from death, they are no longer allowed to verbally communicate with other players.
• External voice communication programs or software are NOT allowed (i.e. ventrillo is not allowed)
• Players may not hold the TAB key after death to indicate to teammates whether the opposing team is carrying a BOMB or not

7.02.2 The following actions are allowed during a game:

• Throwing grenades over walls or roofs
• Binding “stopsound” to any single key that does not perform another action
• There is no restriction on the amount of grenades purchased
• Bunny hopping is allowed without a script
• Silent running is allowed without a script

7.02.3 The following positions are forbidden on the map de_Dust 2:

• http://www.x3o-gaming.com/files/tournaments/cs/screenshots/de_dust21.jpg
• http://www.x3o-gaming.com/files/tournaments/cs/screenshots/de_dust22.jpg
• http://www.x3o-gaming.com/files/tournaments/cs/screenshots/de_dust23.jpg

7.02.4 It is allowed to have multiple players on the following box, however they cannot be on top of each other:

• http://www.x3o-gaming.com/files/tournaments/cs/screenshots/de_dust24.jpg

7.02.5 The following position is forbidden on the map de_Nuke:

• http://www.x3o-gaming.com/files/tournaments/cs/screenshots/de_nuke1.jpg

7.02.6 Watching underneath the walls is not allowed on de_Train or de_Dust2:

• http://www.x3o-gaming.com/files/tournaments/cs/screenshots/de_train.jpg
• http://www.x3o-gaming.com/files/tournaments/cs/screenshots/de_dust25.jpg

7.03 Warnings and Sanctions

7.03.1 A team or player which uses a voluntary or involuntary flashbug will lose three rounds which will be removed at the end of the match from their score.

7.03.2 A player may receive a warning if they do any of the following:

• Refuses to follow a tournament official’s instructions
• Arrives late to their scheduled match session
• Shows dissent by word or action
• Uses insulting language or gestures
• Is guilty of un-sportsmanlike behavior

7.03.3 A player may be disqualified from the event if they do any of the following:

• Receives more than one warning
• Is guilty of violent conduct
• Uses any unlawful or unfair proceedings
• Misleads or dupes any tournament official
• Is not present at their match session scheduled start time
• Violates a rule of this regulation

7.03.4 If any one player is disqualified the entire team will lose its current match, or next match if not playing, by default loss. If the player does not become re-instated in the tournament, the team will lose all of their next batches by default and lose all rights and prizes that would be been awarded. In a group stage, the previous matches’ results within the group are cancelled and are lost by default. All points won or lost are backwardly re-distributed.