Since we first started running competitions here, a certain unofficial and unwritten "code of conduct" seemed to establish itself amongst many of our more regular players. In essence, this code extends to little more than being fair and thoughtful towards other players, and being proactive about arranging matches within an acceptable timeframe. However, it has become obvious that the code needs to be published for everyone's benefit as it isn't helping those new to our tournaments while it remains unwritten!
But before reading on, please remember that Carcassonne Central's online tournaments are free to enter and are organised by members of this community in their free time. We don't get paid and do what we do purely for our love of the game, and to enable members here at CarcC to compete against and learn from each other by playing Carcassonne and its many expansions. Don't underestimate the amount of time and effort that goes into this, or the sums of money that are spent producing and posting special souvenir tiles to all participants afterwards.
We don't want to exclude anyone who genuinely wants to play, but if the expectations described below seem unreasonable to you then please think twice before signing up to take part in a competition...
1. While most of us would prefer to play each other in person, sitting up at a table using actual tiles and wooden meeples, we are an online community and our tournament matches are almost always played online since our members are scattered across the globe and don't meet up very often. This means there is no practical way of guaranteeing fair play, so you are urged to enter into the spirit of the competition by keeping things fair and friendly, by following the tournament rules and by avoiding any practices that you might think unfair if your opponent were to do the same without your knowledge. In the context of our tournaments, good sportsmanship, reliability and integrity are far more respectable and important qualities than your ability to win at Carcassonne.
2. Your games will not be organised for you, so it is up to you and each of your opponents to make them happen. Posting messages on the forum to say when you expect to be free in the hope that others will see this and meet you at these times might prove useful at first but it isn't enough to depend on this. Instead, please arrange directly via Private Message, and include me and/ or your group administrator on any subsequent messages if your opponent doesn't respond. If your plans change and you can no longer play at the agreed time, please give your opponent as much advance notice as possible. Similarly, be as reasonable and understanding as possible if your opponent cancels on you and you have to reschedule (but let me know if it happens repeatedly).
3. As a guide, you should be able to commit to playing at least two games per week, but this is certainly not an upper limit. You won't necessarily have to play two games every week as holidays or busy periods at work can make life tricky in this respect, but it will certainly be helpful if you can make the most of the times when you are available and/or make up for lost time in subsequent weeks if you're forced to miss a week. If you're unlikely to find sufficient time to meet this commitment (or have other priorities that will make this unlikely) then please don't take part in any competitions until your schedule is a little clearer. Otherwise you will slow the progress of your outstanding opponents while they wait to play you, and consequently risk delaying the overall competition. As a safeguard against future tournaments losing momentum in this way, penalties will be imposed on players who fail to keep this. This is your warning; please don't take it personally if this ends up being you.
4. Carcassonne Central is a global community with members from all around the world, situated in many different time zones. Groups are drawn at random which means you may (and probably will) end up having to schedule a match against someone who is four, five, six or more hours ahead of or behind you. This could mean playing outside of your preferred Carcassonne time window, so please be prepared to be as flexible as possible should the need arise.
5. We all know what it's like when the tiles are against you; your opponent seems to draw every tile they need (as well as the ones you need) and you're helpless to stop them from completing their features or stealing yours. This is Carcassonne at its most infuriating and it can be difficult just to carry on when it's clear that you've already lost.
But even after victory has become impossible, please show respect for your opponent by continuing with the game until the final tile has been placed. This is important since the total number of points scored by and points scored against each player make up their total points difference (PD) which is used as a tie-breaker under certain circumstances and a long-term Order of the Meeple career statistic. You may feel that you don't want to continue, but the result of you resigning/ quitting a game rather than completing it could be that your opponent fails to achieve something that would otherwise have been awarded to them.
Linkback: https://www.carcassonnecentral.com/community/index.php?topic=2700.0