[PDGG] PlayDotA Gaming Group

[CvP]

JOIN PDGG

The PlayDotA Gaming Group strives to bring forumers together and to allow them to play together. This is not a league or a professional institution but is a community-driven project which was created for the sole purpose stated in the previous sentence.

If you ever have wanted to play together with those whom you see at the forum then this is your chance.

What is PDGG?

The main goal upon creating PDGG was to have a cool, chill and enjoyable environment where PlayDotA.com forumers/contributors can interact and play games with each other. At its start the group was located in a private Garena room, but has since migrated from Garena to Ranked Gaming Client in which we have been provided with a separate channel and a host bot, which eliminates the issue of host advantages.

The community is as previously stated not a league and as a result many games are a hell lot of fun due to lots of lulz involved, members are free to experiment with item builds and hero picks. It's built around the community and while still being relatively small it has grown to be a community where people get to know each other. That said, there's an absence of complete retards, where a majority of the group is decently skilled. Do not be intimidated by this fact, the skill level in the group varies greatly, where some players are extremely good and others are quite horrible, though the latter is usually highly subjective. There exists players in the group who you can look up to and follow in their footsteps as well as players who are actively giving constructive criticism, both ways helping you to improve as a player, though as any other community we are not completely without their opposites.

Per RGC defaults the players vote for a mode which they want to play, where the most common modes being voted forth are AP, RD and CM, all of these without any additional modifiers such as EM. Custom games may also be hosted by certain staff members on request though this is a rarity.

Joining the Community

These are the requirements for joining the group, followed by an explanation on how to join as well as listing those to whom you might file your vouch requests.

Requirements

• At least 50 posts on the PlayDotA forums
• A Ranked Gaming Client account
• Acceptable and respectable attitude towards other members

Of course we'll make it easier for those who have either contributed to the community via Guides/Videos/Artwork, and so on, or long time lurkers (people who have registered on PlayDotA.com but never bothered to post because they spent more time reading) to be vouched but be aware that those are the only exceptions.

Here is an extensive guide on how to set up the Ranked Gaming Client as well as on how to register an account, when you register it is preferable if your nick matches your forum name though this is not a requirement. The PDGG staff will need to know the nickname you register with in order to be able to vouch you, so make sure to provide it when you file your request for a vouch.

When you fulfill the requirements simply send a private message to
K2SO4]Archangel, Bullseye-_-, Myself, s.ops_Freak, Razorya, or AntiAntiAnti containing your registered RGC username and request to be vouched in the PDIH channel, this assuming that you have downloaded the RGC gaming client and registered. We are unable to vouch users who have not yet created a RGC account due to limitations enforced on us by the client.

When you're vouched, simply start the client and type /j pdih and you'll be redirected to the PDIH group!

When you have been vouched it is essential to join DotA Forums - PlayDotA Gaming Group in order to be able to access information regarding PDGG, at most times there isn't that much to keep track of unless you want to partake in the chats going on and currently important notices can be found in the PDIH channel information.

Further Reading

The following extract is considered as an obligatory read upon actually joining the community, and is included here for those who wish to know more about the community before actually joining. The contents are guidelines, expectations from our members and rules.

Originally Posted by Robzor

The PDIH Codex

The basic set of guidelines for the community, it is mainly reference material but I recommend that new users read it through at least once.

Table of Contents

• Community, the Essence
• Code of Behaviour
• Penalization
• Admins
• Recommended Reading

Community, the Essence

Undeniably, the best opening here would be to once again state why this community was created.

The purpose of this community is to allow people from the PlayDotA forum to play quality games together.

Never forget that this is the most basal element in this community, the one at its core which it is all built around. I start out by pointing this out seeing as every other thing I mention builds upon this - all guidelines in this thread derives from this while explaining what we essentially expect from you.

Code of Behaviour

The guidelines imposed on you can be regarded as vague, and while many come across as rules the main purpose is not that of rules. I have always valued the leisure time in this group, the sort of lax environment where you don't need to stress up every time you enter a game.

It is my belief that most people have come here to enjoy such an atmosphere, and thus that is what we wish to project with the following sections.

Signing for Games

The only thing I have to say about this is very simple;

Do not sign for games you do not intend to play in.

This means that you should not sign for games which you mean to observe in, you are free to request observer slots but do so in the client chat or by querying a person in the game who has the ability to open observer slots, neither should you sign while you are already in a game.

Remember that people who have the required rights to open slots might not be present in every game, which is part of why this guideline exists, we want to ensure that 10 people who are capable of playing joins the game first as to make sure that a game actually can start and to confirm that someone who is able to open slots is present.

If you only want to play a certain mode then make sure to keep an eye out for the modes other players who sign up chooses, it's not convenient for anyone if you sign and then don't show up simply because you didn't like the mode.

Lobbyism

Here are guidelines regarding the recommended behaviour while in the game lobby.

These commands are the ones you need to know, and which will be discussed;

• !ready
• !votekick [playerslot]
• !wim
• !start

I presume that you know how all of these commands work and will not put any time into explaining them.

Use the !ready command at your own discretion, type it whenever you feel that you're ready to play and don't type it if you're not ready to play. Do not attempt to force others to type it, just as you may use it at your own discretion so may they. Do not wait for others to type it first if you are ready, if everyone thought like that no game would get started, though anyone with the ability to use the !swap command is encouraged to ready up last as the final responsibility of balancing a game resides with them.

It is possible to !votekick players, and I actually encourage people to do so when required. The reason why people are allowed to ready up at their own discretion is because if they happen to go away for a longer period of time is because you then are allowed to kick them out of the game.

The !wim command is useful for showing how which people have not typed !ready, but do not spam it, this only clutters the chat has no practical value. It is best used in order to locate people who might have tabbed out while not being ready, in case you encounter a person of this extremely rare breed then I suggest that you tab out as well and type aforementioned persons username in the client chat as this will play a sound for this user, allowing him to react. Votekicking a player for being away without highlighting him in the client chat will be punished.

One command that never will and never shall be used is the !start command, if people do not ready up then you are free to kick them, but do never force a start on them. Things might have happened which made them unable to play and this needs to be respected at all times.

Forming the Teams

Avoid deliberately placing all good players on one team, we want games which are as even as possible so that everyone may enjoy the game they are playing in.

The purpose of the people with the privilege of being able to swap players around in the lobby is not to balance games. I realize that this might sound misleading, especially as this is what we want them to do, but keep in mind that we want you to take care of these matters to an extent as great as possible.

People with this ability exist to swap players around in case major team balance issues arise and keep in mind that they do not exist to satisfy your needs to play with certain players.

If there are certain persons on your team you would rather not play or if the person who manually balanced the teams did not produce, in your opinion, even enough teams then that leaves you with the option of leaving before the game starts, thus I would suggest not typing !ready until that a team is formed which you feel comfortable with.

Pausing Games

Let me begin by saying that there is no countdown rule for pausing, this is an old league rule which I don't know why people are trying to enforce so strictly in casual and leisure play. This does not mean that you should pause whenever for nothing, you are still to pause as little as possible during critical moments in the game.

If someone is away during the picking phase or has not arrived 30 seconds prior to creep spawns then you should pause the game at this point, then highlight the person in question in the client chat and wait for a while. Most of the times we're dealing with someone who tabbed and didn't hear that the game started, in those other cases the game will be remade.

Forfeiting and Remaking

People are free to forfeit at any given moment though there are limitations regarding when it is possible to forfeit due to the how the bot is programmed. It's similar to to the !ready command as you may use it at your own discretion, and you may do so for any reason you might have. Even if you do forfeit you are supposed to give the game as much effort as any other game so long as the game is still running. When appropriate and a majority of your team wants to forfeit it is encouraged to do so.

As the first player drops from a game it becomes possible to use the !votermk command, you are free to use this as you deem fit, but keep in mind that if the vote does not pass any leaves post-voting will be treated with in accordance to the common rules for leaving.

When something of important magnitude happens which renders the game unplayable those of us with rights have the capability to force a remake.

Noobs

Inevitably we must arrive at this point.

During my time in this community there have been quite a lot people who have been slightly below the average skill level and these people have usually been flamed in all manner of ways. This is something I don't practice, and I do not think you should either.

These persons will not be kicked out for the sole reason of being bad and thus I instead encourage you to give them constructive criticism so they may work on their flaws, and grow as players.

If you however encounter some form of cancerous player who is both bad and lacks manners then do contact one of us admins, provide reference material, and we will make sure to remove this person. We have no intent to allow players who do not wish to grow with the community to stay.

Flaming

Being able to let out some emotions during a game is completely reasonable, but we do not wish to see the games as a stage for your personal vendettas and drama shows.

There's a thin line between just letting out emotions and downright flaming and thus the thumb of rule if you wish to know how much you can flame the best one would be "Don't say anything over the Internet that you would not say to that person if you meet in reality". We won't judge by that, in fact we will most likely be more lenient though this depends on your persona.

We can break it down to "Do not say anything you are not prepared to take the consequences for", you may say anything at your own discretion so long as you are prepared to take the consequences.

English

The language to speak while playing with others from PDIH/PDGG is English regardless of nativity.

While we aren't as uptight as to refuse you to make comments or address your peers in other languages many members feel left out when they cannot partake nor understand a discussion.

If you are asked to speak English, then heed that person's wishes, this regardless of the persons authority.

Penalization

Though we'd like a leisure environment there are some concrete rules we need to impose on the users as to ascertain that a certain standard is met.

Offenses and Punishment

These are the offenses as well as their corresponding ban values;

• Severe flaming - 1 day
• Heavy spamming in the client chat - 1 day
• Heavy spamming in the game lobby - 1 day
• Heavy spamming in-game - 1 day
• Leaving - 3 days
• Destroying the game on purpose
  1. Intentional suiciding - 3 days
  2. Intentional feeding - 3 days
  3. Purposefully harming your allies through using certain spells - 3 days
  4. Going AFK for more than three minutes - 1 to 3 days
  5. Abusing bugs - 3 days
  6. Multiaccounting - at least 3 days
  7. Account sharing - at least 3 days
• Using hacks - Permanent unvouch

Following is explanations of these difference offense cases.

Spamming

We will judge it as spam when you flood the chat in an irritating manner even though discussions are going on, there is no lower nor upper line limit though you obviously will be more likely get closer to the ban the more lines you spam.

In-game spamming will result in the violator getting an instant ban without any warning prior to the ban.

If you see anyone making remarks about it being bothering you should probably reduce it to a lower level, while we will not warn you before giving you a ban for in-game spam users will need to declare their contempt with your behaviour prior to us acting. If you are the one making this remark make sure to make it apparent that you find the spam bothering.

Spamming in the lobby or the client chat will first result in a kick from the room/lobby coupled with a warning, if they persist with spamming a ban will be given. If no moderator is present at the time of the violation the ban will be given without any warning, presuming that ample evidence proving the case in question has been provided.

For those who wish to highlight users on the RGC client, double-click the username of the person in question and type the username in this secluded chat tab.

Leaving

Self-explanatory in its essence.

If you feel a desire to leave then speak to the players in the game and ask for their consent, if they do give it you will be allowed to leave without receiving a ban. Make sure to explain as much as possible regarding why you need to leave if this is the case.

Currently we do not distinguish between disconnects and ragequitting.

Severe Flaming

No banning for small insults, keep it to the excessive stuff.

I suggest that you read the paragraph on flaming if you have not already done that.

There is no clear definition such as specific words which you use or for how long you go on. I expect that ongoing flaming and repeatedly assaulting one or many users will be the cases which most are going to be judged for.

You will not get banned so long as no report is made seeing as we then will consider it as if the user could deal with it.

Destroying the Game on Purpose

1. Intentional suiciding
2. Intentional feeding
3. Purposefully harming your allies through using certain spells

We will only ban for these when they are performed in a manner that is harmful to the game.

When you go AFK make sure to leave a note regarding how long you estimate to be away. You will not be banned if players agree to pause for a duration longer than three minutes, if you do not say anything else we expect you to return within three minutes.

Multiaccounting and Account sharing

Multiaccounting is not allowed.

Members found to be using more than 1 account will be given notice to reply with which account he wants to use. Members ignoring this rule will be penalized as such.

When a member is !timebanned, his IP will be banned along with any account that uses that IP. No unban exceptions for anyone with same IPs under any circumstances.

Members found to be using different accounts to evade their ban periods will have their original ban period doubled and the multiaccount unvouched.

Account sharing is also not allowed. If caught, (yes, we can find out)both giver and receiver of account will be punished.

The point of these implementations is to build a community where familiarity between members is the difference between PDIH and Garena Pub.


Using Hacks

No exceptions, no excuses.

Trial Status

When a ban wears off the user who was banned will be put on a "trial status", the essence of it is as follows - A person who is put on a trial will be banned for twice the amount if aforementioned person violates another rule before that the trial ends.

The trial status expires in one week after that it has begun.

Admins

I say admins, but this is meant to encompass all those with any rights granted above member level.

We exist to make sure that nothing goes out of hand, we do not act in situations where our intervention is not definitely needed. The community should handle itself, even without us around, and hopefully (though not likely) we will never need to act.

The responsibilities for those with rights involves;

• Vouching new users
• Balancing games
• Opening observer slots
• Punishing users who break the rules

Should you encounter any problems down the chain of authority then send a message to one of the serving administrators, and at this point I mean administrators.

Recommended Reading

If you happen to find that you're below the skill level of most of the players and want to get better these are some guides on subjects which may be of interest to you;

Generic Guides


Hero Guides


In addition it is recommended to get a grip on the most basic mechanics, starting here would be a good choice. In addition the Advanced Mechanics Guides section provides a lot of worthwhile information.