First, here is a very simple list of rules for the members of the Test Tubes to follow during game play.  They are very basic and we only use them to help keep our matches fun and fair.

1) HAVE FUN! This is ONLY a game and we are all here to have fun.  Please come into any matches ready to have a good time.  There are no reasons for any of our Test Tubes to cause problems with other team mates or the opposing team.  Any problems with another player during a match should be reported to your captain and the situation will be dealt with accordingly.

2) Please let the team captains deal with any problems which may occur during a match.  This includes snerts (non-team members), any suspicions of cheating or any inappropriate behavior by anyone involved in the match.  These matters can be held in a quiet manner without disrupting the public chat and bringing everybody down.  At times you may be asked to log (type /complain) a snert - please wait until the match captains have asked you to do so as anyone who is not supposed to be in the zone room is given suitable time to leave willingly.

3) Be considerate.  Your captains LOVE it when the calendar is used to sign up but we understand we all have lives and it is hard to commit.  All we ask is you do sign up when you can, and if you have ever signed up and suddenly can't play for any reason, please take a second to let us know.  ICQ message, another quick note on the calendar, or anything to let the match captain know that your spot is available.

4) Please be visible on ICQ to your captains if you may want to play.  We ask those online first and you may be missed if we can't see you.  If you sign up to play, please have ICQ on before game time, and during unless acro doesn't run well with ICQ on.  If you have signed up and the captain doesn't see you online, we will assume you can't make the match and will look to fill your spot.

5) If we don't have a full team going into a match, please let the match captain know if you have someone online who would like to play.  We try to limit our usage of subs, and chances are the captain will already be in the process of looking for players to fill any empty spots.  We also need to "ok" any subs coming in for us with the captain of the other team.  So please discuss this with the match captain if you know of someone who would like to play.  It will help us avoid problems with the other team as well as keep us from suddenly having too many players show up.

Basically these rules are simple common courtesy to the captains and other team members.  This IS just a game we play with friends and although it is nice to win now and then, it is not the main reason we are here.

The following rules apply to all members of team acro, and refer to all styles of play.

1) Headlining: Always headline in adult matches, never headline in clean. (Headlining means capitalizing the first letter of each word in an acro). In clean matches, only the first word of a sentence should be capitalized.

2) Punctuation: Keep it single.  Acros ending with punctuation such as !!!! are not permissible and won't get points in team acro.

3) Pandering: This is using the name of a player or team name in your acro and it is not allowed unless the captains have previously agreed to it.  It is allowed during certain "winner's choice" or "choice" style games, where the topic may be "Name Game" or something which involves somebody in the room.  This is rare, so please try to keep players out of your answers.

4) Do not join words together.  If in doubt if a word is really one word or two, you are safest not to use it.  There is absolutely no use of dots or anything else in order to join words together.

5) How clean? Be sure you know going into a clean match how clean or suggestive your acros can be.  In a squeaky clean game, please keep your answers "G" rated - things that you wouldn't be hiding from your 7 year old.  In "innuendo" matches, this means that you can suggest more adult thought, without using any dirty words.  Innuendo matches should keep to a "PG" rating, and no adult topics or acros should come up.  In "to the bot" anything goes! You can be as nasty as you like as long as the "acrobot" lets your answer go through.  This means write whatever you like, but the naughty words won't be allowed.

Here are the basic rules explaining the different types of acro that we play.  These may apply to both Adult or Clean matches.

1) Regular Topics: This is the most basic and is played as regular acro.  The winner of each round picks from the bot topics listed, or they may decide to keep the topic for the next round G/A.

2) Couch Rules: This is a fun and challenging style of acro, where the winner of each round must create their own topic.  This is done by typing it in purple.  Ex: /me TOPIC: What's in your fridge?  The players then follow this topic in their acro.

3) Winner's Choice: The best of both worlds!  In this style of play, the winner of each round has the choice of selecting one of the listed bot topics, or making up their own topic as in Couch Rules.

4) Story Time: The first acro of the match is the title of the story, then each winner makes up topics in an attempt to write this story.  Example, the first topic after the title is selected could be to describe the characters.  These topics are written in the same format as in Couch Rules.

5) Name Game: Players try to use names of the players in the match in all of their acros.  Please remember to use the nicknames that are actually in the room at the time.

Did I mention HAVE FUN?  Just making sure... can't leave that one out!  So now you know how to conduct yourself and your acros in any match that the Test Tubes play.  So o~Swim~Swim~Swim~o and happy acroing!

This Page Was Last Update on 10/19/2000 12:06:13 PM

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