United Jousters Grand Joust

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The United Jousters Pas D'armes Grand Jousting Tournament or more commonly known as simply the UJ Grand Joust was a joust that traveled from one realm to the next on the virtual grid of Second Life among groups that were affiliated with the United Jousters organization. The joust was hosted at a realm and run by the realm itself with support from the United Jousters. Often the joust includes lining up and recognition of the UJ-affiliated realms/teams, the joust itself, and a post-joust dance. The joust has not been hosted since August 15, 2015 and is thus considered defunct with the unofficial dissolution of the United Jousters organization.

Rules & Regulations
As of Septmeber 21, 2014 and as indicated in Bylaw 4, “United Jousters Rules and Regulations Best Practices for Individual / Single-Elimination Joust Contests” of the 2014 United Jousters Handbook. Created by Nyza Stillwater and approved 7-0 by the UJ Committee at the May 7th, 2014 General Meeting.

Rules for the UJ Grand Joust are flexible in that the host still retains much of the control of the event, however, there will be some required rule standards that must be followed pertaining to this event regardless of where it is hosted.

HOST DETERMINED RULES
• Limits on script/memory usage.

• What joust equipment (list, scoreboard, podium, etc.) the host may use.

• Payout method (scoreboard, donation barrel, etc.)

• Amount of time to give jousters who crash to return

• Degree of a turn that is to be considered "too sharp".

• What list lines and equipment to use for tracking turns and lance width.

• Instant Replays/Video Capturing: All officials with screen/video capturing technology on their computers may record joust passes and refer to them as needed to make rulings.

MANDATORY RULES
SPECTATORS and CONTESTANTS

• Remove HUDs, radars, meters, AO's, weapons, scripted armor, script objects (except horse, lance HUD and lance) and any unnecessary scripted items to reduce lag (Some hair and shoes are major causes of excessive scripts due to older resizing scripts, these should be changed BEFORE going to the joust). A script board will usually be on hand at a tournament for your convenience. Disqualification will occur for contestants who wear scripted armor and weapons.

• If involved with role-playing this event, please maintain proper decorum and respect for all. Respect the rules of the sim.

• We encourage cheering and appropriate crowd gestures, but please, no unsportsmanlike conduct/profanity (booing, cussing, etc.)

• Bipedal avatars (humans, elves, nekos, anthro, furries, etc.) only with a 5 foot minimum height and with visually realistic proportions. Fantasy animal avatars (dragons, wolves, demons, etc.) are permitted so long as they are bipedal and meet the minimum height requirement. Height indicators are usually available for reference.

• Contestants and spectators may contribute additional prize money to the prize pool (purse) by paying the green "DONATE" button on the scoreboard or through a donation barrell/object usually provided at the event.

MOUNTS

• Horses only, though donkeys, mules, and some fantasy creatures may be considered. Mounts must have visually realistic proportions and must be full-sized (i.e.: standard saddle horse and/or draft breed).

• Amaretto and breedable horses, while adequate, must be at 100% or it will auto return to your inventory in the middle of your match if its health drops significantly.

• Horse hooves must be visible at ground level.

• Avatars must be realistically mounted on horse.

• No speed boosts or race modes allowed. If it's on, you will be asked to turn it off if it is suspected that it is in use.

LANCE

• KISH, KK, MD (Medieval Designs), and/or TAS (The Armor Stall) lances are allowed. No modified or custom lances allowed.

• Lances must be set at blunt tip only.

• TAS lance are restricted to a maximum left width of 6 notches (six on HUD or set width left of default). Use Tournament Mode when jousting in a tournament, and Target mode when practicing.

• All lances should be held in the normal default position. Contestants who are gripping lances at the extreme end to gain extra reach will be required to adjust or change weapons.

• Once a lance is selected, it must be used throughout the entire duration of a single match. Lances MAY be changed between matches during a tournament.

OFFICIAL

• The Tournament Official has the final say on decisions regarding a match. Arguing with the official may lead to disqualification.

• An official may consult with other officials if present.

• Contestants may inquire to the official about a potential missed judgment call. It will ultimately be up to the official whether or not to act or rule on said call.

• Contestants may submit written and verbal protests for review on future rulings to any official and/or UJ Committee Member. The current ruling on the field as given by the official will stand.

• An official may halt/hold a match at any point during a joust tournament to evaluate or review a conflict of interest.

• If a HOLD is called, contestants should NOT approach the list. If a contestant is at the gate (or the list has been triggered to start), they should immediately back away from it.

MATCH APPROACH

• When a contestant's name is announced for a match (current or next match), exit the viewing stands and ready horse, lance HUD, and lance in the 'make ready' areas provided.

• It is recommended, but not mandated that contestants "on deck" wait until the conclusion of the previous match before mounting and preparing their lance, in order to reduce lag for the current contestants during their match.

• Do NOT approach/activate the gate/list until instructed to do so by the official (typically after your introduction OR after a ruling on a previous pass is given, usually with a score). If both players trigger the gate countdown PRIOR to a ruling by an official, and proceed to play out the pass, it will be at the official’s discretion as to whether the pass will count or not. Exception: If the official crashes or does not respond with a pass ruling within 60 seconds.

• Do NOT approach the list until you are ready to joust. An uncontested hit resulting from ‘equipment failure’ or late starts will be allowed at the discretion of the official.

• Various lists have different methods of detecting the presence of a contestant. If you are not familiar with the list, look for a sign that explains its operation, or ask the official.

• Each player will be given 3 minutes to activate the list gate (countdown) from the time they are instructed to approach the list.

• In the event of a crash, each player will have an additional 5 minutes to return to the list field before being disqualified. A crashed player's opponent may request additional time for the crashed player to return, but the maximum allowed time should not be deemed ‘excessive’ (determined by the official).

MATCH

• You must stay within your lane at all times.

• Matches leading up to the finals will be decided by the first to score THREE (3) clean hits on their opponent within TEN (10) passes. Otherwise, the contestant leading with the MOST hits upon the conclusion of Pass 10 will be deemed the winner (2-1, 2-0, or 1-0).

• In the event of a tie at the conclusion of Pass 10, see the section entitled “TIE BREAKER”.

• FINAL MATCH: Matches will be decided by the first to score FIVE (5) clean hits on their opponent within TEN (10) passes. Otherwise, the contestant leading with the MOST hits upon the conclusion of Pass 10 will be deemed the winner. (4-3, 4-2, 4-1, 4-0, 3-2, 3-1, 3-0, 2-1, 2-0, or 1-0).

TIE BREAKER

Contestants will continue to compete until a tie is broken on a single pass with an uncontested single hit. A change in list settings will be considered if there a tie match beyond Pass 15.

HOLDS, FOULS & REDOS

• There is an automatic HOLD (though not displayed visually on the list) after each pass until the ruling of any specific pass is revealed by the official (clean hit, fouls, etc.). Do not approach for your next pass until AFTER the official has declared a ruling on the previous pass. A pass that is run by contestants during a hold will NOT count.

Exception: If the official crashes or does not respond with a pass ruling within 60 seconds.

• If the official puts up a visual display of HOLD at any point during a match, this means a pass is under extensive review and will take time before a ruling is made. Please do not approach the list until instructed to do so.

• If a contestant fouls, a hit in that run will not be counted (unless the Foul After Hit setting is disabled).

• Fouls may be called by the official or the foul indicators may be turned on for the list. The official has the final say if a foul will be counted or not.

• A foul may be called due to any of the following occurring:

- Sharp turns (at the discretion of the official and the host) resulting in a hit to the “back” of the avatar or which causes the horse to lose forward momentum

- Leaving the lane (jumping the rail), or the ground (flying)

- Going abruptly sideways

- Excessive lance reach

- Delayed start

- Starting without the go-ahead from the official

- Bad sportsmanship

• Foul settings can be set as follows:

- Foul on contact with the center wall

- Foul on contact with the outside wall

- Foul after hit (FAH) with either the center and/or outside wall

- A combination of any of the above

• Contestants who commit a foul by any means as described above, not including hitting a wall, may be given a warning. In a rare case when there are multiple fouls that an official feels are deliberate, an official has the power to disqualify a contestant at his or her discretion.

• A pass redo (re-run) may be permitted at the discretion of the official if in the case a jouster:

- Gets stuck in the list at any point during their run (in the mud)

- Has their lance up following a hit from the opposing jouster

- Is not in run mode

- Experiences excessive lag along with their opponent, and where both jousters agree to a pass redo

NOTE: Lines on list lanes are used by the official as a visual guideline for judging turns so sharp they require a warning, and to determine excessive reach of the lance (i.e. TAS at a setting greater than 6 clicks).

MATCH CONCLUSION

At the end of a match (unless instructed differently by the official or in the case of a playoff round) the contestants will return their horse and lance to their inventory and return to the stands.

RECORDKEEPING / DISTRIBUTION OF POINTS

Recording of tournament results will be kept on the UJ website and contestants awarded points based on UJ practices and policies.