Section 1.1 Headset lights must
be on.
(a) This is to ensure the headset is plugged in. If a player unplugs the headset in order to
avoid being tagged, it is cause for immediate disqualification of the player
and the team from the game.
(b) Headset lights also help determine the health
of the pack. If the headset lights
become very dim, the pack could have gone into “God Mode”. This is when the battery is dying. The phaser can still fire and tag opponents,
but the headset and phaser cannot take hits.
Mechanical problems may cause red, green, or all lights to go in and out
or to remain off. Sometimes only one
side of the headset may be affected. If
there are any problems with the headset lights, the pack must be changed.
Section 1.2 Target pods
(a)
Pods can
be turned off for a tournament. If
turned on, they award 5 points to the team who hit it.
(b)
Pods may
fire back if the arena has the capability.
(3.1 pods cannot fire back.)
“System fire score” is set to off meaning getting hit by the base does
not give the other team a point.
(c)
Pod
timer settings (seconds): Sleep = 16,
Warn = 2, Active = 1.5, Award = 1.5
Section 1.3 Player units must be
set to shield level 1.
This is done due to the effects of shield
levels. When coming on to your second life,
you have a delay where you can get one shot off before you are tagged. When pods are used, a team can take a hit and
tag the pod while coming on their second life.
This is a major advantage to the home teams, as distance and timing are
critical issues that allow a team to do this.
Practice is the only way to successfully do this, and the home teams
will have the most practice on their arena.
Section 1.4 Friendly Fire is set
to off.
Section 1.5 Games should be set
to 8 minutes.
Article II. National Standard Arena Standards
Section 2.1 Any glass windows
into arena must be covered to prevent bounce shots.
Laser Storm arenas do not normally have mirrors
or glass in the arena. A reflective
surface would be a huge advantage to the home teams as they know how best to
use it. Therefore, all windows and other
reflective surfaces must be covered.
Section 2.2 Only black lights
allowed during play. No lighting effects or special effects allowed.
This is done to promote a universal playing
feel during tournaments. Each arena has
their own unique lighting effects, when the effects are turned off the playing
field is leveled for home and away teams, as well as creating a common “feel”
for tournaments.
Section 2.3 Arena design must
prevent players from being completely protected while firing at the pods.
The defense and offense must have equal
opportunities to do well. It would not
be fair for a very defensive team if the pod runner were overly protected
barriers. Likewise it would not be fair
for offensive teams if the arena made the defense too strong. The pod must have a definable area from where
it can be hit (the pod zone). There are
currently no limits on the size of the pod zone.
Section 2.4 Music is desired but must be kept to a low level to permit team communication.
Communication is very important in tournament
play. Players tend to like music being
played, which is now the normal environment for laser storm games. The volume must be kept at a low level to
permit teammates to talk to one another.
If both captains agree, the music can be turned up, down, or off.
Article III. Tournament Requirements
Section 3.1 A special before the
tournament gives the players extra practice time.
There are no set prices, and this is a
suggestion. An arena can choose to sell discounted
games the night of the tournament to tournament players.
Section 3.2 Headset sensors must
be checked to ensure they have not been tampered with.
Check each headset sensor to be sure it is
visible and at least level with the opening.
Pushing in the headset sensors will result in equipment abuse. Players should check their own equipment
before the game starts. If a headset is
questionable, ask a referee.
Section 3.3 Packs must be
assigned randomly.
A referee or a person in the vesting room must
physically hand the packs to the players without looking at the player unit
number. Players cannot refuse a pack unless there is a problem such as no
sound, sticky trigger or some other equipment failure.
Article IV. Tournament level penalties
Section 4.1 Barrier movement
(a) Intentional: Any amount of intentional
barrier movement is a penalty. Separating barriers to fire through them or leaning
on a barrier to get a better shot or leaning on a barrier to provide extra
cover is considered intentional movement.
(b) Non-intentional: Causing a barrier to move more than 1 foot in
any direction is cause for a penalty even if the player stops the barrier
immediately after hitting it.
(c) Barrel movement. Any movement of a barrel
during the game is a penalty.
Section 4.2 Firing over the
E-Pod
(a) An E-Pod barrier is a barrier located in
front of an Energizer providing cover from the entire arena.
(b) Firing over, under or through cracks between
the E-pod barriers is not allowed.
Section 4.3 Dividing Wall
Barrier Infractions
(a) The phaser or any part of a player’s body cannot
cross the center dividing line in any way.
(b) If there is a barrel on the dividing line, the
top of the barrel is considered neutral area until a player leans over the rim
of the barrel. Only one player may
occupy the top of the barrel by actively
playing over the barrel. This makes the
barrel the color of the player occupying it.
A player on the opposing side cannot lean over the barrel until the
other person has left.
(c) Players may not fire between cracks created
by barrels or barriers that are part of the dividing wall. Certain structures
or obstacles may be intended for this purpose and should be noted by the
hosting arena so as not to cause unnecessary penalties
Section 4.4 Diversions
(a) No diversionary tactics are allowed, such as
throwing objects or using artificial lights.
(b) Misleading the other team
a. Calling out “HIT” when not hit is considered
diversionary.
b. Shouting incorrect scores or time left turns
players’ attention away from the game allowing the other team to gain an unfair
advantage.
Section 4.5 Dead Men Don’t Talk
After a player is hit, they cannot block for
others or call out where opposing team members are located. Activation is considered to be when the
flashing headset lights turn off while energizing.
Section 4.6 Stalling
(a) Stalling is any time a player is in a
position where they can not be deactivated for more than 10 seconds. Placing
your headset or phaser into a position where you can be tagged is all that is
necessary to keep from being called for stalling. Firing your phaser into the
air from your position does not qualify.
(b) Not energizing after being hit denies the
other team the ability to tag you and thus can be considered stalling if no
attempt is made to energize after 10 seconds
Section 4.7 Phaser over the Head
The phaser can be held up above the neck;
however, it must be at all times aiming out towards play. A phaser cannot be
held up vertical above the neck pointing at the ceiling or at the floor.
Section 4.8 Illegal Pod Hit
Pod Zone rules apply as soon as a player’s
phaser or headset enters the pod zone. If a penalty occurs while the player is
in the Pod Zone the player must leave and re-enter the Pod Zone to prevent an
Illegal Pod Hit.
(a) When shooting at a pod your headset must be
the highest point of your body. NOTE: This does not mean you cannot tag the pod
with your phaser by your face. This only
means you cannot tilt your head so far that your headset falls below your
phaser.
(b) Your headset cannot go below and stay below
the force shield barriers.
(c) Your headset lights must be on before you
enter the pod zone.
(d) A player’s entire body must be inside the pod zone for a pod hit to be legal.
(e) Incurring a penalty to gain access to the Pod
Zone can result in an illegal pod hit.
Section 4.9 Covering sensors
(a) Covering of headset sensors or the phaser tip
with hands or any part of the body is not allowed and is called after 1 shot is
fired and seen to be blocked.
(b) A player cannot tilt their headset backwards for
more than a second to another player that has an un-obstructed shot. While
facing away from a player, covering is called after 1 shot is obstructed.
(c) Wearing the headset in a tilted from vertical
position is not permitted.
Section 4.10 Unsportsmanlike
conduct
(a) A player cannot insult a player on the
opposing team in any way (ex: “You suck,” “You’re out”) or indirectly (ex:
“Hey, that guy sucks,” “I know someone who is horrible”).
(b) You cannot taunt a player on the opposing
team excessively. Example: “Steve is
out!” is strategic communication. “Steve’s out, AGAIN!” is taunting. Repetition such as “Steve’s out, Steve’s out,
Steve’s out” and direct rudeness such as “You’re out” and “Go energize” is also
considered taunting.
(c) You cannot use foul language (defined in Basic
Laser Storm rules)
(d) Discrepancies are decided by the refs and/or
tournament manager.
a. Complaints about a player or the player’s
vest are acceptable to a point. When an issue is brought to a ref’s attention
and the ref deems the situation to be acceptable, the player must cease
complaining or risk an unsportsmanlike penalty. It is the ref’s responsibility
to pay attention to all complaints from players and investigate them to the
best of his/her ability. “I can’t hit his headset” is acceptable, but “Nice
covering” is not acceptable.
b. How things are said can be obvious penalties.
The manner in which you say “Steve’s out” can be spoken to convey the
information to your team or to taunt the opposing players. It is up to the ref
to distinguish the tone of what is said. This must be heard by at least TWO (2)
referees from separate teams, and both must agree on the call. Situations like this can easily become an issue
of bias due to personal and/or competitive reasons.
c. The best solution is for the player to avoid
using questionable communication methods.
Section 4.11 Equipment Abuse
Tampering or abusing the laser tag equipment
including the arena is cause for disqualification of the player and the team.
Article V. Calling Penalties
Section 5.1 Penalties must be
shouted out by a referee and repeated by all referees until all referees have
done so. The initial referee must repeat the penalty if the other referees do
not repeat the call. If the tournament manager is using a P.A. system to
announce the penalty, then refs will only communicate penalties to the person
in charge of making the announcement.
(a) Make sure you are clear. If players ask what was called, repeat it for
them. The format is as follows:
(b) “Warning” then team color, then penalty name,
then number of warnings on that team.
(c) Ex. “Warning, red team, dead men don’t talk.
Penalty number 1.”
(d) Ex. “Warning, green team, illegal pod hit,
POD HIT DOES NOT COUNT. Penalty number 3.”
(e) Ex. “Warning, red team, dead men don’t talk.
This is the 5th penalty.”
Section 5.2 A player may ask a
referee to move to a better position to see a penalty.
(a) A referee should move to another location if
they believe or have been told of penalties occurring out of their vision.
(b) A pod referee should ensure they can still
see the pod if they move.
Section 5.3 Allow the game to
play out. Do not stop the game. The
captains can call a refs meeting at the end of the game. After discussion,
penalties may be withdrawn and possibly overturn a disqualification. Therefore, it is important to continue playing
the game and not give up.
Section 5.4 Penalties are
cumulative for each and all infractions and are applied by the following
schedule. Points are subtracted from the
offending teams score at the end of play.
(a) First warning - 1 point.
(b) Second warning - 2 points
(c) Third warning - 3 points.
(d) Fourth warning - 4 points.
(e) Fifth warning - disqualification.
Article VI. Specific Tournament-level Rules
Section 6.1 If the equipment
breaks down, players must receive another pack.
(a) Referees should determine if a player’s
equipment has become faulty during a game.
If a player is not receiving hits, then a referee must change the
player’s pack. In this case, the referee
will bring a new pack to the player. When
changing the pack, the ref may remove the player from the game or permit the
player to continue play.
(b) The player may be aware of problems such as
sticky triggers, sound loss, inability to energize, or inability to fire. The player may feel the pack is ineffective,
such as weak beam, cannot give hits, or takes hits too easily. In these cases, the player has the option to
change the pack by going to the staging area to receive a new pack or to receive
a pack from a pack referee (optional). A
ref is NOT responsible for bringing a pack to the player when the player is requesting
the change.
Section 6.2 A team more than
five minutes late for their game will forfeit, although the tournament manager
can override this rule if the tournament is still in first round of pairings
and the schedule can be adjusted.
Section 6.3 Players with long
hair must pull it back or wear some head covering to ensure the headset is not
covered.
Section 6.4 No brimmed hats are
allowed to be worn during a game since the brim of a hat can cover the headset
sensors.
Section 6.5 After the game is
played, only captains may make complaints about penalties, equipment or the
arena.
(a) For five minutes, all the referees and the two
captains can discuss the problem in the arena. If a conclusion is not met, they
must move on to another room. The
tournament will continue. If there is
cause for a replay, the game must be played as soon as possible.
(b) One of the few reasons for a replay is
massive equipment failure. Massive equipment failure is defined as defective
vests equal to the number of players on the team. Malfunctioning equipment must
be tested and verified as being defective by the tournament manager.
(c) Tampering with the arena is also cause for a disqualification
outlined in Equipment Abuse
(d) The tournament manager makes the final
decisions based on their opinion.
Section 6.7 Disqualification
(a) Upon referee discretion, some infractions may
be severe enough to warrant a disqualification.
(b) There are two levels of disqualification:
Single game disqualification is equivalent to a loss, and tournament
disqualification means you are no longer allowed to finish playing the
tournament.
(c) Blatant cheating or breaking a rule to an
extreme is grounds for an immediate disqualification if all referees agree the
behavior is unacceptable.
(d) Unless specifically stated by the arena, no
player is to climb on any part of the arena. This includes but is not limited
to e-Pods,
(e) Placing black tape over the sensors of the
headset is blatant cheating and is call for immediate disqualification from the
tournament. Since there is no way to
tell if the perpetrator had done this during any of their previous games it is
up to the player to ensure there is no tape over the sensors before the start
of the game.
Section 6.8 Exceptions to the
Rules
(a) An arena can have house rules that must be
presented during the captains meeting.
(b) Players can make exceptions to the tournament
rules with a vote during the captains meeting.
(c) To vote in the captains meeting, you must
have attended the last tournament or at least two tournaments in the past
season.
Section 6.10 If a team shows up
without their full team, then a player may be drafted onto the team.
(a) First
a local player must be found to fill the roster.
(b) If no local players are available to play, then two rosters will be
picked randomly. The order the rosters
are picked determine the player randomly picked from the first roster as the
first draft and the player randomly picked from the second roster as the
alternate draft. The alternate draft is
used when the short team plays the team of the first draft player. The players drafted must agree to play on the
short team.
(c) This procedure does not apply to the National
Tournament. A player can play on only one team for the National Tournament.
Article VII. Basic Laser Storm Rules
Section 7.1 Do not climb on the
energy pods or other fixtures in the arena including barrels.
Section 7.2 No black tape
allowed in arena for any reason. This is checked before the game.
Section 7.3 The headsets must be
worn vertical at all times.
If the headset is tilted back on the players
head it makes the player harder to hit. To determine the vertical position, a
player must stand against a wall, with heels, butt, shoulders, and head against
the wall. Make sure the head is not
tilted sideways and have the player look straight forward. The headset sensors should be perpendicular
with the wall.
Section 7.4 No horseplay is
allowed.
This is for the safety of the arena and
players. Horseplay is also disrespectful
to the other team and is considered to be unsportsmanlike conduct.
Section 7.5 Intoxication or any
illegal drug use will not be tolerated resulting in unsportsmanlike conduct.
Section 7.6 Be careful with the
equipment. Equipment abuse is grounds for disqualification.
To abuse the equipment is to risk the end of tournaments
at that arena. Abuse to the system is to
be dealt with strictly. Accidents happen, but intentional destruction of the
arena’s property will result in a Tournament DQ at the tournament manager’s
discretion.
Section 7.7 Any player in
possession of a dummy plug during play will be disqualified for that game.
(a) The packs have a memory in them. This memory holds information about who hit
you and how many shots you have used. When
a player unit is reset the memory is cleared, headset lights will go out
completely, then flash both colors, and then go out completely again. Referees should recognize this pattern, which
is easy to see.
(b) During a game, a ref might need to reset a
pack. Be sure to check if that pack has
a hit on it. If a tagged pack is reset, then
the other team gains one point after the game.
(c) On 5.X or higher StormTrak systems, a player
scorecard will have asterisks next to the unit number for each time the unit
has been reset.
Section 7.8 Unplugging the
headset or phaser by the player is not allowed.
(a) By unplugging the headset from the pack unit,
the player can no longer take hits in the headset and the lights go out until the
headset is plugged back in. A ref who
sees a player with no headset lights must go over to the player and check all
the connections. If it is a faulty pack,
then the player must be brought a new pack.
(b) Players
should not attempt to fix anything wrong with the pack during a game. They should immediately change packs. However, it IS THE PLAYER’S RESPONSIBILITY to
check all connections, trigger and sound level before the start of a game. You may not be able to choose your own vest,
but you do not have to enter the game with a bad unit.
Section 7.9 A player may only be
on one team per tournament. This is not
a call in the arena.
The only time a player can play on more than
one team is if another team is short a player and one needs to be drafted.
Section 7.10 Swearing, rude
comments, obscene gestures will not be tolerated. The calls in the arena are to be appropriate
with the penalty such as “Swearing.” Swearing
is defined as any word or phrase referring
explicitly to a part of
the anatomy, sexual act, race, or religion.
(a) If the player directs the comments toward
another player, it is an automatic call. If a player quietly comments to himself, then a
ref can use their discretion to call the penalty. Shouting obscenities is not acceptable
anytime.
(b) While addressing refs, spectators or your own
teammates, you must abide by the swearing rules.
Section 7.11 Do not leave the
staging areas with equipment. This is
not a call during the game.
(a) To prevent players from tampering with
equipment, they are not to leave the vesting area with a pack.
(b) Tampering with equipment is cause for
immediate Tournament disqualification.
Section 7.12 Tampering with the
arena is cause for a game disqualification.
(a)
The placement
of all barriers and barrels must remain exactly the same throughout the entire
tournament. Barrier movement normally
involves a player collision with a barrier causing the barrier to move but
eventually return to the original position. Since a barrier cannot be completely secured,
the barrier may stay out of the original position when hit. A barrel can be knocked over, nudged, or slid
across the floor causing the barrel to be out of position. Barriers and barrels
out of position are to be corrected immediately.
(b)
If a
barrier/barrel is moved out of position during a game and is seen by a referee,
then the penalty is Barrier Movement.
a. If the barrier/barrel is not moved back into
its original position, every time a player attempts to play off that barrier/barrel,
another penalty will be called.
i.
The ref
is responsible for notifying the player, but the player is responsible for
moving it back into position.
ii.
If the
player is somehow incapable of moving it back into place, then the nearest referee
must attempt to or notify the tournament manager, who will either do it
personally or instruct another staff member to do so. This should happen immediately, even during
the game.
b. If it cannot be determined who or when the
barrier/barrel was moved out of position, then the Barrier/Barrel must be
returned to original position and the game must be replayed to ensure arena
consistency throughout the tournament.
i.
Only the
game in which it was discovered is to be replayed.
ii.
Barrier/barrel
in question may be verified by team captains/players if necessary.
iii.
Replay
is subject to tournament manager’s approval.
iv.
The Tournament
manager has the authority to deny the replay. To avoid this situation, an accurate
grid/arena map should be available.
v.
If the
position of the barrier/barrel in question is inconsequential to the outcome of
the game, both captains may agree NOT to replay the game.
Note
This document is intended specifically for the Laser Storm system.
While it may seem restrictive, keep in mind that the style of play exhibited by
our highest caliber players leaves an enormous amount of room for error. It is
our attempt to account for this error by being as specific as possible when
developing the rules. Probably the most important thing is to have competent
refs. We need people who are not afraid to call penalties and are correct when
doing so. Problems will resolve themselves if all infractions are accounted for
and all calls made are accurate and indisputable.