After a week of discussion and debate, we have finally nailed down exactly what our intentions were with the new rules changes. On behalf of the moderation team, I apologize for the inconsistencies and the delay in getting this information back to you, but we've reached a consensus on the new rules.

As previously stated, this is a TEAM server that was meant to be played with small, independent teams of 5 players. Allowing multiple teams to operate together as a unified megateam was never the intention, and I personally am sorry that it was allowed to continue in that vein for so long.

Here are the changes:
1) 2+ teams are NOT allowed to work together to kill other teams.(This includes joint killruns and sharing break information)
2) 2+ teams are NOT allowed to declare war on the same team without provocation.
3) Teams are, of course, allowed to set whatever retal policy they wish. If you want to enforce a 1:kill policy, it is not our business.
3a) This means that if you do not want to risk getting killed over a single grab, don't hit a team with such a policy and you're safe for the most part.
3b) In order to help facilitate this, I would encourage all teams to publicly post your retal policies.
3c) Provocation is defined as at least 1 grab or harmful spyop. Provocation is limited to the current set. Events from previous sets don't factor in when considering these rules.

4) Untagged countries are NOT protected by these rules. If you want to play untagged, I suggest playing on Express, Tourney or Primary(our solo servers). Multiple teams ARE ALLOWED to attack untagged countries.
5) Untagged countries are NOT ALLOWED to coordinate to attack tagged teams. Attempting to play untagged to circumvent these rules will result in severe punishment.
5a) The rules will apply as normal to 1-country teams, however.

6) Baiting teams into a war on multiple fronts via outrageous tactics will be punished depending on the situation. What I mean by this is:

Team 1+2 both grab Team 3. Team 3 retals appropriately(yes, this is a bit of a gray area), ie 1:1, L:L or what have you. Teams 1+2 refuse to accept retals, or both RoR to provoke a conflict. In such a situation, only one of the two teams(1+2) would be allowed to declare war on Team 3.

7) Cherry-Picking: If there is no provocation, don't do it. If there is provocation, it may be allowed.

8) Ingame events determine whether a team is considered to be 'at war', not posts on Team Talk.

Just because you posted a war dec, doesn't mean anything if you don't do any attacks. And vice versa: Just because someone didn't post a declaration doesn't mean they're not at war, ie the following thread:

http://earthempires.com/...-penance-and-euroix-31846

If you have any questions about these rules, please let us know. As always, moderators have the final say regarding individual cases, with martian being king of the trolls, the andals and the first green men.

Team 1+2 both grab Team 3. Team 3 retals appropriately(yes, this is a bit of a gray area), ie 1:1, L:L or what have you. Teams 1+2 refuse to accept retals, or both RoR to provoke a conflict. In such a situation, only one of the two teams(1+2) would be allowed to declare war on Team 3.


i still dont like that.. yes team 1+2 are being assholes.. but if Team 3 special attacks or dirty op's both 1 and 2, they should be allowed to kill it...

Hey Tella, some clarification please.. If the answer is obvious, please excuse me since I'm so hopped up on Nyquil/antihistamines right now :(

1) 2+ teams are NOT allowed to work together to kill other teams.

Lets Say Country #1 in Team Apple, grabs Country #2 in Banana, and also Country #3 in Cranberry.

Team Banana and Cranberry both have a 1:kill policy. Are Banana and Cranberry allowed to kill the same country independently? If not, how is it determined which of Banana/Cranberry has the 'right' to enforce their retal policy?

If they special attack or dirty ops, that sounds like war to me, and I don't think we'll delete for that.

Trife, they both may enforce their policy. They still cannot coordinate the killrun together, but they may both kill according to their policy.

My personal reasoning for this is that it protects netters as long as they don't provide provocation. It allows warriors some leeway to do what they do best. It doesn't protect untagged countries, but also doesn't allow them to abuse loopholes.

Again, I would stress the importance of making your policies public. If I am netting, I would like to know who will obliterate me for grabbing them, and who won't. I call it the DANGER policy :D

this is an improvement, i see my idea for untags is being adopted. but still lots of grey areas to address.

does that not give them free reigns to farm then kill netters?

Yes, but only 1 team may do so. And what other gray areas?

Thanks for the clarification, tella. I like what you guys are doing with the server - I've just always wanted a clear line in the sand as to what's allowed and what's not. This is a good step. Cheers

Team 1 retal policy:

Land:land on all hits

Team 2 retal policy:

1:1, 2:kill

Team 3 retal policy:

1:1, 2:kill

Team 2 and 3 topfeed Team 1 separately.

Typically the defending team's/alliance's retal policy is followed. If Team 2 or 3 don't want to accept it, only one of them would be allowed to war. This is the type of baiting that I am referring to.

Team 3 wars Team 1.

Team 2 justifies overretal with farming.

Team 1 loses big time.

if you have a landfat individual, youre saying he's only allowed to be topfed once by one tag? it doesnt have to be baiting.

Grabbing is not warring. The previously mentioned warning about mass farming of a tag at war still stands, however.

I disagree with 5a.

Well I'm sorry that you disagree.

i disagree for 2 reasons:

1. Say there's a chronic suicider, you're saying that if he tags up he gets more rights than untagged countries who try to play properly?

2. it's a lot of effort on your part as a mod if say there are 10-20 1 country tags.

You can't track untagged countries. And what's the difference between one country that 'suicides' and a two man tag that does the same type of thing? Or a 5 man tag for that matter?

a 5 man tag has no intention of all 5 of them or any of them dying, usually suiciding constitutes the offender knows he/she will die

A suiciders will do the same if at all possible..

Ps: that line of reasoning kind of fails when you and some of your teammates complain about how impossible it is to kill suiciders, which is why you need 10-15 countries to do it...

that's why teams of 1 just adds to your work.

at least the rules are more defined ill give you props for that.

Wow, this finally became the "official intent," huh?

I am in on Team then.

It works with javascript enabled, and it works with javascript disabled (i've tested it =D)

What about a clan that doe`s a string of grabs on another tag for no other reason than greed?

Thats just part of the game. If you dont like it, make them pay.

grabbing land is best way to get land (alot of it), if team which gets grabbed doesn't like it then start war against grabbing team.

No longer in effect. Leaving this for posterity.