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General11 years agoGosu "GosuGamers" Gamers

Opinion Saturday: Manifold pausing rules invite for so-called "tactical" pauses

This is an editorial opinion piece and the author's opinion does not necessarily represent the opinion of GosuGamers or the opinion of any affiliates.


Disconnection pause, lag pause, "afk" pause, post-drafting pause or so-called "tactical" pause: The reasons for actually pausing a game of Dota 2 are manifold. The video from Merlini and Puppey's answer are reason to have a deeper look on Dota 2 rule sets concerning pauses. Simplification through unification is necessary.

So-called tactical pauses are the most discussed topic in the competitive scene at the moment. Merlini has published a video in which he discusses a situation within a competitive game between ??? and Na'Vi which he describes as a possible example of tactical pauses. Tactical pauses, that means pauses, mostly in a surprising situation within the match, which are solely meant to buy thinking time in order to react appropriately to the situation.

After gaining some distance to the possible accusation, Puppey provided his explanation of that specific situation in a twitter post on Thursday. Be that situation as it was, Merlini has put his finger on a wound of the competitive Dota 2 scene: Online tournaments, rule sets and their enforcement.



Huge differences in pausing rules

Comparing the different rule sets of a selection of current Dota 2 leagues (see table below the text), pauses are handled very differently from one league to another. Most strict is probably the Chinese G-League, only allowing pauses in the time out of fights and only granting the right to ask for a pause, not to hit the button on their own decision. Leagues like GosuCups or The Defense only allow pauses when they are announced beforehand by players in the chat. Leagues like GEST only allow pausing in case of disconnects. Leagues like StarLadder only allow players to pause when the opposing team gives permission.

Looking back on the situation Merlini provided in his video, neither was a player disconnected nor was the opposing team informed about an incoming pause. This means, although many players and viewers would probably agree that a non-functional mouse would be a good reason for pause, many leagues would have had to call the immediate F9-pressing as a rule violation.

A further problem is that only in very rare cases like G-League and partially EMS One, consequences of breaking the corresponding pausing rules are given. With so many online tournaments going on, players probably often do not even know which of the many different pausing rule sets apply in their specific match.

Jumping from one rule set to another overwhelms players

How are players supposed to react properly when an issue comes up and a decision to press a button or type into chat has to be made within fractions of a second and it's unclear which of the numerous pausing rules applies? Simplification through unification would be highly recommended to enable the players to make fewer unintentional rule violations.

This unification should come along with more concrete rule books. Being precise is likely to be necessary for eventually enforcing pausing rules in competitive leagues and tournaments. The intention of rules is not to react on problems of the past, but to proactively prevent arguments in the present and future. In the end it will be the tournament admins' decision to go by one pausing rule or another, but players' input will certainly be necessary to decide which of the manifold options is the best.


Excerpt from selected Dota 2 Rule Sets
GosuCup Rules
9.2 - Teams have the right to pause the game if needed. Be sure to announce the pause in all-chat before you pause, by saying “p” or "pause". You also need to state the reason for pausing after you've paused.
9.2 - Up to 10 minutes of pausing per game for each team is allowed. That is 10 minutes of total and not several pauses of 10 minutes each.
9.2.1 - The 10 minute rule does not apply for semi finals and up. Admins decide on pauses during those rounds.
9.3 - The reason for the pause must be reasonable. Both teams must agree on resuming before resuming the game.
The Defense Rules
6.2 Pauses
Each team has the right to pause the game for an acceptable duration, if a player announces it at least three seconds in advance and calls a coherent reason (exception: not necessary, if someone disconnects). The game must not be resumed before both teams agree with it. When the number or the duration of breaks becomes too high or long, the administration may force the continuation of the game.
GEST Rules
1. If any player disconnects during a match, the game will be paused (default is F9) until the player has reconnected. Pausing without justifiable reasons will be penalized.
2. A maximum 10-minute total pause time in respect for disconnects will be allotted for each team per match. After that grace period, the game is to be resumed regardless of the circumstance.
G-League Rules
No pauses are allowed when the teams are fighting with each other. An offending team will be given a warning. If the warning is unheeded, the referee has the right to issue a loss for the current game to the offending team.
After the game starts, if a player disconnects, each team has three chances to ask for a pause in order to wait for reconnection. If the number of pauses exceeds the limit or a single pause lasts more than five minutes, the team must continue the match with the remaining players. To pause for other reasons, the captain must make a request in all-chat or raise his hand as signal. The referee will approve and execute the pause, which must not last longer than five minutes. Players pausing on their own will face punishments such as warnings.
Acknowledgments to translation from Chinese by reddit user ggpgg.
ESL A-Series Rules
4.3.3. Player drops
After the disconnect of a player the game will be paused for 5 minutes. He has to return as soon as possible back to the game and continue playing.
EMS One Rules
8.3.1 Reasons for pause
Pause may be invoked by either a tournament admin or a player when there are technical issues that could put a team at a disadvantage. Tournament admins can order the pause of a match for any reason. Tournament admins are allowed to execute a pause command on any player station. Players can pause the match at any time, but must signal a tournament admin immediately after the pause to identify the reason. If the situation clearly requires the game to be paused and any player is aware of it, he is supposed to invoke it as quickly as possible. Below are examples of accepted reasons for a player issued pause, but an acceptable reason is at the sole discretion of a tournament admin:
• After any player has disconnected from the game due to any form of network disconnect or computer crash. (e.g. “Player has disconnected” message appears on screen.)
• Hardware malfunctions (e.g. monitor, peripheral, etc)
• Physical disruption of the player (e.g. fan interference, table or chair breakage)
The game will not resume until clearance from an admin is issued and all players are notified and are ready at their stations. If a player pauses or unpauses the game without permission reason deemed valid by tournament admins, it will be considered unfair play. Penalties will be applied by the tournament director.
8.3.1.1 Pause Duration
In any case a pause must not take longer than ten minutes.
SLTV Rules
Pauses in game are allowed. Pressing pause is permitted only with the consent of the opposing team.
The maximum total duration of pauses in the game is 10 minutes. If this time is over - let your opponents know to continue the game (explaining the situation without extra aggression)
Translated from Russian.

Selection of rule sets is arbitrary, no claim for being representative is made.

This is an editorial opinion piece and the author's opinion does not necessarily represent the opinion of GosuGamers or the opinion of any affiliates.

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