New free PBeM - game : VOLLEYBALL From: rienkooy@ixs.nl (Rien Kooy) Date: Fri, 25 Oct 1996 00:00:00 +0000 To join Volleyball as PBeM game, just send an e-mail to: rienkooy@ixs.nl P L A Y I N G V O L L E Y B A L L A S PLAY-BY-E-MAIL Several years ago I developed a Play-by-Mail game for Volleyball. My intention was to make a simple game, which was easy to play and easy to handle as a GM. The game has since then changed quite a lot, but still the basic idea is to keep it rather simple. I don't intend to make the game technically right, compared with real-life Volleyball it has a lot of omissions. Still I consider the game as nice to play and a lot of people enjoyed playing the game in PBM-zines. The rules were originally in Dutch and later on they were translated into German, since the game was mainly played in a German PBM-zine. To make the game available for playing as a Play-by-E-Mail game I made a translation of the rules into English. There might be some mistakes in the translation especially where it concerns the technical terms. If you notice such mistakes please let me know, so that I can correct these failures. My aim is to offer this game as a free PBeM game to be played by everyone who wants to join in. Here you'll find the rules as well as a simple text file layout of how I want to get the moves from the players. This form is important to me, while otherwise the elaboration will cost to much time for me. For the people who can handle spreadsheet formats there is file available in Lotus 123 which makes all the calculations needed, once you fill in the necessary data. I can convert this file also towards Excel and I assume a lot of spreadsheetsprograms can import Lotus123-files. When you like to join in playing Volleyball by PBeM, just send me an e-mail with the team name you want to use. Once there are enough people who want to play, I'll send all the further information needed to build your team and to play the game. E-mail : rienkooy@ixs.nl V O L L E Y B A L L 1. To start a team the manager will choose a name for his team and at least six players. A team consists of at least six players. At the beginning of each season the GM will make public the number of player points(PP) are available for a new team and also the division of these points over the several Age-categories. The manager can freely decide how these PP are divided over his players, when he reckons with the following rules: - every player has two levels: an offensive level (OL) and a defensive level (DL) - each level should get at least one PP and the ratio between both levels may not be higher than 2:1 - the total PP for each player may not exceed the 24 points Every new team gets $ 750 as starting capital. 2.Every match is played for the win of three sets, so the game ends when one team has won three sets. This means that a game can last five sets at most. In every set the manager makes a formation of six players, each set he can choose for a different formation. Only players with both levels of at least 1 point can play. This rule also counts for players whose level drops below one point because of tiredness-loss. New talents with both levels at 0 are an exeption to this rule. A player gets tired after playing a set, so a player looses five points of his level after every set he plays. It's up to the manager from which level he looses his points ( division of the loss over both levels is possible). For every set a player takes rest, he regains three points of his level back, with a maximum of his original levels. After a game every players regains his original level. 3.In every set the manager can choose out of five positions for his player: Setter : OL rises 20 % and DL drops 2 point Blocker : DL rises 20 % and OL drops 2 points Defender : DL rises 10 % and OL drops 1 point Attacker : OL rises 10 % and DL drops 1 point Allround : no changes in levels In each set there can be at most two setters and/or two blockers. For the manager there are each set four different tactical concepts available: Agressive (AC) : a concept with five setters/attackers Offensive (OC) : a concept with four setters/attackers Defensive (DC) : a concept with four blockers/defenders Wall (WC) : a concept with five blockers/defenders Neutral (NC) : a concept with no special rules When a manager doesn't made a choice he automatically plays a Neutral concept. Together with the tactical concept the manager decides how much risks his team will take by choosing the risk factor. The possible risk factor depends on the tactical concept: Agressive concept : risk factor from 9 to 12 Offensive concept : risk factor from 6 to 9 Defensive concept : risk factor from 3 to 6 Wall concept : risk factor from 0 to 3 Neutral concept : risk factor from 3 to 9 No choice from the manager automatically means the lowest possible risk factor. The consequences of the tactical concept depend on the tactical concept of the other team, as will be shown in rule 5. 4.In each set the manager has got several means to influence the game. He has got the possibility to use Devotion Points (DP) with a maximum of 30 points per game. The consequences of the DP are that players might suffer of a lack of devotion (LD). A LD means that a player has only half of its normal levels in the next match. The total number of DP is divided by three and each points represents a 3 % chance of a LD. All three figures are compared with a random figure to decide whether there is one or more LD's. The players who suffer of LD are also randomly appointed. The manager has also got Special Points (SP), of which he can use no more than 40 in a match. At the start of the season the GM makes public how many SP are available for the total season. On top of this the home playing team has got Home Advantage (HA) points available. The number of HA points at the beginning of the season is 24 and this becomes higher during the season. Every home playing team gets this HA points, which can exclusively used for the specific home game. All points (DP, SP and HA) can freely be divided over the sets by the manager. The points must specifically be assigned to the offensive or defensive level. The points are not for a specific player but are added to the total levels for the set. In a set a manager can assign points to both offensive and defensive level. 5.In every match the home playing team will start with the service in the first, third and eventually fifth set, while the opposing team starts with the service in the second and eventually the fourth set.Only the serving team can score points. When the serving team wins a point they keep the service, otherwise they loose the service to the other team. The team which scores first 15 points wins the set, when the difference in points between the teams is at least 2 points. When the difference is only 1 point, the set continues untill there is a difference of two points in favour of one team. Both teams have got a certain scoring chance a point, which is calculated every separate set with the following formula: Total offensive level of the team divided by the total of: Total offensive level of the team together with the defensive level of the other team The tactical concept and the risk factor chosen by both teams influences this chance in the following way (ARF is the average risk factor of both teams): AC against OC : the team playing AC adds half of the ARF to their scoring chance AC against NC : the team playing AC adds the ARF to their scoring chance AC against DC : the team playing AC looses half of the ARF of their scoring chance AC against WC : the team playing AC looses the ARF of their scoring chance OC against NC : the team playing OC adds half of the ARF to their scoring chance OC against DC : the team playing OC adds half of the ARF to their scoring chance OC against WC : the team playing OC looses half of the ARF to their scoring chance NC against DC : the team playing NC adds half of the ARF to their scoring chance WC against NC : the team playing WC looses the ARF of their scoring chance WC against DC : the team playing WC looses half of the ARF of their scoring chance When both teams have chosen the same tactical concept there is no change in scoring chances. 6.Players can gain points on their level by training. These training is only possible by using Training Points (TP), which are obtained by bying them from the GM or automatically each round based on the results. The exact number of TP each round is depending on the number of matches that are played during the season, the rules are made public by the GM at the start of the season. There are some restrictions for the training: - each player can gain only one point per level in a round - the ratio between both levels of a player can not become higher than 3:1 - the total of both levels of a player can not become higher than 35 - each level of a player can not be trained more than 5 points each season, except for new talents Every team can scout three new talents during the season. These players have got no points for both levels. As soon as they have played four matches during a season (at least two sets in a each match) they got automatically 2 points for both levels. From that moment on they can also be trained, not before. 7.Apart from the 'normal' players who belong to a team there are contractplayers. These players are just playing for money, they play for th team that pays the most. At the start of the season the GM makes public the number of contractplayers and their level. They keep the same level during the season, they can't be trained with TP. Teams can contract these players for 2, 3 or 4 rounds (a round consists normally of two matches) by offering them a certain pay per round. For a 3 round-contract they must add a bonus of 10 % and for a 4 round-contract add a bonus of 20 %. The bonus must be paid at the start of the contract, the pay per round in each round. Contracts never last longer than the end of the season. The contractplayer always chooses for the team that pays the most and when the pay is the same, they choose for the longest contract. When all conditions are the same, they make a random choice. At the start of the season all contractplayers are free, later on in the season the GM announces the end of contracts one round before they end, so the teams can make their contractbids. Contract players can't be trained, they don't have a specific age, but they can suffer from LD (see rule 4). 8.Except for the last three rounds the managers can buy and sell players. There is a transfermarket on which teams offer their players for sale (eventually with a minimal acceptable amount), where other teams can make their bids for these players. The players are still available for the team in the running round. The highest bidder becomes the player, unless the bid is below the minimal acceptable amount. When nobody makes a bid, the player becomes an amateur and the team gets a compensation depending on the levels an the age of the player: - Age A: $ 60 per levelpoint - Age B: $ 45 per levelpoint - Age C: $ 30 per levelpoint - Age D: $ 15 per levelpoint - Age E: no compensation Apart from the players for sale from the teams, there are new players offered by the GM. Every team can make a bid on these players and the highest bidder becomes the player. Together with the bidding the manager must give a name to the player. The GM offers also Training Points and Special Points for sale, available for the highest bidder. These GM offers are made every round, except for the last four rounds. When a bid leads to a bank account of less then minus $ 1.000 the bid is not valid. 9.Every team gets $ 500 a round as well as income out of sponsoring, depending from the results and the chosen sponsor. At the start of the season the GM makes public the available sponsors and their conditions. A manager is free to choose a sponsor and he can change from sponsor every round. The teams got their obligations towards contractplayers and their 'normal' teamplayers. The contractplayers must be paid the agreed contract pay and the teamplayers get their wages depending on the total of their Offensive and their Defensive level: - 2 to 10 points : $ 25 a round - 11 to 20 points : $ 50 a round - 21 to 28 points : $ 100 a round - 29 and higher : $ 200 a round New talents get no pay as long as their levels are 0. The levels at the start of the round (after training) fix the wages. While money also can buy information, a manager has the possibilty to spy at other teams, with a maximum of four times a season. The order to spy must apply to a specific team in a specific game in the next round. Together with the results the manager will get all levels per set (only totals) and also the HA, DP and SP per set and level, as well as the tactical concept and risk factor. This will cost him $ 300. When he also wants information about the specific levels per player that will cost him an extra $ 250. The spying order is only valid when it doesn't lead to a bank account below minus $ 1.000. The bank allows a manager not more than $ 1.000 credit. When the bank account of a team becomes below minus $ 1.000, the manager has got one round to take his measures. When at the end of the next round, the bank account is still under minus $ 1.000, the GM will take measures. All contractplayers will be fired right away and when this won't lead towards an acceptable bank account at the end of the round, players are sold to the amateurs untill the bank account is acceptable. 10.At the end of the season all contractplayers leave the team, all sponsors end their contract and all players with Age E go to the amateurs. All players with Age A untill Age D become 'older' and loose points from their level(s). Players with Age A get Age B, players with Age B get Age C, etcetera. New talents get Age A, but they don't loose any points of their level. It's up to the manager of which levels the player looses his points, but there's a minimum for each level, as mentioned in the table below. Age A towards Age B : loss of 6 points (minimal 2 points per level) Age B towards Age C : loss of 10 points (minimal 3 points per level) Age C towards Age D : loss of 14 points (minimal 4 points per level) Age D towards Age E : loss of 14 points (minimal 4 points per level) When a level becomes lower than 1 points as a result of this ageing, a player will leave the team and go to the amateurs, no matter how high his other level is. The ratio between both levels may not become higher than 3:1 due to the ageing. 11.Every season there is also being played for the Galaxy Cup, a knock out tournament between all teams, together with a number of amateurteams. 12.When no move is received (NMR) the GM makes a NMR-training for the players. There are no bids made on contractplayers, nor on GM offers or the transfermarket. The GM will use the same line-up of players as in the last game, but without HA, DP and SP. For the moves there is a spreadsheetprogram available in Lotus 123, which can be coverted to Excel and probably also to other spreadsheets. The lay out of the spreadsheet is also available on paper as a form. The moves need to be forwarded by using the spreadsheetprogram, the form on paper or another way in a similar layout as the spreadsheet and the form. Information at the start of the season: - number of PP available for a new team - number of SP available for the whole season - calculation of TP per round - the available sponsors with their conditions - the available contractplayers - the playing scheme for the whole season - the number of HA available during the season Sequence of the several stages for the results: 1. Training of the players with TP 2. Scouting of new talents 3. Payment of spying orders 4. Calculation of the wages for the players 5. The matches being played, starting with matches for the Galaxy Cup 6. Calculation of the LD for the players, sponsorcontributions and the gained TP 7. Payment of contractpays and wages 8. Sale of players on the transfermarket 9. Sale of the GM offers: - players - TP - SP 10. Contracting of the available contractplayers Obliged layout to be used for the moves, in a computer output or written. A separate sheet is available, just like a spreadsheet model in Lotus123, which also makes the calculations for you. VOLLEYBALL HOMEPLAY or OUTBOUND DIVISION NO. MATCH NO. TEAM : AGAINST: SET 1 Startlevels Position Endlevels PLAYER OL DL Code OL DL TACTICAL CONCEPT HOME ADV. Pts. Concept code DEVOTION Pts. SPECIAL Pts. RISK FACTOR TOTAL LEVELS SET 2 Startlevels Position Endlevels PLAYER OL DL Code OL DL TACTICAL CONCEPT HOME ADV. Pts. Concept code DEVOTION Pts. SPECIAL Pts. RISK FACTOR TOTAL LEVELS SET 3 Startlevels Position Endlevels PLAYER OL DL Code OL DL TACTICAL CONCEPT HOME ADV. Pts. Concept code DEVOTION Pts. SPECIAL Pts. RISK FACTOR TOTAL LEVELS SET 4 Startlevels Position Endlevels PLAYER OL DL Code OL DL TACTICAL CONCEPT HOME ADV. Pts. Concept code DEVOTION Pts. SPECIAL Pts. RISK FACTOR TOTAL LEVELS SET 5 Startlevels Position Endlevels PLAYER OL DL Code OL DL TACTICAL CONCEPT HOME ADV. Pts. Concept code DEVOTION Pts. SPECIAL Pts. RISK FACTOR TOTAL LEVELS TOTAL USED DEVOTION POINTS (Whole match) TOTAL USED SPECIAL POINTS (Whole match) TRAINING OL OL DL DL PLAYER OLD NEW OLD NEW SPYING ORDER TEAM AGAINST Information to be used by filling in the form: Position codes: Setter = 1 Attacker = 2 Allround =3 Defender = 4 Blocker = 5 Tactical concept codes: AC = 1 OC = 2 NC = 3 DC = 4 WC = 5 Up