Hello,
I'm making a suggestion on tournament game streaming rules because a tournament director has told me this was discussed by tournament directors but no public conclusion was made.
My core suggestion is that the tournament directors should make public rules about streaming tournament games either in this rules and general guidelines thread or another thread. There are at least three reasons we need this: 1) to be fair to people who want to stream but are concerned they may be punished if they are breaking ghosting rules, 2) to be fair and consistent if there is indeed streaming going on already so nobody is unfairly advantaged/disadvantaged and 3) to be fair to people who want to participate in streams (but not necessarily stream themselves) and not break Smogon rules.
I am not strongly suggesting what the rules should be - of course I have thoughts on this and thoughts on areas on where and why rules should be made, but simply having rules in the first place is the most important part and would likely sufficiently answer my three concerns previously mentioned.
With that in mind, I am briefly outlining two topics to help guide discussion but if we go in another direction, that's fine by me.
1) Why should we have rules on streaming?
All the reasons for rules I previously mentioned boil down to fairness. We need public rules so everyone knows what they're getting into as they commit to playing Pokemon. In this sense, requesting streaming game rules isn't very different from requesting rules on scheduling - it's currently standard procedure for example that if you're 15 minutes late to a game and you don't ping your opponent after they ping you, your opponent can take an activity win. Obviously some cases may have gray area for various factors, but this rule covers the vast majority of cases and makes life easier for hosts and promotes the image of fairness when our tight-knit community often has hosts ruling for their friends.
Fairness is most important and most difficult to achieve when their is ambiguity in what is permissible, i.e., when there is ambiguity in the rules. Right now, it's not clear to me how our rules on ghosting interact with streaming.
A literal reading of this definition to me means there are currently no restrictions on streaming any tournament game. A streamer could give direct advice on an ongoing game but as long as they are not directly giving it to a player, this isn't ghosting.
The ambiguity comes from Smogon authority. I've been informed by more than one authority member that there needs to be a 1 minute delay on any stream of a live tournament game or ladder game if it's a ladder tour, but if there's this requirement communicated via chats, why isn't it in a public place so people can know about it?
It's true that streaming is on a different platform from what Smogon normally regulates - Twitch/YouTube isn't Smogon/PS/Smogon affiliated discords. But the fact is, Smogon regulates behavior all the time outside official Smogon places. The key for Smogon I see is if Smogon users are involved. As long as it is our players raising these questions and participating in these activities, I feel like the TDs have a responsibility to make their position known.
2) What should the rules cover?
I'm honestly spitballing here and much of this might not be worth discussing, but maybe the best sign of it being worth discussing if there's organic discussion on it.
Anyways, some topics:
Anyways, I'd like to emphasize again, my main point is I'd be grateful if TD's could make the rules clear - even if there are no rules (which I think is a very bad decision but I digress, we can discuss that later if people end up supporting no rules at all) - at least that should be made clear so people know what they are allowed to do.
Thank you for any input and the efforts of all TDs, players, and Smogon members involved.
I'm making a suggestion on tournament game streaming rules because a tournament director has told me this was discussed by tournament directors but no public conclusion was made.
My core suggestion is that the tournament directors should make public rules about streaming tournament games either in this rules and general guidelines thread or another thread. There are at least three reasons we need this: 1) to be fair to people who want to stream but are concerned they may be punished if they are breaking ghosting rules, 2) to be fair and consistent if there is indeed streaming going on already so nobody is unfairly advantaged/disadvantaged and 3) to be fair to people who want to participate in streams (but not necessarily stream themselves) and not break Smogon rules.
I am not strongly suggesting what the rules should be - of course I have thoughts on this and thoughts on areas on where and why rules should be made, but simply having rules in the first place is the most important part and would likely sufficiently answer my three concerns previously mentioned.
With that in mind, I am briefly outlining two topics to help guide discussion but if we go in another direction, that's fine by me.
1) Why should we have rules on streaming?
All the reasons for rules I previously mentioned boil down to fairness. We need public rules so everyone knows what they're getting into as they commit to playing Pokemon. In this sense, requesting streaming game rules isn't very different from requesting rules on scheduling - it's currently standard procedure for example that if you're 15 minutes late to a game and you don't ping your opponent after they ping you, your opponent can take an activity win. Obviously some cases may have gray area for various factors, but this rule covers the vast majority of cases and makes life easier for hosts and promotes the image of fairness when our tight-knit community often has hosts ruling for their friends.
Fairness is most important and most difficult to achieve when their is ambiguity in what is permissible, i.e., when there is ambiguity in the rules. Right now, it's not clear to me how our rules on ghosting interact with streaming.
Tournament Rules and General Guidelines said:
A literal reading of this definition to me means there are currently no restrictions on streaming any tournament game. A streamer could give direct advice on an ongoing game but as long as they are not directly giving it to a player, this isn't ghosting.
The ambiguity comes from Smogon authority. I've been informed by more than one authority member that there needs to be a 1 minute delay on any stream of a live tournament game or ladder game if it's a ladder tour, but if there's this requirement communicated via chats, why isn't it in a public place so people can know about it?
It's true that streaming is on a different platform from what Smogon normally regulates - Twitch/YouTube isn't Smogon/PS/Smogon affiliated discords. But the fact is, Smogon regulates behavior all the time outside official Smogon places. The key for Smogon I see is if Smogon users are involved. As long as it is our players raising these questions and participating in these activities, I feel like the TDs have a responsibility to make their position known.
2) What should the rules cover?
I'm honestly spitballing here and much of this might not be worth discussing, but maybe the best sign of it being worth discussing if there's organic discussion on it.
Anyways, some topics:
- If there's indeed a one minute delay necessary, fine, but I think we should discuss how long the delay should be if there is one? Why is one minute the magic number?
- Is it different for streaming team tour games vs your own games vs completely unrelated games?
- What about rules for ladder games in ladder tours?
- Should stream chats have a rule saying something to the effect of "Please don't give advice to the player when they are playing a tournament game" - is that something we should be requiring?
- What would the punishment be if these hypothetical rules are broken?
Anyways, I'd like to emphasize again, my main point is I'd be grateful if TD's could make the rules clear - even if there are no rules (which I think is a very bad decision but I digress, we can discuss that later if people end up supporting no rules at all) - at least that should be made clear so people know what they are allowed to do.
Thank you for any input and the efforts of all TDs, players, and Smogon members involved.
