Teams - Chaotic Age Zero

Teams

Introduction: In the world of sanctioned Zoid Battling on Zi, there exist a group of organizations called "Teams". From time to time, pilots may find it favorable or beneficial to join or create such organizations. That's because these are larger associations of pilots who are helping each other to do what none could do alone. This section contains all the various things you need to know about teams, including the rules about forming them, joining them, managing them, and disbanding them.

Getting Started: Getting a team started is actually a very simple procedure. You need two or more founding members, one of whom must be appointed Captain of the team. Do not take the task of appointing a Captain lightly, as he or she is the leader of the group and one of the most important members you can have. You'll also need a name. Anyway, from there, you simply need to post your application in the appropriate part of the forum, which is clearly marked and contains further instructions about applications. Be it noted that each founding member must have at least 5 battles under his or her belt. After you've submitted the application, it's subject to adminstration level scrutiny; a process which usually takes around a week. We reserve the right to reject your application for any reason, ranging from having an inappropriate name to inexperience of members to us having a grudge against your Captain. Once you hoodwink us into approving you, you exist.

A Place in the World: After you're approved by the administration, your team forum is created inside the teams section of the greater forum. Your team Captain (and, if appointed, Co-Captain) will be granted moderator-level privileges within the team forum. Now, as far as role-playing and in-character things go, your team forum represents your team base, your fortress. You might want to take a moment to concoct some kind of description of your team base, as teams tend to do. Note that for this purpose, you might as well be shooting bull, because your team base will almost certainly have no effect on battles or repair times or the number of Zoids you can own. It will also most likely never be the site of a battle, so say what you will, but it may not matter. Also note that you are still civilians, and civilian weapons laws still apply.

That being said, your team base may be the important component of your team in RP. It's where you rest, repair, scheme, strategize, socialize, and train. You might have a shooting range where your characters sharpen their aim, or a full simulator complex for fighting battles ahead of time. You might have an armory filled with weapons of dubious legality (see civilan weapons law statement above), or you might have a carwash-like complex for Zoids. You might have storage silos filled with ordanance, or you might have a spa and bath for the pilots. Your base might be on top of the tallest mountain, or part of some island resort. Be creative.

The Bankroll: Your base doesn't cost you any money. Allow me to say right now that it is the only thing that doesn't. Everything else, including team Zoids, modifications, and the team transport, cost you money. But, how does a team get money? Well, firstly, each team is required to have a thread called "Team Funds" which contains the financial record of the organization. You start out flat broke, congratulations. Whenever a desposit, withdrawl, or transfer of any kind is made, it must documented here. Team members are allowed to both deposit to team funds and withdraw money from it. Any of those kinds of transactions must be approved by the team Captain (or, if he or she has chosen to delegate power, Co-Captain). Depending on the team, some teams may automatically demand that a certain percentage of winnings from team battles be deposited to team funds, or may automatically cover repairs for team battles. These don't require Captain's approval as long as the policy is clearly stated, but must still be documented in the Team Funds thread.

Executive Privilege: The team Captain and Co-Captain have the right to purchase anything (Zoids, modifications, or a transport) on behalf of the team using team funds. In addition, the team Captain and Co-Captain have the right to accept or deny applicants to the team, and set the terms of acceptance and policies of the team. The team Captain and Co-Captain also have the responsibility of moderating the team forum and making sure that the team records (rank points, funds, roster, ect.) are all maintained and kept up to date. These are privileges and responsbility of the team officers and the team officers alone; no other members may do something of that nature without approval of the Captain.

Signing Statements: Teams are limited to eight members, whose applications are approved or denied by the Captain and Co-Captain. Members of a team are obliged to follow team policy, and may be fined by the Captain (which would be added to team funds) or removed from the team because of infractions of those policies. (Note that a member of a team may opt to leave the team rather than pay a fine.) Also, being a member of a team has certain advantages. All teams may use team Zoids, and borrow Zoids from one another if they can work out some conditions (exception: Zoid Xs may not be borrowed). This is true for all battles, not just team battles. Furthermore, team members can make use of team transports for all of their battles, and draw from the team funds if they're approved for it. The team is required to keep a thread called "Team Roster" which contains a list of the team members as well as all of the team-owned Zoids.

Non-Liquid Assets: Every team is entitled to three things aside from members and money: Zoids, modifications, and a transport. The transport you have to buy are your own, and it is responsible for one bound of the number of Zoids you can have. That means that all of the usual Zoid restrictions still apply to a team. If your team transport happens to be a Gustav (which would NOT be gifted to a newly formed team), then you can have up to 2 Level 1-4 Zoids as your Team Zoids. You can only have one team transport. The other bound I was talking about is a strict legal limit set by International Zoid Battling regulations: no team is permitted to have more than 10 Team Zoids. Period, end of discussion. It's the law. Teams still experience normal waiting times for Zoids, modifications, and transports that they buy.

Is Bigger Better?: The advantages of capital-class Transports first seem obvious -- they're bigger. They can carry more Zoids, and are not bound by the pesky level restrictions of lesser transports. However, astute observers (and maybe team Captains) will have noticed that there's no point in getting anything bigger than a Hammer Kaiser. So why go bigger? You've already got your 10 Zoid slots, and you can't get more. It's the law. The Hammer Kaiser is plenty big enough, so why blow so much more cash on say... a Great Whale King, when you could be directing that money towards other purposes. The answer is simple, and it's the section below this one.

Bragging Rights: Team ZXes. Under very certain, special conditions (for example, winning the World Cup Championship), a team may be awarded a Team Zoid X as a job well-done. Unfortunately, in order to cart around, maintain, and use a Zoid X, you need some rather special equipment. If you've got a Gustav as a team transport (and somehow managed to win the World Cup Championship or similar), then you're never going to see use of this ZX, because Gustavs simply can't support them. With proper modification, Dragoon Nests and Hover Cargos can carry. The Capital-Class Transports can carry more. How many more?

Transport	Team ZXes
Hammer Kaiser	1
Whale King	2
Great Whale King	3

So, if you buy a Great Whale King (for reasons other than bragging that you have a Great Whale King), you must have great faith in the ability of your team to win it big. Because other than carrying the maximum number of Zoids a team is allowed to own by law, it can carry 3 team ZXes.

Donations: Team members are allowed to donate Zoids (which have to come complete with modifications) to the team cause. Just as you can donate money, you can donate useful (possibly unwanted) pieces of equipment to your team. Each of these transactions has to be documented in the team roster, though. Also, once you've donated something to the team, you can't get it back, so be careful about your decisions here. They're permanent.

What You've Got: The team record is, plain and simple, the composite of all of the battles that the team has participated in. Your team record and team rank is determined using the same point system as a normal pilot's rank is, except that teams only participate in battles that they're declared to have participated in. The only catch is that these have to be battles where your side is solely composed of members of your team, and the other side is solely composed of members of the other team. As long as you've got that taken care of, you just need to tell the judge that this is a team battle during the opening info request, and it can be put on the record. A team is required to keep a thread called "Team Record" in which the members document their record and the battles they've fought in. It's fairly straightforward, when you think about it. Also, be it noted that 1v1s can be team battles if they're declared to be.

Fond Farewells: Teams can split up for any number of reasons: estrangement of the members, a poor record, lack of interest or participation, or simply the tireless effort of a spiteful administrator to make sure your organization goes belly-up. The power to dissolve a team rests with the members, not the Captain. If a 2/3 majority of the members decide that the team should be dissolved, than it is dissolved. What happens now is that team funds are split up against the members, and team zoids are up for grabs. (The team transport will be "vanished" by mysterious governmental forces.) If team members can't take all of the team Zoids because of lack of slots, ect., then it opens up to the public. Everything must go. Once a team is split up, it cannot reform to the team it was before. It will have to start anew...