Yeah, it's tough. I find CTF to be one of the most skill-demanding and engrossing styles of play. Just this weekend, I played three "epic CTF" games on Halo 2 and found them to be exhilarating. Few modes demand strategy like that. So, in our pursuit of perfectly competitive games, we've had to report lamers for all kinds of offensives, and our vigilance has actually shaped the rules of the servers we play on. We now have a proactive administrator on our side who has permanently banned three particularly stupid people who would get stoned or drunk and try to ruin the game.
So yeah, it's hard to demand perfect obedience of the rules from new players or those unaccustomed to this level of seriousness and skill. But 90% of the time, the crappy attitude of these players justifies whatever comes to them in the way of disciplinary justice. Here are my commandments, which completely summarize my thoughts on competitive play (in any sport):
The List of No Respect
I do not respect players who...
1. ...talk shit, flame, and demean others whether in or out of a game server.
2. ...teamkill.
3. ...use third-party applications to gain a competitive edge.
4. ...camp, piston camp, or use pure spam in camping and no other weapons.
5. ...fragwhore, deathmatch, play uselessly, or camp the quad amp or strength relic for frags in a CTF server.
6. ...constantly alias or use an alias to beat others then reveal themselves with insulting remarks.
7. ...abuse their admin powers.
8. ...believe their superior skill places them always in the right in arguments or conflicts and are bullheaded.
9. ...change teams unfairly or do not even the teams skill-wise when it's obvious the game will be one-sided.
10. ...spawnkill.
11. ...launch.
12. ...spam.
13. ...play designated newbie servers though they are skilled.
14. ...lag sufficiently to ruin the game and give them an unfair advantage.
15. ...play on Zark servers, hide-n-seek sniper servers, or any other server that has rules against "moving around too much."
16. ...disrupt the game with voice binds.
17. ...cannot respect different opinions.
18. ...believe being clanned is the purpose of playing the game.
19. ...disparage others on basis of country. (Well, Ms. Black and I do that a lot, but mostly because these European continental players are predisposed to immediately insulting us once they see my US and his UK affiliation, and because they don't seem to have as good a grasp of sportsmanship as others quite yet due to the late learning curve)
20. ...cannot take accountability for their own lack of skill and resort to calling others cheaters. (eOn's "cheat shit" comes to mind)
The List of Respect
I respect players who...
1. ...aim to develop skill and have fun, not internet credibility.
2. ...actively hold back from using lame techniques, even if it will lose the game and the other team will demean them for it.
3. ...maintain a friendly, competitive atmosphere and do not challenge others constantly.
4. ...never alias and take responsibilities for all their actions, whether verbal or in-game.
5. ...put every ounce of effort into a game, struggling with all skill and determination to win for the team.
6. ...play as a team in team games and forget about personal fragcounts.
7. ...share their techniques and practice with other good others to improve the general skill-level of the fanbase and move players as a whole to new echelons of skill.
8. ...are mature and can rise above trashtalking from others without stooping to their level or continuing the argument.
9. ...as admins, do not break their own rules even when they are at fault in a dispute.
10. ...don't play others with preconceived notions about their skill.
