1. This post serves to outline the circumstances under which any player can verify their eligibility to be selected for and compete in a Draft League World Cup.
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3. There will be two types of player eligibility discussed in this outline: [B]first-time players, and returning players[/B]. For the purpose of clarity, all players will be treated as first-time players until they have competed for a Draft League World Cup Team (either National such as Team Brazil, or Continental such as Team Europe). Player eligibility and team obligations [U]do not[/U] carry over from one subforum to the next; for example, if a player is locked into playing for Team Germany in WCoP, they are not necessarily locked to play for Team Germany in DLWC. Hosts will not consider any other means of identification for regional eligibility. Please [B][U]do not[/U][/B] submit real-world identifying documents such as passports or birth certificates. DLWC hosts and TDs reserve the right to determine the extent to which any below method of eligibility is accepted or denied.
4. [INDENT][LIST]
5. [*][B]First-time Players: [/B]Players who have not participated in a DLWC season have [U]open eligibility[/U]. This means that the only determining factor for which country/continent they want to compete in is the IP history on their Smogon profile. Hosts will primarily use a range of dates in-between IP address logins, however the number of logins will also be used in determining eligibility claims. IP addresses determined to be derived from VPNs or other obfuscation methods will be disregarded when determining eligibility. Players have three ways of determining which country/continent they wish to play for:
6. [LIST=1]
7. [*]Having a consistent IP history in a country for no shorter than 90 days. This period of time may be cumulative over the course of 12 months, however, the more sparse and infrequent the logins show up on your Smogon profile, the harder it will be to determine your eligibility for that country. The intent is to qualify based on actually residing in that country for a prolonged period of time.
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10. [*]Showing frequent and routine passage between multiple regions (US) or countries. Players who show patterns of routinely logging in from multiple countries will be able to play for any of their eligible countries (or the continent in which their country resides). Common examples of this would be living in one country, and attending university in another. A second example may be living in one Country, and having dual/multiple citizenship in others because of variable living conditions or unaccompanied family members.
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13. [*]The player's Smogon profile may show past IP addresses from a different country in which they reside at the time they choose to participate in DLWC for the first time. Based on the same consistency baseline mentioned earlier (at least 90 days of consistent residency), players are eligible to claim a country in which they have lived previously. There is no maximum age on IP addresses considered under this method of eligibility. So long as IP addresses are on a player's Smogon profile and are not determined to be fabricated, they are able to be considered by the hosts.
14. [/LIST]
15. [*][B]Returning Players: [/B]Returning players are those who have participated in a DLWC in a previous year. [B][U]Once a player decides to play for a region/country/continent in their first DLWC, they are locked to that team for future seasons. The only criteria that may allow an individual to change the team they are aligned with is:[/U][/B]
16. [LIST]
17. [*]If their life circumstances change and they no longer meet eligibility requirements of their old team (example: moved residence). If a player utilizes this method of transferring their eligibility, their previously used eligibility is permanently forfeited.
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20. [*]Their eligibility is transferred from a Continent to a Country Team. Players who compete for a Continent Team one year must retrograde to a country within that continent the following year if a team is established that they have eligibility in. Once a player has moved from a Continent Team to a Country Team, they may not move back up to a Continent team unless their Country Team is unable to field a team in following years. In this case, the eligibility would revert and the player would be eligible to play for the Continent Team again. This is because it is our hope as hosts that as many Country Teams as possible are able to field a full team, and players having the ability to swap back and forth between Continent and Country team is antithetical to that idea.
21. [/LIST]
22. [*]All instances of returning players attempting to change their region must be communicated to the DLWC hosts prior to signing up with the new potential eligibility in mind for IP validation. "Grandfathering" and "cultural eligibility" are not accepted forms of eligibility in DLWC.
23. [/LIST][/INDENT]
24. The reason that Continent Teams exist are to give a venue for players who are unable to form a full team within their native Country Team. "Continent" team in this instance refers to any combination of two or more regions/countries, not just specifically the likes of Europe or Asia. An example of a non-continent "Continent Team" would be Oceania, or LATAM (Latin America). It is the opinion of the DLWC hosts that the spirit of the competition is to support your Country Team first, Continent Team second, and your friend group last. It is in that spirit that competitors who wish to only play for a Continent Team, but not any of the other countries they may have eligibility for, will be unable to do so.