Rules that have been changed since BOFXVI will be in this color.

Rules applying to all participants.

The following rules apply both to competitors and players.
 

BOFXVII Schedule

Schedule Date (JST)
Team Registration period 2021/06/04~2021/10/03
Deadline to change team name 2021/10/22 23:59
Deadline to declare number of entries by team 2021/10/22 23:59
PR period starts 2021/09/01 0:00~
Registration period 2021/10/28 23:00~2021/11/7 23:59
Registration reveal 2021/11/3 0:00
Late registration period Some time at least one week after the end of the registration period for 24 hours
Impression period 2021/11/9 10:00~2021/12/26 23:59

※ These schedules may be subject to change due to effects of COVID-19.
※ Impression period may be subject to change based on number of registered teams.

Treatment of late registrations.

Please be aware that any works that failed to meet the deadline of the late registration period will be disqualified.
Teams that failed to submit the declared number of entries will not be counted in some categories.
In order to cope with the phenomenon where the server becomes extremely slow around the end of the registration period, we have introduced an additional registration time system that allows the registration process to continue for a few minutes after the end of the registration period.
Entries registered during the additional time will not be disqualified.

About the late registration period.

This event will have a late registration period as a relief measure for those who could not make it in time.
The late registration period will be held some time at least one week after the end of the registration period for 24 hours.
The schedule will be announced through the BOFXVII official twitter account.

There will be no penalties against works registered during the late registration period.
This is because we consider that failing to deliver your best piece in time for the set deadline is considered to be a penalty in itself, so there is no need to introduce any additional penalties.

About Incomplete Registrations

Registering the information of your work without any playable BMS downloads available, or registering works that are not complete at the time of registration would be considered as an Incomplete Registration.
Doing so would result in an immediate disqualification.
(Please refer to a section below for what would be considered incomplete)

Also, not particular for this event, there often are participants who attempt to register right before the registration period ends and fail to do so because they forgot to fill all required information.
Make sure to have plenty of time to register, since registering song data takes time.

Prohibitions for all participants

The administrators reserve the right to, without notice, issue a violation warning or delete any evaluations / works that fall into the following categories.

  • Posts/Works that intend to slander, defame, or abuse a specific individual.
  • Posts/Works that intend to threaten, extort, or coerce a specific individual.
  • Impersonating someone by using their handle, or malicious imitation.
  • Act of bribing the evaluator or creator regardless of currency or amount.
  • Posts/Works that are mainly hate speech.
  • Any other actions that the administration deems inappropriate.

Action against those who repeatedly commit prohibited acts.

If a participant or a prospective participant repeatedly engages in any of the acts described below,
that individual will be prohibited from participating in future events organized by the BOFXVII Executive Committee.
If the banned individual is found to be participating under any name, the organizer reserves the right to disqualify the team with that person from the competition, and delete the impressions made by that individual.

  • Participants who created works that have been disqualified by the administration's special measures.
    (This does not apply to works such as works withdrawn by the participant or incomplete registrations)
  • A participant who repeatedly violates the Impression Rules 3~7 (see below).
  • Any other person who is judged to be a problem by the administration, such as a person who has made a declaration implying harm to the administrators or participants.

This rule will be effective starting this year, and will apply to all future events organized by the Executive Committee.

About troubles caused by participants

The organizing committee will not be involved in any trouble caused by individual participants or between participants.
And will not be responsible for any damages or losses caused by the trouble.

 

Team Participation Rules

BMS Registration Rules

You must apply for participation in advance in this event on the dedicated registration page.
Please note that teams that have not applied for participation in advance will not be allowed to participate.

The registration page will be announced on the top page at a later date, so please be sure to check the team registration period if you are considering registering.

Team Rules

In this event, the person who is in charge of the process of slicing sounds, arranging sounds into a BMS file, and creating at least one chart would be considered as the BMS creator, and all persons who are not BMS creators (composers, arrangers, movie creators, charters, vocalists, etc.) would be considered as a support personnel.
All persons involved in the team should be entered as members during team registration. At least two team members are required (*1).
All persons involved in BMS production, such as BGA (BGI) artists, vocalists, performance assistants, charters, etc., will be considered as members.
Members can be changed at will after registration, but if there is too much of a discrepancy between the members entered and the actual members, the team may be subject to disqualification.
One individual is only allowed to be a leader of a single team. (*2)
The team will be disqualified if it is found that any of the listed team members have been added to the team without their consent, or that the team has faked the number of team members in order to reach the minimum number of team members.

When teams register, they will be asked to declare the number of works to be submitted by the team in advance, and to submit the number of works as declared.
The number of works that can be declared is 2, 3, or 4. The declared number of songs may be changed between 2 and 4 after registration until one week before the event.
If a team does not submit the number of songs as declared, that team will not be counted in both the Team Total Division and the Team Median Division.
It is prohibited for the same team to submit multiple entries for different themes.
(As an example, doing something like Team Triplet in BOF2012 would not be allowed this year)

(*1).......The same person using aliases will not be counted towards the number of team members.
(*2).......Team leaders cannot be a team leader of another team but they are allowed to join another team as a non-leader member.

Ace Song System

The ace song system will ask the team to choose one ace song per team at the time of song registration.
Only in the team point division, 0.25 times the points of the ace song will be added as "ace song bonus points".

Only the team members would be able to determine which song is the ace song of the team.
After the evaluation period, the list of songs designated as ace songs will be prominently displayed.

BMS Regulations

You are only allowed to register BMS/bmson that are made specifically for this event.
BMSs that have been published in the past cannot be registered.

You can also register works of bmson in this event.
In the rules, we will basically refer to it as BMS, so please replace it with bmson.
When registering, please be sure to mention the bmson format is used.

BMS(bmson) works are assumed to be able to play properly on at least one of the following BMS players: Lunatic Rave 2, QMS-player, beatoraja(* description article), or Be-muse.
When distributing BMS (bmson), the compressed file should be compressed in ZIP, RAR, or 7-Zip format.
Self-extracting files, compressed files in LZH format, or uncompressed files are prohibited.
However, the following types BMSs are prohibited and will result in immediate disqualification upon discovery. Please note the following

  1. Works that are incomplete at the time of registration.
    • The criteria for incompleteness refers to works that have not reached the below minimum standards.
      • sounds are cut, placed, and at least one playable chart is included.
    • If the BMS only includes charts without any playable notes, or works that cannot be played correctly until the end will be disqualified as an Incomplete Registration.
    • If the work meets the minimum standards, it will not be disqualified even if there is no BGA (BGI) or additional charts.
  2. Unplayable BMSs
    • Works that are commonly referred to as "unplayable" or "keyless BMS" fall under this category.
    • If the percentage of silent notes exceeds 8% in all of the included charts, the work will be judged as "unplayable bms" or as "incomplete at the time of registration" as described above.
    • If the number of sounds defined within the BMS file is extremely small, the work may be judged as an "unplayable bms"
  3. BMSs that use tracks/charts copied from commercial music games.
    • This also applies to the use of sounds extracted from BEMANI series by software disassembling, etc.
  4. BMS that consists only of sound source from sound sets such as Musicbox7.
    (Musicbox7 is the soundset used for 春色小径 ~ Colorful Path by 由蘭)
  5. BMS that uses MIDI files
    • This applies even if the MIDI data meets the GM standard
    • Works that use sounds recorded from MIDI do not fall under this category

In addition, BMSs that apply to the following will be disqualified, and in some cases, the registered information may be deleted.

  1. Submissions that are intended to attack, threaten, or insult a specific individual or group.
    • Works that contain hateful expressions that can be judged to be malicious will be targeted by this rule.
    • If a work with extreme expressions is registered, and we deem it dangerous to continue the event due to its content, we may delete it without notice.
    • In such a case, we will delete all the registered information instead of a normal disqualification.
  2. BMS that uses a piece of music that has not been approved by the original composer.
    • When arranging or remixing an original piece of music, we highly recommend that you contact the composer and obtain permission before producing the work if possible, in order to prevent problems.
    • If the copyright holder sends an official notice, warning, or complaint to the administrators or the author of the registered work, the work will be disqualified at the discretion of the organizer.

Each BMS must at least contain one chart out of 5key, 7key, 10key, 14key, or 9key (PMS).
Hidden charts will be considered as "not subject to evaluation".

If the BMS does not comply with the regulations, or if you do not include a BMS file, it will be disqualified.

If your BMS uses special instructions that only work with a specific players such as: banner images, compressed sound sources (ogg, etc.), extended WAV definitions, extended BGA definitions, extended BMP definitions, video BGAs, charge notes (long notes), stop sequences, etc., please be sure to specify the recommended BMS player.

Please include an attachment to your BMS that lists the creators of the BMS, BGA and charts regardless of whether it was created by you or someone else.
Also, if you use free-to-use video or image materials as part of the BGA, be sure to include the name and URL of the site you used in the attachment.

Tips: Recommended elements in BMS works

* None of the recommendations are forced, failure in following them will not result in a disqualification.

When you use a movie file as a BGA for LR2, we recommend using WMV or MPEG1 (mpg file) as much as possible to avoid playback problems caused by AVI codec.

In recent years, as the average difficulty level of charts has increased, there have been more and more songs that light users can't clear at all.
It may be a good idea to include a chart for beginners (Lv.1~3) or for intermediate players (Lv.4~7) to make your song accessible to a broader audience.

Distribution rules

BMS works should be uploaded to a web server or storage service (such as Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, etc.).
You may also use timed storage sites such as firestorage, or upload sites such as Axfc.
However, storage sites that have a distribution deadline (cannot be set to be indefinite) may cause difficulties in downloading.
Please try to avoid uploading to file-sharing sites that have complicated download procedures (e.g., require installation of plug-ins, require a dedicated account for downloading, etc.). Uploading bms works to sites that ask for money for downloading (e.g., paying money will increase the download speed) is prohibited.
In addition, there are cases where uncompressed bms works are published using a folder sharing function of a storage service, but even if there is a function that allows you to download all of the files as a compressed file at once, this is not considered uploading compressed files as described above, and may result in disqualification.
Please be sure to publish your work in a compressed format.

By registering your work, you have agreed to the secondary distribution of BMS and the distribution of packages by the organizer or volunteers, under the promise that the archive will not be altered.
If you do not agree to this, you will not be able to participate in this event.

Distribution of Packages by Volunteers

The administrators of the event will not be distributing BMS packages of this event.

Instead, there are no restrictions on the distribution of packages by volunteers.
Please note that some tracker sites only allow the distribution of original or authorized copies/arrangements/remixes.

PR Rules

  • We prohibit presenting the entire so-called BMS version of the BMS work that you plan to submit to this competition to the public as music media or a movie data on various websites until 2021/8/31.
  • If you plan to register an existing musical work as a BMS, publicly declaring that you will do so to the public is prohibited until 8/31/2021.
  • Public disclosure of the entire chart of a registered BMS in any form, such as play videos, is prohibited until the start of simultaneous public disclosure.

 

Participation rules as a player

In BOFXVII, the score of a work is determined by impressions with a score attached to it.。
Users can choose between regular impressions, one-line impressions, or voting (no comment).
The total score and the number of impressions for each work will determine the ranking (see below for the ranking method).

This event is held as a place to evaluate works of art, not to evaluate personalities, attitudes, or factors other than the works of art.
Please make sure that your score is based solely on the evaluation of the BMS, and do not include evaluations of anything else.

Please be sure to enter your name and email address when submitting impressions because they will be required.

Normal Impressions

You can submit impressions that consist of multiple lines.
The number of points you can allocate is between 100 and 1000.
No anonymous or no-comment submissions will be accepted.

One-line Impressions

This is an impression format for those who want to write a brief impression.
Anonymous submissions are allowed here.
The points allotted will be between 100 and 1000 points.

Tips: Voting with no comments.

If you make a one-line impression with no comment, it will be treated as a vote. The vote will be reflected as an impression in both impressions and points..
However, it will not appear in the headlines.

Prohibitions

Please do not submit impressions before the evaluation period. It will be deleted as soon as the administrators acknowledge it. Any impressions based on audio or video only will be deleted. Please make sure to evaluate the BMS(ON) after playing it with a BMS(ON) player as a game.

Due to the nature of the event system, evaluation via smartphones or tablets, or via anonymous browsers such as tor is prohibited.
We apologize for the inconvenience, but please use a PC to post impressions. You can only post comments without scores from smartphones and tablets.

You cannot modify or delete impressions after they have been posted in most circumstances. Please make sure that there are no errors before submitting impressions.
If you have submitted an impression with a mistake, please use the correction form to request a correction.
You must include your e-mail address when submitting a correction request.
We will not respond if the email address does not match even if the request is valid.

The following impressions may be removed without notice.

  1. Giving yourself a scored impression (Sock puppeting).
  2. Giving your teammate a scored impression.
  3. Including any part that is not related to the content of the work or including something the creator has requested not to be evaluated in the evaluation.
  4. The act of including personal feelings of the evaluator toward the actions or words of the creator or individual team members in the evaluation.
  5. Evaluations where the evaluator has not played the bms(on), such as only watching videos or listening to audio files.
  6. Evaluations for the purpose of receiving money, regardless of the currency or amount.
  7. Trolling.
  8. Posting through an anonymous proxy.
  9. Spams.
  10. Posting via VPN or hosting service.
  11. Other impressions that the administrator deems inappropriate.

Especially leaving impressions that fall numbers 3~7 may result in consequences such as
all of your impressions being removed from the event and all future impressions will be nullified.

If posts violating prohibitions #1 or #7 come from the same provider, region, or country continuously, we may restrict posts from that provider, region, or country.
In particular, VPN connections will be strictly enforced.

The criteria for removal of impressions will be determined by the administrators.
You may report problematic impressions but if the administration does not deem the content of an impression problematic, we may not take action even if it is pointed out to us

In recent years, there have been a number of cases of the same person "inflating their own scores with self-impressions".
If such malicious acts occur frequently, we will impose large-scale restrictions on posting.

Team Point Counting

Team points will be calculated from the scores of impressions written or voted by the players.
The ranking of each division will be determined by the total score of each team's BMSs.

Team Median Division

This category is based on the median value. Median is the middle number of a sorted list of numbers.
The winner is determined by the median of the impression points. Please note that the value is completely different from the average.
In addition, the team median division will only include the teams that have submitted the number of works as declared.
Also, the score adjustments of the ace song system will not be applied.

Team Total Score Division

This category calculates the total points given by impressions and determines the team's ranking based on the total value.
The more impressions you receive, the higher you are ranked.
If a song has been designated as an ace song under the ace song system, the score for that song will be calculated at 1.25 times the normal score for this category only.

Solo Score Division

As a part of the reference data, we will separately calculate the solo category, which is a tally of individual songs.
These divisions will be counted as reference values only, and these rankings will have no effect on the team rankings.

Solo Median Division(for reference only)

Similar to the Team Median division, this category is based on the median value.
The median score of each song will be used to calculate the ranking.
The score adjustments by the ace song system will not be applied.

Solo Total Score Division(for reference only)

Similar to the Team Total Score division, the total impression scores given by impressions will be calculated.
The total value will be used to determine the ranking of the songs. Unlike in the Team Total Score division, the ace song system will not be applied in this division.

Best Impressor Division

This category is not for song participants, but for player participants.
The goal is to award those who wrote a lot of impressions on the participating songs of the event in a ranking format.
The ranking will be determined by the total number of impressions that meet the following conditions.

  • Impressions under the same name or the same trip code will be counted.
  • Normal or One-Line impressions will be considered. Impressions without comments (votes) will not be counted.
  • Anonymous impressions will not be counted.

Tips: About trip codes

Due to a number of problems caused by the use of Unicode characters, the trip key function, which displays an encrypted ID by entering any character after the name with a single-byte sharp, has been discontinued.
This function, "Trip Code," is an alternative to the Trip Key function.
Please note that even if you put a half-width sharp in this venue, the following character string will not be converted unlike previous events.

By entering any characters you desire in the "Tripcode" field, the characters after the sharp end will automatically be converted into an encrypted ID called a trip (It will appear after the ◆ character in your name).
Trips are a feature for people who want to hide their names yet want to prove they are the same person, or for people who use separate aliases when impressing different songs.
Trips can be converted with a short string (like 4 characters), but it may duplicate with others, so please use a longer string if possible. For more details, please check the tweets from the administrator.

Team Score Calculation Method

Number of submitted songs Total Score Division Median Score Division
2 ((Total score of each song × 1.5) × 2 songs) + Ace song bonus points The median of the set of both songs' scores combined
3 Total score for each song (3 songs) + Ace song bonus points The median of the set of all three songs' scores combined
4 ((Total score of each song ÷ 1.33) × 4 songs) + Ace song bonus points The median of the set of all four songs' scores combined

Score Calculation Method for each division

Form Total Score Division Median Score Division
Team Total score for each song (3 songs) + Ace song bonus points The median of the set of all three songs' scores combined
Solo Total score of the work The median of all impressions of the song
This event has nothing to do with the music games developed by various companies. Please understand that there is no guarantee that any of the BMS works that place high in this event will be added to any music game.
Also, we cannot respond to inquiries about recording songs that participated in this event to any music games.
Thank you for your understanding.