Captain Rules
1. The field
Every round starts neutral. Accepted RED and BLUE joins in that round determine the live field percentage. JOINED RED/BLUE shows current-round participation; ALL TIME RED/BLUE shows cumulative lifetime participation and does not reset publicly between rounds. Captain payments never change the crowd score.
2. Joining
Participation is free. One signed browser participant can add one accepted join per round. Abuse controls reduce automation and repeated traffic, but RED / BLUE does not claim identity-verified one-human-one-vote.
3. Captain slots
RED and BLUE each have an independent Captain slot. A paid Captain is advertising placement. If no paid Captain controls a side, RED / BLUE may display a clearly labeled Featured Rival selected by the service. Featured Rivals are not paid Captains.
4. Bidding
The next effective bid must be at least $1 above the current controlling or queued effective bid. Captured valid spend is cumulative bid credit for the same resolved Captain identity on the same side, so returning Captains may pay only the additional amount required to reach their new effective bid. Bid credit is not cash or stored value and cannot be transferred, withdrawn, or redeemed.
5. Payment authorization and queued challenges
When payments are enabled, a challenge may be authorized before it is captured. Higher challenges may authorize while a Captain is protected. Only the highest eligible challenge survives; superseded authorizations may be released. An expired or failed authorization does not create paid bid credit and does not entitle the challenger to Captain placement.
6. Protection
A successful takeover is protected for the remainder of the takeover round plus the full next round. After protection ends, the Captain remains only until displaced, removed, suspended, or the service changes. Protected placement is not a promise of impressions, clicks, conversions, or uninterrupted internet availability.
7. Destination authority
You may submit only a destination that you own, control, or are authorized to advertise or promote. You may not impersonate another person or organization, falsely imply sponsorship or affiliation, or deliberately cause RED / BLUE to present a brand, account, identity, or trademark deceptively. RED / BLUE may request evidence of authority and may quarantine a Captain while a complaint is reviewed.
8. Destination standards
Captain destinations may not contain or facilitate illegal activity, malware, phishing, credential theft, malicious downloads, fraud, deceptive or unsubstantiated claims, counterfeit goods, infringement, impersonation, harassment, hateful or terrorist content, unlawful adult content, unlawful gambling, unlawful regulated products or services, sanctions violations, or other content that creates material legal, security, payment-network, or user-safety risk.
Political, election-related, and issue-oriented destinations are not categorically prohibited. The advertiser is solely responsible for any sponsorship identification, disclaimer, registration, reporting, targeting, recordkeeping, or other legal requirement that applies to the particular communication. RED / BLUE may reject or remove any placement that it reasonably believes cannot be lawfully or safely carried.
9. Moderation and removal
RED / BLUE may reject, suspend, quarantine, de-link, or remove a Captain for violations of these Rules or the Terms, suspected fraud, malware, sanctions concerns, infringement complaints, impersonation, payment disputes, chargeback abuse, legal demands, or material risk to the service or its users. Advertiser-caused removal may be non-refundable as described in the Payment, Cancellation & Refund Policy.
10. History and metrics
Completed round results remain in history. Historical Captain and Featured Rival views can continue increasing when visitors revisit old rounds, and placement clicks may continue to be tracked through the historical identity. Final RED / BLUE results never change after a round closes. A Captain identity or link may later be redacted or disabled without changing the recorded round score.
11. Advertising disclosure
Paid Captain placement may be labeled with terms such as “Paid Advertisement,” “Ad,” or “Paid Captain” so visitors can readily identify commercial placement. Advertisers may not interfere with or attempt to obscure that disclosure.