A gather is a group of players playing a game on the internet. These players are (usually) in two teams, which are playing against each other.

A gather is more organised than a normal internet game, because it replicates the same conditions than an official clan match. The two teams use proper tactics and communications unlike a standard (public) match whereby you just play however you like.

As a result of this, most gather gamers are of a higher skill than standard, public, online games.

Usually, a gather is organised by an automated system which builds two teams thanks to the players willing to play at that particular time. We call this system the BOT.

When a player is ready to play a match, he informs the bot using specific commands and, as soon as there are enough members to start the game, he will receive the informations about the game server to join and play.

This is the basis, but the Gather-Network bot does much more than that. Some of its features are:
- Players have the ability to vote for the map of the match
- Calculation of the player's skill during the match
- Building the teams in a balanced manner, according to the skill of the players
- Search for substitute players when somebody leaves the match
- ... and much much more !

You can participate in our gathers by joining one of our channels or via our premium game servers.

The Gather-Network is the place where people from different regions and playing different games, decided to unite to build the best GATHER environment ever.

It's structure is divided into sections, called channels. This way, we can separate the different games and countries while keeping a standard common system.

They are called channels, as it is run on IRC (Internet Relay Chat). IRC is a form of instant communication over the Internet. It is mainly designed for group (many-to-many) communication in discussion forums called channels, but also allows one-to-one communication. Each channel is led by one or more Channel Leaders.

When you register with the Gather-Network (GN), you start as a Player. This gives you complete access to our website and allows you to join our members-only gathers. A members-only gather is where only a registered user can play, as opposed to a normal gather whereby anyone in the channel that wants to play, can, registered or not.

You can earn the Regular Player status by playing a certain number of gathers in a week. This certain number of gathers is specified by your channel's management team. This will give you a special status on the IRC channel, known commonly as voice.

People with the Channel Admin access have the right to start gathers and to administrate these gathers. Admins have to play a minimum number of gathers each week to keep this special access. They have the ability to add bans to users. They also have special status in the IRC channel, known commonly as Op (Operator) and it is therefore their job to maintain the IRC channel to a certain degree. If you are interested in becoming an admin, speak to a Channel Managers or Channel Leader. If an Admin does not play enough gathers in a week to meet the target, he/she will lose their access and be demoted to the Player status.

The next status is called Permanent Admin. They have all the same access as regular Channel Admin, however, they do not have to meet the weekly gather limit. To gain this level, you have to work hard as an admin, and be noticed by a Channel Manager or Leader.

An other kind of status is the Channel VIP. It is given, by a Channel Manager or Leader, to the users who deserve a reward for their contributions to the channel. It can be the person representing the company that sponsors the channel, a super star gamer, etc.
Possible sponsors are for example game servers, prizes, external vocal communication services, or anything else the channel might need.

The job of the Channel Managers is, as their title says, to manage and maintain their channel. They have the ability to adjust the status of all the users on their channel. This means they can promote/demote users of their channel. They have a higher level of access on the channel than everyone else, so they can control it. They have access to change important parameters of their channel, such as the minimum gathers an Admin needs to start to keep his access, or how many gathers a Player must play to achieve the status of Regular Player. Managers are selected by the Channel Leader.

Channel Leaders are the bosses of their channels. They have all the power that Managers have but they also have the ability to add and remove those Managers.

Aside from those channel-dependent accesses, the Gather Network is composed of multiple support teams:

The main one is the Help & Support team which has special access that allows its members to adjust any user's details. This way they are more than suited to helping anyone on the Gather Network with any problems.

The Anti-Cheat team is specialised in cheat tracking and gives assistance to the users regarding our Anti-Cheat software.

The job of our News team is to publish attractive content on the GN website.

Finally, the Gather-Network Administrators have the highest access level. They have full access over every channel and user. It is their job to ensure that the Network as a whole runs smoothly.

If you have any further questions about anything, check the FAQ firstly, and if you are still stuck, drop by #Gather-Network on QuakeNet and ask, there is usually someone around that can help you out. You can also E-Mail us.