Territory control

Rubric components

Components describe the mechanic as observed. Each is scored from 0 to 4, or marked unknown or not applicable. The final level reflects the overall pattern, not an average. Component-level definitions are not stored in the database; they remain in the methodology’s source document.

• Capture and contest

  How ownership changes hands, from symbolic capture to layered warfare with declarations, sieges, and logistics. Environmental threats do not earn points.

• Ownership benefits: assets, income, and access

  What ownership grants in the world: resources, taxes, infrastructure, content access, and strategic value.

• Competition points and rewards

  What ownership grants within the competitive loop: holding score, leaderboard position, and faction rewards.

• Ownership duration

  How long one period of ownership lasts, from a match or day to seasons or years.

• Accumulated development

  Whether the owner's progress persists and what calendar or seasonal event resets it.

• Space and map strategy

  The role of geography: connected fronts, corridors, rear areas, supply, and chokepoints.

• Collective organization of warfare

  How much conflict requires organizations to coordinate roles, schedules, diplomacy, and coalitions.

• Impact on the wider world

  How control changes the game for non-owners and whom it affects: conflict participants, players entering the area, or everyone in the world.

• Game integration

  How strongly the system connects to core game loops and affects player and organization decisions.

Final level steps

All steps are shown, including those with no games. At levels 1–5, zero means no matching games were found; it is different from an unassessed step. A game with multiple scopes at different depths appears at each relevant step, so totals can exceed the number of assessed games. Required conditions for levels 3–5 are documented outside the database.

The first count shows games with an exact result. “No higher than N” results and results with no recorded form are shown separately and are not added to the exact count.

• 0 of 5 — None0 games in the Catalog

  There is no built-in territory control.

  Level 0 is empty by design. An absent mechanic is recorded through presence, not as depth level 0, and receives no depth level. The mechanics page shows assessment and presence counts.

• 1 of 5 — Ownership marker0 games in the Catalog; 5 more marked “at most”

  Ownership is shown but is rarely contested and provides little value.

• 2 of 5 — Contested objectives3 games in the Catalog; 3 more marked “at most”

  Individual objectives with limited competition windows and modest benefits.

• 3 of 5 — Developed warfare3 games in the Catalog

  Regular conflict over ownership with meaningful benefits and lasting consequences.

• 4 of 5 — Major territorial system0 games in the Catalog

  Territory shapes the segment's endgame, economy, or organization politics.

• 5 of 5 — World-shaping conquest0 games in the Catalog

  Control connects warfare, economy, and politics and changes the persistent state of the world.

Module fields

Observations the module requires with each assessment. They help verify that the conclusion follows from the observed implementation. Section names are stored as free text and may reference more than one section.

• Who owns it

  Who owns the ownership unit. "Matchmade temporary team" limits presence to Limited because the owner is assembled by matchmaking and lasts for one competitive cycle. The list is explicitly closed by the methodology (13.3). There is one value: modes with different owners are separate, so a second owner means a second mode.

  Value type:

  List, fixed options, single value

  Requirement:

  Required

  Methodology section:

  13.3

  Allowed values:

  • Individual player
  • Player organization
  • Alliance of organizations
  • Organization within an in-game faction
  • Matchmade temporary team — Limits presence to Limited.
  • In-game faction
  • No owner
• Ownership unit

  What is owned. The list is explicitly closed by the methodology (13.3). There is one value because modes are distinguished by their ownership unit.

  Value type:

  List, fixed options, single value

  Requirement:

  Required

  Methodology section:

  13.3

  Allowed values:

  • Shared-world area
  • Star system
  • Settlement and surrounding area
  • Battle map objective
  • Organization structure
  • Housing plot
• Ownership cycle duration

  How long one period of ownership lasts before reset or loss. Shown beside the Ownership duration and Accumulated development component scores. The list is explicitly closed by the methodology (13.3).

  Value type:

  List, fixed options, single value

  Requirement:

  Required

  Methodology section:

  13.3

  Allowed values:

  • Indefinite until lost — This cycle has no fixed length.
  • Until a seasonal or calendar reset
  • Until the competitive cycle ends
  • Within a session or match
• Ownership cycle length, minutes

  Cycle length in minutes. The methodology requires a numeric length: a seasonal campaign that resets ownership is assessed alongside season length, while Presence: Limited for ownership within a competitive cycle records the cycle length (13.1). A qualitative value is not enough because "until the competitive cycle ends" describes both a week and half a year. Minutes cover both a thirty-minute match and a season: thirty minutes is 30, while a thirteen-week season is 131040.

  Value type:

  Number, single value

  Requirement:

  Required when applicable

  Methodology section:

  13.1, 13.3

  Required when: When the ownership cycle has a length: a seasonal or calendar reset, competitive cycle, or session. Indefinite ownership has no length, so a number must not be invented for it.

• Contest method

  How ownership changes hands between players. Methods can be combined, so all active methods are recorded.

  Value type:

  List, custom values allowed, multiple values

  Requirement:

  Required

  Methodology section:

  13.3

  Allowed values:

  • Open warfare
  • Siege window
  • War declaration
  • Campaign
  • Other — The methodology does not declare this value set closed. The value is meaningful only with an explanation (section 7). (Requires an explanation)
• What happens when ownership is lost

  The consequences of loss for the owner. This also includes consequences of a siege against the environment, which does not score the Capture and contest component.

  Value type:

  Text, single value

  Requirement:

  Required

  Methodology section:

  13.3

• Ownership loss without another player

  Cases where ownership is lost without being captured by another player. Cases can be combined, so all are recorded.

  Value type:

  List, custom values allowed, multiple values

  Requirement:

  Required when applicable

  Methodology section:

  13.3

  Required when: When this kind of loss is possible.

  Allowed values:

  • Plot demolition due to inactivity
  • Ownership reset by a calendar event
  • Upgrades lost after defeat by the environment
  • Other — The methodology does not declare this value set closed. The value is meaningful only with an explanation (section 7). (Requires an explanation)
• Who is affected in the wider world

  Who is affected by control. The list is closed and follows rubric thresholds: score 3 requires an effect on at least everyone entering the area, while score 4 requires an effect on every player in the world (13.4).

  Value type:

  List, fixed options, single value

  Requirement:

  Required when applicable

  Methodology section:

  13.4

  Required when: Beside the Impact on the wider world component score.

  Allowed values:

  • Conflict participants only
  • Everyone entering the area
  • Every player in the world or server
• What ownership gives the owner over others Required with final level

  A mandatory note beside the final level; the level does not replace it. A guild war over gathering areas and settlement governance with the right to set taxes both receive level 4, but their consequences for others differ. The list is closed: its ordered values cover the full attribute, from "Nothing" to the right to set rules and payments (13.5). One value is recorded: the highest applicable one, or the note would no longer be comparable across games.

  Value type:

  List, fixed options, single value

  Requirement:

  Required

  Methodology section:

  13.5

  Allowed values:

  • Nothing
  • Access and safety in the area
  • Resources or income from the territory itself
  • The right to set rules and payments for other players
• Evidence of long-term world change

  An observation required for level 5. The potential implied by rules is not evidence. The list is closed because the methodology declares it exhaustive. Two values count as evidence; the third records that there is no observation (13.5). One piece of evidence is enough, so the field has one value.

  Value type:

  List, fixed options, single value

  Requirement:

  Required when applicable

  Methodology section:

  13.5

  Required when: When the assessment is being considered for level 5.

  Allowed values:

  • Dated observations of ownership changes — A public source with known completeness over a window of at least three months.
  • Official materials on wars and map changes — The materials name specific wars and map changes.
  • No data — Level 4 is assigned. The value is not an observation by itself, so it is meaningful only with an explanation that names the missing observation (13.5). (Requires an explanation)
• Mode state

  Whether the mode is active now: empty or uncontested territories, closed campaigns or siege windows, fewer contested areas, and public developer explanations. Stored separately from depth and reach because a fading mode has the same component profile as a growing one.

  Value type:

  Text, single value

  Requirement:

  Required when applicable

  Methodology section:

  4

  Required when: Wherever the mode may be fading.

Version history

Changes recorded for each module version. Assessment versions are matched against this history because different rubric versions may produce different levels.

• Version 0.3 Current Adoption date not recorded

  Revised after a six-game pilot. Split "Ownership persistence" into "Ownership duration" and "Accumulated development" because these properties diverge for one guild within one game. Split "Ownership benefits" into assets and competition points so taxes from other players and battle score do not share one scale. Rewrote the instance and housing exclusions around observable attributes: an ownership record and uncontestability rather than a separate map and lack of competition. Added closed lists for "who owns it," "ownership unit," and "ownership cycle duration," along with scope, loss of ownership without another player, affected audience, ordinary player action, and a note explaining the owner's advantage over others. Defined observable evidence of world change for level 5.

• Version 0.2Adoption date not recorded

  First written module version: concept, implementation types, assessment scope, seven components, final-level rules, usage signals, classification errors, and minimum evidence.

Versions used for recorded assessments

This list is based on assessments, not version history. Versions with no recorded assessments are omitted. Reassessment replaces the previous record, so zero for an older version would misleadingly imply that it was never used.

• Version 0.3:210 assessments across 200 games