Frequently Asked Questions

I'm an orc!
Player FAQ is on the message board!

General Questions

Q: What the heck is OrcSports?
A: It's fantasy-based fantasy sports. In other words, the game itself is made up. The players, orcs, are all fantasy-based.

Q: What's an Overlord?
A: You are! When you sign up, you become an Overlord, a combination owner and manager. You contract with orcs who play on your team.

Q: So is this like other fantasy sports games out there? Do I just watch as my players do well and go up in rank or do poorly and go down?
A: Heck, no! The orcs on your team play games against the orcs on other teams in your league. That means that only you can have a particular orc. If you buy the orc named Figpey, no other team can have the orc named Figpey. The teams actually play against the other teams in games according to the lineup you specify, wearing the equipment you purchase for them.

Questions from New Players

Q: How do I contract orcs?
A: With gold. You start with a loan of 25,000 gold pieces.

Q: It's a loan?
A: Yes, the first 25,000 gold is only a loan to get you started. The terms of the loan say that most of the gold you would normally get for playing in games goes to the bank instead of you.

Q: I get gold for playing in games?
A: Yes. You get more gold for winning a game than for losing, and more per game as you advance through the divisions.

Q: Well, what if I spend all my money and want more?
A: If you have paid your loan balance down, you can borrow more money from the bank, which you will have to pay back with interest. Or you can designate some of your orcs to go out and loot and pillage for you to earn some extra money.

Q: So why don't I just loot all my money?
A: Looting has a risk that sometimes the orc will become hurt, imprisoned or even killed and not be available for an upcoming game. You might not want to send your star goalie.

Q: How do I know which orc is going to kick ass and which one is a dud?
A: Orcs have 6 skills: Get, Lose, Eek, Slam, Pound and Sneak. They also have 4 positions worth of experience: Goalie, Defense, Wing and Center. They get a number of years at each position in the "minor leagues" (in which they play while they're minors). The more seasons an orc plays at a particular position, the better he is at that position.

Q: What skills are important at each position?
A: At a basic level, it is important for Goalies to have high Eek (react) and Slam (block shots) skills. Defensemen need high Pound (punch) and Sneak (get away with stuff) skills. Wings and Centers need high Get (catch) and Lose (pass and shoot) skills. All orcs have a toughness stat, too, which dictates how much punishment they can take.

Q: Okay, so can my orcs get hurt during a game?
A: Yes, hurt or possibly killed. But in OrcSports, "death" does not mean "lost forever." The orc just goes into the 7-day regeneration chamber (our version of the disabled list). They come out of it alive and healed, but it costs the Overlord 15 gold to use the regen chamber.

Q: Where can I see how my looters did?
A: On the Looting page, if you scroll to the bottom, there is a chart of all your looters, where they went, and what happened to them. It is sorted by day.

Q: Which is more important, years of experience or skill?
A: They're both important! You can train skills, and you can play orcs to gain experience.

Q: How can I train up my orc's skills?
A: Through training facilities, in which you can enroll your orc. He trains for a certain amount of time based on the skill level he's trying to achieve and improves the skill that was focused on in the workshop. Training facilities can get expensive, but once you have a facility, any orcs whose skills are lower than the training facility's quality can use that facility. You can have up to 6 facilities (one for each skill) and up to 5 orcs can be enrolled in each. However, training facilities should not be your first purchase! It's best to wait a season or two before making the investment.

Q: What's the difference between the armor pieces? Which should I buy first?
A: There is no difference. Having a leather helmet protects you the same amount as having leather on your legs. If you have the same type of armor on the head, arms, legs, and body of an orc, you get a bonus to the armor's protection. It is definitely recommended to take advantage of the 20% discount for buying a full suit of armor at a time. Once purchased, you can give the armor pieces to four different orcs if you so choose.

Q: Does armor affect my skills?
A: No. Heavy armor (plate and chain) will slow your orc down. This has less of an effect on goalies, since goalies don't run around the field much. Fatigue, on the other hand, will affect skills.

Q: How can I keep fatigue down?
A: The best way to keep fatigue low is to have three full lines of orcs ready to play. Also, don't have your orcs trying to do too much. An orc who is playing in games, training and looting will get tired more quickly.

Q: How fast do orcs run?
A: Orcs run just over 6 miles per hour during the game if they are not wearing heavy armor.

Q: What are the odds of capture/injury/death when looting?
A: That depends on where you go. The odds of something bad happening in the slums is low (around 5%). The odds that the merchant's guards will rough you up is higher (around 30%). The castle guards are alert, however. The odds of being caught there are much higher (around 60%).

Q: Is 0 hit points a dead orc or do their hit points need to be negative?
A: 0 hit points is a dead orc.

Q: Does my orc get released from prison in time to go looting?
A: An orc that is just released from prison does not go looting.

Q: How can I make sure that the guy I picked up to be my star center will actually play as a center?
A: Go into the barracks and tell assign him to be the Center of your first line! The barracks is where to go to make all your line and position assignments.

Q: Why do I want two full lines?
A: Actually, if you can get three full lines, that's even better. Why? Because all that running around will make an orc tired. A tired orc doesn't play as well, so they go off for line changes. If there aren't enough people to swap out, you will end up with orcs playing the wrong position, orcs playing tired, and injured orcs trying to push themselves "for the team." It just gets ugly.

Q: What about orcs on the bench?
A: If your first three lines at a position are tired or beat up, your bench warmers will be brought in as replacements as needed.

Q: What do I get for winning a game?
A: Gold. The amount you get depends on your division.

Q: How is orc experience measured?
A: It's measured by seasons. When a goalie reaches 400 minutes in play, he gains a season's worth of experience (making him better at that position). When a defenseman reaches 300 minutes in play, he gains a season's worth of experience. When a wing reaches 250 minutes of play, he gains a season's worth of experience. When a center reaches 200 minutes of play, he gains a season's worth of experience.

Q: Do I get the same amount of gold for playoff or championship games?
A: No. For playoff games, you get more gold for winning and losing (compared to the regular season games). For championship games, the amount increases again. This amount is different depending on the division you are playing in.

Q: My goalie makes his saves, but the ball rolls away a lot. Why?
A: Your goalie is pretty good, but lacks the Get skill for catching the shot. He can't quite get a handle on the ball.

Q: I keep losing every faceoff. Why?
A: Again, this is the Get skill. That's why it is important for centers to have a high rating in this skill.

Q: The faceoff happened before my orcs were in position! Why?
A: This is a feature! The referees won't wait forever for your team to replace tired players on the field.

Q: Where did you come up with all these orcish names?
A: Believe it or not, this is one of the most frequently asked questions! The names were originally created using a random name generator that I wrote. From the output of this program, I refined the names, then sliced them up and put them back together in various ways to make the ones you see in the game now.

Q: How long does it take to heal damage?
A: Each orc gets a percentage of his hit points back each night, and should heal to full in 3 days or so.

Q: What are the flashes in the playback?
A: Those happen when one orc hits another. When the home team hits the away team, it shows as blue. When the away team hits the home team, it shows as red.

Server Schedule Questions

Q: When does looting happen in real life?
A: At 3:00 AM Denver time, the nightly process runs. This process handles incrementing the number of days served in jail or spent in the regeneration chamber, healing of orcs, devaluation of orcs who aren't on a team, as well as looting. The whole process takes about a minute to run.

Q: When does the bid processor run?
A: At 12:00 PM Denver time. This process also takes about a minute to run.

Q: When do games happen?
A: Games will run at about 6:00 PM.

Q: Hey! This is the last question, but you didn't answer the one I was thinking of! What should I do?
A: E-mail us at game@orcsports.com.