Post by Gunge on Jan 21, 2010 10:15:07 GMT -5
Fists of Heaven Charter
Updated November 19 2009
Section 1: Member Rules
1.1 Synopsis of Fists of Heaven: Fists of Heaven is aligned with the Alliance; and therefore represents players from all five races: Human, Night Elf, Dwarf, Gnome, and Draenei. FoH is a multifaceted guild supporting the play style of PvPers, Roleplayers, Crafters, and Raiders. Most of all, FoH is a family of players gathered together by a camaraderie of friendship and the pursuit of similar goals.
1.2 FoH Leadership (Officers): FoH is led by an oligarchy (rule by few) through a leadership council. It is not an autocracy (rule by one), a democracy (rule by all members), nor a republic (rule by elected representatives). The ruling body of Fists of Heaven is the Council, who have sole voting power on guild decisions. Though any sitting Councilor may make nominations for new officers, all officer appointments are up to the discretion of the current sitting GM. [3.6]. Members are always encouraged to give their input on important guild-wide topics; however, members in general do not have an actual vote in guild decisions
1.3 Guild Chat and Forums: Chat channels, Forums, and Ventrilo will be moderated according to membership level. The Guild Chat channel and the Forums should be kept PG-13 at all times. The Campfires are open to anyone and will be used for general chat and to welcome visitors. (If you want to put something on the forums that is not PG-13, please make sure to title it "NSFW.") In addition, we have three key rules to govern our forums and chat channels: 1) Discussion of RL religion and politics is not allowed; 2) guild communication will not be used for Ranting in any form; and 3) all members must moderate the use of racial/sexual slurs and general expletives (swearing, cusswords, etc.). See 1.6 for information on extreme cases of verbal harassment or personal attacks, which will lead to immediate expulsion from the guild. Breaking security levels or misusing a channel can lead to probation or removal from FoH [1.9].
1.4 Main Characters: FoH recognizes two types of characters: (1) Main Character: This is the primary character a player plays and the name we track for membership (forum ID). (2) Alternate characters: One or more characters on the same or different account as a member’s Main; alternates are not tracked as members (no forum ID). (A member can petition the Council for Main membership to be transferred to one of their Alternate characters if they wish.) No secondary or tertiary Mains are recognized in Fists of Heaven. Fists of Heaven does not allow dual-guilding. If you are a member of FoH then it must be your only Alliance guild on Thrall. Memebers are free to play and guild as they wish on other servers or with the opposite faction.
1.5 Play Styles: FoH attempts to support all play styles of its members, and in most activities this can be accomplished with no conflicts. FoH rules governing these play styles are the following: (1) FoH will not force members to RP, but we do ask you to respect those who want to RP. (2) Like wise, participation in PvP and/or Battlegrounds is voluntary and the Blizzard EULA [1.6] and general decorum must be followed. (3) Taking part in PvE content will be required at some level of all members, and all loots and raiding rules must be followed. (4) Most members are encouraged to take up a craft and some raids will be focused on gathering crafting components. All members should respect the playing styles of their fellow members.
1.6 Blizzard EULA: Blizzard Entertainment has a clear agreement (EULA) that every player signs when they begin playing WoW. Any member caught breaking the terms of agreement in regards to harassment or verbal abuse will be immediately removed from the guild, whether they are caught by Blizzard customer service representative or not. FoH also vows to never use known bugs or exploits (as compared to game features) to our benefit. Any member who employs exploits (duping, hacks, etc.) as a part of their gaming strategy and is unwilling to follow the Blizzard terms of agreement, will be expelled from the guild [1.9] and Blizzard will be warned of their activities. Additional Prohibited Activities: In addition to the EULA agreement, members must not take part in Ninja Looting, Gold Farming, and/or Ebaying (or the like) characters or equipment. Participation at any level in any of these activities will result in immediate expulsion from the guild.
1.7 Officer Authority: Guild officers are given the authority to immediately resolve conflicts as they occur in game. All members must agree to follow the authority of the FoH officers and understand that the terms of their membership (via the guild charter) are non-negotiable. While our members are given great freedom in their playstyle and how they spend their time online, every member must obey guild officers on raids (see section 2) and assist them in moderating guild chat channels [1.3]. Disobeying an officer can lead to immediate punishment [1.9]. If a member disagrees with how an incident was handled, they must petition for a full review by the Council and must submit evidence (ie. Screenshots, etc) [1.8].
1.8 Grievances and Arbitration: The Council of Fists of Heaven takes charges of grievances seriously. As in real courts the burden of proof lies on the victim, and the FoH member charged with a crime will be considered innocent until proven guilty. FoH will not punish a member based upon hearsay, but requires at least 2 witnesses (besides the victim) and ideally a log and/or screenshot. The incident will be investigated and reviewed by the Council and punishment will be dealt out appropriately. Offended parties who wish to make charges against a FoH member are encouraged to make them immediately after the event. FoH will give a one-week statute of limitations on grievance requests. Similar to grievances, members can petition the Council for arbitration during a disagreement between members. If a member petitions for a resolution by a FoH Council, they are giving up any secondary actions and agree to obey the Council’s decision. The decision of a Councilor can be appealed to the whole Council, and the decision of the Council is final.
1.9 Punishment: The Council of Fists of Heaven reserves the right to decide the membership status of any member; including changes of membership and expulsion from the guild. In most cases the offending member will be placed on probation, and particularly heinous, or habitual offences will warrant removal of membership. Complaints of harassment, verbal abuse, or cheating should be referred to a Blizzard representative (/report) for punishment. Any action by Blizzard upon a player’s account will result in the immediate expulsion of the member from the guild.
Section 2: Events and Loots
2.1 Official Raids: An official raid is a 10 or 25 man raid, which requires consistent attendance of members. The raid leaders will call official raids on particular raid nights, with sign-ups posted in the War Room of the forums. Members are strongly encouraged to sign up for these events. Raid leaders will fill the slots based on a mixture of /rolls and leader discretion. All raiders are required to research raid strategies and know their role before attending, and fund their consumables.
2.2 Regular Groups: Any member can put together a group to take down a mob, help in a quest, or run a dungeon. Doing so is encouraged; the participation in these groups is purely voluntary.
2.3 Raid Looting Rules: All raids will be Master Looted. Everyone is allotted one main spec epic and one Tier token per week until everyone has filled their quota and then it repeats. Offset gear does not count towards this quota, as offset gear is only rolled for after everyone passes for main spec.
2.4 Regular Looting Rules: In 5 man groups, the FoH loot policy is to pass if the item is not an upgrade if there is an enchanter in the group. The enchanter will greed, and anyone who needs the item may need. If there is no enchanter in the group, members should greed unless the item is an upgrade, in which case he or she should need.
2.5 Crafting and Internal Sales: FoH recognizes that crafters and merchants are a specific play style. The Council will not set prices for goods, but expect FoH crafters and merchants to sell their wares to other members at or below market price. Selling above market price to FoH members is prohibited; although crafter/merchants are welcome to mark up their price for non-members. If a member believes that they have been cheated by a FoH crafter/merchant, they can petition to the Council [1.8]. In blatant cases of cheating or duping, the crafter/merchant should be reported to Blizzard [1.6 and 1.9].
Section 3: Guild Structure
3.1 Leadership Philosophy: There are four levels of membership in Fists of Heaven (Dacovale, Fist, Seeker, Councilor). Each level comes with certain privileges, responsibilities, and security access. Dacovales are essentially probationary members with few privileges as they undergo the Dacovale period [3.3]. Fists are full members with all privileges that membership entails [3.4]. Seekers are the Raid Assistants of FoH [3.5]. The Councilors are the senior guild officers [3.6]. The Fists of Heaven philosophy is to have a tight, structured organization without bureaucracy. Daily gaming in FoH should be based upon Peer Leadership.
3.2 Recruitment and Joining: Fists of Heaven is open to new members, though we do not actively go out and 'recruit' (we do not have a recruiting post on the Thrall forums, for example). Instead, we get our new recruits through word of mouth and interaction in-game. When a new applicant joins, they begin as a Dacovale [3.3]. Each Dacovale will be paired with a Fist+ that can help them to understand the looting rules, the raid sign-ups, answer questions, etc.
3.3 Dacovales: Dacovales are allowed access to General and Instance forums. Dacovales are considered probationary members; for the duration of this period (generally around a month) Fists, Seekers, and Councilors post their thoughts and opinions in a thread dedicated to the Dacovale. When the Council feels that enough input has been given to make an informed decision, the Dacovale will either receive a promotion to a Fist or a polite goodbye.
3.4 Fists: These are the members of Fists of Heaven. Each individual in Fists of Heaven is required to follows all aspects of the guild charter and follow the leadership of guild officers. Specifically, each member must follow the Blizzard EULA [1.8], obey raiding rules [2.2-2.4], and follow forum/chat protocols [1.3]. Breaking these rules can lead to probation [3.3] or removal from the guild [1.9].
3.5 Seekers:Seekers are the Raid Assistants and combat leaders of Fists of Heaven. Under the Council's guidance, they are responsible for assisting in loot distribution and planning of our raids. In addition, they help in reviewing member performance in raid encounters and give the Council another point of view.
3.6 Council: The Councilors are the guild leaders responsible for the day to day operation of Fists of Heaven. The senior Councilor, called The Clan Chief, is the guild master and chairman of the Council. The Council is responsible for the daily operations of the guild, making all major guild decisions, arbitrating grievances, and monitoring the membership of Fists of Heaven.
3.7 Inactive Members: Periodically, the Council will purge the ranks of Fists of Heaven of Inactive Members. An Inactive Member is defined as a member who is inactive for an extended period of time, such as 4 months, without notice. These members will be removed from the guild; should they begin playing again and want to rejoin, they may reapply and go through the Dacovale period.
Updated November 19 2009
Section 1: Member Rules
1.1 Synopsis of Fists of Heaven: Fists of Heaven is aligned with the Alliance; and therefore represents players from all five races: Human, Night Elf, Dwarf, Gnome, and Draenei. FoH is a multifaceted guild supporting the play style of PvPers, Roleplayers, Crafters, and Raiders. Most of all, FoH is a family of players gathered together by a camaraderie of friendship and the pursuit of similar goals.
1.2 FoH Leadership (Officers): FoH is led by an oligarchy (rule by few) through a leadership council. It is not an autocracy (rule by one), a democracy (rule by all members), nor a republic (rule by elected representatives). The ruling body of Fists of Heaven is the Council, who have sole voting power on guild decisions. Though any sitting Councilor may make nominations for new officers, all officer appointments are up to the discretion of the current sitting GM. [3.6]. Members are always encouraged to give their input on important guild-wide topics; however, members in general do not have an actual vote in guild decisions
1.3 Guild Chat and Forums: Chat channels, Forums, and Ventrilo will be moderated according to membership level. The Guild Chat channel and the Forums should be kept PG-13 at all times. The Campfires are open to anyone and will be used for general chat and to welcome visitors. (If you want to put something on the forums that is not PG-13, please make sure to title it "NSFW.") In addition, we have three key rules to govern our forums and chat channels: 1) Discussion of RL religion and politics is not allowed; 2) guild communication will not be used for Ranting in any form; and 3) all members must moderate the use of racial/sexual slurs and general expletives (swearing, cusswords, etc.). See 1.6 for information on extreme cases of verbal harassment or personal attacks, which will lead to immediate expulsion from the guild. Breaking security levels or misusing a channel can lead to probation or removal from FoH [1.9].
1.4 Main Characters: FoH recognizes two types of characters: (1) Main Character: This is the primary character a player plays and the name we track for membership (forum ID). (2) Alternate characters: One or more characters on the same or different account as a member’s Main; alternates are not tracked as members (no forum ID). (A member can petition the Council for Main membership to be transferred to one of their Alternate characters if they wish.) No secondary or tertiary Mains are recognized in Fists of Heaven. Fists of Heaven does not allow dual-guilding. If you are a member of FoH then it must be your only Alliance guild on Thrall. Memebers are free to play and guild as they wish on other servers or with the opposite faction.
1.5 Play Styles: FoH attempts to support all play styles of its members, and in most activities this can be accomplished with no conflicts. FoH rules governing these play styles are the following: (1) FoH will not force members to RP, but we do ask you to respect those who want to RP. (2) Like wise, participation in PvP and/or Battlegrounds is voluntary and the Blizzard EULA [1.6] and general decorum must be followed. (3) Taking part in PvE content will be required at some level of all members, and all loots and raiding rules must be followed. (4) Most members are encouraged to take up a craft and some raids will be focused on gathering crafting components. All members should respect the playing styles of their fellow members.
1.6 Blizzard EULA: Blizzard Entertainment has a clear agreement (EULA) that every player signs when they begin playing WoW. Any member caught breaking the terms of agreement in regards to harassment or verbal abuse will be immediately removed from the guild, whether they are caught by Blizzard customer service representative or not. FoH also vows to never use known bugs or exploits (as compared to game features) to our benefit. Any member who employs exploits (duping, hacks, etc.) as a part of their gaming strategy and is unwilling to follow the Blizzard terms of agreement, will be expelled from the guild [1.9] and Blizzard will be warned of their activities. Additional Prohibited Activities: In addition to the EULA agreement, members must not take part in Ninja Looting, Gold Farming, and/or Ebaying (or the like) characters or equipment. Participation at any level in any of these activities will result in immediate expulsion from the guild.
1.7 Officer Authority: Guild officers are given the authority to immediately resolve conflicts as they occur in game. All members must agree to follow the authority of the FoH officers and understand that the terms of their membership (via the guild charter) are non-negotiable. While our members are given great freedom in their playstyle and how they spend their time online, every member must obey guild officers on raids (see section 2) and assist them in moderating guild chat channels [1.3]. Disobeying an officer can lead to immediate punishment [1.9]. If a member disagrees with how an incident was handled, they must petition for a full review by the Council and must submit evidence (ie. Screenshots, etc) [1.8].
1.8 Grievances and Arbitration: The Council of Fists of Heaven takes charges of grievances seriously. As in real courts the burden of proof lies on the victim, and the FoH member charged with a crime will be considered innocent until proven guilty. FoH will not punish a member based upon hearsay, but requires at least 2 witnesses (besides the victim) and ideally a log and/or screenshot. The incident will be investigated and reviewed by the Council and punishment will be dealt out appropriately. Offended parties who wish to make charges against a FoH member are encouraged to make them immediately after the event. FoH will give a one-week statute of limitations on grievance requests. Similar to grievances, members can petition the Council for arbitration during a disagreement between members. If a member petitions for a resolution by a FoH Council, they are giving up any secondary actions and agree to obey the Council’s decision. The decision of a Councilor can be appealed to the whole Council, and the decision of the Council is final.
1.9 Punishment: The Council of Fists of Heaven reserves the right to decide the membership status of any member; including changes of membership and expulsion from the guild. In most cases the offending member will be placed on probation, and particularly heinous, or habitual offences will warrant removal of membership. Complaints of harassment, verbal abuse, or cheating should be referred to a Blizzard representative (/report) for punishment. Any action by Blizzard upon a player’s account will result in the immediate expulsion of the member from the guild.
Section 2: Events and Loots
2.1 Official Raids: An official raid is a 10 or 25 man raid, which requires consistent attendance of members. The raid leaders will call official raids on particular raid nights, with sign-ups posted in the War Room of the forums. Members are strongly encouraged to sign up for these events. Raid leaders will fill the slots based on a mixture of /rolls and leader discretion. All raiders are required to research raid strategies and know their role before attending, and fund their consumables.
2.2 Regular Groups: Any member can put together a group to take down a mob, help in a quest, or run a dungeon. Doing so is encouraged; the participation in these groups is purely voluntary.
2.3 Raid Looting Rules: All raids will be Master Looted. Everyone is allotted one main spec epic and one Tier token per week until everyone has filled their quota and then it repeats. Offset gear does not count towards this quota, as offset gear is only rolled for after everyone passes for main spec.
2.4 Regular Looting Rules: In 5 man groups, the FoH loot policy is to pass if the item is not an upgrade if there is an enchanter in the group. The enchanter will greed, and anyone who needs the item may need. If there is no enchanter in the group, members should greed unless the item is an upgrade, in which case he or she should need.
2.5 Crafting and Internal Sales: FoH recognizes that crafters and merchants are a specific play style. The Council will not set prices for goods, but expect FoH crafters and merchants to sell their wares to other members at or below market price. Selling above market price to FoH members is prohibited; although crafter/merchants are welcome to mark up their price for non-members. If a member believes that they have been cheated by a FoH crafter/merchant, they can petition to the Council [1.8]. In blatant cases of cheating or duping, the crafter/merchant should be reported to Blizzard [1.6 and 1.9].
Section 3: Guild Structure
3.1 Leadership Philosophy: There are four levels of membership in Fists of Heaven (Dacovale, Fist, Seeker, Councilor). Each level comes with certain privileges, responsibilities, and security access. Dacovales are essentially probationary members with few privileges as they undergo the Dacovale period [3.3]. Fists are full members with all privileges that membership entails [3.4]. Seekers are the Raid Assistants of FoH [3.5]. The Councilors are the senior guild officers [3.6]. The Fists of Heaven philosophy is to have a tight, structured organization without bureaucracy. Daily gaming in FoH should be based upon Peer Leadership.
3.2 Recruitment and Joining: Fists of Heaven is open to new members, though we do not actively go out and 'recruit' (we do not have a recruiting post on the Thrall forums, for example). Instead, we get our new recruits through word of mouth and interaction in-game. When a new applicant joins, they begin as a Dacovale [3.3]. Each Dacovale will be paired with a Fist+ that can help them to understand the looting rules, the raid sign-ups, answer questions, etc.
3.3 Dacovales: Dacovales are allowed access to General and Instance forums. Dacovales are considered probationary members; for the duration of this period (generally around a month) Fists, Seekers, and Councilors post their thoughts and opinions in a thread dedicated to the Dacovale. When the Council feels that enough input has been given to make an informed decision, the Dacovale will either receive a promotion to a Fist or a polite goodbye.
3.4 Fists: These are the members of Fists of Heaven. Each individual in Fists of Heaven is required to follows all aspects of the guild charter and follow the leadership of guild officers. Specifically, each member must follow the Blizzard EULA [1.8], obey raiding rules [2.2-2.4], and follow forum/chat protocols [1.3]. Breaking these rules can lead to probation [3.3] or removal from the guild [1.9].
3.5 Seekers:Seekers are the Raid Assistants and combat leaders of Fists of Heaven. Under the Council's guidance, they are responsible for assisting in loot distribution and planning of our raids. In addition, they help in reviewing member performance in raid encounters and give the Council another point of view.
3.6 Council: The Councilors are the guild leaders responsible for the day to day operation of Fists of Heaven. The senior Councilor, called The Clan Chief, is the guild master and chairman of the Council. The Council is responsible for the daily operations of the guild, making all major guild decisions, arbitrating grievances, and monitoring the membership of Fists of Heaven.
3.7 Inactive Members: Periodically, the Council will purge the ranks of Fists of Heaven of Inactive Members. An Inactive Member is defined as a member who is inactive for an extended period of time, such as 4 months, without notice. These members will be removed from the guild; should they begin playing again and want to rejoin, they may reapply and go through the Dacovale period.