Guild Rules & Regulations? - Page 2

Mr. Scary · #11 08-06-2007, 02:07 AM

I miss the days when we first formed up as Blast Radius on Nov. 2000, to where our regs were close to half a paragraph. As we evolved and grew we nearly complied an entire page of regulations & voting. This happened mainly because as the population grew, the quality of our members dropped a few notches to the point where some would take advantage of not seeing an obvious rule posted and monopolize on it. Naturally drama would ensue among other issues, but it's finally back at a peaceful level now.

A couple of months ago I streamlined all of it back to one paragraph, and I'm hoping I can keep it that way. The only thing I find disturbing is that it is very difficult to find like-minded gamers with a pro attitude. Lately nobody wants to use the forums, or bother to register and take our Ventrilo server for granted. Yeah the thought of suspending the Ventrilo server has crossed my mind on a few occasions, but I don't want to treat my guildies as children who have been "grounded."

MikesterBrau · #12 01-03-2008, 09:39 PM

Here are the rules for our EQ2 chapter which for the most part apply to all our game chapters.

The Golden Rule: Be Excellent to Each Other!

1) For the most part Skara Brae will be a family-friendly guild so the use of profanity in guild chat is strongly frowned upon. Of course a temporary frustration or short outburst under stress is understandable but overall try and keep it clean.

2) Fellow guild members should always be treated with respect and dignity.

3) The guild leadership sets the tone for the guild and is charged with supporting the membership and lending a hand when possible. This does not mean being selfless to the point of burnout so members should also understand that another player is entitled to reschedule assistance at a time of better availability or proximity.

4) Whenever possible rare or high value items should be offered to guild members before being brokered.

5) While recruitment is a benefit, membership size is not a priority. We absolutely value quality over quantity.

6) Skara Brae does not open recruit across open zone channels or attempt to recruit players from other guilds. Before guilding someone they are usually grouped and friended and given the opportunity for a question and answer session.

7) Guilding is initially followed by a 48-hour hold-harmless / getting-to-know-you phase where the guild and player get to know each other and either side has the chance to end guild membership with no hard feelings.

8) Players may be promoted by completing writs, helping fellow guild members, recruiting new members, and assisting the guild leadership with testing and refining policy, procedures, and of course the web pages.

andrewjay · #13 01-22-2008, 04:12 PM

Rule#1 HELP THE GUILD!!!
Rule#2 Respect each other
Rule#3 No cussing, racial, gay, or any type of offcolor remarks that will offend another member(see Rule#2)
Rule#4 If you have a problem with another member, hopefully you have a witness to back you & take it to an officer or anyone that is a higher rank. They have the authority to squash small problems or members who disrespect other members (see Rule #2) Then send me a letter on what happened.
Rule#5 Our guild is a social/grouping guild so if you don't talk, we don't know who you are & you probably will quit soon because nobody is teaming up with you.
Rule#6 Don't talk about fight club

(In our guild I have 10 captains who have the power to enforce the guild rules. These 10 people have proven their dedication and loyalty to the guild, so they can solve problems when I am gone. Also, we have 2 other officer ranks that go to loyal members who have shown their interest in making our guild fun and a great community. We all police each other to weed out greedy, rude or just undesireble people. It has worked well so far, and at times we have had some rocky patches.) BUT WHAT DOESN'T KILL US ONLY MAKES US STRONGER...

Also we have kicked out people for spamming, cussing, and just generally being assholes. (see Rule 2&3)

Renfail · #14 02-15-2008, 10:51 PM

Our rules have adapted and changed over the past 5 years but the gist of them you can find at http://epoch.guildportal.com.

We run our guild in a militaristic manner. I believe in structure and rules. Structure maintains a healthy environment for success. Success is why we are in a guild together. In both EQ2 and Vanguard we were ranked within the top 3 guilds of our servers. Right now we are building up again in WoW. Granted, I could give two craps about ratings, but it's awfully cool when your group of people who are just hanging out having fun manage to kick that much ass.

In 5 years I've kicked 2 people and had 1 leave. The two I kicked were a boyfriend/girlfriend who joined the guild as recruits and then refused to group with anyone. I waited about 2 weeks and then confronted them. They gave me some lame excuse about how they didn't want to wait on people etc., so I told them sorry, we aren't the guild for you and kicked them. The person who left was an officer who was a 19 year old college kid (this was when we implemented our 25+ rule) who refused to accept that my word was law. He questioned a mandate that was approved by all of the other officers, and when I refused to give him an answer, telling him repeatedly that the issue had been taken care of and it was none of his concern, he gave me some crap about "you're gonna regret this" and then removed himself from the guild.

Other than those three instances, we haven't had any drama. I'm on a first name basis with everyone in the guild. We are pretty small right now after the failure of VG took us down a notch, but we are in the process of rebuilding.

The way I see it, I want to provide as smooth of a ride for my guild members as possible. I want them to log in and know that groups are taken care of, that the schedule is taken care of, that the forums are well-maintained, that their DKP is tracked accurately, that their guild leader and officers are there to take care of them and make this baby run like she's on oiled runners. I don't want them to have to worry about a damn thing except show up and kick ass and have fun.

Some people will say that rules take away from gaming. I disagree. Let me put it to you this way.

We have an adults-only, 25+ year old policy in place. That's a rule. The rule is in place to avoid immaturity. Are some 25+ people immature? You bet your ass they are. But to put this into perspective, in much the way you wouldn't ask your 5 year old child to drive down to the grocery store and get you a gallon of milk, we don't ask people under the age of 25 to handle the responsibility of being in a serious guild. Most people under 25 don't know what it's like to have a full time job, multiple hobbies, house payment/rent, car payments, insurances, stress, and how to balance all of those responsibilities properly. Most people in their low 20's are fresh out of college with no real-world experience. I want people with real-world experience. I want people who appreciate structure because structure is what makes things work. I want responsible people.

I had a person recently tell me that her guild didn't have a website and didn't need a website because they "weren't a raiding guild". I was kind of miffed by that. I LOVE communicating with my guild. How can you communicate without a website? (outside of Ventrilo) It boggles my mind. Why do you have to be a raiding guild to need a website?

Rules are in place not to be a hindrance, but to provide structure and to avoid unpleasant situations if at all possible. They are there to help and to guide, not to hassle. There are thousands of guilds out there....if someone doesn't like our charter and doesn't want to apply it's no skin off my nose. In the long run I always find people who are willing to bleed for their guildmates and willing to make the commitment that is necessary to successfully game at the rate we do.

I will end this with the obligatory "this is all my opinion" because some people tend to take things a little TOO literally these days on the internet. I have had a LOT of success with my guild over the years through the use of structure and it is my personal belief that it is because of our rules and regulations which have inherently led to the quality of people we have recruited which in turn reflects upon the wonderful guild we have managed to be a part of for so many years now.

DarthSirov · #15 02-16-2008, 05:18 AM

I do set up certain rules to prevent anarchy.

Though primarily, I focus on respect amongst players, unity and trust. They are the foundation of groups.

Sneek · #16 02-16-2008, 08:33 AM

I have not set up any rules for my new game, but I will probably go with none. I will just make the intent of the guild very clear. And from there on people could easily decide as how far they can go. In my days as a guildleader I have occasionally kicked a few people. Which is tough to do, but for the sake of the guild you have to sometimes. However this is mostly because of one rule being broken and that is that people are just not fitting in and apparently not sensitive to that.

DaMann · #17 02-16-2008, 07:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Roxianna

In Ventrilo, I just tell the kids not to say stuff to me they would not say to their mother, cause I am older than their mother and I know she's right about stuff anyway.

Da_Mann = Da_Kid

She has a fierce wooden spoon is all I will say.

But on a serious note I am attracted to the guild atmosphere that doesn't need rules, where all players have similar mindsets and goals. So there is no need for rules. I realize this isn't practical in all games, but it sure is fun to play with like-minded people.

Frenchfry · #18 02-20-2008, 11:14 AM

We have only a few rules in our guild, these are really mainly to help guild grow and to support each other whenever posible, we have a policy in place for inactivity and the only person I have ever had to kick for this was the other guild leader, must be over a year now since I did this and still not seen him online yet, so I do not feel guilty for doing it

Eikinskialdi · #19 02-20-2008, 11:13 PM

We don't much bother with rules, we just tend to keep members who share our ethics. It's about the fun and the challenge, treat others with respect and focus on having fun with others. If you share a common direction you don't much need rules (imo).

I've had to remove members before for trouble causing in the guild, or if they are persistently obnoxious to others, they've been few and far between though.