Ten Commandments of TeG, reposted here from our forums

[Quintare Dimystiq]

This document is old, but it's come to light that perhaps I should spread it around to the member guilds as it's relevant to all of you since this same principle is how I view the entire alliance. Certainly each guild is run by their guild leader in whatever way that leader chooses, but ultimately that leader bears the responsibility of their guild's actions to the wider community as judged by this philosophy. So with no further preamble:

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The time is long past for this document to be written, and so I offer it up with an apology for being so delayed. At first TeG was made up primarily of people that knew each other from another gaming clan that dissolved. Already bonded together we grew slowly, and without hurry so we could take only members that fit in with the rest of us, and we've kept to a set of core beliefs that values having fun together over personal achievement, or even achievement as a group.

Grow we did, and sometimes very quickly. Each time we added a new group of people to the guild we diluted that common bond that once we all shared, and 'thinned out' that set of core values that bonded us to each other rather than to a game. Growth is a wonderful thing, and I'm glad that this circle of friends has grown so large and diverse. This dilution is not too high a price to pay for all the wonderful times we've shared. However that doesn't mean we cannot strive to keep to that set of core beliefs by establishing a set of rules of conduct that the guild members are expected to abide by.

Me being who I am though, I am not about to stand up here on high and proclaim 'Thou Shalt...!' or 'Thou Shalt not...!' rather I'd prefer to take the more meek and humble approach of announcing just one rule that covers them all, and urge you to follow this rule in spirit as well as in letter.

Thou shalt have FUN! (okay, maybe just this once )
And in keeping with that spirit the reverse is also true: thou shalt not prevent others from having fun.

To this proclamation (and since I'm already stealing heavily from one revered document) there is attached a Bill of Rights as follows:
You have the right to enjoy your game in any way you see fit.
You have the right to be free from harrassment and discrimination from your guild mates.
You have the right to as much privacy as you request from us.
You have the right to ask an officer to mediate any dispute or dissension among guild members.
You have the right to appeal the decision of any officer, including the guild leader's, to another officer.

As above, the reverse is also true in all these cases. These rights come with a responsibility to avoid violating the rights of others.

If you ever feel that you have been intentionally insulted or made to feel unwelcome in this clan, please make an officer aware of this. If you wish to avoid personal confrontation, the officer will not approach the other party in any way that leads back to you unless there is no other alternative and the offense is too grievous to ignore (ie sexual harrassment or racist comments etc). If you wish to confront another member the officer will mediate the meeting, or else find an officer who can mediate. Guild chat is NOT to be used for either having or resolving disputes of a personal nature. Take it to the forum, or to pm, or the Guild Hall, but public channels are not the appropriate place.

One thing that we do ask of all members, in addition to playing nice with each other, is to keep us informed if you need to be away from the game for an extended period. Preferably, you will post on the forum or PM myself or Aangy there. If this option is not available to you, please inform any guild officer so they can make note of it in the proper spot in the officers forum. It is in the best interest of the community to keep the list of idle players as short as possible, and therefore we have and will continue to prune inactive members periodically.

Again, I offer my apology that all this has not been stated before. With the number of guild members ranging up around 70 after 7 months of slowly growing it is really quite naive to think this guild is exactly the same as it was in the beginning, except bigger. Perhaps the most surprising thing of all is how long we've managed to hold together without a document like this being painfully neccessary long ago. We have done very well to get so far as we have, and I'm very gratified to all of you who have made it possible. No, the road this far has not been without stones... but there have also been a great many roses along the way. Thank you for making this place such a wonderful place to be, and I hope that you all embrace the spirit of this document even more firmly than the contents of it, so that none of us ever have need to refer to it again. Then we will have something close to the perfect community.

[Olde Phartte]

Let's keep our noses clean kiddies.