revised guild guidelines - feedback plz

Thoughts, additions, what have I left off before I post up into AoL-only section? Most of this will also be going up in Leaders board for inclusion on ally-wide guidelines.

Basic bottom line is no spamming, scamming, swearing, flaming, trolling, being a jerk.

If you are doing something and are asked to stop or it's pointed out not appropriate, then simply stop. Doesn't matter if it's member, officer, or gl doing the asking, just stop.

There should be absolutely no postings in Ally-Chat of sexual, racial, slurs, or name-calling. Also no religious or political discussions please. Swearing happens on accident (we've all had those famous mistypes) BUT please refrain within Ally-Chat.

WTB/WTS once or twice is fine, don't go beyond that because after the second time if you've not gotten a response, no one is interested in either buying or selling.

Guild Chat: (think of guild chat like a cafe where we've pushed all these tables together to sit and socialize/laugh/joke/catch up with one another day after day. Ally chat is like the entire cafe where we don't know quite as well the other people in the room sitting at their tables).
AoL is a pretty laid back, mature, and respectful of one another Guild. Venting when you're frustrated is understandable. We just ask you don't go overboard with swearing and if someone asks you to stop, then stop /end-story. WTB/WTS/WTT you are welcome to post an item you're either looking to buy, sell or trade and if you've posted once or twice and no response, then move on to a trade-town.

Do not feed into any flame wars as those will be snuffed out quickly and most certainly do not feed the trolls.

Remember everyone is different, what one finds offensive someone else may not. There is no right/wrong, it's all about respecting the fact we are NOT identical clones with our tastes and what each of us finds acceptable. Bottom line is play nicely, leave your rudeness at the door and be kind/polite to one another.

With the sale of GW going on, there are more new players as well as former players returning to the game. There is no such thing as a no0b skill-bar, only bars that may need some suggestions or advice. Don't be negative, be helpful if someone posts their bar for assistance because at least they are seeking feedback to improve their gaming. Same with helping people get information, please direct them to the /wiki in-game and also share your knowledge with them.

If you are going offline for 4wk or more, you will be subject to removal unless you have posted either in Leave Notice OR the AoL-Only section. We try to keep an active roster, nothing personal should it happen.

If you are kicked for any reason beyond going inactive, don't bother asking to come back to AoL.

If you leave on your own once, fine. If you leave again, at the Officers/GL discretion whether you return. If you leave a third time, don't bother asking to come back to AoL.

Do not beg which is defined as asking for something free, nor should you allude to the fact you need (object here) but have either no money or very little. Be realistic, if you want it then take the time and go earn some by doing missions, vq's, dungeons etc and pick up every single drop, merch, rinse & repeat. We are here to help but c'mon, don't be a mooch as we all have to get gold the same way.

Be Respectful Of One Another. How you talk to your friends in-game or real-life is not the way to talk to others who do not know you well enough to know that when you say some things, you are not being serious or you are being exceptionally sarcastic in the joking manner you may use to banter with them.

There is no safe list beyond the inactive list which is also subject to review periodically. We are all held accountable to the same policies.

If you have sole access to an alt account and would like it in AoL, please talk to an Officer or GL. If there is room, we will accomodate but if we end up needing the space it will be removed.

By the same token if you have an alt account in another Guild currently in the Alliance, please remove it. We can guest your alt to the Guild if you need access, that's never a problem.

If you share your account with anyone, be advised that your ACCOUNT is expected to follow both Guild and Alliance guidelines. That means make sure everyone who has access to the account is aware of these because a kick is a kick regardless of who was logged into the account when it occurs.

Take responsibility for your gaming experience. What is meant by this is simple. The more YOU choose to socialize, party-up both in Guild and Alliance, become involved and be active, means you are going to feel a part of AoL and the Alliance. Also /wiki is one of your best friends when logged into GW as it will open the official Wiki where you can look up everything from mission details to foe-counts in vanquishes.

I think it's ok to ask in ally chat if you want to buy or sell something, as long as you're not spamming it or asking every 10 minutes or something. Beyond that, use the trade forum deal.

Oh yea, and go green or go home!

yeah on the wtb/wts- when we start seeing the same name or the same object every 5 min it is annoying.

In three of the other guilds they flat out tell their people do not wtb/wts in ally-chat where as the rest don't mind so long as it's not spam and it's limited to just one or two wtb/wts every hour or so.

Would it be possible to add something about not letting others play your AoL character? Or warn us or something...? I remember I've had cases before almost kicking someone out the guild to find out few days later that "it wasn't me playing, plz invite me back".

I know it doesn't really matter if the person stays quiet and do not participate in things like DoA or something, but it can lead to some confusion.

I think wording that if anyone is sharing an account, all users of that account are expected to follow the guidelines might work?

Interestingly enough before I read your post, Neith and I had a vent convo because one of hers and one of ours share an alt-account "Freek Kaos" (being accessed by our Zero and their Unknown). Zero approached me about it coming to AoL and Unkown had approached her for Phnx. I've told Zero to keep it completely out of the Alliance and she is waiting for Unkown to log in to tell him the same. I don't want alts in AoL that are accessed by people outside of AoL and I most certainly don't want shared accounts planted anywhere else in the Alliance because that's just bad mojo waiting to happen. (ex. AoL/Phnx members take the alt to iE and then one of them causes problems there. Do you kick all three accounts out of alliance since you don't know who actually did it?)

Sounds good to me

Looks good. And the sharing accounts is tricky. I did it with Bruce.but you could tell what hard.were mine and what was his but iy got really complicated and I felt I had to babysit his behavior because it was my rep in the alliance that was at stake. I won't ever do it again and think its a good idea not.to have it in AOL

read through all this .. and looks good toots ..

Sounds a like like my post on manners. I agree with everything said here. Common sense really, but it never hurts to reiterate it every now and again, particularly when we've had a turn over in one or two guilds in the alliance. Well said.

And yes, I agree that a line about either no alt accounts in the alliance -- and if you share your account, inform the others that they are held to same standards.

Personally, I think its risky to share an account, but people do it and not everybody can afford the game or have two computers, whatever, so siblings sometimes share an account. That's fine, but whoever uses it should be aware of the guidelines.

One other item - it wouldn't hurt when we recruit to mention it. After discussing guild, etc. - when ready to invite I always say the following:

"We have a few simple guidelines. Be polite in guild/ally chat, no racial/gay bashing, no spamming/botting and let an officer know if you'll be gone more than 30 days. Are you okay with that?"

They must say YES, before I will send the invite. This way, they were at least warned of the basics. Once in the guild, I direct them to the vent and website info in the STATUS tab of Guild window. I know this is is not for inclusion in the guidelines - but as a guideline for recruiting officers.

Human nature says common sense tends to fly out the window because I'm sitting here safely behind my monitor drinking godiva coffee /taunts and you can't have any so I'm going to bait you, torment you, and say naughty things about your shoes.

The guideline post Akroma posted in 2009 will be coming down completely and once the other Leaders have signed-off, the new will be going up. I'm also going to put Ours up in the AoL-Only section. What are the thoughts on Guild-Chat being a bit more relaxed compared to alliance in terms of wtb/wts, swearing, etc?

my 2 cents about wts/wtb

as long as its not flooding , i dont mind

by flooding i mean :

this is flooding
this is flooding
this is flooding
this is flooding
this is flooding
this is flooding
......


if its comes every 5 minutes or 10 minutes , i will not be anoying ... but also depends on how active the chat is i guess.

if no one is talking and someone is posting wts candy corn every 5 minutes , it will probably look like he was flooding the chat .

if 15 people are blablabing about random everythings and someone post wts black dye every 5 minutes probably will not be very anoying ...

once again its common sence ... people should feel if they are being anoying , but we never know what the people on the other side are up to

i think any kind of chat is the only means for possible trades , being ally chat , guild chat , team chat , wisper chat ... without chat there is no trade , so with more chat more trade .. its obvius.

anyways , i agree on kiera last post about guild chat being more relaxed then ally chat , the chances of someone geting ofended are lower then on ally chat.

and ally chat feels a bit like chating on the dark , since we dont really know how many people are reading ... defenatly need more carefull

I share this account with my sister, who only rarely plays anymore. Tbh, I've never had any problems with it. It's just getting awkward now that she's (almost) completely stopped playing GW and the Guilds I get in rarely know of her existence. Other than that: I read the Guidelines and can't think of anything I havent said already.

I've read and agree with all of it...looks good

I read through it and thought maybe you could underline or bullet the main points and expound from there.

Ex:
Dont Spam in chat. When using wtb/wts in chat ect....


That way the rule is clear and easy to see and the description follows! This is for the ppl who prolly wont read everything there but can skim through the main rules. Just a thought to help make it easier for the ADHD ppl!