rules


	Rules: Capitol Offenses Begging -- Do not ask strangers for free goods, services or money. It is annoying, uncool, and it tarnishes the Guild as a whole. It will not be tolerated, and believe me, we will find out. I make it a point of reporting every person who begs to their guild-master, and I know I'm not alone. Furthermore needing money for some blue item, or trinket that you must have is not the guild's responsibility. If you have made friends within the guild who want to lend you money so be it, but we are not your mom or dad, more like the rich uncle who sends you stuff when you least expect it, if he likes you that is. Ninja Looting -- There will never, ever, ever be any excuse for this that won't get you immediately booted from the guild. I can not emphasize this enough. It doesn't matter if the party you are in is full of Ninja looting newbies who took all your stuff and killed your pet panda. I will explain what Ninja looting is so that there is absolutely no confusion, saying you didn't know will not be an excuse, so understand this well. "Ninja Looting" is taking or attempting to take things that you are not entitled to receive Looting a chest without rolling with your party to determine who should get its contents. Always wait until all threats are resolved before rolling. Never loot during a battle, it's bad form. Make sure it is unambiguous what you are rolling for, don't ever roll for no reason or when you see a chest or item. Be clear why you are rolling and what it's for. If you are going to pass on an item or chest, say so. Make it clear that you are passing. Do not manipulate the roll, /random 100-100 is not funny, it's not cool, and it's not mature. Don't waste peoples time with fake rolls. Looting a chest that another person or group has spent the time and effort to clear. There is nothing less cool than killing off a ton of mobs to have some jerk run up and take the chest you just fought for. If there is someone else in near proximity who may be attempting to retrieve the chest, negotiate via rolling or whatever means to determine ownership of the chest. Rolling on an item that you were not entitled to. Understand the difference between Bind on Equip and Bind on Pickup, if you loot a BoP item that you can't use and someone in the party can, you can expect to be charged with Ninja looting. It is your responsibility to know the looting rules before you are in a situation that requires them. Roll on item's that you can actually use. If you roll on a plate item and you can only wear leather you should only be rolling if you have explicit permission to do so. If you already have the item do not roll, let someone else have a chance at it. Changing looting mode or rules without consensus of the party. If you are leading a Party you should not ever change the looting rules without prior agreement and consensus among party members. Even though it's not Ninja looting to roll on everything you are technically entitled to, being a considerate player will get you invited into more groups. More groups means more opportunities to get great loot. Be cool, don't roll on everything you see, roll on the items you need. Antisocial Behavior -- Don't take advantage of newbies or lowbies. Don't overcharge for things, lie, or attempt auction house scams. Anything that reflects badly on the guild will not be tolerated, you are our representative and if you cause us loss of status on the server we are not going to be pleased about it. Don't proselytize your religion or your politics, if you are on a mission to convert the unbelievers to Cthulu or Ralph Nader, find another guild. There is a lot of discussion about using derogatory comments, "gay" "fag" "nigger" and such. If you really hate homosexuals, women or people of ethnicity, we don't need you here. Our first priority is to earn the respect of other guilds and to be the leaders of ethical and fair play, respect that will allow us to be successful and recruit more members to help you succeed as well. I realize many of you may be young and are used to dealing with people your own age. We appreciate players of all ages here and you will be not be judged by your age, but your maturity, so be cool and respect people who may ask you to tone things down. If you consider yourself the sole bearer of all truths (in game or otherwise) and are not shy of saying it out loud, specially when dealing about talent specs or playstyles and players that have NOT asked your opinion, this guild is not for you. The Guild and You Guild Support -- We are not here to answer all your questions. >-- Read that again. Okay, we are here to help you when you are really stuck. If you are clever enough to be playing WoW (not a high bar to say the least) you have the skills to answer most of your own questions. thottbot.com is your friend, learn how to use it. Don't ask questions that can be answered by reading the WoW website (www.worldofwarcraft.com) or the forums (forums.worldofwarcraft.com). Everyone is busy doing what they need to do, don't waste their time asking what [voodoo mojo juice] is used for. If you really want to know, use thottbot. We are not here to give you stuff for free; you want something you have to earn it just like we had to before you. We have no need for coddled wallflowers that have no skills because everything was given to them. Don't ask for free Potions, Weapons, Food or Bags. If you act cool and gain respect, people will help you and give you shit. Just because you gave us the privilege of you membership doesn't entitle you to diddly squat. Earn your place; show your worth, you will be rewarded for it. Parties and Instances -- Don't ask someone more than 5 levels above you to help you go anywhere. We are not an escort service; you should be partied up with similar level players in order to maximize the amount of experience you gain. You don't care about experience you say? Well, we do. This is not a power guild, you don't have to gain a level a day to stay here, or play 40 hours a week. But if you want the guilds assistance it has to be in our self interest to help you. We need experienced level 70 players who can contribute to our ability to participate in the high end content of the game. If you are not interested in doing that, it's cool, but we are not going to spend two hours keeping you alive in some dungeon just so you can have some blue item. We expect you to be reciprocating by doing your best to increase your skill and help similar level guild members. Recruitment -- It is important that you are an ambassador for our guild, there are lot's of good players out there and we want them playing for us. We all flailed about in the beginning, looking for the right guild, finding people we could trust. It's important that you get out there and help people in need and make friends outside the guild. Many of the people I helped or helped me in the early levels are now friends and guild-mates, and it's better to find out that someone is a ninja over a level 7 Uncommon than over a level 70 Epic. When you find people you like, have them look at this site and these codes of conduct. We will always need new blood. Trade Skills -- The guild has people that focus on specific trade skills. Assist them to be successful by using them for your needs and be sure to offer formulas and recipes to the appropriate guild professional before selling it. If you are a guild tradesman, sell to the guild members at cost whenever possible and to favored external guilds at a discount to improve inter-guild relations. Guild Chat -- This is a crazy place where people often feel free to express themselves. This is encouraged, don't pick on people or insult them. If someone is an idiot they will make that clear by themselves, no need to help them. There are often underage players logged in, so try to maintain some propriety. It doesn't have to be Sesame Street, but Innuendo is better than explicit when it comes to adult topics. Please feel free to use whisper chat if you feel the need to draw a pretty picture with your prose. Pretend that some hot girl is reading what you are writing (who knows, it might me the case!) and let that be your guide. Directions, one-to-one communication and pointless exclamations (Lagggggg!!!) should be kept to a minimum. We want good signal to noise ratio so that the guild chat remains useful. General, Public, Party, Whisper and Trade Chat -- You must follow WoW's terms of service. Keep it rated 'G', don't insult or attack people via whisper. Don't spam the Trade Channel repeatedly. If someone is rude to you do not retaliate, use /ignore. WoW Forum's -- We will not censor you freedom of personal speach, but unless you are explicitly authorized to speak for the guild, you must never phase things in a way that will reflect the guild as a whole in a bad light. Do not criticize other guilds or players without stating you are speaking for yourself. If you are starting flamewars and making unjustified, rude or harmful comments you can expect to be called on it, so act respectfully. Interface Add-ons -- You are free to use anything, but by the time you are level 70 and are participating in Guild instance runs we expect you to do your job efficiently. You'll be required to use some. Please refer to our FAQ for more details. Invasion / Battlegrounds -- Often ambiguously referred to as raid. There is no experience associated with killing horde and the rewards appear to be very biased towards high level players. It is fun to fight real people, but try not to spend more than a reasonable amount of time at this if it is your intent on reaching level 70. The Honor system and rewards are new and this advisory may change. Instances -- Also ambiguously referred to as raid. There should always be a leader, he or she should be listened to at all times. Don't argue with the instance leader, use whispers if you have an issue, suggestion or disagreement. Refrain from newbish behavior, keep the pace steady and make sure to stay tightly grouped with your party. Instance Tips Do not pull unless specifically instructed to. The party leader will determine who pulls in a party, you should never ever be pulling if you are not the puller. Make sure you are aware of patrols when you pull. If your a puller, it is your responsibility to pull one group, take the time you need to do your job correctly. If you are a hunter, learn how to take advantage of your unique pulling skills -- tracking, and feign death. Understand what the Main Tank's (MT) role is, and don't pull aggro from him. Know your position. Do not run ahead. As tempting as it is to be up front, you hurt the party by not staying in a cleared safe area. If you are a warrior, don't charge and create the melee area in front of the party (never charge unless instructed to.) Allow the pullers to bring the mobs back to where the fight should take place. Make sure that your Kleenex armored spell casters are protected, in larger groups one melee type should hang back and keep them from being interrupted or killed. If you are lower in level than your fellow party members stay in the back. You have a much larger threat radius than your party's, that means that you will attract unwanted adds by running to the front and attacking. Stay in the back and do your best, causing a wipe will make people think twice about inviting you again. Sheep, Shackle, Sap and Banish Living and dying is all about crowd control, knowing how to use and interact with these spells is vital. Sheep and Shackle should be done outside the melee area. Sheeping a target once it is within striking range and AoE range is asking for trouble and limiting flexibility. Sheep and shackle as soon as possible, before people have established a target. Always target the furthest creature as a convention and work with the puller to insure that it happens as close to simultaneously as possible. If you strike a sheeped or shackled mob, stop and find a different target. Refrain from AoE attacks when there are constrained creatures in the melee area. Buffs Always try to keep your party buffed. There are many aids to doing so, there should never be a reason that people should have to request a rebuff. Guild loot rules Default Rules -- These are the rules that we play with as a guild. We recommend that you use them when playing with other guilds and parties if you are in charge of setting the loot rules as well: Roll on all bind on equip (BoE) Uncommon items. Just roll or pass. This improves the pace of the game. If you need the item, whisper the winner, discuss it at the end of the run or when there is a pause in the action. Don't stop the flow of the party over these items. If you win the item and someone in the party requests the item from you because it is an upgrade for them and you are not going to use it yourself, you should graciously offer it to them when you have the opportunity. Indicate in chat that the player is interested, and ask if anyone else needs. Roll to determine who will get the item. If there is an issue or conflict, the party leader will arbitrate. Roll on bind on pickup (BoP) Uncommon items only if you intend to and are able to use the item and the item is an upgrade. If everyone passes, the item will be made available to anyone who wants it on a greed basis via a /roll (equivalent to /random 100) roll. Roll on bind on equip (BoE) Rare items only if you intend to and are able to use the item and the item is an upgrade to your existing equipment. If you win, make sure that you offer an item to someone in the party who has more need for the item than yourself. If the consensus is that the item is for a particular class, surrender the item as directed by the party leader. If everyone passes, the item will be made available to anyone who wants it on a greed basis via a /roll (equivalent to /random 100) roll. Roll on bind on pickup (BoP) Rare items only if the party leader has instructed you or your class / role to roll on the item, you intend to use the item. Do not roll unless it is an upgrade to what you currently have. Do not roll if you already have the item. If everyone passes, the item will be made available to anyone who wants it on a greed basis via a /roll (equivalent to /random 100) roll. Do not roll on Epic items, ever. The party leader will discuss with the group who should be entitled to manually roll for the item. The requirement for everyone to pass is in order to allow enough time for appropriate debate over the most desirable items in the game. Ninja looting an Epic item is the dumbest thing you could do. If you roll on the item, despite being instructed not to, you will be kicked from the guild and labeled a Ninja server wide, regardless of whether or not you win. It's not worth it, don't do it. If you win the Epic item, you should immediately equip the item unless it was won on the basis of a pure greed roll. These are our rules, they are not necessarily the laws of the land. Many people will have variations, if you don't like a party's rules don't group with them. Don't complain, don't say that they are wrong. Know the loot rules before you adventure, don't expect to establish them while you are playing. If someone ninja's on your party take a note of their name and guild, do not verbally abuse them. Contact an officer with the information and we will handle the issue. Ninja looting is more common than it should be and takes a lot away from the game, when it happens to you try to be civil and take the high road. There is never an excuse to ninja loot. As a lord it is our policy to do the morally correct thing. Just because someone does something unfair to you gives you no right to retaliate, if we hear you did something that violates our rules there is not going to be any consideration or leeway on the basis of someone else's behavior. There is /ignore [playername] and you can leave a party after giving an explanation of why you can no longer participate in a party that is not honoring the agreed rules. Any other behavior will be at your own risk. Terminology Add -- Additional creature or group of creatures. Very bad news. AH -- Auction House. BoE -- Bind on Equip, an Item that becomes soulbound to you once you equip it. Able to be sold at the AH if not used. BoP -- Bind on Pickup, an Item that becomes soulbound the moment you receive it. Can not be auctioned. buff -- A beneficial spell or potion. IF -- Ironforge. LBRS -- Lower Blackrock Spire. MC -- Molten Core MT -- Main Tank (Warrior who keeps primary mob's attention) OT -- Off Tank (Keeps a secondary mob out of the way) pull -- Shoot or charge a single creature within a group causing them to attack. pat -- Patrol (something's coming!) SM -- Scarlet Monastery. SW -- Stormwind. tank -- Attack a creature and make sure the creature remains focused on you, typically a warrior talent. UBRS -- Upper Blackrock Spire. WTB -- Willing to buy. WTS -- Willing to sell. Ranks and Responsibility Tabard -- A guild Tabard is encouraged to be purchased by all guild members as soon as they can reasonably afford it. Ask a guard in Ironforge or Stormwind for the location of the tabard vendor. Player rank within the guild has become too much of an issue of status and has become contentious, arbitrary and not tied to any particular performance based goals. With that in mind it is our goal to create a ranking system that reflects a couple fundamental points: Higher ranked players are not better than lower ranks. With rank comes additional responsibility not honor. All decisions are made through consensus with equal representation. For more information about which are our ranks, please refer to our Roster link on the main page. Anybody at SirRobin Knight rank and above are officers. African Swallows are officers' alts, and Europe Swallows other members' alts. The idea is that as our guild grows to its maximum of 180 players, without the means to manage and delegate authority, and establish benchmarks and goals for promotion, chaos will ensue. Again, the hierarchy to the ranks is in place to indicate responsibility, not worth to the guild. As players change their desired amount of commitment they will move up or down in rank to reflect their responsibilities.