Last Update: May 24th, 2009

I. Preface

This charter should be reviewed by each and every member of Empire of the Dark Sun (the "Guild"). Upon accepting your membership into the guild, you should be informed, somehow, of this website. By remaining in the guild and/or completing your probationary requirements, you are signifying that you have read and understand these Terms and Conditions ("Charter") and agree to abide by them. Any violations of this Charter will be dealt with swiftly and justly as listed in the Displinary Actions section below. If you do not agree to these terms and conditions, you may petition for a section to be changed or leave the guild.

We understand no one likes to follow rules, but the guidelines listed in this Charter are to protect the guilds, your guildmates, guild resources, other players, and you. These rules are not meant to harm, judge, belittle, or annoy anybody.

II. Mission Statement

The Guild can be considered as a fun, social, or leveling guild. We are here to help, protect, and build within our own. We are also a bit of a profiteering guild, if you so wish to participate in that aspect. Simply put, members of this guild understand that World of Warcraft ("Wow") is just a game and treat it as such and have fun playing the game.

III. Member Recruitment

A potential member must be informed of several things while being requested to join, in a either whisper or publicly in chat (i.e. recruit macros for general chat). They must be informed that they A) must be mature, active, and friendly; B) must be level 30; C) will be subjected to the probation period detailed below.

Once the potential member has accepted your request, and has joined the Guild, they must then be aware of this website and informed that they must read this charter.

From time to time, a potential member may ask for the website address prior to joining, in order to get a better feel of the guild. If the website address is requested from you, you are allowed to give it to them.

IV. Probation Period

Whenever a potential member is successfuly recruited into the guild, they will be subjected to a one week probation period. This period allows the officers to observe the new members to protect guild members and assets. Every guild member who has joined the guild has gone through, or is going through, this probation period, or one similar to it. The only time this period is waived is when a character is bringing in one or more alternative characters, and has already completed the probation period on the original character.

Since it would be very hard to track what time every member joined the guild, the new member will have exactly seven days starting at 12AM the next morning. If the time is known to be relatively close to 12AM the morning they joined, then the timer starts from 12AM that morning.

If you have been a member of the guild for seven or more days and have not been removed from probation, then feel free to speak to an officer regarding the situation. There may be a definite reason we are leaving your character in probation, which you may want to know why, or we may have accidently overlooked you when processing probations.

V. Guild Chat Behavior

All members of the Guild, officers included, are expected to maintain a certain degree of respect and decency towards each other in the guild chat. The acts of bad mouthing other members, aggressive verbal confrontations, or anything of the sort, are strictly prohibited in the guild chat. If you feel you are commiting any of these acts, you must take it to a party chat or whisper with that person or people. If you need a mediator, an officer will be made available to you as soon as one can be spared. This does not, however, bar debates and 'friendly' arguments.

There is no minimum age to join the Guild. This being said, it is requested that profane language be kept out of chat from 3PM to 9PM server time on weekdays, and during daylight hours on the weekends and school breaks.

VI. Professions

Professions and tradeskills are the backbone of any thriving economy. If you have picked up any main professions (fishing, cooking, and first aid excluded) then it is requested that you inform an officer of these professions, however it is not required. If you do inform and officer of your professions, let them know if you want to be advertised in the guild market, which is outlined below. If the officer is not informed of this, it will be assumed that you do not wish to be.

VII. Guild Market

The Guild Market is a new test program to try to play off of the economy in-game, provide goods and services for other players, increase guild net worth and value, and provide extra business and income for guild members.

The guild market works in two ways. The first method, which benefits the members, is a way to provide services to the general public. If you have a marketable skill (professions, mammoth mount, instance runs, etc) you inform an officer you want to be placed on the list, and what you are willing to sell. Guild banker toons, alternates of officers, will then advertise a list of what our members can do. When requested more information of your skill, we will give them your character name, informing them that you will be doing the work. Think of this method as a temp job placement agency, of sorts. The list is also publically viewable on this website so that other guild members know what you are able to do.

The second method benefits the guild vault and assets. Many people don't have, or don't want, to spare gold for the guild vault. Now, gold is now longer needed, but is still highly appreciated. One vault tab is dedicated to the market (Tab 1) and all items deposited into that tab will be sold in trade chat, directly to other players, on the auction house, or to a vendor. All income recieved from that item will placed in the guild vault. No guild member will be the direct recipient of this income. If you wish to recieve the income for the items you deposit in this tab, then do not place items in this tab, but instead place them on the auction house.

The guild market will give the guild a business side to it, allowing us to grow and expand and exponential rates. Keep in mind, however, that building a business is not quick or simple. It will take time and hard work to build.

VIII. Organization

The guild rank heirarchy makes uses of all ten allowable ranks in the game. Nearly every rank is obtainable by obtaining levels, supporting the guild, or by popular vote. The lowest rank, Initiate, is the probation rank. Everybody has, is, or will be in this rank at some point. The next rank up, Apprentice, is a rank reserved for characters who have not yet hit 30. These will most likely be alternate characters of active guild members.

The highest rank, Dark Lady, is the rank for the guild leader. The only way to attain this rank is for the guild leader, currently Juniea, to set you to this rank manually. The second highest rank, as listed in game, Guild Merchant, is reserved for merchant characters. These characters are alternates of the GM or guild officers, and are used to promote the guild market outlined above.

There are two officer positions available to any guild member who wants them, as long as they meet or exceed requirements for that rank, ordered from highest to lowest, they are as follows:

Shadow Council: Members of the shadow council are either voted in by popular vote amongst other officers, or hand selected by the guild leader. Members of this rank have proven themselves to be the most dedicated, loyal, helpful, and decorated members of the guild. They help with all inner and outer workings of the guild and can best be defined as co-gms. Members of the shadow council must serve as a lower rank officer before recieving this title and must also be at level 60 or higher.

Shadow Lord: Shadows lords are hand selected by the guild leader and have proven themselves to be loyal, helpful, and have shown a desire to exceed to here. These officers are here to help maintain the peace, coordinate guild efforts, and help to manage the other members.

For the remaining members of the guild, who have not been granted an officer rank, are able to obtain four different ranks for each of their characters, which are above 30. These ranks, listed from highest to lowest, are:

Grand Admiral: Members who have recieved this rank have reached, or exceeded, level 70 and have fulfilled all requirements from all lower ranks to get here.

Bloodletter: Members of this rank have reached or exceeded level 56 but have not yet reached level 70, and have fulfilled all requirements from all lower ranks.

Dark Luminary: These members are at, or are higher than, level 41 but have not yet reached level 56. These members have also fulfilled all requirements from all lower ranks.

Acolyte: Members who have attained the rank of Acolyte have fulfilled all requiements for the probation period, have hit, or are higher than, level 30, but have not yet hit level 41.

If your newly acquired rank has not gone into effect at the moment, or relatively shortly there after, feel free to inform any officer and they will promote you to the correct position as long as all other requirements are met.

IX. Guild Events

All members who have left the probation period has the ability to set up guild events and invite other guild members. These events can signify upcoming real life events, or in game events. When you have created an event, or accepted an event invitation, it is recommended that you follow through and stick to it. If you are unable to do so, it is recommended that you inform invited characters of the delay or cancel. None of this is required of you but is recommended.

Having said that, it is important to remember that the guild calender is not your personal calender for scheduling doctor appointments, personal schedules, or any other personal events of the sort. Events of this type will be removed from the calender. However, birthdays, anniversaries, and other celebratory days are allowed and encouraged.

X. Guild Vault

The guild vault is a useful tool for all members of the guild. It allows you to withdrawl armor, weapons, and other useful items for your personal use. You are also able to donate items and/or gold to the guild vault to support other players, the guild, or the guild market.

If you donate a weapon, armor, or any other type of equipment, it must be of uncommon (green) quality or better. All other types of items must be of common (white) quality or better. Grey items will be removed and sold, with the proceeds going to the guild vault.

Constant donations of grey items may cause your guild vault access to be revoked, so please ensure you are watching what you donate.

Monetary donations, at this time, will go to buying guild vault tabs. Once all six tabs are bought, and the gold reserve has been rebuilt, the gold will be opened up to the members for something determined at that time. Possible future uses include purchasing mounts for members, loans, and free equipment repairs.

From time to time the guild vault may fill up restricting further items from being deposited. When this occurs, two things will happen. We will hold a special event for cleaning out the guild vault. Any items not removed from the vault, which have remained there for extended amounts of time or have many duplicates will be transferred to the guild merchant tab. All items giveaways are on a first come first serve basis.

If you deposit an item and realize you deposited the wrong item, inform an officer and we will attempt to retrieve the item for you. It is very possible that someone else removes the item first and uses it, or for bind-on-equip equipment, equips it causing the item to be unusuable. If this occurs, it is not possible to retrieve that item back so make sure you pay attention while depositing items.

Finally, it is important to remember that a donation is not a payment. Donations are not required and you may not always recieve what you want for making a donation. If you believe that you have a guaranteed refund on any donations, then do not deposit it. If you do deposit it, then leave the guild for any reason, you may not recieve the item back.

XI. Ventrillo

A ventrillo server has been purchased and available for use for instances and raids. Ventrillo information is available on the guild vault information tab for tab two. The password is changed weekly so its recommended you check for updated information before attempting to connect.

Guild chat rules apply when using ventrillo as well. Also, leaking the information to other people, to have a personal chat server, may cause your ventrillo usage to be revoked, password information given on a request basis, or possibly remove everybodies ventrillo usage.

XII. Alternate Characters

Blizzard allows up to nine characters created per realm in the game. This also means that the guild will allow for you to have up to 9 characters in the guild. All of your characters are bound by the terms and conditions stated in this charter, as a whole. This means that if for some reason you are dealt some sort of disciplinary action, such as guild removal, demotions, and lifetime bans; each of your characters will suffer the same consequences. However, commendations work like this as well.

Alternate characters probation status match that of the original character. If you bring in an alternate character and are out of probation, that alternate character will not need to serve that probation time. If you bring in an alternate character with time lefti n your probation, once the probation is done for your main character, all of your characters leave probation.

XIII. Member Inactivity

Members are allowed to be inactive up to 30 days. On the 30th day you risk being removed from the guild. If you have been removed from the guild for being inactive, you are allowed to return unless there were other circumstances regarding your removal as well. If you know you will be inactive for extended periods of time, and do not want to be removed from the guild, then inform an officer and the reason. If the reason is acceptable, your character(s) will be noted so they are not removed.

XIV. Public Appearance

You are expected to maintain the same level of decency when talking to guild members, or other players. If you are unable to get along with another player, then simply ignore them. If you are having an argument or debate with a fellow player, keep it as civil as possible and refrain from name calling, bad mouthing, or anything of the sort. Any violations here will cause a decrease in rank. If the violations continue, you may risk being removed from the guild. In order to grow, we need to be reputable. Your association with the guild, while violating this section, will cause our reputation to decrease. On the other hand, helping others, which is not required, will raise our reputation to the public.

XV. Thieving and Begging

Theiving and begging from players in the guild is STRICTLY prohibited. This applies not only to your fellow guild members, but to other players in the game as well. Theiving and begging in the public is another way our reputation will drop, and it will drop extremely. If you are a theif or a begger, do not join this guild. If you are already in the guild, quit immediately. If you are caught commiting either of these two offenses, and you will be, you will be removed from the guild IMMEDIATELY and placed with a permanent lifetime ban, unless you can prove your innocence.

Theft is defined as:

Item Theft: If you remove an item from the guild vault, guild groups, or by any other means where you unfairly receive an item not meant for your level, class, or race and is of equal or lesser quality than your currently equipped items.

Monetary Theft: If you remove an item from the guild vault, guild groups, or by any other means where you unfairly receive an item with the intent to sell to vendors, other players, auction house, or by any other means, for personal profit. This also covers removing money from the guild vault, other than for repairs, without being approved for it.

Profession Theft: If you remove an item from the guild vault, guild groups, or by any other means where you unfairly receive an item with the intent to modify or break down with any of your professions with the intent of any of the previous two rules. This includes disenchantment of items. It is ok to remove “Bind on Equip” items, add an enchantment, and then return to vault.

Begging is defined as:

Begging for Items: If you beg another player for items that are listed in any chat channel, posted on the auction house, or looted from a mob.

Begging for Gold: If you beg another player in any chat channel, mail, or private whisper, for gold, silver, or copper. Various tradeskills are an excellent source of income. Visit a profession trainer, build your profession, then market that profession.

Begging for Loans: If you beg any member or officer in any chat channel, mail, or private whisper, for a loan from the guild vault. You may request a loan from the guild vault, but if denied, the answer will still be no, no matter how many times you ask.

Also, you may not ask for, or remove items from the guild vault for, your alternate characters who are not in the guild. The items you recieve could have been used by a different member. If you have alternate characters in different guilds, who are not offering you the support you need, then you probably should not be in that guild.

XVI. Joining Groups

When grouping with other guild members, you are expected to maintain the same level of respect and decency as always. Violations of any of these guidelines, even when in a group, is prohibited and will be dealt with as per outlined punishments.

If you are grouping with non-guild members, the same rules and regulations apply to use and any other guild members that may be in that group. Having stated that, there is absolutely no way to enforce these rules on non-guild members, and from time to time you will run into some of the less honorable players. This is a risk you always are willing to take when joining any group. If you were robbed or violated somehow in one of these groups, and it does not violate Blizzard's Terms of Service, there is nothing that can be done.

XVII. Disciplinary Actions

It is very understandable that you may not want your actions policed in a game, and World of Warcraft is just that. The reason this charter is written, updated, and enforced, is to ensure safety of the guild members, potential members, officers, and other players mental well being, inventory, equipment, and assets. This charter is also in place to provide a more enjoyable and worry-free environment for those in the guild. We hope to take any disciplinary action on a member rarely, if even at all, but a breach of any of the regulations and guidelines listed here; past, present, or future; reported to or discovered by any guild member, will be dealt with swiftly, justly, and without recourse.

The officers are primarily reponsible for deciding how and when to deal with members who violate these rules. Officers have complete freedom in choosing punishments for offending members, as long as it is confined within the terms set forth in this charter. They may also break the terms of this charter, when choosing a punishment, if the action has not been defined here, and/or is a dire situation. If the situation is not immediate, and a proper punishment can not be decided, the offending member will be placed back into the probation rank until a punishment is determined by all officers and/or the guild leader.

Punishments may be dealt as, but not limited to: warnings, fines; as in reparations in case of breaches involving monetary and/or item loss; demotion, probation, or guild removal. Immediate guild removal will only occur in the gravest of circumstances or against repeat offenders.

The officers have the right to excercise their judgement in any way they see fit when dealing with issues not covered in this charter. The officers decision will be fully supported by other officers and the guild leader.

XVIII. Website Activity

While website activity is not required, it is highly recommended. The website is available to you, at any time, and can be a highly useful tool for discussing topics, collaborating events, and has many other uses. It was built for all guild members, or even non guild members, to use at their disposal.

XIX. Miscellaneous Information

Any times specified, in this charter or elsewhere, are to be scheduled within the server time zone, which happens to be Pacific, unless otherwise noted by the author.

As well as following the guidelines of this charter, each member must also adhere to the policies and guidelines set forth in the Terms of Service written by Blizzard Entertainment, in regards to World of Warcraft. Any member caught violating this charter will receive disciplinary action in accordance to the degree of the violation. Any member caught violating Blizzard's Terms of Service will be immediately removed from the guild and will recieve an irrevocable lifetime ban from the guild, regardless of the degree of the violation or Blizzard's disciplinary action on the account. There is no fun in allowing cheaters to ruin the good time of the honest players.

XX. Ammendments and Addendums

The guild leader and officers reserve the right to remove, add, modify, or make changes to any or all parts of this charter, at any time, and without notice before or after the change. When a change is made, we will try to inform you via the in-game Message of the Day, as long as it does not replace more important information. It is recommended for you to return here and ensure this charter has not been changed, and if it has, to review and accept the changes. If you do not except the changes, you can petition for a change to be made, or leave the guild.

XXI. Charter Violations and Objections

This charter is written, and maintained, to provide the guild with a better sense of being and direction. As stated a few times in this charter, many people do not like having to follow rules, regulations, or guidelines, especially in a game, but this charter is merely laid down to protect you, other guild members, and guild assets. This charter outlines what the guild is, does, and plans. Violations of these regulations and guidelines will be dealt with as per these terms, and will be dealt to each character you have in the guild. If you have broken any of the rules or regulations stated here, incidently or purposely, it is requested you let an officer know. If the damage is repairable, and you do not have a history of violations, then it may be settled by payment for the damage, repairing the damage, or community service to the guild. If it is not repairable, then the action upon you will be less severe than normal.  If you have a history of violations, then the action may be much more severe, depending on the violation.

If you object to any of the terms set forth in this charter, feel free to speak to any of the officers about it. This charter was written by people, and people tend to make mistakes, omit items, or somehow not put something in that should be in. If you are petitioning a change to one of these terms, your petition will be revised and, if the officers are in agreement, we will update this charter as necessary.

XXII. Final Notes

If you are unhappy with the guild, or any portion of it, you may always talk to any of the officers to let them know, and, if we can, we will fix the issue(s) for you. If we are unable to come up with a suitable compromise, and you do not wish to stay, you may leave the guild by typing "/gquit" in the in-game chat box. This guild is certainly not the right guild for everyone, and may not be the right guild for you. No member is required to be here and if you do not enjoy this guild, we'd much rather you be in a guild that you do enjoy. If you decide to leave, if you haven't done so already, we request that you message any of the officers to explain your reasoning, so that we may be able to improve the guild from your suggestions.

If you have reached this point, and still have an interest in being a part of this family, then we welcome you and hope you're time spent with us, whether it be permanent or temporary, leave a good lasting impression on you.

Welcome to the Empire of the Dark Sun!