Well
of Souls Clan Rules
Table of Contents -
* Game Server rules
* Joining WOS
* Re-joining WOS
* Leaving WOS
* Associations
* Clan Resources
* Getting Ejected from WOS
* Why so many rules?
We are a mixed age clan, with members from grade school to
retirement. In many cases, we have multiple generations of the same real
world families as members. The basic rule is civilized behavior. Yes, these are largely first person shooter games
we play, and yes, we kill each other, virtually. But we do strive for the
honorable death.
We strive for a high order of "newbie tolerance". After all,
we were all newbies once. That doesn't mean we excuse complete lack
of effort on the part of folks to learn what is going on.
We encourage exploration into the more creative and exploratory aspects of
game playing, such as map creation, model and skin creation, server
administration, etc. But none of this is required. If you decide to
pursue it, great! Chances are you can find someone in the clan to guide
you if you want help.
We encourage skilled play, but don't require it. No player was ever
denied access to WOS game servers or to WOS membership because they couldn't
frag their way out of a paper bag.
WOS Server Game Play and Administrative Conduct:
Profanity-free Environment
- If a first grader
can't repeat it at the dinner table, the word does not need to be used here. Use
of ban word list workaround tricks (e.g. f-u-c-blah-blah-blah ) is not
acceptable either.
Respectful Playzone
- Bandying about labels like
GAY, CHEAP, CHEATER, and so on is not acceptable.
Reasonable Spawn Re-entry
- This means no intentional
spawn killing. With sweepers and cluster grenade spawns around corners,
accidental spawn kills will occur. The occasional apology should be enough to
prevent this from becoming an issue during gameplay.
Whine-free Atmosphere
- If someone dies enough
times or with enough frequency to make them too unhappy to play without going on
and on about fairness, they should find a new place to play.
Zero-BS Communications
- This means no flying other
person's handles, passing yourself off as a member of Clan WOS, Clan LOX, or any
other clan to which you do not belong, or otherwise faking to be someone else
WHO ALREADY PLAYS BY THAT LABEL. Yes, you can name-change, but only to
your own names. If we find that you are name-changing to avoid punitive
administrative action on our servers, consequences may including kicking,
banning, or being added to the Target List (see blow).
Chatter-free Frag Time
- A game server is not a
chat room. We sponsor a chat zone in IRC on gamesnet.net at the #wos
forum. We also have a slow, but functional chat facility that is open to
the public built into our message board forum. But we don't need to hear
an endless stream of drivel on boyfriends, girlfriends, personal hygiene, or
other bologna while we are playing.
Cooperative Behavior
- If warned by a clan member
or other recognized admin to cease and desist an activity, be it a specifically
declared rule as listed here or some other perceived violation, those who fail
to respond to that instruction have exceeded the parameters of their guest
status.
Clear Expectations
- The rules shall be posted in
the server MOTD (message of the day, shows up on screen when first connecting to
the server) where space permits and on the clan website in a public page area
(THIS page). If there is confusion regarding the rules, the regular members
should point confused parties to the web page.
Overt Administration
- No Secret Police, No stealth
enforcement of rules and bans. If a warning is issued, it should be announced
that the player is an admin. It is understood that we all use alternative names
from time to time, just to get newb and born-to-lose players to play with us at
times. If the admin player is using an alias, they'd best be sure that all of
WOS recognizes that alias, though, so any follow-ups have a reasonable data
trail.
Abuse-free Playzone
- Respect of members should
come from all players and admins. Having admin status is no excuse for harsh
treatment of players. If players are out of line and not a declared target, kick
them, ban them, make them go away.
Clearly Visible Abuse Targets
- If a player makes
the ban list, whether temporary or permanent, then there they are, pending any
internal review or public review via the Complaint Box. If a player is not
banned outright, but is still allowed to player, he may be designated as a
Target by a vote to the membership.
The list of Targets is posted HERE
on the website. Players who have achieved Target status through their own follow
may appeal through the Punitive Action Appeal Process (a.k.a. the Complaint
Box).
Punitive Action Appeal Process (a.k.a. the
"Complaint Box") - A player may appeal their ban, kicking, Target
status, or other abuse by posting a public request for review in the Complaint
Box forum. Appeals must be public, not via private email. The complaint box
administrator (insert final Arbitrator title here) may choose to advocate on
behalf of the accused or conduct further investigations. If the punitive action
is deemed to be a point of confusion, the source of the confusion (including
unclear rules) should be rectified. If the punitive action is deemed to be a
case of excessive administrative zeal, WOS administrators (the WOS Defense
League) will discuss internally how to prevent future occurrences. If there is
some form of internal to WOS impasse on how to response to the appeal, the
ultimate decision authority will be held by the owner of the game server in
question. In this manner, any servers provided by WOS members that agree to fall
under the WOS banner agree in principle to the general rule set, but without
surrendering rights to their own systems.
Time Limit - The maximum sentence for generally
foolish behavior that results in bans shall be 1 year. This does not include
deliberate attempts by players to crash game servers. Nor does this maximum
apply to declared enemies of WOS, such as those of Pathetically Anal Newb
Alliance clan. This maximum sentence exceeds the maximum attention span of most
foolhardy morons by about 11 months, so it should be adequate. Special time
limits for specific offenses may be set by the administrator executing the
punitive action, as circumstances warrant.
Applying to Well of Souls Clan For membership:
1 - After playing on our server(s), for a reasonable amount of time, you feel as though you would like to commit to joining our clan. You must first read, and agree with our rules and regulations (this page). If you agree with our philosophy and can obey the rules, and you are still interested, you may apply by initiating one fo the following two processes:
a) Ask a current WOS member to sponsor you, but preferably not during gameplay. Visit the WOS IRC channel (#wos on gamesnet) or send an email or IM to initiate a person-to-person dialogue, or send the member a private message on our message board.
b) Post a request on the public message board asking to join. Include your email so we may contact you.
Either way, someone from WOS must agree to sponsor your membership bid.
2 - Work with your sponsor so he/she can email the Espri de Corp officer with the reason you would like to join, as well as any other information you feel pertinent. The Espri de Corp officer will respond by email with the standard application for membership.
3 - Once all information has been gathered the Espri de Corp officer will initiate a posting stating that the person is being considered for probation. The thread will last only 7 days. During that time members are invited to make a comment on the person either way. If a seriously negative comment is made, then we can address it before it is decided that we can go forward (or not if the negative remark is valid enough). At the end of the 7 days the thread is locked and if there are no serious objections the applicant enters the probationary period of thirty days and flys the <wos-r> tag. We would mention that not knowing a person is not grounds to make a negative comment, the probation period is to get to know someone.
4 - At the end of the thirty day period the Espri de Corp officer will initiate a vote thread for full membership. This vote will last for 7 days. Once the vote period expires, and you if have received an 85% or greater yes margin, you will be notified by your sponsor that you are in. Once you are accepted, the private WOS membership page and the public WOS membership page will be updated to include your name and contact info (which has previously been sent to the Espri de Corp officer).
5 - Once you have been voted in you can fly in uppercase as part of your name, and you will also be issued passwords to the members only areas of the web. Note that individual servers are all run by individual members, and each server admin controls policy on their individual machines, though we do try to keep some things relatively the same. If you want the RCON password on a specific server, please contact the admin for that server directly.
6 - If your application for membership is not approved, you may ask why, (if the reason is not already posted on the WOS forums). You may also re-apply 90 days after. If we feel you've changed for the better, your bid will be reconsidered.
Note that your bid for membership in our clan in no way impacts your right to play on WOS servers. Our public servers are just that, PUBLIC, to anyone who does not violate our general standards for good behavior. The offenders know who they are. If you get banned from a WOS server and don't understand why, contact the the Clan Arbitrator
Reinstatement into ClanWOS
If you have fallen away from ClanWOS and would like to rejoin you will be required to follow the above rules for readmission.
Leaving Clan WOS
If a person is not active in the Forums, Game Servers, IRC, or emails for 3 Months then a MIA email is sent out. After 6 Months with no contact the person is declared MIA and reapplication is required for re-entry. As with all truly
fun things, membership in our clan is strictly voluntary. Unlike certain
religious groups and criminal organizations, you can leave whenever you want,
to join another clan, or for whatever reason. We simply ask that you let
us know you are leaving, and let us know why, so we can drop you from the email list and stop annoying you
with messages, etc.
Associations and Multiple Clan Memberships
We ask that you let us know if you are an active member of
another "live" clan. This is especially true of clans that play
in the same major game areas as we do (e.g. WOD:LOX). While we do not
specifically forbid multiple clan membership, we do try to be aware of it to
prevent conflicts and trust problems. If you are a member of any of
various gaming leagues, etc., that is completely up to you. We simply ask
that you share with us the stories of your many heroic victories and agonizing defeats,
and that you fly our colors whenever possible.
Clan Resources
We have a number of clan resources, made available by the good
will of the members. These include a web and FTP server, forums, board, Yahoo WOS club, WOS IRC, access to game servers (including RCON remote control for
map selection on some servers), and free CD's of fave WOS map files, etc.
We encourage contributions of new maps, skins, scripts, and what ever else you
find out there that is interesting. Your contributions are always
welcome. Do take care to properly credit the authors / creators of things
that you send to us, and please do NOT use our distribution mechanisms to share
REALLY LARGE STUFF ( > 2-3 megabytes) without checking with us first, as our
bandwidth is not unlimited.
Getting Ejected from
Clan WOS
As we keep saying,
we play for fun. If a member consistently does something that steals the
fun from the other members, that is grounds for ejection from the clan.
If you have a problem with another clan member's behavior, first ask them to
stop whatever the Bad Behavior is. If that fails, send an ICQ, IM,
message board private message, or email
message to one of the Clan Officers. They will in turn follow this sequence:
1 - The
officers can decide to eject the person immediately to save the Clan the
embarrassment of continued association with the offender if the offense
is very serious (damage to a Clan website, malicious messages, etc.) . If the
Clan Officers agree that this is repeated behavior, and the offender has
ignored previous warnings, they can eject the offending member, but must
announce this to the clan membership and notify the offender of his
ejection and the reason for it. Officer ejections can be appealed by
the member to
a vote of the membership.
2 - The officers may review amongst
themselves whether this individual has repeated the offense in question
before. As above, if the Clan Officers agree that this is repeated
behavior, and the offender has ignored previous warnings, they can eject
the members, but must announce this to the clan membership and notify the
offender of his ejection and the reason for it. This decision may
also be appealed to the membership, but is unlikely to receive favorable
response if there is history behind it.
3 - If the Clan
Officers agree that this is perceived as a first offense, or not terribly
serious, they can offer the offender an opportunity to change his or her
behavior. If the member changes their "Evil Ways", all is
good. If not, this falls into the repeated behavior category, and
the Clan Officers will respond accordingly.
Note that
documentation of offenses in the form of console dump files is used regularly to
police our "problem child" folks. You can create your own
condump file by simply typing CONDUMP FILE in the console of a Quake2 game
session. Please provide this file as evidence ot an officer if there is a
problem to report.
Why So Many Rules?
So we're just a game clan, right? Why so many rules and processes just
for a game? There aren't that many, really, and the ones here are to keep the fun
in the game. All the rules are common sense, but we have found that common
sense is not evenly distributed. Given that players come in a range of
ages and maturity levels, and yes, even a range in cultures, sometimes
things have to be spelled out. We have invested a lot of time and effort into setting up servers, web sites,
skins, maps, and relationships with our fellow fraggers, and are just
looking to protect our investment in building up a group of folks who have more
fun together than they do separately.
From time to time, we have people come around who have a different idea of
fun. They like to pretend to be other people, getting friends to be mad at
each other. They like to crash game and file servers, post inflammatory messages, fill
file exchange areas with Warez and porn, and to generally cause
mischief.
Some of the not so aggressively objectionable folk simply whine their way
through FragSpace, complaining about the weapons being used, the BOTS they claim
are being used against them by WOS members, the perceived lack of skill of
a particular weapon set, etc., etc.
So, yeah, we have seen whiners, wankers, and hacker wannabe's. This is
probably not you, but we don't know that until you show us otherwise.
It is worth noting that we have dumped out very few people (less than a
handful) in the many years this clan has been together. We'd rather be fraggin'
that fussin'.
:: top ::
