Guild Charter | Talons of Justice

Preface: Why We Exist

Talons of Justice is a guild of friends united by their camaraderie, sense of honor, respect for others, and a desire to have fun while gaming online. We adventure together throughout many virtual worlds always treating others with courtesy and respect. Talons can trust their guild mates implicitly and be confident that anyone wearing the ToJ guild tag is of high caliber. Our guild environment is intended to support a diverse collection of people of different cultures, races, ages, religions, nationalities, sexual orientation, and play-styles among its membership. All members should always strive to play well, have fun, and bring honor upon our name.

1.0 The Leadership

Our leadership team is intended to grow and shrink as needed to support current game activity. The number of overall guild leadership representatives in ToJ is based upon the number of virtual worlds in which ToJ has a guild presence of 21 or more members. For each such virtual world, there will be one representative to the overall leadership of ToJ. It is the responsibility of this team to ensure consistency of ToJ policy across all virtual worlds. Members of the Overall Leadership Council are expected to have all active characters of designated levels and above tagged in the guild in all virtual worlds.

1.1 Guild Leaders and Officers

Overall Guild Leader: Lore (lore@talonsofjustice.com) The maximum number of guild officers within any virtual world is based upon the number of active guild members within that world. Within each virtual world, not counting the Guild Leader, there must be ten guild members per officer before another officer may be appointed at the discretion of the current Game Leadership. Members of the Game Leadership are expected to have all active characters of designated levels and above tagged in the guild in their virtual world.

1.2 Officer Responsibilities

To lead by example. While every member of the Guild is required to follow the Rules of Conduct as outlined in this Charter, the Officers are expected to lead by example. In any public forum (In game channels or internet forums, social media, etc...) it is expected that every Officer will always act with respect and courtesy - even to those who do not adhere to our Rules of Conduct. Personal attacks against anyone in any public forum or channel is not permitted.

To help educate guild members. Gaming insight should be obtained through research on the web, discussion with other players, and actual game play. Each Officer is responsible for passing on this knowledge to other members of the guild so they may improve their game play in all online worlds where we have a presence. The goal of each Officer is to maximize the effectiveness of the players within the guild.

To educate members on guild policies. Each Officer shall make sure that all members of the guild understand and adhere to the Guild Charter, our Rules of Conduct, and the Rules of Conduct put forth by each game publisher. Should an Officer observe behavior that is in violation of any of these rules, they should take immediate corrective action. Corrective action may include suspension and/or removal of the offending person from the guild.

To guarantee that our guild is a welcome place for a diverse player base. It is impossible to cover all possible policies in this Charter; however, ToJ is a guild intended to support many diverse people of different cultures, races, ages, religions, nationalities, sexual orientation, and play-styles among its membership. No member who adheres to our Guild Charter should ever be made feel unwelcome and it is each Officer's responsibility to make sure that the membership encourages diversity within itself. We also understand and accept that real life priorities come before gaming.

1.3 Leadership Positions

The Leadership positions within each world will be set up only after there are 21 or more active members as part of the guild in a particular game. That means 21 unique people, not characters. After initial set-up, those positions will be managed by the Management Process described below to ensure continued effective leadership is in place. If at any time the number of members in a world falls below 21, the Leadership Council may choose to eliminate any official ToJ presence in that world and disband the leadership team. Any guild members from that world would still remain overall ToJ members.

1.3.1 Leadership Position Creation The first step in establishing a leadership presence within a new game is to select the in game guild leader. This should be someone who wants the responsibility and who is approved by the overall Leadership Council of ToJ. Any individual who would like to step up can feel free to contact the Council and make their desires known, but in the end, the Council will select the person they feel is most appropriate. Strong consideration should be given to past history with each candidate within the guild, including, but not limited to, their length of time in ToJ, previous leadership positions held within ToJ, and general trust-worthiness and maturity exhibited over time. After the new leader is established then Officers should be selected by the new Guild Leader. The maximum number of guild officers for any virtual world is based upon the number of guild members within that world. Within each virtual world, not counting the Guild Leader, there must be ten guild members per officer before another officer may be appointed at the discretion of the current in game Leadership. For the initial selections, the minimum number of officers selected should be two. The in game Leader should propose the potential new Officers to the overall Guild Leader and receive approval before making any firm decisions or announcements. These officers should be selected with similar criteria to the Leader as mentioned above with the thought in mind that diversity amongst the leadership team is a good thing.

1.3.2 Leadership Position Management Process Officer Positions: Every four months all current Officers in each virtual world where ToJ exists will either be re-appointed or replaced based upon the needs of the guild and the Officers. It is important for the health of the guild that the Officers remain active in the online world of their position. Should any Officer reach the point where they no longer play their game regularly they should expect to be removed from their position and replaced by someone else. There is no disgrace in this, as real life is understood to be more important than gaming, but for the good of the guild, active Officers are needed. On January 1, May 1, and September 1 of each year the Guild Leader within each virtual world shall announce which of the current Officers have been re-appointed based on the current guild size within that virtual world. At that point, the Guild Leader and the re-appointed Officers will consider filling any remaining Officer positions from the current member base. The Overall Guild Leader will do the same for each virtual world's Leader.

Appointments/Removals: Between the above dates it may be required that new Officers be appointed, or existing ones be removed from their position for the good of the guild. A majority vote of the current Game Leadership is required to remove an Officer from his/her position for that game. A unanimous vote of the Officers in a virtual world is required to remove that world's Guild Leader as well as approval of the Overall Guild Leader.

2.0 Rules of Conduct 2.1 Behavior

All members are expected to follow the rules established by the publisher of any game world where we have a presence. Members of the Talons of Justice should never perform actions that would result in warnings/suspensions/bans from the game in which they play.
All members will carry their guild name with honor and respect for the other players in the game. As a member of this guild you are expected to conduct yourself in a manner which will reflect well on your guild.
There will be no extreme swearing or lewd discussions in guild chat or on our Discord. Tactics designed to get around the game language filter are unacceptable. The language used should reflect tolerance for people of different cultures, races, ages, religions, nationalities, sexual orientation, and play-styles. If what you say offends someone in the guild you should refrain from similar remarks in the future.
There should be no personal attacks on other members in guild chat channels, on Discord, or any other public channel. All personal disagreements should be handled privately and through the correct procedures while still adhering to all of the above rules. Any open debates should be general in nature and not directed towards any single individual.
The Officers are in a leadership role and all members should follow their directions. Disrespecting or ignoring their requests will not be tolerated. Disagreements with anyone in this position should be taken to the in game Guild Leader to be resolved. All members must strive to do the job requested of them by Officers while on guild events.
All guild members active in guild game worlds are encouraged to read our Discord channels at least once a week.
All guild members are encouraged to use voice on Discord for better communication and coordination during guild events. Our Discord server should not be used for non-guild related communication.

2.2 Discipline

All members are expected to follow this Charter and abide by all Rules of Conduct as stated above, including the established conduct policy of the game publisher.
Any member of the Game Leadership can suspend a guild member from the guild for breaking any of these rules. Suspensions are not virtual world specific and can carry more serious ramifications as detailed later.
All suspensions should be reported to the Overall Guild Leader.
Generally not fitting into the guild can result in suspension, even without an infraction of the rules above. It is important to maintain an environment within the guild where all guild members respect each other. Any member who acts in a manner that causes them to lose the respect of their guild mates will be removed.
Suspended guild members may not participate in guild events or claim any guild items in any virtual world.
A member’s continuance in the guild, after being placed on suspension, will be discussed by all members of the Game Leadership. A majority vote of the Game Leadership can result in permanent removal of the person from the guild.
Any person removed from ToJ in one virtual world for misconduct will also have their membership in all other worlds removed. Overall Guilder Leader approval is needed to allow any person to continue to be a member in one world after being removed in another.
In Game Leadership is expected to ensure that the overall ToJ Charter and policies are fully implemented within their virtual world. The Overall Guild Leader has the power to remove any in Game Leadership member from their position should the ToJ Charter not be strictly adhered to and enforced.
Any member of any Game Leadership or Overall Leadership that breaks the Rules of Conduct should expect to receive a greater penalty than general members. Abuse of power by a member of the Leadership will not be tolerated.
Any disagreement with an Officer in game should be taken to that game's Guild Leader.
Any disagreement with the implementation of the Charter and policies within a virtual world should be taken directly to the Overall Leadership Council for review. The Overall Leadership Council will review the escalation and take action if appropriate.
Removing your own guild tag in game is the equivalent of quitting the guild. Anyone who quits the guild in a game must receive approval from the Game Leadership to be re-admitted. You may not be re-instated more than twice overall. Upon being re-instated, the member is placed on probation for one month.
You do not need to be a member of ToJ in all virtual worlds where the guild has a presence to be a member of the guild, but as stated above, misconduct in one world will result in your removal across worlds.

3.0 Loot Policies

Game specific loot policies will need to be determined within each virtual world by the Game Leadership based on what is appropriate for the mechanics of that game. There should be a fundamental philosophy of fairness and lack of discrimination contained within the policies.

4.0 Membership

Our Guild is intended to be a collection of the finest online gamers, those that can be implicitly trusted to bring honor to our name and treat all other online gamers with courtesy and respect. We desire to fill our ranks with other players who play online games with a high standard of ethics and morals.
We have 5 categories of members: Leader, Officer, Veteran, Member, and Recruit. Throughout the charter, whenever the term member is used it means all of the types of members unless otherwise noted.
Any guild member may recruit new members to the guild. They may extend an invite to anyone they recruit and should let an Officer or Leader know about the new member.
Newly tagged members are put into Recruit status until they sign up for access to our forums. The person who tags the new member should also start a welcome post for the new Recruit.
Members of ToJ are expected to have all qualifying characters guild tagged in any game world where they join our guild. Members may join ToJ in one game and choose not to in another. We have members playing games under the ToJ name in many virtual worlds, but we require a certain number of guild members to be active in a game for it to be considered a formal presence. Over the years, we have had a formal presence in EQ, EQ2, Vanguard, Warhammer, Star Trek Online, Rift, Guild Wars 2, Black Desert Online, Destiny 2 and Valheim.
All guild members can express their support or objections about any new recruits to the leadership of the appropriate virtual world. Guild members that are in Retired status may voice opinions, but may not formally object to a new recruit. Details are required for any formal objection. Any Recruit that receives 3 detailed member objections or one detailed objection from any Officer will be removed from the guild and private forums immediately. It is very important that we only allow individuals of appropriate caliber within our guild. The overall Guild Leader can refuse admittance to or remove any individual from the guild.
Any objection may be deemed inappropriate by the overall Leadership Council if it lacks sufficient evidence or violates any rule of the Charter. In such cases the objection will not be counted. The overall Leadership Council has the final say on any matters of membership across all game worlds.
If a Recruit has joined our forums and if there are no objections to them after 10 days then a determination will be made by guild leadership in that world as to the final status of the Recruit.
Any Recruit that is not rejected and removed by the above process will start on probation for one month (from date of initial tag). They may vote for/against other Recruits during that time. They may be ineligible for loot while on probation as determined by each games unique loot policies.
After becoming a full member of ToJ, anyone who de-guilds a qualifying character, applies to another guild, or joins another guild with a qualifying character is considered to have left our guild. They will immediately lose Discord access and have any remaining character(s) within that virtual world de-guilded.
Any existing ToJ member who moves to a new virtual world where ToJ has a presence should be granted instant guild membership within that world without going on probation. These members are known as Veterans.
Discord access is a privilege for members only. Discord access will be removed from any person that leaves the overall guild or applies for entry in to another guild within any virtual world where we have a presence.

5.0 Multi-World Policy Summary To help clarify the many concepts and policies expressed within the Charter above this summary is provided:

Overall ToJ Concepts (Span All Worlds):

Guild Status (Veteran, Member, Probation, Suspended, Ex-Member, Retired)
Leadership Council Positions
Charter Rules
Detags/Suspensions
Character Status
Discord Name

In Game Concepts (Virtual World Specific):

Guild Membership
Character Information
Guild Bank
Loot Policies
In Game Leadership Positions