I will, again, be using the
World of Matticus blog's article
Build Your Own Guild as a guide to draw from. I'll also be using various guild information to draw from; namely:
Chivalry of Eonar,
Pendragon of Proudmoore, and
Spectrum Rage/Spectrum Blade of Proudmoore. The combination of these three guilds is basically what I'm looking to achieve.
Guild Policy
Anyone who has a legitimate desire for the tolerance, support, and friendship that our guilds offer, is welcome to seek membership. That does not, however, mean that we have no criteria for accepting new members.
There are specific qualities that our guild possesses in abundance: open minds, tolerance of alternate lifestyles and beliefs, honor, loyalty, maturity, and camaraderie. We ask that anyone who joins us possess these same qualities. Any members who create problems for the guild by demonstrating a lack of these characteristics will be warned, possibly demoted, or if the behavior is severe, will have their guild membership revoked.
Demoniac has established the following policies to ensure that we maintain our status as a fun, friendly, and cooperative guild in the Blackhand-US realm. Failure to follow these policies may result in removal from the Guild. The Guild is comprised of a richly diverse group of people which encompasses individuals from all walks of life without regard to race, age, gender, creed, religion or sexual orientation. It is important to remember while traveling the many paths of Azeroth Guild Members act as emissaries of Demoniac and are thus expected to conduct themselves in a manner which is becoming to the Guild. High gear scores and excellent tactics mean nothing without honor and integrity. Crude language, demeaning or insulting comments and rude or petty behavior have no place in the Guild whether in any communication medium or in action and will be dealt with at the witnessing officer's discretion and/or upon investigation by the Dark Council when a complaint is filed. That is not to say Members are expected to be straight-laced and uptight, but rather to be mindful that it requires a little courtesy and discretion to build good group dynamics. When interacting with a regularly convening Guild group [i.e. a raid team] these rules may be relaxed to a level at which all members of the team are comfortable.
When joining Demoniac, consider this an oath you take:
Honor - As a member of Demoniac, my actions represent not only myself, but also my Guild to the Blackhand-US server. It is expected that I will play fairly: no ninja looting, cheating, or undermining another through gossip or other actions. My word is my bond; if I agree to do something, I will do my best to see it to the end. I agree to use words that respect others differing beliefs and views, and maintain a PG limit to Guild, Party chat and Web Posts. I recognize that, regardless of what others might do to me, I am expected to behave honorably and courteously at all times. I understand that harassing behavior, whether verbal or through in-game actions, is not acceptable.
Courtesy - Above all things, as a member of Demoniac I ought to consider how my actions might affect others. At all times I am to be considerate in my conversations, actions, offers of help, and loot distribution. Even if I think something isn't offensive, I will respect another's request to stop behavior that offends them. If I request services from another guildmate, I realize that it is my responsibility to provide them as many materials for that item as it needs. Generousity is something I aim for, as I hope for all of my guild to succeed. All members must respect the differences of others. Bigots in any form are not tolerated in the least and are not welcome in the guild. Any members who demonstrate prejudice towards a minority (race, spiritual path, sexual orientation, etc.) will likely be removed from membership post haste.
As a member of Demoniac, I recognize that any repetitive, uncorrected behavior that might be seen as cowardly, dishonorable, or uncourteous may result in my demotion or eventual expulsion from the guild. I also realize that I may respectfully respond to any accusations made about my behavior, and that I am responsible for providing any screenshots or evidence that might assist in any decisions that are made.
Age & Level Requirement
A minimum age of 18 years and a minimum level of 10 are required for acceptance into the Guild for the protection of the Dark Council and all Guild Members. By submitting an application to join the Guild, the applicant is declaring that he/she meets the age requirement. The Dark Council reserves the right to request verification of such. This is a mature guild after all, and we would prefer not to be accused of corrupting any impressionable minors.
Commitment
Real life takes precedence over World of Warcraft! WoW is a fun game but everyone has a life outside of Azeroth. All Demoniac members will be respectful of others' real life situations, circumstances, and emergencies. That being said, Demoniac members honor their commitments. Before a Member agrees to attend an event the Member should realistically determine if he/she will actually be able to fulfill the commitment. Once a commitment is made, Members are expected to show up on time [typically 15 minutes prior to the actual start of the event] and be prepared. When circumstances arise that prevent fulfillment of a commitment, Members are expected to advise the event leader of such when feasible.
Teamwork
It is the goal of the Guild to provide an environment in which Members will enjoy playing World of Warcraft while working together to become a well tuned machine. In order to accomplish this, Members need to know their roles, listen to the leaders, be open to new suggestions, and help Guild mates that need it. Some aspects of the game are more difficult than others but it shouldn't feel like work. Demoniac Members are willing to help one another and in-game or forum requests for help will be honored through one means or the other as soon as possible. It is the Guild's policy that no Member shall charge another Guild Member to craft and/or create any item in-game. It is customary for the requesting Member to provide any materials required. There are many challenges to be faced throughout the land of Azeroth and many of these challenges are best faced with appropriate level characters. While the help of another guildmate speaks volumes of their honor, it is important that I do not abuse the privilege of their higher levels or their greater access to Gold and items. Begging for money, items, or help when none is available does not reflect well on my stature.
Integrity
Members will always strive to do what is right even if it is at a personal cost. It is expected that all Guild Members will abide by Blizzard’s Terms of Use and Terms of Service at all times. As a guild we respect WoW's ToS (Terms of Service). Therefore we do not in any way encourage power-leveling or purchasing gold, as those not only compromise that one person's account, but might compromise others that interact with them in the guild. If these are practices you take part in, you should consider choosing another guild. If we discover you using these services while in Demoniac, this may be grounds for immediate removal from our guild..
Finances
Demoniac strives to assist Members by providing them access to a Guild Bank. Access rights will be granted based on a Member’s rank within the Guild. Fiends will not be able to make withdrawals from the Guild Bank. All other members will have limited access to withdrawal items from the bank and a ten (10) gold per day limit for repairs. The Guild requires that all ranks above Fallen utilize the Blizzard Authenticator. This is for the protection of the user and the Guild as a whole. If there is an item in the Bank to which a Member does not have access, and this item would be useful for the Member’s character, any Dark Council member may be contacted for assistance. Please be prepared to show that the item will be a useful upgrade. Any Member of any rank who removes items from the bank solely for personal monetary gain (selling items on the auction house, vendoring items, etc) will be immediately removed from the Guild. When accessing the Guild Bank, remember our general policy: take what you need, give what you can and don’t be greedy.
Communications - imVOX
The Guild provides access to imVOX as a benefit to it’s Members at the discretion of the Dark Council. Each Member will be assigned a personal login and password. This login and password will grant the Member access to the private Guild channels. This personal login information is not to be shared with anyone. The Guild imVOX server may be used for PUG’s; the guest password will be kept in-game in the Guild Information section of the social [O] frame. All Members shall respect the privacy of others and not listen in [lurk] on conversations in which they have no role with the exception of monthly Dark Council Meetings which all Members are invited to attend.
Communications - Guild Chat
Guild Chat is a private benefit of Membership and add-ons which violate that privacy [i.e. Guild2Guild] are strictly prohibited. Crude language and inflammatory or insulting comments will not be tolerated. Failure to abide by these privacy and communication policies will result removal from the Guild. We don't feel it is productive or necessary to attempt to create or enforce rules to regulate the conversation in guild chat. We would encourage everyone to be respectful of others and "tone down" a racey conversation if someone expresses distaste. We would also encourage someone to speak with an officer if he or she is not comfortable asking the current guild chat topic to be dropped themselves. If repeated attempts at requesting a "change of topic" are ignored and an officer is not online to address the issue immediately, it would be appropriate to send a brief in-game-mail or PM on this site to an officer so we could have the opportunity to privately speak with those who insist on disrespecting their fellow guild mates. We encourage everyone to speak their minds and have fun; but at the same time be courteous to your fellow guild mates. No advertising and selling of items or services in guild chat. Guild chat is not your personal trade channel and should not be treated as so. If you want to sell stuff use the AH!! In addition to this, do not offer items on guildchat and then when someone response wanting the item give them a price. This is not only tacky but just plain rude to your fellow guildmates. This also applies to conversations on imVOX and the Web Site.
Communications - Web Site
The Guild maintains a web site as a communications tool for it’s Members and it is essential that Members regularly visit the forums to check for announcements, upcoming events, elections, etc. A wealth of information may be found on the web site and Members are encouraged to share their knowledge and experiences with others. The web site will be the primary interface for Guild Event sign ups and dissemination of information. Again this is a private communication medium for Guild Members and signin information should never be shared with anyone. Abuse of these privileges may result in removal from the Guild.
Member Inactivity
All Members are expected to be active both in-game and on the web site. Failure to log-in to both the game and the web site for more than 30 days may result in removal from the Guild unless the Guild has been notified of your extended leave in advance. In order to rejoin the Guild, the inactive individual must reapply for membership.
For Fiends: If you go inactive while on trial with no communication, you will be removed from the guild promptly at the end of 2 weeks. Acceptable forms of communication are via: website - forum posts and PMs, and in-game. Keep in mind that website communication is more reliable, and less easily forgotten than a chance comment in guild chat.
For the Fallen and above ranks: As Demoniac grows in size, occasional adjustments to guidelines and rules occur. Guild members who are absent from the game will be demoted to Fiend status after a minimum of one month, and upon returning, must read any updated policies/guidelines before being promoted to their former rank. If you remain inactive, you may be removed from the guild after as little as one month at the Fiend level.
Vacations, Hiatus, Absence: Real life happens! We want to encourage you to take the time you need for real life, but understand that Demoniac is an active and dynamic community. If you want to maintain your place in the guild, it is your responsibility to communicate the length of your absence. This must be done via the Hiatus thread in the announcement forums or a PM to one of the active officer's. Absences longer than 3 weeks will result in a temporary placement at the Fiend level. This ensures guild security, so that we can confirm the same person who logged out is the same person who returns, and prevent bank mishaps if you get hacked! Upon your return from a long hiatus/absence, we may require you to read any changed policies. After you have read those policies - and ensured access to our forums, you are welcome to return to your highest (non-officer) rank. Former officers returning from hiatus may be asked to demonstrate activity levels and renewed familiarity with guild members before resuming an officer ranking. We will maintain hiatus status for as long as you communicate with us, but generally not more than 6+ months unless you have an expectation of resuming play, and/or are keeping in touch with the community via our forums.
Characters on Other Servers:
If at some point, due to friendships, preference, or familiarity, you choose to become inactive on Blackhand-US
/Horde on Blackhand-US
, we ask that you let us know, and coordinate with us to remove you from our roster. Demoniac
is, above-all, a community guild - if you are only logging in 5-10 minutes a week to check mail, and rarely check our forums, then it is probably time to recognize that Demoniac
is no longer your primary community. If you become active again, you are welcome to reapply in most cases. If you want to keep in touch with Demoniac
, and make yourself available as a sub/fill-in for spaces in various instances/runs, you may contact one of the officer's and request permission to retain visitor status on our website.
Alternate Characters
Players that have achieved the Fallen rank or above are invited to bring alternate characters into the Guild. Before an alternate will be invited to join the Guild, the player must ensure that the character name is listed in your web site profile. Council Members will verify that they are listed prior to issuing an invite. Alternates will be held to the same inactivity requirement as your main character. Please note that Demoniac is a guild for main characters and alts, especially if those alts are on the server. If someone decides that Demoniac isn't a good fit for all of their characters and leaves, we expect them to take all of their characters to their new guild.
Because Demoniac is full of members who are generally helpful, we feel this policy helps protect people from being used, as our assistance and kindnesses have been abused in the past. If your goals change, and you feel another guild would suit you better, we will wish you the best of luck and send you on your way. Another reason for this policy, is that Demoniac does not want to become an "Alt Storage Facility" for people who play elsewhere.
Loot Rules
In any groups, it is strongly encouraged that all members of Demoniac discuss the type of loot rules, especially if they are in a PuG (Pick-up-Group) where players may have different ideas, or low-level groups where players are new to the game. (Greed all; Need only on upgrades; 1 blue, 1 set piece; etc.) Remember that being a ninja is a serious offense, and will have major repercussions in our guild. In addition to that, the following Loot Guidelines are strongly encouraged as they keep things fair:
- Do not pull when you are a caster, that's what tanks are for.
- Designate one puller and stick with that puller.
- If you're a caster and get aggro on you, let the group know and stay in one spot.
- Wait to loot till after all the fighting is done.
- Do not roll for something you can't use. If everyone passes on the item, then it's up for grabs. Also you can use the Need before Greed loot setting that only allows people to roll if they can use the item.
- Get with the rest of the group on how to handle chests. A good idea is to roll for it by typing /roll.
- Don't loot chests until all the fighting is done.
- Do not move on until everyone is ready. Let your casters get their mana back and rebuff as necessary.
- Wait to rez until all the fighting is over.
- Healers need to watch the party member's bars.
- Casters should manage their mana and not blow it all on a pull.
- Coordinate saps and sheeping with the rest of your group so they don't attack it.
- Once combat is over, look around and make sure nobody else is getting attacked.
- If you have to leave the group, let everyone know before you do it and don't do it in the middle of a fight.
- Help the healers help you by bringing along heal potions for you to drink.
- Do not leave your group behind! If you notice someone has fallen behind and aren't responding, wait for them.
- If your group is getting slaughtered, don't leave them to fend for themselves. Stick with them and help.
- Before rushing ahead with your gathering profession (mining, skinning, herbing) ask if other members in your party if they have those professions. If they do, volunteer to trade off on the things you find, allowing them to gather needed items or level up a skill.
At all times, be thoughtful of your party members especially if they are Guildmates, if you've already gotten a few upgrades, and someone else hasn't gotten anything - maybe consider allowing them to have the item. The better geared your guildees are, the more success you all will have while grouped! Remember, this is just a game - if there's a particular item you are hoping to get, post a thread in the Group/Events section of the forums and schedule a run! Make sure you mention that you want to run the instance so you can get that one item you need, and hopefully your guildmates will step in and give you a hand!
Raiding Code of Conduct
Goals: Demoniac will never be a hard core raiding guild. While we will reward those willing to commit to any scheduled raids, we will not set up hard and fast requirements for time commitments. Demoniac's main raiding requirement is that you come willing to respect the others on your team, and come prepared for fun. We will achieve this by each member taking personal responsibility for their own preparations.
Please note: Raiding is a privilege, given to you by the others on your team. It is not a right. If a member is thought to be abusing the privilege of raiding with guildees, and being inconsiderate of others' time, they may be asked to sit out.
Raid Organizer/Leader Responsibilities
- Ensure success of the raid by balancing available classes and needed roles
- Enable future successes by rotating-in new raiding toons whenever possible (either new players or alts to fill a role gap)
- Schedule raids at least one week in advance
- Confirm an initial line-up based on sign-ups, and note them in the Calendar entry (preferably 24 hours in advance)
- Research the instance, boss-fights and strategies - and pass-on this information to raiders via the forums/calendar
- Follow loot rules quickly and accurately, and/or assign a Master Looter
- Keep the raid moving in a timely manner
- Provide guidance and gameplay feedback to raid participants as necessary
- Help train those interested in RL’ing or ML’ing
- Ensure that players who signed-up (and were available) but did not make the raid line-up receive priority placement on a future raid
Demoniac Raider Responsibilities
- Choose one character to focus on for raiding - alts are allowed/encouraged if a particular role is missing/needed
- Communicate your interest and readiness to raid
- Know the minimum recommended stats for your class/spec and how your toon measures-up
- Have a general plan for gearing-up that does not rely exclusively on raid drops (PvP, crafted/purchased gear, etc. If you need some advice, please ask!)
- Sign-up for raids via the Calendar and check it for updates
- Research the instance, boss-fights and strategies for your class/role
- Keep your mods/add-ons updated
- Be prepared: be enchanted/gem'ed/glyph'ed, bring reagents, pots, buff food, water, bandages, elixirs for known fights, flasks for learning encounters, extra ammo, all armor repaired, bag space (the guild may be able to help with some of these, just ask!)
- Be ready for invites 15 minutes prior to first pull (preferably, at the stone to help summons)
- If you're interested in being an alternate, be online 15 minutes prior to first pull and be ready to go if a spot opens up last minute - priority to those who signed up.
- Post-raid: repay those who you may have borrowed materials from, be prepared to pay your own repair bills
- Be patient: know that the leadership is working hard to balance inclusion with overall raid success
- Ask questions, be vocal, and have fun!
Required Addons/Programs:
- imVOX - Allows Voice Chat, non-wow addon. www.imvox.com/ (Please note: You only really need a way to listen, this saves time and makes sure everyone hears important explanations, instructions, etc.)
Important note concerning classes, mains and alts:
- Recognize that some types of raids demand a certain class make-up to be successful.
- While Demoniac will not require you to spec a certain way, depending on your chosen spec or class, room may be limited.
- If there is no room for your chosen raiding character, you will be allowed to bring a Raid-ready alt if it fills a needed spot. Those alts will be eligible for loot according to our loot policy.
- If your role is filled for the night, you may not be able to run that night. Consistent sign-ups will be rewarded, with either more runs scheduled, or switching you in on the next raid.
Unacceptable behavior that will result in removal from raiding:
- Causing drama or complaining over loot. If you have an issue, whisper the Raid Leader or Master Looter, and present your case or thoughts calmly and rationally. Their decision is final. Keep in mind that we are here as a team, any team-mate who gets loot will make us more successful. If you feel something unfair happened, feel free to message the GM.
- Showing up late with no warning, begging pots, etc. from Guildees. --- 3rd strike, you're out for a while. RL happens occasionally, and on a personal level we can be forgiving. Consistent behavior may result in your not being re-invited until those issues are no longer problematic for you.
- Not listening to the raid leader.--- If someone takes the time to research a boss fight, if you don't follow instructions you could wipe the whole group. Wiping while learning the fight is fine, but wiping over and over because someone isn't paying any attention is simply not fun.
- Telling people how to play. If something raid-affecting needs to be said, let the Raid Leader decide. Our goal is to enjoy our time playing our characters, not having others play our characters for us.
- Unasked criticism of other guildees. You can ask if someone would like advice, but respect their answer if they say no. Preferably leave that to the Raid Officer or Leader to address when necessary.
Attendance/Invites night of the Raid:
- Demoniac has no attendance requirements, however - if not enough people are signed up to attend a raid 24 hours before the event, it may be canceled.
- To reserve a spot on a run, you must sign-up using the guild calendar.
- We will have a 5-15 minute time-frame for people to log-in and get their priority placement. If your character will be ready to walk in the instance without a summons, let us know if you expect to run late, and we may give you a little more time. 5 Minutes before the intended start time, we will generally begin pulling alternates in this order (priority to guildees who have signed this charter):
- Queued players
- Guild-members
- Interested raid-ready players from our GM network guilds
- If the above doesn't work, the group and Raid Leader will decide whether to PuG the open spot(s) or cancel.
- Barring emergencies, if you need to leave early from a raid, or want to give up your spot, we would prefer to only switch characters out after a boss fight. Preferably, there would be an alternate available.
- It is important that you communicate to the raid organizer if you cannot attend a raid for which you have been confirmed. A confirmed guildee who does not show up for a raid and does not contact the raid organizing officer within 48 hrs following the raid will be placed at the bottom of the priority queue for the next raid they sign up for.
Although Demoniac is a casual guild - be realistic. Raiding does require organization and preparation. You can help most by ensuring your own preparation and being a team player.
Loyalty
All Members of Demoniac are expected to abide by these policies. Those Members who prove themselves strong and positive team players create an opportunity to be promoted within the Guild. Members are encouraged to invite other players whom they believe will be an asset to the Guild to submit an application via the Demoniac of Blackhand-US' website.
Fun
All Members are required to have fun while playing World of Warcraft!
