Post by FunkySwerve on Apr 3, 2006 3:35:42 GMT
Guild Rules:
1.) Introduction
a. These rules are crafted to be as intuitive as possible. We kept them as brief as possible, but they are still fairly long. This was necessary in order to carefully limit PvP activity to consenting players.
b. Guild Members are charged with knowing and obeying these rules. Ignorance of the rules is no excuse for an infraction of these rules.
c. Pickpocketing is generally allowed on this server regardless of guild status, and is mentioned frequently in these rules. The rules governing pickpocketing are set out in the general server rules. Any mention here is merely an attempt to clarify those rules with respect to guild activities.
2.) Guild Formation
a. Requirements:
i. Group Size: Gather a group of no less then 4 players.
ii. Theme: All guilds must have some sort of theme that must be approved by DM Sorceress. Guidelines for these themes are very loose as HG has never been a heavy roleplay server, but SOME basis for the guild must exist.
iii. Cost: 4 billion gold is required in order to establish a guild. This money is to be turned over to DM FunkySwerve.
iv. Votes: If you have taken the time to form a guild you obviously enjoy Higher Ground, so please ensure that all your members cast a vote for Higher Ground on the Neverwinter Vault, to help us continue to expand our player base.
b. Once you have met these requirements, inform DM FunkySwerve. Once he determines that you have fulfilled all the requirements listed above, construction of your guild headquarters will commence.
c. There are no guidelines in place for internal guild structure or rankings. This is done intentionally, as it is your guild; you decide what is required to qualify for membership. You can require certain items, amounts of gold, immortality, whatever you want. This freedom is subject to the following rules:
i. Each character may only belong to ONE guild. It will be nigh impossible for a character to obtain a guild token for more than one guild. If your character IS able to infiltrate a guild somehow, you are welcome to do so.
ii. Each new member accepted by a guild after formation must vote for Higher Ground on the Neverwinter Vault. We ask that the guilds police this, and we will keep it on an honor system basis.
iii. Each Guild must appoint one or more persons as the head of the guild, for the purposes of Declarations of War (covered under Rule 4 below). The names of these guild heads will be posted on a Guild List sign next to the Guild Notice Board in the Docks. This designation has no other significance within the guild, unless the guild wants it to.
3.) Consequences of Guild Membership
a. You open yourself up to forms of behavior not normally tolerated on Higher Ground, including:
i. Stealing of loot from areas you are clearing by other guilds
ii. Stealing of spawns by other guilds in areas you are clearing
iii. Hostile interference in battle, designed to throw the outcome of the battle in the monsters favor. This does NOT include targeting spells at players, which amounts to PvP. It DOES include laying traps and casting area of effects spells, so long as they do not affect the intended victim immediately. You may, for instance, block a route of escape with Blade Barriers, but you may not cast them directly under your victim. The same goes for non-damaging spells such as Grease and Mind Fog. You can cast these spells where they will cause difficulty for your victim, but not in a place where they will be immediately effected by them. Even nondamaging spells like Bigby's Interposing Hand may not be cast directly on your victim, unless you are at war with their guild (this counts as full PvP).
iv. Any other forms of nastiness HG players can devise, short of full PvP. This includes pickpocketing, which is allowed regardless of the guild status of the victim. We know we have some devious souls here, and expect to see some creative tactics.
v. Full PvP, but only if a guild war has been officially declared between your guild and another guild or guilds, per the guidelines for declaring guild wars set out in Rule 4.
vi. Do not under any circumstances use tactics like these on non-guild members (except pickpocketing). Punishment will be swift and certain.
b. You are able to engage in the same behavior against members of other guilds.
c. You get access to a custom guildhouse, with teleportation magic and a replenishing stock of healing potions and teleportation gems.
4.) Guild Warfare and PvP
a. Guild Wars are encouraged and are a large part of the reason for the implementation of guilds. That being said, there are some definite guidelines which must be followed to the letter.
i. Any characters involved in Guild Wars MUST be above level 30.
ii. No lowbie killing will be permitted at any time, and will carry punishments up to and including the disbandment of your guild, so don't do it. For the purposes of guild warfare, lowbie killing is the killing of anyone under level 30.
iii. There must be a roleplay reason to kill any guild member not involved in a guild war at the present time. If they provoke you by engaging in behaviors listed in Rule 3a above, such as loot or spawn stealing, that is sufficient reason, so long as you and they are guild members. If you or they are not guild members, you MAY NOT kill them until you have reported the behavior to a DM and received DM permission to do so. Pickpocketing is the sole exception to this rule. If you catch someone picking your pocket, you may attack them immediately - but you had better be certain!
iv. Declaration of War: A GUILD MUST PROVIDE A WARNING 24 hours before commencing a war on another guild. This warning must be posted by the head of the guild on the new Guild Notice Board in the Docks. Declarations of War are only valid if posted by a guild head, as listed in the Guild List next to the Guild Message Boards.
v. Guilds may agree to end a guild war at any time. The head of the guild that declared war must post notice of the cessation of hostilities on the Guild Notice Boards. This notice is effective immediately, and means that PvP between members of those guilds is no longer acceptable, until a new Declaration of War is posted and 24 hours has passed since that Declaration.
vi. A guild must have a reason to declare war on another guild. Any of the provocations listed in Rule 3a are sufficient. This means that if you WANT to go to war with a guild, you only need to provoke them into declaring war on you. If they don't, you can continue to provoke them until they do, or wait until they provoke you. Please do not 'invent' provocations, this system is meant to be consensual to a degree. If a rival guild refuses to declare war on you, and does not provoke your guild members, you may continue to harass their members, but may not attack them directly.
vii. All battles must take place in PvP areas. Please keep the full scale battles out of areas which low-level characters frequent, such as the Road to Town and the Beetle Cave. Try to keep the battles to the east of town and other high-level areas, like Manatakloss.
viii. In the course of battle throughout the lands of Ascension, please be careful not to endanger people not involved in the battle.
ix. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES should a guild member attack someone not involved in the guild system, UNLESS that person has pickpocketed the guild member. There are many players who only want to play and level their characters while doing battle against the many monsters in HG. If you interfere with a non-guild member's enjoyment of HG, you may be subjected to severe consequences, including disbandment of guilds and in extreme cases, banning. This means that, if a guild member is traveling with other non-guild members, that guild member is essentially off-limits to any type of action that would impact their non-guild companions negatively. Pickpocketing, as always, is allowed, but if it
5.) Mechanics
a. There will be a way for guild members to differentiate guild members from the general public. Pay careful attention to guild designations, since these may save your life, and will help you avoid targeting non-guild members.
i. A token will be given to all guild members. When used, this token will tell the player using it if the targeted character is a guild member, and to which guild they belong.
ii. These tokens may only be acquired by characters of level 30 or above; this helps prevent lowbies from being subjected to guild warfare.
iii. You may not under any circumstance target a player for any of the actions listed in Rule 3a (except pickpocketing) who is not a token-bearing member of a guild.
iv. You may not under any circumstance engage in guild behavior allowed in Rule 3a (except pickpocketing) unless you CURRENTLY have a guild token in your inventory. If you lose your token for whatever reason, you must replace it before you can again engage in guild activity.
v. If a character not belonging to a guild performs any of the actions listed in Rule 3a, you must report the server rule infraction to a DM at first opportunity and may only kill that character pending approval of the DM staff. Pickpocketing is the sole exception to this rule. If you catch someone picking your pocket, you may attack them immediately - but you had better be certain!
vi. You may only kill the offender one time. Resurrecting, or even worse, raising dead the character in order to kill them again is seriously frowned on, and will result in actions being taken against you by the DM staff.
6.) Actions not to be taken, even by guild members, under any circumstances
a. Unprovoked attacks on players at any time. Guilds must declare war on each other to allow full PvP combat, absent provocation.
b. Any hostile actions taken on a player other then those specifically allowed against other guild members by guild members.
7.) What Constitutes Provocation
a. We are walking a fine line between PvP and cooperative play here. Situations will arise in which it is unclear whether provocation sufficient to merit an attack or declaration of guild war has occurred. In such cases:
i. There is a presumption that provocation is SUFFICIENT, if the allegedly provoking party entered an area occupied by a member or members of the opposing guild or guilds. In other words, if you don't want to incite a combat or guild war, stay out of areas occupied by members of rival guilds, just as regular non-guild players should stay out of areas occupied by other parties.
ii. There is a presumption that the provocation is INSUFFICIENT, if the allegedly provoking party was in an area when the member of the opposing guild claiming they were provoked first entered that area. In other words, you cannot claim provocation by placing yourself conveniently in harm's way.
iii. If there is any doubt, ask a DM to resolve the dispute before engaging in full PvP.
1.) Introduction
a. These rules are crafted to be as intuitive as possible. We kept them as brief as possible, but they are still fairly long. This was necessary in order to carefully limit PvP activity to consenting players.
b. Guild Members are charged with knowing and obeying these rules. Ignorance of the rules is no excuse for an infraction of these rules.
c. Pickpocketing is generally allowed on this server regardless of guild status, and is mentioned frequently in these rules. The rules governing pickpocketing are set out in the general server rules. Any mention here is merely an attempt to clarify those rules with respect to guild activities.
2.) Guild Formation
a. Requirements:
i. Group Size: Gather a group of no less then 4 players.
ii. Theme: All guilds must have some sort of theme that must be approved by DM Sorceress. Guidelines for these themes are very loose as HG has never been a heavy roleplay server, but SOME basis for the guild must exist.
iii. Cost: 4 billion gold is required in order to establish a guild. This money is to be turned over to DM FunkySwerve.
iv. Votes: If you have taken the time to form a guild you obviously enjoy Higher Ground, so please ensure that all your members cast a vote for Higher Ground on the Neverwinter Vault, to help us continue to expand our player base.
b. Once you have met these requirements, inform DM FunkySwerve. Once he determines that you have fulfilled all the requirements listed above, construction of your guild headquarters will commence.
c. There are no guidelines in place for internal guild structure or rankings. This is done intentionally, as it is your guild; you decide what is required to qualify for membership. You can require certain items, amounts of gold, immortality, whatever you want. This freedom is subject to the following rules:
i. Each character may only belong to ONE guild. It will be nigh impossible for a character to obtain a guild token for more than one guild. If your character IS able to infiltrate a guild somehow, you are welcome to do so.
ii. Each new member accepted by a guild after formation must vote for Higher Ground on the Neverwinter Vault. We ask that the guilds police this, and we will keep it on an honor system basis.
iii. Each Guild must appoint one or more persons as the head of the guild, for the purposes of Declarations of War (covered under Rule 4 below). The names of these guild heads will be posted on a Guild List sign next to the Guild Notice Board in the Docks. This designation has no other significance within the guild, unless the guild wants it to.
3.) Consequences of Guild Membership
a. You open yourself up to forms of behavior not normally tolerated on Higher Ground, including:
i. Stealing of loot from areas you are clearing by other guilds
ii. Stealing of spawns by other guilds in areas you are clearing
iii. Hostile interference in battle, designed to throw the outcome of the battle in the monsters favor. This does NOT include targeting spells at players, which amounts to PvP. It DOES include laying traps and casting area of effects spells, so long as they do not affect the intended victim immediately. You may, for instance, block a route of escape with Blade Barriers, but you may not cast them directly under your victim. The same goes for non-damaging spells such as Grease and Mind Fog. You can cast these spells where they will cause difficulty for your victim, but not in a place where they will be immediately effected by them. Even nondamaging spells like Bigby's Interposing Hand may not be cast directly on your victim, unless you are at war with their guild (this counts as full PvP).
iv. Any other forms of nastiness HG players can devise, short of full PvP. This includes pickpocketing, which is allowed regardless of the guild status of the victim. We know we have some devious souls here, and expect to see some creative tactics.
v. Full PvP, but only if a guild war has been officially declared between your guild and another guild or guilds, per the guidelines for declaring guild wars set out in Rule 4.
vi. Do not under any circumstances use tactics like these on non-guild members (except pickpocketing). Punishment will be swift and certain.
b. You are able to engage in the same behavior against members of other guilds.
c. You get access to a custom guildhouse, with teleportation magic and a replenishing stock of healing potions and teleportation gems.
4.) Guild Warfare and PvP
a. Guild Wars are encouraged and are a large part of the reason for the implementation of guilds. That being said, there are some definite guidelines which must be followed to the letter.
i. Any characters involved in Guild Wars MUST be above level 30.
ii. No lowbie killing will be permitted at any time, and will carry punishments up to and including the disbandment of your guild, so don't do it. For the purposes of guild warfare, lowbie killing is the killing of anyone under level 30.
iii. There must be a roleplay reason to kill any guild member not involved in a guild war at the present time. If they provoke you by engaging in behaviors listed in Rule 3a above, such as loot or spawn stealing, that is sufficient reason, so long as you and they are guild members. If you or they are not guild members, you MAY NOT kill them until you have reported the behavior to a DM and received DM permission to do so. Pickpocketing is the sole exception to this rule. If you catch someone picking your pocket, you may attack them immediately - but you had better be certain!
iv. Declaration of War: A GUILD MUST PROVIDE A WARNING 24 hours before commencing a war on another guild. This warning must be posted by the head of the guild on the new Guild Notice Board in the Docks. Declarations of War are only valid if posted by a guild head, as listed in the Guild List next to the Guild Message Boards.
v. Guilds may agree to end a guild war at any time. The head of the guild that declared war must post notice of the cessation of hostilities on the Guild Notice Boards. This notice is effective immediately, and means that PvP between members of those guilds is no longer acceptable, until a new Declaration of War is posted and 24 hours has passed since that Declaration.
vi. A guild must have a reason to declare war on another guild. Any of the provocations listed in Rule 3a are sufficient. This means that if you WANT to go to war with a guild, you only need to provoke them into declaring war on you. If they don't, you can continue to provoke them until they do, or wait until they provoke you. Please do not 'invent' provocations, this system is meant to be consensual to a degree. If a rival guild refuses to declare war on you, and does not provoke your guild members, you may continue to harass their members, but may not attack them directly.
vii. All battles must take place in PvP areas. Please keep the full scale battles out of areas which low-level characters frequent, such as the Road to Town and the Beetle Cave. Try to keep the battles to the east of town and other high-level areas, like Manatakloss.
viii. In the course of battle throughout the lands of Ascension, please be careful not to endanger people not involved in the battle.
ix. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES should a guild member attack someone not involved in the guild system, UNLESS that person has pickpocketed the guild member. There are many players who only want to play and level their characters while doing battle against the many monsters in HG. If you interfere with a non-guild member's enjoyment of HG, you may be subjected to severe consequences, including disbandment of guilds and in extreme cases, banning. This means that, if a guild member is traveling with other non-guild members, that guild member is essentially off-limits to any type of action that would impact their non-guild companions negatively. Pickpocketing, as always, is allowed, but if it
5.) Mechanics
a. There will be a way for guild members to differentiate guild members from the general public. Pay careful attention to guild designations, since these may save your life, and will help you avoid targeting non-guild members.
i. A token will be given to all guild members. When used, this token will tell the player using it if the targeted character is a guild member, and to which guild they belong.
ii. These tokens may only be acquired by characters of level 30 or above; this helps prevent lowbies from being subjected to guild warfare.
iii. You may not under any circumstance target a player for any of the actions listed in Rule 3a (except pickpocketing) who is not a token-bearing member of a guild.
iv. You may not under any circumstance engage in guild behavior allowed in Rule 3a (except pickpocketing) unless you CURRENTLY have a guild token in your inventory. If you lose your token for whatever reason, you must replace it before you can again engage in guild activity.
v. If a character not belonging to a guild performs any of the actions listed in Rule 3a, you must report the server rule infraction to a DM at first opportunity and may only kill that character pending approval of the DM staff. Pickpocketing is the sole exception to this rule. If you catch someone picking your pocket, you may attack them immediately - but you had better be certain!
vi. You may only kill the offender one time. Resurrecting, or even worse, raising dead the character in order to kill them again is seriously frowned on, and will result in actions being taken against you by the DM staff.
6.) Actions not to be taken, even by guild members, under any circumstances
a. Unprovoked attacks on players at any time. Guilds must declare war on each other to allow full PvP combat, absent provocation.
b. Any hostile actions taken on a player other then those specifically allowed against other guild members by guild members.
7.) What Constitutes Provocation
a. We are walking a fine line between PvP and cooperative play here. Situations will arise in which it is unclear whether provocation sufficient to merit an attack or declaration of guild war has occurred. In such cases:
i. There is a presumption that provocation is SUFFICIENT, if the allegedly provoking party entered an area occupied by a member or members of the opposing guild or guilds. In other words, if you don't want to incite a combat or guild war, stay out of areas occupied by members of rival guilds, just as regular non-guild players should stay out of areas occupied by other parties.
ii. There is a presumption that the provocation is INSUFFICIENT, if the allegedly provoking party was in an area when the member of the opposing guild claiming they were provoked first entered that area. In other words, you cannot claim provocation by placing yourself conveniently in harm's way.
iii. If there is any doubt, ask a DM to resolve the dispute before engaging in full PvP.