GuildBylaws

From Apotheosis

Contents 1 Membership Goals 2 Invitation policy 3 Raiding policy 3.1 Raid Council 4 Membership conduct 5 Amendment Procedure

Membership Goals

Apotheosis is a coalition of people that believe in the following criteria for a successful raiding guild :

1. Maturity: Civil discussion of issues.
2. Co-operation: Working with everyone else in the guild towards seeing new content and outfitting members with the items they desire.
3. Commitment: Belief in these criteria and a willingness to execute to achieve success.
4. Skill: Working to better the playing style of each other.
5. Content: Playing the game to see and defeat all content in the game.

Invitation policy

1. Application: All applicants must fill out the guild application.
2. Point of Contact: All prospective players will have a primary Point of Contact (POC). The POC is someone currently in Apotheosis who will be the applicant's liaison between the guild and the applicant. The POC is responsible for answering all questions about the application process, as well as making sure the applicant completes all the tasks. Applicants who know someone in the guild are encouraged to use them as their POC. Applicants who do not know anyone in the guild are encouraged to signup for raids and will be approached by a POC after a few weeks.
3. Vouchers: The applicant and the sponsor must find two people willing to vouch for the applicant before they are considered for invitation into the guild.
4. Voting Process: A thread in a voting forum will be created for each applicant. This thread will have a copy of the application, clearly showing the sponsor and vouchers as well as all votes from the existing guild members. Guild members may cast one vote: YES, NO, or VETO. A 2/3 majority (of all guild members) in favor of the candidate is required before the applicant can become a member. Guild members are allowed to change or withdraw their votes as they see fit while the voting process is still active. Once voting is closed for a candidate, all votes are final and may not be changed.
   • Yes: This is a vote in favor of admission to the guild and counts towards the required 2/3 majority for admittance.
   • No: This is a vote against admission to the guild and does not count towards the required 2/3 majority for admittance.
   • Veto: This is a vote strongly against admission to the guild. One week after a candidate receives a 5th veto, if no vetoes have been changed or withdrawn, then the candidate is immediately removed from the application process and treated under the bylaws exactly as if they had not gathered the requisite number of favorable votes at the end of the regular voting period.
5. Probation: Once an applicant has 1/2 of the guild voting yes for them they will be provisionally invited into the guild. For all loot purposes this person will be considered as if they were a full member. They will not be granted access to the forums, nor will their vote count on open issues.
6. Duration: The application process will last 4 weeks or 1 week after 2/3 vote is reached (whichever is shorter), after which the votes will be tallied. If the member has been provisionally invited, and they haven't received the required number of votes at the end of their probationary period, they will be removed from the guild.
7. Re-application: No person may attempt to join the guild more than 3 times, nor may any person apply more often than once every 3 weeks.
8. Application Queue: There is a maximum of three (3) total allowable applicants at any given time during the recruitment process. This may be temporarily overruled by a majority vote (2/3) of the guild in cases of emergency member influx. The emergency vote must indicate either the person who is an exception to the limit or a change to the limit (and state the new limit) of allowable applicants. Current applicants will not be affected by the emergency vote, but no new applicants will be allowed to apply until current applications are resolved. Posting intent and finding sponsors is still considered the best method of entering the application queue. All Applicants (both probationary and non-probationary) for guild membership are considered on a first-come, first-serve basis.
9. Size: The guild should grow to a size to maintain full 40 man raids, but not so big that too many people are consistently being turned away. As a guideline, 8 people from each class should be invited into the guild
10. Main Characters: All Apotheosis members are expected to have a designated Main Character for the purposes of raid invitation and loot distribution (whereby any other characters would be considered Alternate Characters). In the situation where a guild member wishes to designate a *new* Main Character, the following guidelines will be observed:
    • Requirements:
      • New character must meet all application requirements
      • Must have minimum of 1/3 approval from both classes (original character class and new character class) before voting can commence.
    • Voting:
      • An application thread will be created in the Recruitment Forum. Any guild member wishing to switch Main Characters must post a completed application for their new character along with links to either RPGO or CT Profile. Discussion on the application will be done in this thread and be used to garner support from affected classes as well as address questions/concerns about the impact of the switch.
      • After class approval has been met, voting on the applicant will be done via Plurality poll, with the options of YES, NO or VETO.
      • The application to designate a new main character will be open for 2 weeks, after which votes will be totalled.
      • A 2/3 majority vote (of all voters) is required for approval of the application.
    • Restrictions:
      • Only 1 application to switch Main Characters may be open at any time.
      • A guild member may switch Main Characters up to 3 times, but not more than once in a 3 month period.
      • Once a new Main Character is designated, all other characters will be considered Alternate Characters for the purposes of guild membership, raid invitation and loot distribution.
11. Alternate Characters: Once a player has achieved full guild membership they are allowed to nominate their alternate characters as "social" alts. Social alts will have the same rights as non-guilded members. A Social alt rank will be created to distinguish these characters. Note: These alts will still have their points merged into the main character's points as is dictated by the bylaws.
12. Reinvitation: In the situation where a guild member leaves the guild of their own accord, they may re-apply to the guild through an expedited application process. If doing so, the following guidelines will be observed:
    • Requirements:
      • Former guild members must re-apply within two weeks of their departure date to be eligible for the expedited application process. If re-applying after the two week deadline, the applicant must apply through normal means as outlined in the Invitation Policy.
    • Voting:
      • An application thread will be created in the Recruitment Forum. Discussion on the re-application will be done in this thread and be used to ask questions and/or address concerns about the re-application.
      • Voting on the applicant will be done via Plurality poll, with the options of YES, NO or VETO.
      • The re-application will be open for 2 weeks, after which votes will be totalled.
      • A 2/3 majority vote (of all voters) is required for approval of the re-application.
    • Restrictions:
      • Only guild members who have left on their own accord may re-apply through the expedited application process. Members who have been removed from the guild are ineligible for the expedited application process.
      • All applicants, including former Apotheosis members, are bound by Section 7: Re-Application of the Invitation Policy.

Raiding policy

1. Setup: The official raiding schedule is to be created, maintained, and posted by the members of the Raiding Council. These decisions are based on input from the guild membership, with consideration to gear/class balance issues.
2. Schedule: There will be a minimum of 3 nights of raids per week. Members are expected to attend as many of these raids as possible.
3. Strategy: Strategies should be discussed as much as is feasible beforehand. However, once on the battlefield, the raid leader will have final say in changes to strategy. Strategy includes things like where to stand, who's tanking who, which buffs to cast, which people are dispelling which debuff, etc.
4. Invitation: Raid invites are determined by the raid leader with respect to the following guidelines. As there may be a conflict between certain guidelines, the raid leader will make a judgement call.

   A. Guilded members receive priority over non-guilded, social alts, and applicants.

   B. Class balance requirements, as they relate to a specific raid, have priority.

   C. Gear/Spec requirements, as they relate to a specific raid, have priority.

   D. Players available 15 minutes prior to the raid will have priority over those who signed up but are not present.

   -- Once the above guidelines are addressed and the minimum requirements are in place for the raid to succeed, the Raid Leader will ask for volunteers to sit out. Assuming there are still an excess of signups the following guidelines will then be considered.

   E. Achieving a general class balance is preferred to overloading a class.

   F. Players who have volunteered to sit out previously, should have priority over those that have not.

   G. Players who have nothing to gain (loot/rep), and are not crucial to the success of the raid will have a lower priority.

   -- Ultimately, the Raid Leader’s decision is final when it comes to invites. If there appears the raid leader is not adhering to the above guidelines these concerns should be directed to the Raid and or Grievance Council.

5. Conduct: It is up to the raid leader to decide how much involvement, and suggestions are fielded during the raid. Raid attendees should under no circumstance belittle any other member of the raid. Derogatory and inflammatory comments will not be tolerated. A warning will be given, if not heeded that person will be removed from the raid, and referred to the grievance council.
6. Loot: All officially scheduled Apotheosis raids will be governed by the Raid Participation Points (RPP) system. Applicants and non-guild members will earn points while raiding with Apotheosis and be able to purchase items subject to RPP rules (in the case of ties at minimum bid where the bidders do not have the points to cover the bid, items will be awarded to guild members over non-guild members). Unless otherwise specified by the group leader, the loot system for all 5 man Apotheosis runs is dictated by Need before Greed.
7. Start Time: All raids will begin to form up 30 minutes prior to the official start time. Invitations will be given to those players who have signed up for the raid in accordance with the guidelines defined above.
8. Alternates: The Raid Council may accept up to (3) alternates to a raid. These alternates will gain points as if they were attending the raid. The raid council will decide which raids need alternates and which raids do not. As a guideline the raid council will not have alternates on progression nights but will have them for farming raids. If they alternate character becomes unavailable (as seen by the raid council) at any point during the raid then the alternate forfeits their points. Some guidelines for unavailable are:

   1) Don't get into the raid when asked after 5 minutes.

   2) Do not respond to communications.

Raid Council

1. Raid Council: A raid council of 3 members will be formed, by vote. When someone retires a new name must be picked via nomination and then voted upon. Nomination collection and voting will be administrated by the existing members of the Raid Council.
2. Mission: The primary goal of this group is to setup and maintain a raiding strategy for the guild, and to administrate it's execution through the weekly raids.
3. Membership: The guild master will occupy one spot on the raid council, and the other two slots will be elected by the guild. Members nominated by the guild with the highest number of votes shall then occupy any remaining slots.
4. Raid Goals: The raid council shall set goals for the guild and then determine a raiding schedule based on accomplishing these goals. Goals should be reassessed as they near completion so as to best prepare for new challenges.
5. Schedule: Raid Goals are used to determine a standard raiding schedule where raid locations will be assigned to specific nights throughout the week. The Raid Council will then be responsible for posting the scheduled raids for the week in a timely manner.
6. Raid Preparation: The Raid council along with the bank council should make preparations prior to raids where bank materials may be needed. Relevant strategies, movies, and other information shall also be posted for the membership to review prior to raid time.

Membership conduct

1. Political problems: Being that it is next to impossible to have any 40 people do something with out some sort of personality conflicts and miscommunication, a council will be created to listen to grievances. However, it is expected that guild chat and forum posts are civil. People that are not civil will be given one warning. If this warning is not heeded they will be removed from the guild
2. Conduct: It is expected that each member of the guild will be civil to everyone in the game. If there are differences that can't be resolved by the individuals they will be referred to the grievance council. However, it is expected that the people involved try and resolve their differences first. Any derogatory words used against another player either in the guild or out will be dealt with swiftly and fairly as determined by the grievance council
3. Account Control: Due to the fact that Apotheosis is a high-end raiding guild, utmost cooperation and coordination is essential for success. As a result, it is expected by the guild that each member of the guild possess full and complete control of one's own account; actions or behavior displayed by a character are the responsibility of that guild member. Individual circumstances will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis during the application process. Account control-based infractions will be investigated by the grievance council and membership may come under review.
4. Grievance Council: A grievance council of 3 members will be formed, by vote. When someone retires from the council a new name must be picked, via nomination. People wishing to nominate a new member should contact someone currently on the grievance council. It is up to the grievance council to conduct the voting procedure for the council applicant.
5. Bank Council: A Bank Council will be formed of 3 persons who are responsible for collecting, managing and distributing all items from the guild bank. They are also responsible for creating guidelines for distribution of said items. All decisions surrounding the distribution of bank items are the sole discretion of the Bank Council. The council will, as a general rule, manage the guild bank in such a way that it provides the maximum benefit to the entire guild. Each member on the council will be elected via nomination. When a council member steps down, a new election will be held to fill the void.
6. Inactivity: Guild members who do not actively participate in an RPP-based raid for a period of 3 months or more will be moved to the rank of Inactive. Raid participation is defined as both signing up for raids and being online for those raids, regardless of whether a member is invited or waitlisted. Inactive guild members have the same rights and privileges as Probationary guild members. This includes, but is not limited to: forum access, bank access, voting on guild issues and RPP item priority. Inactive members who wish to regain their active status must successfully sign up and be available for at least 3 raids over a 3-week period. Once a guild member has been reinstated to Veteran status they regain all previously held rights and privileges.

Amendment Procedure

1. Intent: These laws are meant to be a guiding force for the guild, but as the goal of the guild is to be more inclusive then exclusive, each piece of these bylaws may be amended.
2. Process: A person wishing to amend these bylaws must first get 5 other people to agree that their amendment is worth considering. Once 6 people are willing to sponsor an amendment, a forum thread will be created to discuss the amendment. After one week of discussion, a poll will be created that will be open for 10 days. A 2/3 majority vote is required for the amendment to pass. At least 50% of the guild must vote for any action to be taken on an amendment.
3. Amendment administrator: All amendments must be passed to an amendment administrator, who is responsible for contacting the 6 proponents of the amendment. This administrator is also responsible for posting the threads and updating the bylaws to reflect the changes from successful amendments. The entire history of amendments to both the bylaws and RPP are found in the Amendment History