Guild Roles: Although the rules of the
guild apply to everyone, a successful guild requires that several roles be
filled.
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Guild Leaders: Diamynd and Yeti are the guild leaders of SF, and
their first priority is always the well being of the guild.
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Officers: The guild leaders can't be everywhere and do
everything. The officers act as a leadership presence in their
absence. The officers often lend a hand with organizing and directing groups
and raids, distributing loot, handling issues, etc... Another important officer
duty is that of providing feedback to the guild leaders. If an officer does not
feel that the leaders have made the best decision for the guild in a given situation,
or a member has come to them with a concern or issue, then the officer will bring the
matter to the guild leaders so that it can be resolved.
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Battle Leaders: Raids are very busy times, and the leaders and officers
are often too busy to deal with directing the raid on top of playing their characters
and dealing with necessary daily guild issues. The battle leaders often take charge
of groups and calling targets during raids so that the whole guild doesn't have to
stand around and wait every time Yeti or Diamynd is scrolled up in tells.
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Members: The majority of guild members fall into this category,
but that in no way makes it ordinary. Attaining the rank of "Member of
Shadowed Fates" should be considered an honor. And, the guild is
honored to have these fine individuals amongst its ranks, for it is their hard
work and dedication that has made SF what it is today.
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Initiates: New guild members go through an initiate period.
During this period of growing acclimated to the guild and proving themselves,
initiates are outranked by other members when it comes to acquiring items,
requesting guild assistance, or getting into full raids.
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Alts: We freely tag everyone's secondary characters so that
members are always in communication with the guild, regardless of what character
they are currently on. Alts can be a fun diversion from time to time,
and we encourage folks to combine that fun with developing a secondary that will
contribute to the guild, whether as a summoning mule, with additional transmute timers,
as a tradeskill gatherer, as a high level character that gives us
additional class flexibility when needed, etc... However, everyone needs to
remember that their primary focus should always be on playing their primary,
both for their own character development and to assist other guild members with quests,
instance runs, etc... Secondaries rank the lowest for items, raid slots, and
obtaining guild assistance.
Attendance: Real life comes first, but
when you're online, the guild is your family. We help each other out and
everyone is expected to contribute.
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Scheduled Guild Events: If you are online, you must be
there. These events are normally scheduled days in advance. Attempt to
be there at the announced time so we can start promptly. If you know in
advanced that you will be late, then make sure you are repaired, have consumables,
and are ready to go the night
before. If you will be unable to attend, respond to the event posting
in the events forum stating so. Attendance is tracked for all raids,
and that attendance is a primary factor in our merit based loot distribution system.
A player is counted as being in attendance if they are online and available,
even if they are not actually in the raid group due to the 25 character limit.
People may be shuffled back and forth between the raid group and the waiting list as
the raid progresses, so folks should remain ready. Many find that logging
off outside the instance and playing a secondary while they wait keeps them ready without
boring them to death.
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Non-Scheduled Guild Events: These come in a couple flavors.
There are always small instance runs going on, and members should be helping each
other out with these when they can. We know that folks want a break now and then
to work on things on their own, or just to relax, and it's not a problem to not join
because of that, but it is a problem if you're rarely or never helping
out guild mates. There are also sudden opportunities that can arise, such as
a world spawn or it is almost Tuesday reset and we finally have Wintergrasp. In that case
everyone must instantly drop whatever
they're doing and hurry to the zone immediately.
Public Conduct: Members of SF must remember at all
times that as wearers of our tag, they are representatives of our guild. Members should
always be polite to their fellow gamers, stay out of arguments in shout or other public chat
channels (in fact the general channel is an immature spam fest best avoided entirely), never
insult other guilds or players, and especially stay out of the drama and flaming that permeates
the Blizzard Medivh forum. We are a large and successful guild, and our name will show up
on their from time to time. Do not get involved. Most the time the best thing to do
is to let it die, and if something does need to be said, a leader or officer will take care of it.
In general, if you feel a need to scream about something, vent frustration with a bad PUG or BG raid,
or just to act goofy or tell a bawdry joke, share it with your friends in the guild, not with the public.
Have fun (without totally crossing the line of course...) but present your best side in public.
Commitment: Membership in SF requires a high level of
dedication and commitment. We can not accept the conflict of interest or sharing of time
that would result from members belonging to another guild in WoW (or any other MMORPG) or having
characters on other servers. SF is not a guild of part time players.
Guild Strategies: Members of the guild must obviously be
introduced to our techniques and strategies to participate in our raids. These are valuable
strategies that guild members have died many times to develop and that you and other guild members
will continue to die to fine tune! At no time is any member ever allowed to share this
information with anyone outside the guild. Sharing of such information is grounds for
immediate guild removal - no warnings, no second chances, and no exceptions.&nbps;
This rule has become largely outdated with even the most successful guilds sharing their
strategies freely in guides and videos these days, but keep it in the back of your mind for
those times right after new content is released or if we come up with a unique and effective
way of defeating a boss.
Cheating: Cheating in any way is
against SF rules. No member will use add on programs to help with game
play unless the software has been approved by Blizzard. No member will
use exploits or cheats in game to gain an advantage in either PvE or PvP.
Absence From the Game: Members should
keep the guild updated as to their whereabouts. If a member plans on
being gone from WoW for an extended amount of time, please let us know.
Members that disappear for more than a week without having told us in advance
that they are going to be away will be removed with the assumption that they
have left the game. If they do return at a later date they may be denied
reentry to the guild or have to return as an Initiate depending upon the circumstances.
Message Forums: The private message
forums are provided so that Shadowed Fates members may communicate freely
between ourselves, plan guild events and strategies, discuss applicants and Initiates,
etc... Reading the guild message boards daily, knowing about planned
events, and keeping any requested class spec or equipment lists up to date, are all
mandatory activities. Members expect and deserve privacy when on
our private forums. Never share your access to the board with
anyone.
The Guild Channel: The use of guild chat should always
be kept to reasonable levels. Whenever possible respond to questions with tells.
During events guild chat should be kept clear of all unrelated talk. When there are no
events in progress feel free to use guild chat with moderation. Remember that it is guild
CHAT, not guild SPAM. Guild chat can be a fun and goofy place at times, but it still needs to
be a place where all members are comfortable. This means that non-light vulgarity, leet speak (woot,
suxxors, pwn, "u r teh...", etc...), and sex or drug chatter (beyond subtle joking), is all expressly forbidden.
In addition, communication in all other channels at all times by guild members must be kept mature and
professional to maintain our guild image. And yes, we will officially warn members
for saying woot, even in guild chat (especially in guild chat!), and guild remove them if they persist.
Anyone that has a problem with this can thank w00t boy Fazumar for permanently scarring us many
years ago in EQ.
At no time will any fighting, insults, or whining on guild channels be tolerated. Disputes
between members should be discussed in tells, and folks finding themselves at odds with a guild
mate are encouraged to contact a leader or officer to help get things settled.
Shadowed Fates Item Philosophy: Items are not why we
play this game. We play this game to have fun, to be with friends, and to take on great
challenges and overcome them! However, items do make our characters stronger, which is a
worthy goal for all of us and does provide much of the enjoyment in the game. But, at no
time can items be allowed to become more important than the guild, our friends, and our fun.
Shadowed Fates believes in putting items in the hands of those that can best use them to help us
all. This ensures that the characters fighting by your side are as powerful as we can
make them, which helps to guarantee our success as a guild, and I'm sure you'll all agree that
kicking butt is far more fun than dying.
General Item Policies:
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On raids, item distribution is handled by the guild leaders, officers,
or battle leaders.
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While not much obtained outside of raids is needed by the guild, there are still some
things that are and should go to guildmates or into the vault. Current examples
that come to mind are herbs for flasks, fish for Fish Feasts, rare gems, Nobles deck cards, and
enchanting mats. Remember, it's more important to contribute to the guild's
raiding success than to put a few more gold in your pocket.
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Items are distributed with the goal of strengthening the guild as a whole, and
therefore will go to the character that can best use the item to help the
guild. A number of factors are taken into account when making that determination,
with attendance, performance, and item balance (those who contribute similarly should have a similar
number of epics) being some of the primary things considered.
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Items always go to primary characters first.
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Those present when an item drops receive priority with extra items held for
others in the guild that could not attend or to be sold for guild funds.
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Distribution may be by via /roll (after having pared the list down to a small number of
highly eligible individuals), or an item may be directly assigned.
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All greens or unneeded rares / epics that drop during raids are to be disenchanted so that the
guild can provide its members with free enchants whenever possible.
PvP / Battlegrounds: Shadowed Fates is first and foremost
a PvE guild. Raiding dungeons, completing quests, and killing the toughest critters in the land
will always be our primary goals. However, PvP, and especially arenas and battlegrounds, can be a
lot of fun and some of our members really enjoy this form of challenge. This is fine, as long
as a couple of things are kept in mind:.
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Balance: Guild members must keep their play time balanced. We know everyone
is attending raids when online because they're mandatory and we would guild remove them if they
didn't... But there is more to contributing to our guild's success than just showing up on
raids. No guild member should PvP excessively so that they are not maintaining their
consumables, collecting needing guild items such as herbs, assisting other
guild members on quests and instance runs, and keeping themselves sufficiently funded for
repairs and other necessary costs. Members who show up to raids unprepared or who are
always in the battlegrounds instead of helping other guild members who need their assistance will
be talked to, and if it proves necessary, banned from the battlegrounds / arenas.
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Professionalism: PvP can bring out the worst in folks. Enemy players do a lot of
things that mobs never do - harrassing, taunting, exploiting, focusing on killing one person over
and over to spite them, corpse camping, etc... This can make PvP very frustrating and means
that members will need to exert additional self control to remain professional and mature.
Insulting, bragging, acting cocky, using rude emotes, using exploits,
etc..., are no more acceptable in PvP than they are in any other element of the game.
Members PvPing need to remember that they are representing the guild on the battlefields, just as
they are in every other aspect of their game play. Members who can not uphold our guild
image and their maturity while PvPing will be banned from the battlegrounds / arenas.
Trade Policy: Items needed by the
guild are not to be sold or traded unless the trade is approved by the guild
leaders or an officer. Almost all items of value are BoP or BoE, so you can't
use and then pass on items like in previous games, but there are still some world
drops, recipes, or trade skill items that are needed by your guildmates.
Remember that just because you're on "your time" outside of raids doesn't mean the guild
isn't still working for you.&nbps; Others off soloing or in instances may be gathering enchanting
mats that will be used on your next epic, or may stumble upon a gem that will be cut for your
next piece of socketed gear.&nbps; Therefore you need to always keep the guild's best interests
in mind as well when you're playing, even outside of raids. Since gathering skills are a
main source of income for many, folks will often contribute some of what they gather, or the most
needed by the guild items they gather, and AH the rest. If you have any questions about
whether or not an item is needed, or what a fair to both you and the guild way of handling mats is,
ask an officer, ask on guild chat, or post on our forums.
Sharing Characters: Due to the
competative nature of the game, the value of our strategies that we have died
to learn, and the importance of maintaining privacy for our members who
rightfully believe that when they are talking on the SF guild channel, only SF
members are reading, no member shall allow another person to play their
character unless expressly permitted by the leaders. A spouse or child on
a secondary character on your account would probably be permitted. Anyone with a
character in another guild, would almost certainly not be permitted.
The Guild Leader's Decisions Are Always Final:
The leadership of Shadowed Fates always has the best interests of the guild in
mind. While these rules clearly show the philosophies and guidelines by
which SF lives, these rules do not bind the hands of the guild leaders; these
rules are subject to change. At any time that events in the ever changing
world of WoW cause the guild leaders to decide that the best thing for the guild
is contrary to these rules, then the rules will be added to or changed so they
continue to serve the guild in the future, or they may even be temporarily
superceded by the judgement of the guild leaders to ensure that the right thing
is done in a particularly unusual situation. So consider these rules
carefully and know that while they are the current guidelines by which the
guild is run, they could be changed in the future to better serve the guild and
it's members.
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