WoW Charter

[Eonwë]

My intention was to post the draft tonight, but I have seemingly misplaced the notebook holding said draft. I will try to dig it out as I go through my school stuff, and will post as soon as I come upon it. A week will still be given for comments.

Take care.
Eonwë

[Eonwë]

Here is the charter draft. Everyone has one week to comment, starting today.

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The Valar Guild

History/Purpose
The Valar Guild was founded on October 4th, 1997 for the purpose of bringing together lovers of Tolkien’s works. In the last seven years, the Valar Guild has grown a lot, as members come and go, many others staying for a long time to become dedicated members of our community.

The Valar Guild stands on the values of honor, loyalty, and camaraderie, which are central themes of Tolkien’s works. We are not just an aggregate of people. We are a community of friends, and in many cases family, with a common interest and an agreement on how some things should be. Our members have many different skills and talents, but it is what we have in common that unites us.

Now, the Valar Guild expands into World of Warcraft, seeking to place roots and promote these values as we always have.

Membership
We have two major requirements for membership in the Valar Guild. The first is maturity. You are expected to act honorably at all times while bearing the emblems of the Valar Guild in any medium, whether it be a tag, a tabard, or simply your name in the Valar Guild. If you cannot conduct yourself in this manner, you will not even have a chance to fulfill the second requirement.

The second major requirement for entry into the Valar Guild is knowledge and love of Tolkien’s works. This shows most immediately in the 5-questions test we give over Lord of the Rings. This is not a hard test, as its primary objective is to ensure you have read the books. Questions are not asked about the movies. Answers coming from the movies may be in grave error when compared to the source material, and such answers will be wrong.

Membership in the World of Warcraft branch means full membership in the Valar Guild, so all requirements for membership in the Valar Guild must be met.

Honors
There are three levels of full membership in the Valar Guild. These are regular member, Maia honor, and Vala honor. For more detail on Maia and Vala honor, including how to attain these, see here.

Server
The World of Warcraft Branch resides on Lothar, a normal server located within the US Eastern time zone. A normal server was chosen because we have found other options to be too restrictive in other games. On a normal server, we are free to be the Valar Guild.

Player vs Player (PvP)
Player versus player combat is not required for any Guild member. For those who wish to partake in it, however, it is allowed within the Alliance versus Horde setting in the defense of Alliance lands. Remember to conduct yourself honorably, however. Even if killing an Orc won’t get you in trouble, poor conduct will.
Battlegrounds are currently being considered as blizzard prepares their implementation.

Chat
The Valar Guild is a family guild. We have members with children, and even some with grandchildren. We do not allow the use of profanity or obscenity in any Valar Guild communication, including but not limited to Guild chat, Valar channel Chat, our AIM meeting channel, or our forum. It takes time to type words, and during that time you can be using your brain to recall non-profane synonyms for words you may use in frustration or anger. The English language has over 1 million words, so don’t say you can’t find some.

Rules and CoC
These are fairly simple, and for the most part can be gathered from this charter. For a full list of rules and the Code of Conduct, go here.

Communication
Anything new or up for discussion will be announced at the weekly meeting, on the Forum, on the Valar Guild WoW page, or (most likely) on all three. Some important Gaming News may also be announced on the Valar Guild Games Page, which is the general web page for Valar Guild gaming. It is strongly encouraged that members attend meetings whenever possible, and keep an eye Guild News Page as well. Participation in the forum is also suggested and encouraged.

Members are required to make at least a monthly contact with the Valar Guild through either e-mail, meetings, or Forum activity. Members who may be out of touch for a while due to various real life issues should either contact Eonwë or Varda so we are aware of the situation and won’t drop you should a sweep occur while you are gone.

If any member has concerns or questions, they may contact Eonwë (WoW Branch Leader), Varda, or Ulmo via e-mail or private message (on the Forum), in WoW, or contact any other member of the Council via e-mail.
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[Ulmo 1997-2011]

For more detail on Maia and Vala honor, including how to attain these, see here.

What does the "see here" part refer to? Might want to be more clear about it? You use "go here" as well in another paragraph. You lost me as to what these phrases mean, not that it is a difficult thing to do

Otherwise I like it a lot!

[ArPharazon]

Err.. am I wrong in thinking that the 'go/see here' parts are supposed to become links in the final version? You know, links to the actual sections describing Maia-honor for example?

Or is that not what you mean?

[Ulmo 1997-2011]

Aha, if links; then very cool.

[Shelob]

here some useful links on the matter:

www.valarguild.org/varda/guild/join.htm
How to join, description of how to join, requirements, honors, organisation.

valarguild.org/varda/guild/recruit.html
Recruiting handbook, a must-read for Maia "wannabes"

www3.sympatico.ca/aule/
Code of Conduct. (Have to go to the CoC link on the left first to get there, doesn't have direct link)

valarguild.org/varda/guild/faq.html
Frequently Asked Questions, including a very detailed report on how to become a Maia / Vala

homed.inet.tele.dk/tolkien/
Emails of all members (as up to date as possible), short version.

valarguild.org/varda/guild/active/active2005.htm
Activity report, very long, but has up to date emails.

perhaps this will help

[Eonwë]

When it says "see here" and such, that is where a link should be. My original copy was typed into Word, where I put all those links in. All I did was copy/paste from there, and did a little editing to clarify the sections.
Mainly, I put links in where I thought a fuller reading/understanding would be better than a summary.

I'd also like to thank those who have replied so far, via this board and via e-mail. Their comments/fixes are being made to my original copy. You all still have until Saturday to comment.

Take care.
Eonwë

[Elatan]

I find the charter itself fulfilling, yet a couple links need comments.

Menelvagor said:

www3.sympatico.ca/aule/
Code of Conduct. (Have to go to the CoC link on the left first to get there, doesn't have direct link)

I do think this page needs an update. Most, if not all still stands, but it was written 6 years ago and should be tuned into 2005 (New games, new possibilities, slight change in rules )
It has been mentioned a couple times before that an update was needed, perhaps now is the time.

Menelvagor said:

homed.inet.tele.dk/tolkien/
Emails of all members (possibly out of date)

Thats an insult J/K
It is up to date. If I get the new info, people leaving / joining / Email and so on ( Which I believe I do since it is Varda that provides me with it ) It is up to date.

edit: noticed you had quoted me, but saw something didn't go exactly right, so corrected that

[Shelob]

Indeed, Elatan, my apologies, when I checked, it seemed a little out of date to me (possibly because my primary email is now [e-mail] and it hasn't been changed since last time I checked), and I did remember it being in need of a serious update a while ago. I did check with Varda about it tho, and she told me it's pretty much up to date now, so I'll change it to up-to-date short version

[Elatan]

Heh np Menelvagor
Maybe I should tune the Member page into 05 ;D
Anyone using ICQ and the B.net accounts anymore ? I do not think so.

[Varda]

Elatan, about the Members page. I think you're right about dropping those two columns. Maybe add a link to the QuickAIM page for AIM account names?

Kudos to Eonwe for doing such a beautiful job on the charter, saying what we're about.