Official Code of Conduct

Subject: Official Code of Conduct Wed Jun 20, 2007 10:27 am

Official Code of Conduct
© Disciples of Gaming, 2008

Disciples of Gaming Code of Conduct

Respect the Rules

DoG has many institutional rules and regulations that help keep our communities running. Members are required to follow these rules to the best of their ability. If an issue or conflict arises, it should be brought to the leaders immediately. Disciples of Gaming is an organization designed to serve its membership. The rules and regulations of DoG are retroactive.

Rules and Policies:

1. Members who leave DoG on bad terms and/or are banned from the DoG community will be permanently expelled and will not be allowed to return. Bad terms is defined as, but not limited to, violating any policy or leaving the DoG community without explanation. The Colonel has the authority to reverse a members banned or bad term status.

2. Members who leave DoG on good terms, may apply for reinstatement to the DoG community to be approved at a Major’s sole discretion. Commanders cannot approve a past member to rejoin the DoG Community under any circumstance. A member may only leave DoG on good terms if they inform their commander and major of their reasons prior to their departure, and it is deemed by both the commander and major to be on good terms.

3. Members of DoG are not allowed to be members of any other organized gaming community and/or clan. Casual association with another community or clan is allowed. Members that are apart of or leave the DoG community to join another organized gaming community and/or clan will be permanently expelled from DoG and will not be allowed to return to the DoG Community.

4. The DoG forums (www.halodog.com) are for the use and enjoyment of members in the DoG community only. Members who leave DoG and/or are expelled from DoG, will have their accounts removed and/or banned from the forums.

5. Further, members who are registered users on both the DoG forums and on another organized gaming community or clan’s forum or website, will have their accounts permanently removed and/banned from the DoG forums.

6. Members may not appear off-line or hidden from the community.

7. Glitches may not be used to make scoring impossible for an opposing team.

8. De-ranking is not allowed unless it is done in a full party, with all interested in de-ranking. Intentional team-killing is not allowed unless all members in the party agree to do so. Intentional team-killing of a teammate in last stand (Call of Duty 4) is not allowed as it is makes scoring impossible for an opposing team.

9. Members below the rank of Commander may have no more than one (1) gamertag in D.o.G. at any one time. Commanders must receive permission from their Major before incorporating a second tag anywhere in D.o.G.

10. Players should not be booted or forcibly removed from a party unless they have first been asked to leave and refused.

11. Quitting a game out of frustration or anger is considered unsportsmanlike conduct and in serious cases may be punishable. This does not include situations where a player's connection to the game was severed due to loss of power or internet service.

Requirements:

1. Recruits must be at least 17 years of age. If a potential recruit is 16 years old, they may be brought in with the direct approval of the Major in the community they are joining.

2. Recruits must register on the website within one (1) week of the day of their recruitment. Recruits must register using their gamertag and, in the required field state which DoG clan they have joined. Accounts will not be activated unless the above-noted rules are followed. Forum accounts that are inactive for a period of 3 months or more will be removed.

3. Every recruit in DoG must be given a recruiting speech that contains a complete rank structure, a list of major rules, and the punishment for breaking those rules.

4. Every community is required to have a minimum of one (1) scheduled meeting every week.

5. Clan rosters must be sent in at least once a month, prior to the 1st of each month.

Regulations:

1. Staff privileges will be given to a new commander upon promotion. Overlord privileges will only be given to a commander with a Major’s approval.

2. Members may only be removed for inactivity if their tag has been inactive for longer than one (1) month and they have made little or no attempt to contact the clan or explain their continuing absence. If a member is removed for inactivity, a Lieutenant or Commander will send the member a friend request explaining the removal.

3. DoG tags are available only to those who have attained the rank of Sergeant or above, and then, only with the explicit permission of the clan Commander AND Major.

4. Transfers between DoG clans must be approved by at least one (1) Commander and one (1) Major from both clans.

5. No person of any rank is eligible to promote another person to that same rank. Exceptions exist at top ranks in DoG.

Respect the Player

Disciples of Gaming maintains a standard of respect among its members. Violations of this policy are considered among the most severe in DoG. This includes, but is not limited to, the following: trash-talking, disrespectful gestures, harassment, racism, sexism, discrimination, screaming, threats or aggressively foul language. Maintain a professional and respectful attitude at all times, even if others around you are not.

Disciples of Gaming requires that every member displays honesty, fairness and integrity at all times. Honesty is one of the cornerstone principles of Disciples of Gaming, and any form of dishonesty is considered to be a serious violation of the Code of Conduct. It includes both honesty to others and to oneself, and about one's own motives and inner reality. Acting without honesty or cheating, lying or being deliberately deceptive is not acceptable behavior within the Disciples of Gaming community.

Respect the Game

Cheating in any form is prohibited. This includes modding, bridging, stand-bying, forcing host, circle-boosting, and de-ranking (unless done in a full party). The same rules apply to custom games and other user-created game scenarios. In DOG, we respect the game and play by the parameters it set out in the game.

Allowing another person access to your gamertag, who falsely represents a Disciples of Gaming member for the purpose or intent of ranking up, is also considered cheating. Further, allowing another person access to your gamertag, who falsely represents a Disciples of Gaming member for the purpose of playing or participating with other Disciples of Gaming members, clans or in a sanctioned Disciples of Gaming tournament is not permitted and is considered cheating. These offenses will not be tolerated and are bannable offenses.

Respect the Institution

Member poaching, clan hitting or any other destructive act directed toward another community is strictly prohibited.

Poaching includes targeting another community’s membership as a whole or individually for transfer, use of threats or coercion to initiate transfers, or deliberately misleading a member of another community to persuade them to transfer. This behavior will be punished whether it takes place between DoG communities or is initiated by any DoG member.

Hitting includes the deliberate removal of one or more members of a community, intending to cause harm to the community, without the consent of a Commander or higher. Hitting any community will result in immediate expulsion and a permanent ban from the DoG community.

Respect the Chain of Command

The DoG community maintains a standard of respect among its members. Members must follow the chain of command at all times. Members are asked to refer to a person of higher rank than yourself with any questions or issues.

DoG has procedures by which members can return to the DoG community and transfer from one DoG Community to another. The Chain of Command must be followed at all times during these procedures:

1. If a member who has departed the DoG community on good terms applies for reinstatement, their commander must be first notified and approve. The commander and member involved must then get final approval from the respective Major.

2. If a member who is banned from the DoG community applies to the Colonel for a reversal of their banned status, their commander must be first notified and approve. All respective parties must then present their case to the Colonel for a ruling and decision.

3. If a member wishes to transfer from one DoG community to another, the member must first seek approval from both their commander and Major. The Major must then notify and seek the approval of both the commander and Major in the community that the member wishes to transfer into.

If the above-noted procedures are not followed, the consequences for this infraction are demotion or removal from the DoG community. No excuse will be valid.
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"Defeat is always momentary."

Subject: Re: Official Code of Conduct Wed Jun 20, 2007 10:29 am

Q: "Where do exceptions start? Commander? Major?"

As the upper ranks develop, we will transition into a more permanent approach to promotions. Once we get several people at the rank of Colonel, they will be the ones responsible for voting in new Majors. In addition, the corps of Colonels will have the responsibility of electing generals from among the Colonels for a term the length of which we haven't decided on.

There will also be a mechanism by which the Colonels can vote (needs at least a 3/4 majority among all active Colonels) to remove the Colonel rank from someone who has, for some reason, ceased to qualify for the position.

The short answer to your question (and yes, I made you wait this long for the short answer) is that the exceptions start at Colonel. The longer answer, as you've now read, is that eventually there won't be an exception. Generals will both promote and be elected by the Colonels, so nobody is actually promoting to their own rank. We've had some concerns that this might generate a kind of fealty system (I'll promote you to Colonel as long as you vote for me to be General) but decided that, at least as long as we're promoting the right people that shouldn't be a problem. In the mean time we're looking for a long-term solution that will protect us from that sort of conniving.

If you're uncertain about the responsibilities and expectations of the people of those ranks discussed above, there is a brief overview in the Recruiting Speech forum. If I recall, rank structure is section 4.

Hope that answers the question.
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"Defeat is always momentary."