lderkzen/Community Charter.md Secret

## Community Charter.md

      
    Raw
  

              Community Charter.md
            
          
    Information

Terminology


Community - The Hand of Unity community in it's entirity.
Ruling Council - The group which oversees and leads the community. Consists of Leaders and Officers.
Chapter - An official branch of the community within a game.
Chapter Management - A team of community members of any role taking part in the management of a Chapter.

Founding Principles


This is OUR Community. Everyone has a voice and is encouraged to make themselves heard. This can be done through DMs with one of the Ruling Council members or through the community's bi-weekly leadership meetings (know as "Tea Party").
NO DRAMA: We do not tolerate in-fighting or drama. If you do not agree with something highlight it in a timely manner and be respectful about it. If the majority of people disagree with you, move on or quite simply leave if you can't get over it. We're a community for mature people.
We are a family. We aren't just a gaming community. All our members are encouraged to mingle with each other and even meet up in real life.
Transparency. Where possible the Ruling Council will always be open and honest. If there is something you would like to know within reason DM them.
We play to win but also remember to have fun. We recognise our members have lives outside of gaming but will always utilise our time in-game effectively.
Synergy. Whether you prefer PvE, PvP or PvX, everybody is equal. We all have a part to play within our many chapters. Individuals are encouraged to play in a manner they enjoy.
Banter, not bother. Given our family-like environment we do encourage jokes, banter and adult humour. However, if someone asks you to stop, respect their boundaries and do so.
Nourish, not punish. We will seek to reward individuals and develop talent. Punishment is a last resort.
Inclusivity. Regardless of background, gender, lifestyle, you are welcomed within the community. We have a diverse range of members from around the world who each bring their own unique experiences.

Roles

All members of the community are split up into the following roles:

Leader - The highest rank within the community. They function as the head of the Ruling Council and oversee all of the community's processes.
Officer - The second highest rank within the community. Together with the Leaders they make up the Ruling Council.
Chapter Lead - An individual responsible for managing a chapter within our community.
Community Coordinators - Individuals who help around with and coordinate various functions within the community.
Chapter Management - Members of any rank who help around within a specific chapter.
Member - An individual who has earned a permanent position within the community.
Social Member- A regular Member, but conditions may apply when attempting to join an official chapter within the community.
Trial Member - An individual who has been accepted into the community for a trial period to see whether or not they are a good fit.

Levels of Authority


Leader
Officer
Chapter Lead
Community Coordinators
Chapter Management Members (Within the scope of said chapter)
Members, Social Members, Trial Members

General

About the Community


To join the community everyone must fill in an application and undertake a successful interview that is conducted by a Coordinator, Chapter Lead, Chapter Management or Ruling Council member. There are no exceptions.
Guild functions for Coordinators, Chapter Management, Chapter Leads, Officers and Leaders can be found under their Discord roles.
There are periodic purges in order to ensure there are no inactive members. This can be done at the discretion of a Leader using stats from Statbot. Individuals may be removed from a chapter roster or be reverted to Friend of Member / Guest. A member becomes purge-able after 3 months of inactivity in voice or text channels.
Patreon funds will only ever be used for the community itself and spending of these funds is at the discretion of the Ruling Council members. The funds, for example, could go towards server maintenance, bot development, website updates, prize purchases, licenses and artwork. Any individual with rank of Member and above may request to see details of what has been purchased with the funds at any time.
To create a new text channel on the Discord this must be signed off by the Ruling Council, have at least ten individuals interested and must have activity of at least 50 messages per week.

About Gaming

The community plays a lot of different games. Roles exist for each game that has a sufficient number of interested members within the community. These roles can be assigned by members themselves in #game-roles and can then be used to easily look for other members to play with. If a role is missing for a game and if there is enough interest message a member of the Ruling Council with a request to add a role for the game.
About Chapters


An Official Chapter of Hand of Unity is denoted by a Red Coloured game tag as opposed to the general default (grey) tag.
Social chapters have no minimum playtime requirement.
Casual chapters have a minimum playtime requirement of 5 hours a week.
Semi-Hardcore chapters have a minimum playtime requirement of 20 hours a week.
Hardcore chapters have a minimum playtime requirement of 30 hours a week.
An official chapter can only be founded if it has at least 30 members who have registered interest in the game with the Ruling Council.
An official chapter can only be closed if there is a request from the Chapter Lead or lack or active players (less than 10).
Individuals who participate in one of our Official Chapters have a red game role, as opposed to white, to denote it.
Some chapters may have a verification process, if it is still in development, further towards release. This is done to ensure that individuals are still interested, have time available and are still suitable. Those who have passed the verification process will gain a green Roster Verified role. The verification will be held with a Chapter Lead and a member of the Ruling Council for fairness purposes. No member, including Officers, will have a guaranteed spot on the roster until they demonstrate a level of sufficient proficiency that is acceptable by the relevant Chapter Lead.
Chapter Leads may add or remove members from a chapter roster based upon attitude, behaviour and suitability.
To declare another community, guild or player as kill-on-sight or ally within a chapter, both the Chapter Lead and a Ruling Council member have to sign off on it.
To declare another community, guild or player as kill-on-sight or ally within the community as a whole, all Ruling Council members must pass an unanimous vote.

(Trial | Social) Members Section

Warnings


The Trial Member rank has been designed to see whether an individual is a good fit for the community and as such they can receive punitive actions without prior warning.
It is possible to receive an informal warning from either a Ruling Council member or a Coordinator. It's also possible to receive one from a Chapter Lead if the warning is related to the chapter itself. These warnings will not be recorded.
In order to receive a formal warning a member must have acted against one or more community rules which can be found in #rules-and-structure. A formal warning can also be given if one or more informal warnings have been received in the past. These warnings can only be given out by Officers, with reasoning clearly laid out. They will also be recorded.

Punitive Actions


A timeout may be used when a member has received a warning of any type in order to provide the offender with the necessary time to think about their actions or cool off. The time a member will be required to spend timed out will be provided by an Officer or Community Coordinator.
The role Falmin's Bacon Basement is not a punitive action of any sort and solely for comedic purposes; no records are kept. If you wish to leave the basement and not be involved in the future contact a Leader.
A kick from the community can only be received when evidence has been provided to the Ruling Council and it also has to be approved by a Leader. If asked by the offender, a list of reasons will be provided, however anonymity will be upheld if requested by the victim(s).
A ban from the community can only be received when evidence has been provided to the Ruling Council and the Ruling Council must also have passed a majority vote. If asked by the offender, a list of reasons will be provided, however anonymity will be upheld if requested by the victim(s).

Appealing Punitive Action


In order to appeal a timeout the offender must provide evidence that proves their innocence. A member of the Ruling Council or a Community Coordinator will then judge whether or not the evidence is valid and if the time-out will be undone.
In order to appeal a kick or ban the offender must provide sufficient evidence to prove their innocence. This can be provided to any member of the Ruling Council.

Promotion and Demotion


In order to promote a (Trial | Social) Member to Member they must have demonstrated extensive voice activity, text activity or in-game activity (or a mixture), and be a good fit personality wise as well as having been within the community for at least 10 days. Should an individual fail to secure promotion within 3 months then they will be set back to Guest automatically by our guild bot.
Demotion of Members back to Friend Of Member or Guest can only happen at the discretion of one of the Leaders during a purge. This will be based upon in-game and out-of-game activity using observation, our stat bot logs and other records, if activity is insufficient then this will be a heavily contributing factor given Rule 2 and agreement to activity during the Interview process. Social Members are exempt for activity reasons due to no time requirement and limited Chapter access. Should individuals wish to re-apply to the community after a purge removal, this will be counted against them in any interview following another application.

Chapter Management Section

Promotion and Demotion


In order to promote an individual to Chapter Management the Chapter Lead must give their approval. Members can be nominated for promotion by any Member within the Chapter or any other rank above Member. Typically individuals who have proven themselves to be (a) active and (b) helpful, resourceful and / or knowledgeable will be selected.
In order to demote a member of Chapter Management a majority vote must be passed by existing Chapter Management members including the Chapter Lead. Officer ranks and above may also weigh in if necessary. In case of inactivity or other special circumstances a Chapter Lead may remove a member from Chapter Management without calling for a vote.

Coordinator Section

Promotion and Demotion


In order to promote an individual to Coordinator a majority vote must be passed within the Ruling Council. Members can be nominated for promotion by any other member of any other rank of Member and above. Typically individuals who have significantly contributed to the community will be selected.
In order to demote a Coordinator a unanimous vote must be passed within the Ruling Council. Reasons for the demotion will be provided by a member of the Ruling Council.

Chapter Lead Section

Promotion and Demotion


In order to promote an individual to Chapter Lead a unanimous vote must be passed within the Ruling Council. Typically individuals who have significantly contributed to the chapter and community will be selected. However, members can nominate any member within the chapter for Chapter Lead.
In order to demote a Chapter Lead a unanimous vote must be passed within the Ruling Council. Reasons for the demotion will be provided by a member of the Ruling Council.

Officer Section

Promotion and Demotion


In order to promote an individual to Officer a unanimous vote must be passed within the Ruling Council.
In order to demote an Officer a unanimous vote must be passed among the other members of the Ruling Council. Reasons for the demotion will be provided by a member of the Ruling Council.

Leader Section

General


In exceptional circumstances the Leaders have the power to override a decision by the Ruling Council, however it must be agreed upon by all Leaders.


Ratified by the Ruling Council on 2021-01-25