<Bellum!> Official guild thread

[Kittypurrs]

A reminder: Discord is our primary means of guild communication and, as a guild member, you should be on Discord or you're missing 99% of the information and help.

For those who wish to join Discord:
1. If you're not registered on Discord already, create a free account at https://discord.com. You can use your browser to access Discord; you needn't download software.
2. Send a Discord friend request to our guild master @Empressfury. When she replies / accepts, send a screen shot of all your ign(s) to confirm you're in our guild (and specify which is your main). For the sake of clarity, we prefer if your Discord name is as the same or similar to (or contains) the ign of your AL main.

For those who can't get access to Discord in their country, VPN to an unrestricted country usually works.

[Kittypurrs]

Guild rules subject to change
1. Strictly NO BEGGING, not in guild chat and not elsewhere. Expect to be kicked with few if any warnings.
• It's not considered begging if you ask for a loan and offer collateral.
• If you want to beg, make a non-Bellum alt & beg in town. Don't use any Bellum alts; we don't want Bellum to be associated with begging.
2. Merching in gc is allowed but please keep away from spamming or ALL CAPS (considered shouting & rude). The general rule is leave 1 screen between the same messages or else it's considered spam.
3. Remember officers are volunteers. We try to help but we don't owe anything to the guild nor to other members. Not information, not guidance, not carries, not loans &c. We give what we choose & at our own discretion. We may be afk for long periods attending to officer business in pm or on Discord. Also, we have our own game to play & we have real lives, too. We can't always reply immediately, so don't expect it.
4. Any personal information is confidential. Don't pry into other members' information if they don't want to disclose it. They're entitled to their privacy.
4A. If you choose to disclose information, be honest; e.g. no catfishing (pretending to be a sex you are not to fool others into giving you preferential treatment).
5. If you're scammed … too bad. We can't do anything about it & STS won't do anything about it. The only way to get scammed is to do something foolish you shouldn't; ∴ being scammed is your own fault. We strongly recommend these guild guidelines:
• Never lend or trade anything you can't afford to lose.
• Always require collateral.
• Always take screen shots of the agreement so it's difficult for the other party to "misunderstand" or "mis-remember" or renege later.
6. Do not blind party. At the very least, pm first explaining what help you need & where. Also it's considered polite if you look up where they are in Social / Guild so if they're in the middle of a tough zone (like Catacombs) you can wait until they're finished before pm-ing. Usually, it's far quicker simply to ask for help in guild chat, again explaining what help you need & where. Remember, it can take a little time before people finish their maps & check gc. Don't forget no-one is obliged to help you, not even officers. Also please see post #46 above for more details about parties.
6A. Likewise, do not pm blind duel invites. Use the Duel function. If they don't want to duel, they'll auto-reject.
7. NEVER recruit members from Bellum to another guild, not even your own guild. Instant kick. This should be self-explanatory.
8. Check #guild-rules on guild Discord periodically for changes. There will be times when we may change entry requirements; or we may suspend recruitment temporarily; or we may add or modify other rules. For those who need to join Discord, see post #81 above.
9. Revolving door policy: if a member leaves & re-joins repeatedly too many times without explanation, (s)he won't be welcome back.
10. Mind your language; e.g. "whale" greetings. We're a safe family culture. Also see posts #68 & #78 above about acceptable behaviour.
11. If you want to host a guild giveaway, thank you so much! However, it must be arranged with an officer first; they must be acquainted thoroughly with your rules before you start; and must be present during the entire event, to ensures fairness.
12. Rare boss / merch pricing: remember we're a co-operative helpful family. Please be reasonable with prices & don't try to fleece your own guild mates. The greedier you are, the less welcome you'll be. Not only will others be less likely to help you, but also if you make any mistake against the rules, officers likely will not give you a second chance — whereas if you're nice they'll send you a warning or two.
13. Current entry requirements: see post #80 above.

Bellum is intended as a safe family culture for everyone, including for children, those with disabilities & for those who've experienced trauma; we have all these in Bellum. Be conscious AL is global, so you cannot assume others necessarily understand your "humour" — which always is regional & subcultural, when you think about it. Also see post #78 above about humour.

Upholding Bellum's culture is more important than any specific rules. Even if no specific written rule applies in a particular situation, if you disrespect our family repeatedly & unapologetically, expect to be no longer welcome. Those whose behaviour repeatedly distresses others will be kicked and banned.

[Cross-references: #46, #68, #78, #80, #81]

[Kittypurrs]

quoted from post #82 above

3. Remember officers are volunteers. We try to help but we don't owe anything to the guild nor to other members. Not information, not guidance, not carries, not loans &c. We give what we choose & at our own discretion. We may be afk for long periods attending to officer business in pm or on Discord. Also, we have our own game to play & we have real lives, too. We can't always reply immediately, so don't expect it.

I especially wish to remind members of rule 3 above. I've read reports that some members rant at officers completely unfairly because they're expecting or even feeling entitled to something they're not.

Also be realistic about guild chat response times. See post #48 above about guild chat.

Officers don't owe anything to you personally. We take on the extra workload & donate our time & efforts out of our personal generosity to the guild.

Please understand often we're already slightly frazzled by our extra workload & the last thing we need is to feel pressured, taken for granted, unappreciated or even to receive abuse! Please be nice to us & we'll more likely be nice to you too!

[Cross-references: #48, #82]

[Kittypurrs]

Some players may take a lengthy break from AL, sometimes for years at a time. Returning "grandfathered" players may have joined <Bellum> long before the AP requirements came into place.

If you see a player ranked Member who is below the current APs requirement (see post #80) please do indeed report them to an officer: they are a new player. However, if they're ranked Combatant or Recruiter, you may presume that they've been granted a temporary exemption.

However, officer candidates must formally meet our standards. If you're currently below the APs required, you'll be temporarily disqualified from nomination to an officer position until you meet all the officer standards. See post #77.

[Cross-references: #77, #80]

[Kittypurrs]

Referring to the guild rules quick reference notes post #82 above:

Bellum is intended as a safe family culture for everyone, including for children, those with disabilities & for those who've experienced trauma; we have all these in Bellum. Be conscious AL is global, so you cannot assume others necessarily understand your "humour" — which always is regional & subcultural, when you think about it. Also see post #78 above about humour.

Upholding Bellum's culture is more important than any specific rules. Even if no specific written rule applies in a particular situation, if you disrespect our family repeatedly & unapologetically, expect to be no longer welcome. Those whose behaviour repeatedly distresses others will be kicked and banned.

A little occasional swearing in guild chat is OK but not too often. Please use it only sparingly for emphasis, not habitually. NSFW content is absolutely not appropriate in general guild chat. Not only is it unsuitable for our child members, but it can trigger disproportionately negative & distressing reactions in those who've experienced trauma. In my personal opinion, it's also simply tasteless & beneath the high standards we strive for in our guild culture.

If you want to discuss such content, please do so in private chat, or else go to your house with a select group of people for that kind of conversation. An even better alternative may be the #nsfw-adult-chat channel in our guild Discord.

Our number #1 rule is that we're a safe family culture. Keep that in mind, think twice, and I expect that all shall be well.

[Cross-reference post #82]