:::WGW Chat Policy:::

WGW Mission statement:

"Let it be known that brave Warriors, good and true, have banded together to guard and cleanse The Woods of the forces of evil. Henceforth they shall be known as the Warriors and Guardians of the Woods and shall serve their guild and cause with honor, loyalty and courage."

WGW has long stood for Honor, Respect, and Fair Play in the Worlds of Online Gaming. Our Chat policies are tailored to protect these ideals, and to uphold the Good reputation of this Guild. The behavior of every one of its members is directly reflected upon the Honor of this Guild. As such the penalties for abuse of these policies will be direct and severe. These may include counseling, warnings, demotion in rank or expulsion from the guild.

All decisions on chat abuse will be dealt with by the WGW Council of Warriors and the Guild Master. Appeals may be made to the GM and will be considered before the Council at their next meeting. Disciplinary Action will remain in effect until that time.

Definitions:

Spamming: To fill the screen with nonsense and random junk. To excessively repeat the same or similar messages. To fill the screen with messages so as to interfere with the ability of others to communicate on legitimate, game-related topics. More than 1 message in 5 minutes, or more than 3 in an hour on the same subject is spamming.

Flaming: A direct personal malicious attack

GU: Guild Chat forum.

AS: Alliance Speak, or Alliance Chat forum.

CG: Chat Group, a private chat joined via invitation.

GC: Group Chat, your Party of up to 8 persons.

SAY: spoken aloud and heard by all within range.

General Policies:

You are encouraged to speak in a respectful and polite manner within the limits of reason and good game play. The limits of typed communication make it easy to Offend. Be willing to apologize after a misunderstanding. WGW currently has young women and men as members who are under 18. Many others have young children of ages that they can read easily, and who frequently come in to watch them play. Further, WGW is an international group of people of all ages, sexes, religions, races, and backgrounds. As such, all chat must be of a manner that is appropriate to this diverse group. You are asked to closely monitor your use of crude or offensive humor and profane or vulgar language. Harassment or slurs of any type will not be tolerated.

When purchasing items from guild crafters do not expect free items. Do expect to at least pay for the cost of the materials required to make the item. You are encouraged to give donations to help the crafter raise their skill, especially for spellcrafters and alchemists as they can not do consignments. However, these donations do not obligate the crafter to make items for you for free in the future.

When in doubt, use the "Need Before Greed" system. When you receive a drop in a group the item should go first to the class that could actually use the item and is in your group. If more than 1 character in the group that could use the item, then there should be a "roll" done for the item by the elidgable classes.

An effort should be made to always give your group at least 15-30 minutes warning that you plan to leave. Try to be conscience of other's time when agreeing to join groups. If you know the evening you will be distracted and AFK a lot, then you might want to solo or do some activity that doesn't require your full attention, i.e. crafting, catching up on low lvl epics, etc…


Acceptable Chat:

1. Looking for an XP, BG, or RvR group is fine at all levels on all chat forums to which you have access. Caution: no spamming. In AS, messages for LFG/sales/questions should in general follow this format: "Level XX <class> LFG for exp, message me if interested." Please use AS for an initial statement and /send for follow-up discussions."

2. Crafters may use all chat forums to promote the sale of their wares. Caution: no Spamming.

3. Announcement of an RvR Attack is permitted and encouraged in all forums.

4. Leveling Announcements - On GU, CG, GC, or SAY, this is fine at any Level. On AS, only make an announcement when you reach level 50.

5. In GU, pretty much any chat is fine as long as it doesn't fall under the "unacceptable chat" categories. Exceptions are guild meetings or when Guild Chat needs to be used to coordinate WGW Groups for RvR or Raids. Otherwise, if you feel like chatting, pontificating, musing or any other such communications, do it here.

6. AS: If you are about to say something on AS it should pertain to most (75%) of the entire alliance (20 guilds). If you are under level 40, RvR and Group Seeking are the only acceptable reasons to use AS. Over 40, you may participate in AS discussions as long as the subject is relating to the game, and pertinent or of potential interest to many Alliance members. At any level you may congratulate a 50 announcement. Over 40 you may make other congratulations at your discretion.

7. CG: What you say in a CG of your making, with people of your choosing is always your business. In a Guild CG all GU rules apply. In an RvR CG all AS rules apply.

8. You must at all times consider the current situation our realm. Chat that may be appropriate during slow times is unacceptable during attempts to organize realm defenses, for instance.

Unacceptable Chat:

1. Spamming is never acceptable in any forum.

2. Never speak in a manner that will bring dishonor upon your guild or your guild mates.

3. Never use vulgarity, slurs, or crude or offensive language. If a major television broadcast network like CBS, ABC or NBC would not use your comment during prime time, then it is almost certainly unacceptable chat.

4. No abuse, harassment or flaming.

5. No d00d Speak. A little joking around using "wtfpwn" or "the suq" once in a while is fine, but if you constantly comment about your "ph@+ l00t" or "l33+ skillz" then WGW is not the guild for you. This is not a d00d guild."

6. Begging. Begging for gold or items outside of /gu is strictly prohibited. WGW is looking for self-sufficient players, and begging is beneath our dignity. In /gu, it is fine to ask if anyone has any extra gear they might be willing to part with. You should not ask other players for gold unless you are truly in dire straits.

7. Requests for PLs should not be made. Instead of asking for a PL try just asking for a group or good hunting spots for your lvl. If someone is in the PL mood/mode then they will offer it up for you.

8. Please stay within our alliance chat rules.

(This policy was finalized by the WGW Council on September 7, 2003)