Council Code

These are the ideals that are engrained in the Gray Council Charter.

Membership

  1. Those who wish to join the Gray Council must have an established member of the Kinship willing to advocate them. The candidate's advocate will vouch for their upstanding character and compatibility with the Gray Council's principles and beliefs. A candidate of upstanding character is one who:
    1. is trustworthy.
    2. is mindful and respectful of other players, especially to Kinsmates.
    3. plays for the fun of it and NOT for the single purpose of acquiring items or gaining experience. While there is nothing inherently wrong with that way of play, those who do tend to have little time for much more than farming or leveling. That is not who we are.

    * Advocates, choose candidates you wish to induct carefully. A bad candidate will reflect poorly on you and the Kinship.

    *Character names that are not lore appropriate are not acceptable in this kinship. Names like LimpBizkitRulz, FartSniffer, or pwnage, or anything else that doesn't fit Middle Earth lore are all extremely annoying and are inherent immersion breakers which are deemed intolerable by Kinship Law.

    *All forum avatars should be lore appropriate. That is to say that while a galley or schooner are well within lore, references to modern day events and pop culture are not.

  2. Once advocacy is gained, the candidate must demonstrate the above qualities to other members. To properly evaluate candidates, they must adventure with their advocate, or with another member of the Kinship for at least 6 hours of game time. These hours may be spread out among and up to 3 individual gaming sessions.

    * Secondary characters of Kinshipped members are, of course, exempt and may be tagged immediately should they wish to do so.

Player Relations

  1. Have fun! Always! Never forget that this is a game and nothing in the game is worth losing friends over.
  2. Extend your help towards your kin and other players. If you see a kinsman or another player having trouble, don't be afraid to give a hand!
  3. Never let the pursuit of money, items or levels come between you and anyone else.
  4. Being flaky is another trait that can give you a bad reputation; for good reason. Breaking a promise or a commitment is rude and inconsiderate and violates the spirit in which the Kinship was founded. If the promise was to help somebody or if you've set up an appointment with someone and you can't be there, just give them proper notice. You'll find that canceling is better than just plain flaking out.
  5. Overly foul language has no place in our Kinship. Refrain from using this kind of language when using kinship chat, public channels, and especially when posting on message boards.
  6. Please remember that this is a passive RP Kinship and no leet speech will be tolerated as it is immersion breaking and outright annoying. If you must use leet speech then find another kinship to do it in.
  7. Harassment of another player, either according to the rules of Turbine or the rules of the Gray Council, will not be tolerated in any shape or form and will be grounds for the immediate and irrevocable discharge from the Kinship.
    Harassment is defined as: the willful execution of, or willful ignorance of, a disruption of another's game playing experience regardless of who or what the harassment is directed at. Harassment includes, but is not limited to, 'kill-stealing', 'training', disruption of another's fight or role-play, excessively bad behavior, disruption of events, constant and bothersome /tells for services, money, items or other such favors. There are some instances which are not covered in this subsection, but just because it's not here doesn't give a green light. We all know what bad behavior is. Be mature.
  8. Members are expected to report any harassment, in game or out-of-game, to an officer or the Mith Tur. The Mith Tur and the Hall of Servitude will review ALL reported cases of harassment and decide what consequences are required, if any.
  9. Do not take help from kinsmates for granted. Oftentimes people are busy once they log into the game. If you need help, use the forums (particularly, the LFF Forum) to let your request for help be known. Sometimes you will get a quick response, other times not. However, impatience will rarely secure the help you need.
  10. Please remember that your actions reflect on each and every one of us. Your reputation affects the way your kinsmates will be treated by others. Be sociable, polite, and courteous to others. If you are asked for services, and are able to perform them, please take a moment to help out a fellow player.

The Hall of Servitude

The Hall of Servitude is made up of officers who are the representatives of the Kinship at large. Each Governor represents their respective House in the Hall of Servitude.

  1. The Hall of Servitude is the policy making and disciplinary body of the kinship.
  2. Only Governors may become members of the Hall of Servitude.
  3. Outline for Kinship Representation and Legislation:
    1. Representation
      1. Clan representation within the Kinship is done expressly by the Magistrate to the House Government
      2. House representation is done expressly by the Governors to the Hall of Servitude.
    2. Legislation
      1. Legislation may be proposed to the Hall of Servitude by anyone.
      2. All legislation must pass a two thirds majority vote by the Governors before ratification.

Concerning Officers

  1. Election of officers.
    1. Each House Governor decides the number of officers within their house.
    2. If there is a need for officers, then requests should be given to the Hall of Servitude by the House Governor. The promotion of officers is usually granted if the candidate is qualified. Those who are accepted as officers will be promoted and recognized during the following guild function, unless a field-grade commision is required, in which case the promotion will be granted at the earliest plausible opportunity.

  2. Conduct of officers
    1. Officers are the Kinship's resident police force. It is the duty of an officer to hold the code in the highest honor and to behave in such a way that reflects that mindset. Officers are also expected to hold all other Kinsmates accountable, regardless of rank, for their actions.

Communication

  1. There are several forms of communication that are available to Gray Council members. As such, there is no excuse for having communication problems.
    1. Tells: All private matters are to be taken care of via in-game tells. If you are having a hard time contacting a member in game, then use other means of communications; Instant Message programs, private messages on the forum or e-mails. Please check your PM inbox and email daily. It's your responsibility.
    2. The Gray Council forums are open to everyone, including non-members. Private kinship matters should be confined to the GCoA Exclusive Community forum, which only full members can view.
    3. The Gray Council Officers forums are available to officers only for discussion of matters that involve guild government and legislation.
  2. Kinship Meetings: the Kinship seldom calls for a meeting, however, attendance is mandatory should one be called unless properly excused.
  3. Information about another Kinsmate, ie. email addresses, real life name, address, etc. is confidential and private. Under no circumstances should you give their information away without their express consent. The non consentual disclosure of confidential information is punishable by immediate and irrevocable removal from the kinship.

Looting

When you first join or form a group, it is strongly recommended that you establish the ground rules for looting to avoid confusion. We expect members of our Kinship to act in the interest of fairness and with common sense. Protect your honor and the honor of your Kinship, no item is worth getting a bad reputation over.

  1. The Gray Council is a family, and as such, we treat each other as family members. If you acquire an item that you cannot use, we strongly encourage that you first check to see if another kinsmate can use the item and either give it to them or, if you wish to sell it, give a kinsmate a chance to buy it at a fair price before auctioning it off. Remember, kinship come first. Any dispute that may arise over items or loot must be resolved through the proper channels.

Disputes

  1. Unresolved disputes within the Kinship are to be brought directly to the respective House Governments. If the case arises that the House Government cannot resolve the matter then the matter should be brought before the Hall of Servitude for mediation and resolution. The Mith Tur will have final say in all matters, should the Hall of Servitude fail in the task of resolving a dispute.
  2. Disputes between kinsmates are private and confidential and all effort must be taken to keep it as such. The Kinship chat, forum or any other public venue are not accepted forums for the resolution of disputes. If a dispute arises and there are no immediate superiors available, then forum PMs should be used to inform them of the situation.
  3. Describing other members in a bad light or just plain badmouthing them in public is grounds for dismissal from the kinship. We are a family and as such we need to resolve internal affairs amongst ourselves.

Events

  1. Members are strongly encouraged to attend raids and events planned by the kinship. Raids and events are the only official activities afforded to a guild by the game where we can all have fun and get to know each other.
  2. If you decide to join an event or promise to be at a raid, please be considerate and give prior notice if you can't make it. If possible, cancel ahead of time so that the planners will have enough time to find a suitable replacement.
  3. A kinship event or raid may be proposed by any member of the kinship.
  4. Kinship Help Days: If you need help traveling, finishing a quest, or tracking and killing a particularly difficult mob you may ask the kinship for help. To properly and efficiently facilitate getting help from the kinship, we've set some ground rules that you may refer to in the article published by the Hall of Servitude, "Getting Help In the Kinship."

Removal of Kinship Members

  1. House Governors may recommend removal of a kinship member but may only recommend remove of those who are within their own house.
  2. The Hall of Servitude, after fully investigating all alleged complaints against a member, may recommend dismissal.
  3. Once dismissal is recommended, a simple majority vote in the Hall of Servitude is required for the removal of the member in question.