Ela-Ishtel Officers Handbook

Lae digil tr arth nist, anann cuil tr thenid nist.

Great victors through noble hearts, long life through loyal hearts.

(11/20/2014)

Page 1

Mission Statement
It is the mission of this guild to promote the growth and enjoyment of its members in an
atmosphere of respect through the fostering of honor, valor, and loyalty.

The Charter
Ela-Ishtel. Elven High Heaven. The creation of the guild in July 2014 was the realization
of a dream shared by Randylahey and Bastt. Both having been with the game for more than a
decade, and members of numerous guilds in that time, the two had noticed a decline in the
general player attitudes that was clearly driving many away from something that had once been a
point of pleasure, escape, and fanciful entertainment. Both had thought of creating a guild, so
when the opportunity presented itself they seized it in the hopes of building a guild on the
principles that had once been the norm in the EverQuest community, particularly player etiquette
and respect. Those ideals have become the foundation of what the guild stands for, and as such
have attracted a number of players returning to game who had been missing that element. As the
guild continues to grow, the desire is to attract players new and returning, young and old, and
foster their growth through these very principles.

(11/20/2014)

Page 2

Officers Code of Conduct

Treat people with respect both in and out of the guild.
Lead by example and expect others to follow that example.
Be Firm, Fair, and Consistent: Firm in your convictions and the upholding of the law,
Fair in your treatment of others both when they are right and when they are wrong, and
Consistent in applying the previous two principles to all you deal with.
Represent your guild with pride.

Official Procedures
Dispute Resolution
All complaints need to be addressed in a calm and professional manner. While it is likely
you will encounter complaints that are not genuine and that are designed to create trouble for
some members, or at the very least that try to twist and stretch the facts to exaggerate or conceal
the reporting partys involvement in the matter, all complaints need to be given an appropriate
investigation to separate the genuine from the false and thus build a better rapport with the
community as a whole.

Ask for screenshots or logs that can prove the validity of the claim (screenshots are
preferred as they are more difficult to alter than log files). These can be emailed to the
guilds dispute address at EIdisputes@gmail.com.

Interview the member the complaint concerns. Be sure to ask them for screenshots or
logs that help prove their level of involvement, or lack thereof, in the matter.

(11/20/2014)

Page 3

If it is clear that the member is indeed at fault, and it is a situation where reparations are
easy to determine (training, KSing, ninja looting), ask the injured party what they would
accept as reparations such as helping them camp and kill a mob that was stolen, rezzing
and rebuffing them after a death, returning a tradable item that was looted, paying out the
cost of an item that was no trade or helping them kill the mob until the item drops again
(most of these would need to be carried out by the offending member if they admit guilt
and agree to make amendsif not, then it will be necessary to move to a Tribunal trial on
the matter which is covered under Trial Procedures).

Write an incident report. This does not need to be particularly complicated. Simply
answer the questions who, when, where, what, and why as succinctly as possible and
send this out as an in-game email to all officers. Include any screenshots of your
discussions with both the complainant and the accused in the same email thread that the
original complaint generated as this will serve as the main file for the complaint.

If a resolution is not obtained quickly and the matter needs to go to trial, send an in-game
email to the complainant once the matter has been resolved. It is not necessary to go into
detail as to what all occurred, but it should let them know if the accused was found guilty
or not, whether or not judgment was passed, and if that judgment has some direct bearing
on them (i.e. the member will be making reparations with them).

Disciplinary Authority
All officers should know the rules of the guild, but they also need to know the authority
they have in their position.

(11/20/2014)

Page 4

Tier 1 Officer (T1O) Has the authority to reprimand members for rule violations. Does
not have the power to remove a member from guild when an Immediate Action Offence
(IAO) occurs.

Senior Officer (SO) Has the power to reprimand members for rule violations. Has the
power to remove members from guild for IAO incidents. Clear documentation is
necessary here as the removed member may petition for reinstatement if they feel they
have been wrongfully removed. Take screenshots of the incident and send them to the
guild dispute email. Send a report in-game email to all officers to prevent as much
confusion as possible.

Tribunal Procedures
Any offence that requires a greater degree of disciplinary action, but that is lesser than an
IAO violation, will be decided by a Tribunal of officers.

The Tribunal shall always consist of an odd number of officers (at least 3 but no more
than 9). One officer shall act as the Prime Judiciary, and shall refrain from voting unless
there is a tie on the matter (this position is most likely to be held by the Leader or CoLeader unless they designate someone to stand in their stead).

In the event that it is not possible to hold a live Tribunal hearing, the Tribunal will be
conducted by proxy in which the participating officers will be emailed the specifics of the
case, including evidence and statements, and be asked to make a decision on the matter.
This will include a set amount of time for fact finding in which the participants may
request more information or ask questions. The time for the vote count will be set, and
the officers can vote at any point up to that time. If there are no votes, an extension may

(11/20/2014)

Page 5

be filed for an extra three days to obtain the votes. If after the extension period there are
still no votes the matter will be decided by the Prime Judiciary.

At any time during the trial stage, the accused may make a request for an officer advocate
and petition for leniency under the following conditions:
The member admits their guilt and shows sincere remorse in the matter
The member agrees to submit to the guidance of their officer advocate for
the specifically determined amount of time
The member understands that disciplinary actions may include a
determined probationary period as well as other remedies that will be
reasonable expected to be honored, but that these sanctions will be less
than they would have otherwise faced
The member understands that failure to comply may result in the
termination of the advocate contract and result in an immediate institution
of the greater disciplinary action that was originally faced.
The member has not been granted a request for leniency in the past 12
months.

If a member is found guilty, the Tribunal will ask for a vote on punishment and may be
open to suggestions from the Tribunal members. Once decided, the Prime Judiciary will
administer the disciplinary action and inform the member of their responsibilities and the
duration of the discipline for anything less than guild removal.

The Prime Judiciary will record the Tribunal session and document the outcome. This
will be stored in a file in the dispute email and in the officers forum on the website.

(11/20/2014)

Page 6

Officers need to respect a members privacy on the subject of discipline. Other than
stating that a person was the recipient of discipline, the details of the matter are at the
discretion of the member to disclose as they see fit. If someone seems to have a valid
reason to know the outcome of the trial in greater detail, their inquiry should be
forwarded to the Prime Judiciary to determine what they have a right to know on the
matter.

Disciplinary Sanctions
The following is a list of common sanctions that may be incurred for a variety of actions.
The list is by no means all inclusive as flexibility and creativity are encouraged to address
issues on a personal and appropriate basis:

Probation A set period of time in which the member is restricted in a manner

appropriate to their violation.

Demotion Downgrading a members status to a more formal probation in the rank

of Penalty Box, or the loss of an officer or senior officers rank.

Monetary Damages The average cost of a stolen item plus 10% (if the member
ninja loots an item valued at 50K then they would pay 55K in reparations)

Return of stolen property This applies only to tradable items that were ninja looted.

Camp Assistance Assisting the injured party in killing a mob that was stolen or
obtaining an item that was stolen.

Community Service When Camp Assistance is the best option but is best carried out
by a liaison in the interest of civility, the member will be responsible for returning aid
to the liaison (typically an officer) for the same amount of time invested plus 10%

(11/20/2014)

Page 7

rounded to the nearest 5 minutes (a camp that took 4 hours would subject the member
to commit to 4 hours and 25 minutes of community service).

Guild Bank Restrictions When the matter is the inappropriate removal and usage of
guild bank items such as removing items for sale.

Raid Loot Restrictions Specific restrictions or reparations that may be instated for
members that ninja loot at a raid event.

Guild Removal When a violation is so severe that the member is deemed a liability
to the guild in terms of resources, reputation, guild environment, or any combination
thereof.

Inviting New Members

We encourage officers to invite new members as often as the opportunity presents itself.
However, before inviting anyone there are a few things that officers should be aware of.

Invites may be generated through the use of a recruiting message. Please dont get
obnoxiously spammy with this.

Invites may result from grouping with unguilded players.

Invites may come from persons who indicate they are unhappy in their current guild.
Exercise caution with this. Do not actively try to recruit from other guilds as this is
unprofessional and disrespectful. However if a person indicates to you they are unhappy
and ask for information about the guild that is another matter. Let them seek you out, not
the other way around.

The guild maintains a list of persons that are banned from being invited to the guild for a
variety of reasons. The list is updated as necessary so keep an eye on it before doing
invites to ensure that you are not inviting someone that is persona non grata.

(11/20/2014)

Page 8

Recruit status is for 30 days. No exceptions no matter who they are. This is to avoid
favoritism.

The inviting officer is responsible for filling out the public notes of their recruits, and it
needs to follow the given format: (dd/mm) Main/Alt of Expansion. Examples: (02/12)
Main TDS, (13/12) Alt of Whosit RoF. (Failure to fill in this information thoroughly
irritates the Co-Leader who does most of the roster management and you really dont
want that).

Recruits that bring in alts will have their alts dated for the same original date of invite as
their main.

Full members that bring in alts will have their alts marked as full members with no date
needed. If the inviting officer does not have the ability to promote, include at the
beginning of the note the following tag (PFM) which stands for Promote to Full Member.
Example: (PFM) Alt of Whosit TDS.

Officers will give recruits a basic overview of the guild rules, and will direct them to the
guild website and Facebook page for registration and following. When possible, it is
actually best to have potential recruits visit the guild website so they can see the complete
guild rules prior to accepting an invitation to guild.

Public notes may contain cute or funny descriptions or phrases. If you add one of these
please follow the following guidelines:
Keep it Clean
Do not include statements that are clearly abusive, discriminatory, or
objectionable

(11/20/2014)

Page 9

 When in doubt, ask the individual if what you want to place in the notes is fine
with them
When doing this as a prank and you are unsure what you want to put is allowed,
consult the Leader or Co-Leader

Officer Promotions
All officers are encouraged to be alert for members that demonstrate characteristics in
alignment with becoming an officer themselves. Persons that demonstrate good leadership skills,
a willingness to progress and help others to progress at the same time, and good communication
skills may in fact be suitable for promotion. Any officer may make a recommendation for
promotion, and should be willing to help mentor candidates that are deemed to be a good fit for
such a position.

Promotion to Tier 1 Officer (T1O) status will be done by a majority vote from the current
officer pool.

Prior to promotion the candidate may be sponsored by an officer willing to stand in as a

mentor, however the lack of a mentor at this nomination stage does not disqualify the
member from consideration.

Officers should be wary of members who are greatly pushing for promotion. While some
may truly strive to be in this service position, many who exhibit such behavior are often
only interested in gaining power or increasing their access for their own personal gain.

Once a member is promoted to the T1O position, they will go through a series of
evaluations spanning a length of time that is determined by the Leader and Co-Leader
and known only to them. The evaluations that take place at this time will likely be done
without the direct involvement of the candidate.

(11/20/2014)

Page 10

A T1O may be promoted to Senior Officer (SO) at any time during the evaluation period
if:
The Leader and Co-Leader determine that they are fit for promotion and
The T1O passes the Officers Advancement Exam (OAE) a test comprised of a
number of randomly selected questions
Failure to pass the exam results in an extension of the T1O status until the
T1O requests a retake of the exam or at least 1 week, whichever is longer.
There is no limit to the number of times a T1O may test.
A T1) may decline promotion and may remain in the T1O status if they
feel that is better suited to their individual situation. They can request
testing at any time after such a statement if they feel they are ready and
able to move forward and are deemed by the Leader and Co-Leader to be
fit for testing.

Stay Informed
All officers should check the guild website and Facebook pages regularly in order to keep
current on what is relevant to the guild and what members are discussing or requesting. Growth
is an active skill not a passive one, and the more information we have the better we can do it.
Familiarize yourself with these platforms, however if you are pressed for time at least make sure
you stay current on the information in the officers forum and know the guild rules.

The motto clearly outlines what we stand for and is a good recruiting platform.

The calendar of events includes regularly scheduled events as well as special events and
member requested events such as epic raids.

(11/20/2014)

Page 11

The forums include a number of rooms for various interests such as general discussions,
class questions, member achievements, a hall of shame that includes a list of players
banned from invite, and an officers only forum that contains such important information
as meeting notes, strategy, events planning, and officer nominations.

The guild rules are able to be accessed by anyone including non-members.

The guild charter outlines the founding of the guild.

The mission statement sums up what is expected and the way in which we desire to
achieve our goals.

Managing the Guild Roster

For the most part, the management of the guild roster falls to the Co-Leader. However,
the Co-Leader may delegate these responsibilities for a period of time for a variety of reasons. In
that event, officers should be familiar with the basic responsibilities of roster management.

The roster needs to be checked and trimmed regularly to prevent a buildup of inactive
members. Select one day a week to do this task (Thursdays is the current selection) and
sort the roster by the last played tab. Any member or recruit that has not been present
for 6 weeks needs to be considered for removal.

Check to see if the player is a main or an alt

If the player is a main, sort the roster using the public notes tab and look for any
members that are marked as an alt of the member in question. If any of their alts
have been on in the past 6 weeks or less, do not mark the player for removal
If the player is an alt, check the note to see who their main is and then sort the list
by public notes to check for their main and other alts. If any of their characters
have been on in the past 6 weeks or less, do not mark for removal.

(11/20/2014)

Page 12

 Check the notes of persons that have been gone for 6 weeks or longer for any tags
that indicate they will be away from game for a while. Be sure to do this on all
their characters, and if a tag is found on one and not the others then update the
notes of all their characters to reflect the same tag. The following tags indicate
players that will not be removed from guild and the length of time that the tag is
in effect:
ELAP1 Extended Leave of Absence Personal 1 year Given when any
member expresses that they will be away from game for an undetermined
period of time for unspecified reasons not to exceed 1 year.
ELAP2 Extended Leave of Absence Personal 2 years The same as
above but granted for a period not to exceed 2 years.
ELAE Extended Leave of Absence Education Given when a person
has educational responsibilities that make their ability to play sporadic and
infrequent. This is granted for a term of 4 years, but may be renewed upon
request with a new date of activation set.
ELAM Extended Leave of Absence Military This is given to members
when they deploy so they will still have a guild home when they return.
This is an indefinite tag which is only removed or altered by request of the
member on their return, or the request of a designated emergency contact
regardless of whether that person is a separate player in game or an
individual with the members account information.
EIG Ela-Ishtel Guardian A permanent tag for members that have
passed away.

(11/20/2014)

Page 13

 A member may express to any officer that they need a Leave of Absence tag. Use
the following tag formats to enter this into their public notes:
For timed tags (tag type dd/mm/yy dd/mm/yy) at the beginning of
the notes. Example: (ELAP1 12/12/14 12/12/15) Main TDS
For permanent tags (tag dd/mm/yy) at the beginning of the notes.
Example: (ELAM 12/12/14) Main TDS
If an emergency contact is provided, list the contact after the date.
Emergency contacts can be other players or a person that has the
members account information but does not play. The tags are ECP
(Emergency Contact Player) and ECRL (Emergency Contact Real Life).
Example 1: (ELAM 12/12/14 ECP Whosit) Main TDS, Example 2:
(ELAM 12/12/14 ECRL John) Main TDS

If a member does not have any characters that have been on in the past 6 weeks, and does
not have a leave of absence tag, mark them for removal and place the date of removal in
the note. You can set this for 1 to 2 weeks into the future from the date of being tagged
for removal. This helps ensure that mistakes are not made in this regards as it lets other
people see the action about to occur and to call your attention to any corrections that need
to be made. The format you choose for this is not as important since it is only present for
a short period of time, but whatever format you choose be sure you stick with it. The
current format is (MIA scheduled for removal dd/mm) at the beginning of the note.
Example: (MIA scheduled for removal 02/12) Main TDS

(11/20/2014)

Page 14

Notes also need to be checked regularly for corrections. Sort the roster by notes and look
for any missing information or notes that end up not sorting correctly because they are in
a different format.
Differences in capitalization patterns and spacing patters will cause the notes to be
sorted differently. As long as you do this regularly, it should only be necessary to
look for these correction needs in the notes for new recruits. The roster is actually
a very sensitive and responsive platform. Example: Alt of whosit TDS, Alt of
Whosit TDS, alt of Whosit TDS, Alt of Whosit-TDS (no spaces around the - ),
and Alt of Whosit tds will all sort into different locations in the roster even
though they are all alts of the same person and all have the same information
because there are slight variations in capitalization and spacing patterns.
FORMAT IS IMPORTANT!!! I cant stress this enough. Keep it all the same and
dealing with the roster will be so much easier for all of us!
Make sure there is no objectionable material in any of the notes, and remove
objectionable material if necessary.

Periodically review the Message of the Day tab (MotD) and see if the information there is
relevant. Make changes to this regularly to keep the message fresh and up to date.

Do NOT mess with the access tab. Access is set exactly where the Leader and Co-Leader
want it and for good reason.

(11/20/2014)

Page 15

Glossary of Terms
Camp Assistance Assisting the injured party in killing a mob that was stolen or obtaining an
item that was stolen.
Camp Stealing The systematic harassment of a player or group of players for the purpose of
chasing them away from a camp they were already occupying, or moving into a camp without
permission from a player or group that was already occupying the camp area.
Community Service When Camp Assistance is the best option but is best carried out by a
liaison in the interest of civility, the member will be responsible for returning aid to the liaison
(typically an officer) for the same amount of time invested plus 10% rounded to the nearest 5
minutes (a camp that took 4 hours would subject the member to commit to 4 hours and 25
minutes of community service).
Demotion Downgrading a members status to a more formal probation in the rank of Penalty
Box, or the loss of an officer or senior officers rank.
ECP Emergency Contact Player A player that a member lists as an emergency contact
capable of requesting changes to their status when said member is unavailable to make the
request themselves, such as requesting a members status be changed from ELAM to EIG in the
event of their death.
ECRL Emergency Contact Real Life A person that does not play, but that has the account
information of the player and has been listed as that persons emergency contact capable of
requesting changes to their status when said member is unavailable to make the request
themselves, such as requesting a members status be changed from ELAM to EIG in the event of
their death.
EIG Ela-Ishtel Guardian A permanent tag for members that have passed away.
(11/20/2014)

Page 16

ELAE Extended Leave of Absence Education Given when a person has educational
responsibilities that make their ability to play sporadic and infrequent. This is granted for a term
of 4 years, but may be renewed upon request with a new date of activation set.
ELAM Extended Leave of Absence Military This is given to members when they deploy so
they will still have a guild home when they return. This is an indefinite tag which is only
removed or altered by request of the member on their return, or the request of a designated
emergency contact regardless of whether that person is a separate player in game or an individual
with the members account information.
ELAP1 Extended Leave of Absence Personal 1 year Given when any member expresses that
they will be away from game for an undetermined period of time for unspecified reasons not to
exceed 1 year.
ELAP2 Extended Leave of Absence Personal 2 years The same as above but granted for a
period not to exceed 2 years.
Format The pattern of capitalization and spacing of information placed in the public notes in
the guild roster.
Full Member A member who has completed the 30 day probationary period and is in good
standing with the guild.
Guild Bank Restrictions When the matter is the inappropriate removal and usage of guild
bank items such as removing items for sale.
Guild Removal When a violation is so severe that the member is deemed a liability to the
guild in terms of resources, reputation, guild environment, or any combination thereof.
IAO Immediate Action Offence Any offense that is deemed so detrimental that the offender
may be immediately removed from the guild by any available member ranking SO or higher.

(11/20/2014)

Page 17

II Intermediate Infraction - These kinds of infractions are more serious and may come with
penalties that exceed simple verbal warnings. These can include things like repeat offenses, first
incidents of failure to adhere to the expected code of conduct and player ethics, clear instances of
intentionally bullying or related offenses, and so on.
KS Kill Steal Taking a mob away from another player that had already pulled that mob for
the purpose of denying them the kill or denying them the ability to loot an item they were
seeking.
MI Major Infraction - These kind of infractions will all be tried by a Tribunal of officers and
include repeat intermediate offenses, serious cases of willful refusal to adhere to the code of
conduct and player ethics, and serious cases of bullying.
mI Minor Infraction Breaking the rules in a manner that is not deemed to be too serious and
punishable on first offense by a verbal warning.
Monetary Damages The average cost of a stolen item plus 10% (if the member ninja loots an
item valued at 50K then they would pay 55K in reparations)
MotD Message of the Day. A Feature in the guild roster that allows short messages to be
posted to guild members upon their entrance into the game.
Ninja Looting Looting a mob that was not your kill without the permission of the rightful
owner, or looting a mob that you helped to kill but on which an item was already designated for
another player.
OAE Officer Advancement Exam A randomly selected number of questions to test a T1Os
qualification for advancement to SO status. The total number of questions is determined by a
/random roll out of the maximum number of questions possible at the time the test is to be
administered.

(11/20/2014)

Page 18

Objectionable Material Any material that a reasonable person would find to be lewd, abusive,
or discriminatory.
Officer Advocate An officer that an accused member requests to represent them during a
Tribunal trial for the purpose of seeking leniency in judgment.
Penalty Box A member that has been placed under formal restrictions as a means of
disciplinary action after a Tribunal Hearing.
Pre-Hearing Detention A restrictive rank given to someone facing serious charges prior to a
Tribunal hearing, or a person that has claimed to be wrongfully removed from guild and
petitioned reinstatement pending a Tribunal Hearing.
Prime Judiciary The officer leading the Tribunal that refrains from voting unless a tie is
reached. Often the Leader or Co-Leader though this task can be delegated.
Probation A set period of time in which the member is restricted in a manner appropriate to
their violation.
Proxy Vote When a Tribunal cannot meet in real time, the case will be sent out to the Tribunal
members who will then have a set amount of time to reach a decision and send in their vote by
email.
Raid Loot Restrictions Specific restrictions or reparations that may be instated for members
that ninja loot at a raid event.
Recruit A new member that has not yet been with the guild for a full 30 days.
Return of stolen property This applies only to tradable items that were ninja looted.
SO Senior Officer The highest officer status that is granted after a T1O passes the OAE.

(11/20/2014)

Page 19

T1O Tier 1 Officer The first officer level and often used as a probationary and learning
period for new officers, though members in this level may voluntarily choose not to advance
further.
Training The act of pulling a number of mobs along a path that places other players in danger
or causes them to die. This is of particular interest where it is clear the action was intentional.
Tribunal A gathering of an odd number of officers (3, 5, 7, or 9) to hold a trial when a
member is accused of rule infractions that require more than a reprimand, but are not deemed to
be IAO.

(11/20/2014)

Page 20