WELCOME TO THE FIRST FLEET!

If you're looking to join the Guild, enjoy checking out what we have to offer you, and we hope to see you amongst our ranks soon. But most importantly, if you're one of our longer-term members, it’s good to see you bringing yourself up-to-date with everything you need to know about the Guild as we enter the age of Wrath of the Lich King.

For everyone, we hope you enjoy being a valued member of the Guild, and while you probably already have some idea of what you’re getting yourself into (or are already in!), here’s what to expect:

•  A casual end-game guild, but one that also offers the more advanced Raider opportunities that you might otherwise think are restricted to hard-core Guilds. This means that while we’re happy to have friends in the Guild and aren’t so strict on things like requiring people to do certain things at certain times, have “x” quality of gear and insist on mandatory attendance for all Raids, etc, we still provide the opportunity for our members to be the best players that they can, and either enjoy the World of Warcraft end-game on a more casual basis, or push to be a member of our primary “Progression” Raiding team.

•  A comprehensive array of guild resources, including a website, Ventrilo access (voice communication server), Guild Bank, a simple but fair loot distribution system, and more.

•  A mature, multi-gender and adult-orientated Guild. There are some junior members, but these players have historically proven themselves to be more than capable of holding their own maturity-wise both in-game and out.

•  A recruitment policy and process that remains easy and casual enough to allow people to invite friends into the Guild with a minimum of fuss, but is thorough and complete when it comes to expanding our Raiding ranks and ensuring that the Guild maintains a quality mix of people that are low on drama, but high on success.

In order to offer all of these things, we've created an environment that tries to be both fun and fair at the same time, and unfortunately, this can't happen without there being at least some rules that everyone needs to follow (cue the boos!). But as you look though these rules, hopefully you can realise that there's not really anything too drastic to worry about in there, and they'll generally be the furthest thing from your mind once you're ingame. 

GENERAL RULES

Almost any issue or problem within the Guild can be avoided if we show one another respect. Please remember this at all times, but in general, if something is not positive, don’t type it or say it. Our behaviour guidelines to help maintain this friendly environment are:

• Be courteous and respectful to all other guild members

• Be keen to raid with the Guild! We don’t mind people questing or PvPing, but remember, Raiding is the primary role of the Guild

• Language and behaviour must be adult and clean. The exception to this is the “Noob Bar” section of Ventrilo. In this channel, anything goes, so venture into it at your peril

• Be willing to assist with tasks or accept requests for help from time to time to help fellow Guild members

• Generally be friendly and helpful. Selfishness will not get you far…

• You must be active on our guild website and in the forums - speak your mind. This is where the true directions of the guild can be decided, and decisions about changes made and discussed. Please make it a point to check them regularly - we do expect you to visit here at least once or twice a week.

• Please check all available resources BEFORE repeatedly asking questions in Guild Chat or PST’ing high-ranking Guild Members. While we’re happy to help, being part of a larger Guild means that allowing everyone to freely quiz us would leave no time for playing, hence the reason we have created the Guild Roster and Forums to help alleviate stress for everyone and centralise information.

Examples of the types of questions that can be avoided include “Who can make item X?” (covered by Guild Roster), “When is X raid? (covered later on in these very rules), etc etc. Please read all of our rules and the links inside them to learn about just such resources, and if you still have a question, then feel free to ask it in Guild chat.

IMPORTANT: We expect you to visit the website before asking “unnecessary” questions. If you need help finding your way around the website, we are happy to help, but constant requests for information already covered here will generally attracted unwanted attention to yourself.

• Guild members should follow the chain of command for reporting any problems. If you require assistance and need to report anything, you should draw it to the attention of an Admiral or Captain, who will take appropriate action. It is not up to you, the member, to take any action beyond escalating it in this way. As an example, reporting someone in-game to Blizzard when it could have been handled just as easily in Guild will generally get you into the bad books, regardless of how you were wronged.In the event that you have a problem with an Admiral or Captain, please raise that issue with another senior Guild member.

INACTIVITY RULES

To simplify Guild maintenance and upkeep, we expect people to let us know if they are going to be offline or away for any relatively lengthy period (i.e. 2 weeks plus). We realise that people have lives away from the game, but appreciate being told, so if Real-Life issues pop up or you're just having a break away from the game, please post on the forums or PM any Officer or Captain. That way, we can make a note so you don't get unjustly removed from the guild.

Every month we do an activity check on ALL toons within the Guild.

If your Main Character is ever inactive for 1 month without a prior explanation or arrangement, you will be demoted to Ensign.

If an Alt Character is ever inactive for 1 month without a similar arrangement, they will be removed from the Guild.

Similarly, if any Ensign's are discovered to have not logged on for a month without notification, they will be removed from the guild.

In summary, this means that any Guild member (regardless of Rank), can expect to eventually be removed from the Guild if they're inactive for a total of two months.

Exceptions to this will sometimes be made for longstanding members who are on hiatus, but continue to keep in touch (particularly via activity on our forums).

Should you end up kicked from the Guild for inactivity, but return at some point in the future and wish to reapply for entrance to the Guild, you will need to follow the normal recruitment process.

COMMUNICATIONS/GROUPING (PUBLIC BEHAVIOUR)

• If you're getting a group together, make sure everyone in it knows the looting rules, e.g. 'Don't roll on Bind on Pick Ups.' Make sure they know, and never assume anything.

• Never flame any one in a public forum or arena (example WOW public forums) that is read by anyone outside of The First Fleet, i.e. never ever take a disagreement to area chat, trade, general etc. If you see someone in our Guild doing it, inform a Captain or Admiral immediately. Problems that are left until after-the-fact to escalate are a lot harder to resolve, so please place the highest priority on the quick resolution of such matters.

• Remember, as a First Fleet Guild member, you are expected to never ever bail on a group. When in groups, never just leave the group by saying something like “I have to run,” or go AFK without saying that you are. This is of particular importance in Raids or Instances, so please make it a habit for all groups you participate in, as it allows the group leader to either change loot options or wait for you.

• Be respectful in all communications. Being disrespectful to anyone is unacceptable, and being disrespectful to a Officer or Captain is a very fast way to get yourself noticed.

• No begging or spamming whatsoever. Begging and spamming make you look bad, and also make the Guild look bad.

• Personal conversations are acceptable in guild chat, as long as everyone in guild chat has their questions answered (this rule is also to be used with common sense). We don't mind the "guess what movie I saw last night" kind of conversation, but if it goes into a 30min discussion on how that movie didn't have the right cast or whatever, you will be asked to go to a private channel.

Finally, we have some other rules which are more suited to being covered off in their own Sections, so we've broken them down as such, and they can be accessed from either the Guild Rules menu on the Front Page of our website, or by clicking on any of the following links:

• Guild Ranks and Structure



• Raiding
  Addon Requirements
  Scheduling and Signups
  Loot
  Progression Raids
  


• Recruitment
  
  
• Guild Resources
  
  
• Guild Bank

And that’s hopefully it!
Apologies for the amount of information that you had to get through to get here, but trust us when we say that it will all help to make your First Fleet experience a far more enjoyable and rewarding home away from home.

There may be some people who find this all a bit too much, and if you now think that the First Fleet is NOT the place for you, then please feel free to let us know and move on in World of Warcraft. We wish you the best of luck.

However, if you are still here, then we look forward to having you along for the ride!

Enjoy, and see you ingame,
The First Fleet