The Silver Gryphons Charter

The Silver Gryphons was started by a dedicated group of friends who were looking to start a guild based around the principles they deemed important - respect, enjoyment of the game, and friendliness to all members. These are the guiding principles of this guild. The Silver Gryphons are to be recognized as a knowledgeable, friendly and helpful guild. This guild is continually growing and learning as we add more members to our ranks. We are not a hardcore "raiding guild" but do enjoy raiding together and having guild events. The primary focus of raids is to have fun with fellow guild members, build team work within the guild, and build the overall strength of the guild.

Recruitment

Recruitment into the Silver Gryphons is always open unless specifically stated by an officer otherwise. Race and class of your character does not matter, only your ability to play that character and your ability to interact with the other players of the game.

If you are interested in joining the Silver Gryphons, please read through and familiarize your self with our Charter and then contact an officer in game. A list of current officers will be posted in the General Chat forum. As well, the Guild Roster can be used to find the names of all officers.

The requirements for recruitment into the Silver Gryphons is simple. Potential recruits will be given an interview by an officer of the guild. The interview is a short question and answer session, where we try to get to know a little bit of the person we are giving the invite to. After that, if the new member needs a quick rundown of the guild, one is given. Then the guild invite is tendered according to the discretion of the interviewing officer and any officers currently online at the time.

Important, personally identifying information is not required for the interview, with the possible exception of age. Age will only be requested for the purpose of determining of the potential member is able to register for the forums without legal complication.

Code of Conduct

All members of the Silver Gryphons should respect all members of the World of Warcraft community, and behave in a mature manner. This doesn't mean 'Don't have fun' but it does mean don't get into yelling matches with people in any channel, don't kill-steal other players, don't ninja loot, etc. This should be pretty self-explanatory.

When asking for assistance or items in guild, ask not tell, demand or whine. Never beg anyone for items or gold. We all play this game to enjoy it and we all have need for assistance from time to time. Feel free to ask! Many times people will be available to help. If you're in need of gear or trade skill items, ask if anyone is willing to donate to you, but also be willing to donate to other members as well. Do not be greedy. If an officer feels you are being greedy or whiny with regards to asking for items, they will speak with you privately and offer a warning. If the behavior continues, you will be removed from the guild. If you are greedy and expect someone else to do everything for you, this guild is not the guild for you.

Whining and drama will not be tolerated. If you have a serious issue with another member of the guild, please either speak privately with that person in tells, speak privately to an officer, or ask an officer to be a mediator between you and the person, if necessary. If a complaint is made about a person to an officer, an officer will talk privately with that person and give them a warning. If additional complaints are made about the same person three (3) or more times, that person will be asked to leave the guild, due to conduct unbecoming a Silver Gryphon.

Simple rules of Internet etiquette are expected of all members. Please don't use all caps when speaking in any channel. Please strive to keep the language in guild channels clean and mature whenever possible. We understand and will tolerate occasional slips, but bad behavioral language will not be tolerated.

Accidents happen and tempers can flare, but please try to keep confrontations to a minimum. If conduct is repeatedly unbecoming of a Silver Gryphon member, you will be spoken to by an officer and repeat offenders will be removed from the guild.

Reputation

As well as playing nice with your fellow guild members, please keep in mind that we are out in the general public's eye as well and must play nice with everyone as well. We feel that it is important that we keep our guild's name and reputation in a good light by being courteous to others. Do not forget we are also trying to enlarge our guild. With that in mind, we want our guild to present a good image to others. All it takes sometimes is one bad occurrence and the light shining on our guild starts to dim. Please try to keep this in mind while grouping with others or out on raids.

Alternate Characters

Alts are welcome in the guild. Just ask an officer for an invite. Alts will be labeled with their main's name in the guild tool and will be promoted to the same rank as their main.

Guild Participation

Participation in guild events is not mandatory. We understand that different people enjoy the game in different ways. If you prefer to solo, then solo. If you prefer to group, then group.

All members are asked to register for the guild boards. It is not mandatory that you post on the boards, but it is strongly encouraged. Communication is an extremely important part of any successful guild. We do ask that all members regularly check the boards and read all relevant posts for announcements and updates.

Guild Events

The Silver Gryphons is an active guild. The officers will be scheduling regular events for all available members to participate, and we also encourage guild members to include other members in spur-of-the-moment questing, grinding, or raid groups if possible. Please note that this is only encouragement and is not mandatory.

There will be certain requirements that need to be met by all members for guild sanctioned events. All these requirements shall be explained in detail in the following documents:

Raid Rules
Loot Rules
Signing the Charter

Failure to meet the described requirements will cause a member to not be able to participate in the regularly scheduled events.

Professions

Every member of the Silver Gryphons is free to choose the trade skills and specializations of their choosing. Don't expect free item's from someone else's profession and conversely, don't charge a guild member full market value for a trade skill combine. It is acceptable to ask for part/all the materials needed for the combine, or to give the item freely. One of the major benefits of being in a guild is being able to rely on guild members for discounted combines instead of having to deal with the general public markups. The basic rule of thumb is to charge/pay someone barebones prices that the reagents cost.

Trade skill materials and other supplies can also be obtained through the guild bank.

Guild Bank

The Guild Bank is available to all those in the guild ranked Member and higher only. Members are welcome to any item on the banker provided they meet the requirements set by the banker. Any person in the guild is welcome to donate any item or gold they wish to the banker. Promotions are not determined by the amount donated by a particular member.

Guild Rankings

All members of the Silver Gryphons will be of one of the following ranks. To achieve a given rank, the member must exhibit the required qualities, or be willing to take on the given responsiblities of that rank. The ranks and duties are:

Silver Gryphon —Guild Leader

• To promote the vision and strategy of the guild.
• To be the "Buck Stops Here" person.
• To ensure that the direction and vision of the guild is communicated to the officers of the guild, and then to the members of the guild itself.
• To be responsible for the officers of the guild, which includes their discipline, membership and title.

• To promote the vision and strategy of the Silver Gryphon.
• To replace the Silver Gryphon in their absence.
• To take minutes of any officer meetings and ensure that tasks assigned are followed through on.
• To be responsible for the members of the guild, which includes discipline and fate of members and fledglings.
• The White Gryphon is the final say as to the fate of a member or fledgling. That said, it is the practice of the guild to have open communication and discussion of members and fledglings, and all officers' opinions are extremely valuable in the decision process.
• Able to block inappropriate TeamSpeak conversations.
• White Gryphons are expected to lead at least one event a month.

• The Raid Officer leads raids/guild events.
• Responsible for monitoring members of the raid and giving out directions as needed.
• The Raid Officer is able to manage most aspects of the guild, promote or demote members, and participate in discussions regarding discipline and fate of members and fledglings.
• Able to block inappropriate TeamSpeak conversations.
• Raid Officers are expected to lead at least one event a week.

• The Raid Assistant assists the Raid Officer on raids/guild events as needed.
• Able to manage aspects of the guild related to raiding.
• Able to manage most aspects of the guild, promote or demote members, and participate in discussions regarding discipline and fate of members and fledglings.
• Able to block inappropriate TeamSpeak conversations.
• Raid Assistants are expected to lead/assist an event at least once a week.

• To actively assist the officers by teaming with lower level players, and build a strong level of family and trust.
• Able to manage most aspects of the guild, promote or demote members, and participate in discussions regarding discipline and fate of members and fledglings.
• Able to block inappropriate TeamSpeak conversations.
• Black Gryphons are the main recruiters of the guild. They should be actively looking for good recruits to build our membership base.
• It is important for the Black Gryphons to serve as "Go-To" people in the guild for problems any member may have, and then bringing these problems to the attention of their fellow officers.
• The Black Gryphons are expected to maintain an open-door practice of communication.
• Expected to lead at least one event a month.

• Members are full-fledged members of the guild.
• The bulk of the guild will be Members.
• Members must be active, or in the case of an extended absence, have discussed the absence with an officer.
• Members are required to be registered for the forums.
• The members of the guild are expected to share the vision, goals, and dedication of the guild to each other and to those outside of the guild.
• Members of the guild are the face of the guild.
• Members and higher are given access to the Guild Banker.

• Newly invited to the guild.
• Fledglings are required to have an interview with an officer.
• Typical fledging period of four to six weeks.

Promotions

Promotions are based on a combination of time in the guild, involvement on the forums and contribution to the guild, either by attending guild raids/events, helping fellow guild members, and/or donating to the guild banker.

Fledglings should be actively in the guild for a minimum of two weeks before being promoted to Member. Fledglings must also be an active member of the forums, and in good standing with the guild as a whole.

Members should be actively in the guild for a minimum of one month before being promoted to Black Gryphon, and must get the approval of the Officers. Also in order to be promoted to Black Gryphon, a Member must have shown exceptional qualities and a devoted interest to the guild. This can be accomplished by leading guild groups, assisting others when possible, and becoming active in the growth and development of the guild, either by posting comments or suggestions on the forums or by communicating them to an officer. The last requirement for promotion to Black Gryphon from Member is a minimum age of 18. Exceptions may be made in specific circumstances, and with the unanimous approval of the officers.

Promotions to Black Gryphon and above will be discussed by officers and voted on. Votes must be unanimous to allow promotions to these higher ranks.

Demotions from the rank of Black Gryphon and higher will occur if a player is inactive for a lengthy period of time without discussing this absence with the Silver Gryphon. Also, should a player of Black Gryphon or higher rank demonstrate an inability to perform their accepted duties, they will be demoted as well. A player can be demoted to the rank of Member from any of the higher ranks. These demotions are at the discretion of the Silver Gryphon.

Amendments

These rules are subject to change at any time, and may be added to or amended by the Officers. Current Admendments will be listed below if present. If you have any further questions or concerns, please contact an Officer.

Amendment of February 9, 2006: Amended the charter and raid/loot rules to include a link to the "Signing the Charter" thread in the forums.

Amendment of September 5, 2006 : Amended to include changes to the Guild Banker, to refine and give explicit requirements and duties expected of the individual ranks of the guild, and to include a modern explanation of the recruitment process and requirements.