Charter
The Aureus Knights is a guild of friends that have existed in spirit when we all started playing MMOs together in 1997 starting with Ultima Online. Together as a group of friends we would go from MMO to MMO and guild to guild playing the games we love and having a blast.
In 2006 we decided it was time that we take our vast experience in MMOs and in forming communities and create our own guild; a formal place for us to game together where we’d make sure the lessons we’d learned over our years playing online games together were the basis of our new guild.
Aureus Knights is built on the principles of Respect, Honour, Loyalty and Friendship. Rule number one for The Knights is to treat people as you’d want to be treated. We use a fairly flat system of leadership where we have officers who are responsible for the day to day running of the guild but in the end they are just members – we are all equals here. This guild exists for its members and not for any other reason; we have no drama here, no power trips and none of that type of baggage that sometimes comes with guilds.
We are a family friendly guild that puts real life and family ahead of our games; We are a serious guild who loves to work end game but we will not do it at the cost of our membership’s personal lives.
What Is The Purpose Of The Aureus Knights?
AKS exists to enhance the enjoyment of its members in the games that we play. The idea behind AKS is to create a core group to play with in various games. Where possible we will form full guilds, if interests wans over time in game we will seek out like minded guilds and form a working alliance/merger to ensure that our players have access to the support and grouping structure required to play an MMO.
How Do I Become A Member Of AKS?
To become a member of AKS you can announce your intention to do so either on these forums or in any game. If you wish to join in a game please contact an officer in the game and they will add you as a recruit. After you’ve been accepted you will become a recruit for a period no longer than 2 weeks. If we haven’t got a feel for you in two weeks odds are you might not be a fit for our guild. Most guilds put a minimum period but we believe once you have proven yourself to fit within our group you are more then welcome to join us.
The Basic Rules (Or How To Not Piss Off Your Friendly Neighborhood Officer)
Again, let’s keep it simple:
- Treat Others As You’d Like To Be Treated.
- Everyone Has Their Moments… Just Don’t Make Them Every Second Moment.
- Respect This Guild, Respect Its Reputation, Don’t Make Us Look Like Assholes.
- Loot is always need before greed in AKS. You want to be a loot ninja, we’ll ninja your guild access.
How Does AKS “Enhance My Enjoyment” Of A Game?
The AKS core group and officers are knowledgeable gamers who enjoy helping other players. So right off the bat you have a good core group of people to play with who want to make sure that all AKS members feel welcome and enjoy the games they play to the fullest extent. Other benefits provided by AKS:
- Forums.
- Ventrilo Voice Server.
- In-Game Communication Channels.
- Game Specific Resources (Anything from quest help to a guild bank, etc.)
- Organized Events.
- A well run and fun guild.
- Officers who know their game and are always willing to help.
- An awards system to reward our top contributing members.
What Types of Presence Does AKS Have In Games?
Aureus Knights often has an active presence in multiple games. We try and define our presence in each game in the following ways to cut down on confusion:
Chapter
A Chapter within the guild exists when we are fully active within a game. A game with a full Chapter has active members and a full officer team dedicated to playing that particular game. In Chapter games Aureus Knights will exist as a guild and members will be encouraged to play within that guild.
Aureus Knights resources will be fully deployed for Chapter games - A dedicated officer team, Ventrilo, Multiple Forums, Recruitment Efforts, etc.
Casual Presence
A game where we have a casual presence is likely a game we used to play in full force as a full Chapter. Usually when a game is downgraded from a Chapter game to a Casual Presence game we will merge the guild or find another guild to join with so that as our members come and go from the game over the years we have a place that feels like home (more details on this below in the “How & When Does A Chapter Get Downgraded to a Casual Presence?” charter entry).
In Casual presence games we likely will not have an actual guild/guild tag established in the game BUT resources will be provided - a single dedicated forum, ventrilo channels and officer support for those looking to get setup within the game.
Other Worlds
Other worlds are games where we have very little formal presence but have some members who do play together. Other Worlds will be given a dedicated forum and Ventrilo room but will receive very little officer or other tool support
How Does a Chapter Get Created?
A chapter within the guild will usually be created before or just after a new game launches. A member of the officer team can propose a chapter be formed and all founders and officers will meet, discuss the merits of and vote on if the game should have a full Chapter created. When a new Chapter is being discussed the following criteria will be assessed:
Will the guild be succesful in the game? Does our membership show interest in playing the game? Do we have the officer base or potential officer base to create a Chapter for this game? Do we have a founder willing to sponsor and champion the Chapter?How & When Does A Chapter Get Downgraded to a Casual Presence?
After a game has been out for a long time and people’s interests have shifted away from that game it might become neccessary for Aureus Knights to reconsider being a full Chapter within a game and downgrade our presence in that game to a Casual Presence.
In MMOs having a good solid base of players is obviously very important to enjoying the games we play. In an MMO if you spend all your time looking for group just how much fun are you having? This is where guilds do (and should) play a big role for their membership, to provide a platform from which to enjoy the game. So what happens if interest in a game we are playing wans and membership in our guild drops down to only a few members?
At AKS we believe the best solution is to find a like minded guild and enter into an alliance or merger with that partner to ensure our members can fully enjoy the game together still. These alliances will be negotiated by members of our officership and will ensure that all AKS members past, present and future will have access to play with their friends.
What Is The Rank Structure, etc Of AKS?
AKS likes to keep it simple. In the past we’ve seen politics destroy guids, people’s enjoyment of games and even friendships that were deeply rooted outside of gaming. To avoid this we simply have two levels of membership; Officer and Member (we also have a recruit rank for people just getting started in the guild - this is to ensure they are a proper fit). Being an Officer doesn’t make anyone different then any member within the guild. The function of the officer is simply to help administer the day to day business of the guild and make policy decisions, etc whenever they are required. We believe also that members should have the right to vote on issues of importance and the Officership of the guild will do its best to make sure votes are held where appropriate (voting is NOT always the answer - basic decisions do not require a United Nations style debate and are up to the officers)
Once A Member, Always A Member!
Members of AKS become lifetime members after their recruit stage (unless they quit the guild burning your bridges or are kicked out (see The Basic Rules below). Once a knight, always a knight. Even if you go away and come back five years later to play The Next Big Thing(TM) with us we’ll be more than happy to have you back.
Stay In Touch
Although this is not mandatory or anything … We’d love to keep in touch with you, both if you are playing games with us or not. Again we are a group of friends here and we want our friendships to last a long time and go beyond the games we play. So hit these forums often, be as chatty as you want to be in the general forum, get to know your fellow AKS members. The more we put into this, the more we will enjoy it.
Sub Charters For Specific Sub Sections of the Guild
Specific games have needs and requirements that go above and beyond the focus of this Charter. Members and Officers in a specific game world are welcome to work together to create their own policies in Sub-Charters (remembering that day-to-day operations fall on the officers - they will make the basic decisions for a given game)
Legends of Westwood General Gaming Group Members Policy
All Legends of Westwood members are welcome in Aureus Knights. Your General Gaming Group membership in LoW grants you instant membership access to this gaming group
Our charter was last revised on November 18th, 2008. A list of changes may be found in this forum thread.