Liberty

What is Liberty?

Liberty is defined by the five virtues that form the heart and soul of our guild.

1) Discipline
No worthwhile goal can be accomplished without hard work and dedication. Liberty members excel at self-control, patience, and restraint - these enable them to overcome setbacks and pave the way to otherwise unattainable glory. Discipline is among the rarest and most precious virtues, in life and in gaming. It is this that separates the good gamers from the great ones.
2) Teamwork
While every member of Liberty is of remarkable skill and talent, it is our ability to work together that grants us our true strength and enables the greatest of stratagems. All members of Liberty excel at knowing their role, listening to orders, and working together on the battlefield. It's this focus on the group and the guild over individual achievements that has made Liberty a feared group through multiple games. Individually we pwn; together we redefine pwn.
3) Loyalty
Liberty is more than a gaming group; its members share a bond of brotherhood and friendship that transcends mere gaming. We stand by each other through the good times and the bad. The true depth of our friendship is shown in the age of the group and the number of members who have left and returned, unable to find a similar bond elsewhere. We are friends and brothers united by talent and virtue, and this is the foundation of our magnificent teamwork.
4) Integrity
Achievement without integrity is meaningless. We despise cheaters and exploiters. Liberty members are honest, trustworthy, and noble. While we will use any tactic within the rules and spirit of the game to achieve victory, we do not cheat, exploit, or engage in overly lame behavior. We are true gamers and value good sportsmanship. We understand that we are all here to have fun, to challenge one another, and drive self-improvement.
5) Excellence
Liberty strives for perfection. Defeat is opportunity for improvement. Success is opportunity for refinement. Our members all share a desire to be the best, to be among the best, and to continually improve their talent and skill. Our virtue of excellence drives our innovation, achievement, and ultimately our legacy.

Purpose

We all play games to have fun, and for some it stops there. Liberty's fun is both in the game itself and in achieving something magnificent. Three goals intertwine and define our sense of purpose.

1) Renown
Not just racking up points, but in the truest sense of the word - Renown. To achieve deeds worthy of recognition and honor. To do more than simply play the game, but to be a part of its definition. To be honored by tales that will carry on long after us. To be immortalized in the history of the game and our server.
2) Respect
It is not enough simply to be immortalized, but to have our names carried with esteem and pride. To be spoken of with dignity. To be hailed as noble. To command the respect of our allies and our enemies. To be the ideal to which others aspire.
3) Realization
To realize our full potential. To accomplish the objectives we set. To master our part of the game. To perfect or own skills. To innovate tactics and strategies. To pioneer new ways of play. To do what no others can do.

Structure

Liberty has long maintained a rather simple rank structure.

Imperator
Traditionally called GuildMaster or Outfit Leader, we have always used the Imperator title, from Latin for "commander." There is only one Imperator in Liberty. With a few exceptions this position has always been held by Malorn, as it is to this day.
Officer
Another traditional and intuitive position, Officers hold positions of delegated responsibility, including public relations, field command, and recruitment. Officers are usually chosen from the Dragoon population by the Imperator w/ consultation and discussion with the other Officers. They are also moderators on our forums and have access to leadership related resources.
Dragoon
The rank of Dragoon is to recognize longtime Liberty members whose contributions got us to where we are today. Dragoons are the best and most loyal among us who have been with us for a year or more. It is a rank automatically bestowed as a title of respect for that longtime devotion and service. The Dragoon rank is otherwise identical in rights and privilege to the Soldier rank.
Soldier
This is the standard Liberty "full member" rank. Soldiers are permanent members, have sponsorship and veto rights, and full access to all Liberty resources.
Recruit
Recruits are newly joined members who have passed the Applicant Phase of recruitment. They have most of the benefits of full membership except of the right to sponsor and veto. They are also still capable of being vetoed like Applicants. See the section on Recruitment for more information on the Recruit rank.

Rules

These rules exist to protect Liberty's culture and its members. Breaking them results in immediate expulsion.

1) No other guild memberships.
Joining Liberty means committing to Liberty fully. There is no joining of other guilds on alts or by any other means. This creates mixed loyalties and division within our family and it will not be tolerated.
2) No public disrespect of members.
The name and image of Liberty will not be tarnished by immaturity and disrespect. Issues with members are expected to be handled privately and respectfully. Private messages and conversations in voice chat are the preferred way to resolve problems. Long flame posts and tirades are a good way to get muted, deleted, and kicked.
3) No disclosure of private Liberty information.
We have private forums and discussions for a reason, and that is to keep them private. Sharing discussion and post information with those outside of Liberty violates the trust of every member. Those who cannot be trusted do not belong among us.
4) No stealing or scamming.
This goes against everything that is Liberty.
5) No cheating, exploiting, or hacking.
Those who need to cheat in order to win fail at life. There's a special corner in hell waiting for them right next to the guys who piss on toilet paper rolls in public bathrooms. Needless to say that corner is nowhere near a Liberty tag.

Expectations

Everyone should be involved with the guild. Otherwise, why be here? These expectations are all very simple and shouldn't be surprising to anyone.

1) Visit our forums regularly.
The forums are our community. It is where we share our information, plans, strategies, make announcements, and many other matters of importance. Every member is expected to visit the forums daily to stay caught up on events and topics. Ten minutes a day and a few posts is not much to ask and goes a long way to having a well informed and healthy group.
2) Always on voice comms when in-game.
Voice communication is absolutely vital to teamwork and strategy in-game. Every member logged into the game is expected to be on voice comms at all times. Even members who do not talk much or have broken mics have no excuse not to be on to listen to instructions and coordinate with group leaders.
3) Always with the guild when in-game.
While everyone needs some time to do their own thing, members in-game are expected to spend most of their time with the guild. Sometimes we'll slay internet dragons but the majority of our time will be spent killing and conquering.

Conduct

Every deed done and word spoken by a member reflects upon the entire group. Liberty is a group of high esteem, respect, and integrity. The following standards of conduct apply to all members. No matter where we are, we are always representing Liberty and this must be remembered at all times. All of our conduct can be summarized with making sure that every member properly represents Liberty's quality and culture.


Public Forums

The public forums, especially the game's official forums, are often the first impression others have of Liberty. As such, members must do well to represent us with the respect and dignity the Liberty name demands. Trolling, flaming, accusations, and other such childish behavior are strictly prohibited. Over the years we have had many topics and flames targetted at us due to our success and the misery we cause the opposing teams. Remember that idiots will always drag you down to their level and beat you with experience. Don't degrade yourself or Liberty. We prefer that members avoid the public forums all together and let the leadership manage the external Liberty messaging, especially regarding issues of flaming or negative topics about us.


Our Realm

Be respectful at all times to other players. There are jackasses in every game and the best way to deal with them is to ignore them - its not worth the effort nor is it worth tarnishing the Liberty name attacking such people. As you interact with others remember that you may be their first exposure to Liberty, so make sure that you wow them not only with your skill and talent, but also with your attitude. Helping others in our alliance is strongly encouraged and expected. Liberty is not just out to make ourselves successful, but that of whatever alliance we are in. What goes around comes around, and there will come times when we will need their help. That is when the Liberty culture pays dividends.


The Enemy

We show absolutely no mercy to our enemies. This is a competitive game and Liberty plays to win. We have long held a motto: "red = dead". This reflects our merciless, heartless nature when it comes to our enemies. If their name is in red, they die. It doesn't matter their rank. It doesn't matter if they're low on health, recovering, engaged in another fight, or dancing with someone. This is war, and we'll make people pay for being stupid, foolish, or simply unlucky.

Over the years we have had many great Liberty members who started off as enemies, only to be so impressed by our teamwork and integrity that they gave up everything they had to switch sides and join us. The player you are killing relentlessly one day might be the one fighting at your side a month later. This speaks volumes of Liberty's quality and character, and it has gotten us some truly remarkable players. This is one of many reasons why we must be careful not to cross the line when taunting our enemies.


Taunting

To inspire frustration in our enemies, we often taunt them after a victory. We'll throw in occasional salutes and what not if it was deserved, but we want our enemies to be frustrated. Frustration makes them eager to fight again. The need for vindication blinds them and causes mistakes. However, there is a thin line between taunting and being flat out rude and disrespectful. We strive for the funny taunts like corpse humping, crying, and other similar "friendly" taunts that give the message of "you got pwnt". We want to get a little rise out of them and raise the ante. Hateful taunts like spitting and rude expressions are not our way. Rather than get a rise out of them, those sort of taunts tell them that they got a rise out of us and is just plain poor sportsmanship.

Liberty taunts in good taste. Taunting is good fun and plays into the strategy, but Liberty members know where the line is between good fun and disrespect. What we do to our enemies isn't personal - don't make it personal. They chose the other side and so they are our opponents; taunting them is just part of the fun, but don't cross the line. Show good sportsmanship.

Uniform

Liberty embraces its colors as an opportunity to show its professionalism, discipline, teamwork, and heritage by proudly wearing our tabard showing our traditional Liberty colors - Dark Blue and Gold, with a smidge of Black. All members will adhere to this uniform as it is an important part of our image and identity.

Alt Characters

Alts are a reality of MMORPGs, and we prefer all alts to be in Liberty as well. This is so we know who is online and it is easy to communicate and organize.

Recruitment

We are not for everyone, and not everyone is for us. We are elitist. We are perfectionist. We are mature. We are demanding. We are ambitious. We are hardcore. The greatest enjoyment for us in gaming is good competition and overcoming the odds through superior skill, strategy, and teamwork. That and generating lots and lots of kill-spam.

Our recruitment is extremely selective, and only a small number of those who apply endure to see full-member status. Our policy is designed to weed out those who do not fit our culture and those who are not truly interested in joining. It also requires effort on the part of an applicant. Simply applying and waiting will always result in rejection. Those who are driven and belong with us end up with us.

We have used this method of recruitment for over five years and have refined it over that time. While we have often received criticism for having one of the most strict recruitment methods most gamers have experienced, it is the greatest reason for our repeated success, loyalty, and strong culture.


Overview

In a nutshell our recruitment procedure is that of a long interview that spans weeks where members give 'yes' and 'no' recommendations as they get to know the applicants.

Our recruitment model is heavily based on the ideas of sponsorship and veto. Full Liberty members have the power to support an applicant and say "I think this person is a good fit." They also have the power to cast a veto and claim the opposite - "This person doesn't fit." The point of these two ideas is that the Applicant must go out and meet our members, group with us and join us for battles. This allows opportunity for both the Applicant and members to evaluate how well the Applicant fits with our ideology and culture.

Recruitment is broken into two phases: the Applicant Phase and the Recruit Phase. Both are named for the title given to the individuals in them. In the Applicant Phase we are looking for reasons why this person should be invited into our family. We have been known to reject for many reasons, including bad reputation, a half-assed application, stupidity, terrible skill, or simply undignified behavior. There is both a minimum and maximum time alloted to the Applicant Phase. Members will happily group up and socialize with an Applicant, but it is up to the Applicant to make the effort to do so and spend time with us. When a member feels they know the Applicant well enough, they can opt to sponsor that Applicant.

Applicants who succeed in gaining the required number of sponsors and have no outstanding vetoes placed (see below) will receive a guild invite at the rank of "Recruit" and progress to the Recruit Phase. Recruits have all the privileges of full members except they cannot sponsor and cannot veto. In the Recruit Phase we switch focus from asking "why?" to asking "why not?" The Applicant Phase established that we feel the individual is a good fit, and so the Recruit Phase is giving them a shot at being a real member of the guild. We aren't actively looking for reasons to veto a Recruit but they can still be vetoed. This phase is effectively a probationary period. All that is required to complete the Recruit phase is time. It is a set period of time at the end of which the Recruit is promoted to the rank of Soldier and is a permanent member of the guild (provided there are no outstanding vetoes).

Now on to the gory details.


Sponsor Points

Sponsorship is measured with "sponsor points". Rank determines how many sponsor points a member has:

Recruit = 0 points
Soldier = 1 point
Dragoon = 1 point
Officer = 2 points
Imperator = 3 points

Liberty members can only sponsor one Applicant at a time. All sponsorship is handled privately through our forums. Members who have multiple points (Officers and Imperator) may choose to use less than their maximum (for example, an officer may choose to only give 1 sponsorship point to an Applicant instead of 2).


Veto Points

The veto concept shares the same point-system measurement as sponsor points, so if a member has 2 points they may cast up to two vetoes, and like sponsor points, a member is not required to use their full number of points. The purpose behind veto points is a means to cast doubt or express concern about an Applicant or Recruit. A single veto is not enough to reject an Applicant or Recruit. However, an Applicant cannot progress to the Recruit Phase if he has any vetoes, and a Recruit cannot progress to the rank of Soldier if there are any vetoes. If at any time an Applicant or Recruit has a total of 3 or more vetoes they will be rejected. To put it another way, veto points block advancement, and too many veto points is outright rejection.

Whenever a veto point is cast a reason must be specified. The reason will be communicated to the Applicant and Recruit by an Officer, so an Applicant will be aware of the veto and given the opportunity to resolve it, if it is possible to do so. Members who cast vetoes may revoke them at any time (so if an Applicant or Recruit corrects whatever caused the veto it can be retracted).

The goal of this system is to be fair to Applicants and Recruits, but to also empower our members to voice any concerns about those we are recruiting. It also protects Applicants and Recruits by giving them a means of fixing personal disputes and the opportunity to correct any misunderstanding and make amends.


Applicant Requirements

The following are required to enter the Applicant Phase:

1) Full completion of an Application via the Liberty website. We are particularly critical of poorly written or half-assed applications and see them as a reflection of an Applicant's desire to join us.

2) Voice comms. This means both the voice client and a working mic. No exceptions.

3) Age 18 or over. We are a mature group aimed at college-aged individuals and over. Many of our members are in their mid-20's. We obviously have no means of verifying your age, but we expect you to behave and communicate at a level that can easily pass as being 18 or over. Immaturity is an acceptable veto reason.

4) Fluent English. Sorry, but we are an English-only guild. It doesn't have to be your first language, but we do require that you speak and understand it fluently.

Liberty wishes to maintain the highest respect to our fellow agencies and so we will not "poach" members from other agencies. Applicants may be in another guild when they apply to us, but we require that they notify their existing guild leadership prior to applying. Our Officers will check that such notification had been given and any Applicants who were dishonest about this requirement will be immediately rejected.

Applicant Phase

The Applicant Phase lasts a minimum of 2 weeks and a maximum of 6 weeks. The Applicant must receive 7 sponsor points to become a Recruit. If the Applicant does not have the required sponsor points at the end of the 6 weeks then the Applicant is rejected (we do this to ensure we don't endlessly string people along - it isn't fair to the Applicant). If the Applicant has the required number of sponsor points but there are also one or more vetoes then the Applicant must resolve the vetos before proceeding to the Recruit phase.

Summary:

* minimum of 2 weeks
* maximum of 6 weeks
* must have 7 sponsor points
* must have no veto points to advance


Recruit Phase

The Recruit phase lasts exactly 60 days. Note that this time may be extended on the agreement of recruitment officers if the Recruit has not spent sufficient time online during the period. No further sponsor points are required. Like the Applicant phase, any veto points will block advancement to Soldier. This is essentially a probation period where the Recruit has nearly all privileges of full membership, but we retain the veto possibility to ensure that we have made the right choice.

Summary:

* period of 60 days
* must have no veto points to advance.