Rules and Guidelines
1. Sensitivity
Generally respect people, whether it be their ethnicity, religion, political views, or especially their sexuality. There are lots of people here from different walks of life and because of that we're very gifted. This is a place for open minded, culturally sensitive people, and though we may joke around from time to time its still important that no one ever feel as if they're discriminated against. If thats the case for anyone, I'd expect them to come to me about it.
2. Political/Religious Discussion
Political discussion to be confined to specific threads about them. Feel free to make yourself a new thread whenever you like about this (or maybe even an RP, if thats your cup of tea), but try not to bring it up in unrelated threads. Always keep in mind that people can feel very strongly about their political or religious beliefs and that simply expressing your own opinion may offend them. For example, an atheist who doesn't tread lightly in explaining their perspective might offend a Christian and visa versa. Try to keep things mature and not get too carried away. A good debate is always fun, but it can go sour if people aren't careful.
3. Noobies
Alright, once again a rule along the same lines of the first one. Since we accept everyone into the guild there will be a lot of people who've been in Gaia for three or four years and those who've only been here a few days or weeks. Once again, oldies, be nice to the noobs. Noobies, try your best to act as maturely as possible. Everyone gets a little aggravated sometimes. Those of you who are new may find that older members are easily annoyed, this is because they've probably had to deal with this kind of behavior time and time again. People who are older, try and keep your aggravation under control and remember that everyone starts off this way. Newer folk, try and do your best to be mature and understand that sometimes someone might be a little rude to you simply because you're new to things.
4. Spam
A general guideline is not to do it unless its in the OOC forum (being the main forum). In the RPs try not to use OOC too much (unless the person running that RP doesn't mind) and in other forums don't get off topic if you can help it. It gets really annoying when someone spams two or three pages having a really poor quality RP fight with someone in an Art forum.
5. Grammar
There will most likely be varying stages of literacy here. There may very well be a couple of threads where people don't think that grammar is too big of an issue or they speak in l33t. Thats fine so long as the person running the thread doesn't have a problem with it, but as a general rule its probably better to try and be as literate as possible. Obviously some newer members may not be on par with the kind of people who've been RPing for years and no one expects that from them, but we should all make a conscious effort. Even the younger kids will eventually get the hang of it with enough practice.
6. Godmoding
Obviously godmoding is frowned upon and we will call you out if we feel you've been using it. Usually I would leave it up to the person running the individual RP to decide if they want to really crack down on this, but if someone gets used to godmoding that can cause problems in other RPs they may join and its better to just n** it in the bud as early as possible. If you've already established whats going to happen with the other person thats all well and good. Just say in your post that you had permission. If you've continuously refused to improve on this, the person in charge of whatever RP you're in will PM me or another mod to report you and you may be banned as a result.
7. Patience
Please be patient when waiting for another person to post, sometimes people will be MIA for long periods of time and its necessary to create an escape plan so that you don't get chained down. If things come to this though please don't be rude about it or complain. This especially applies to the artists in the art forum as well. Don't flood them with requests and then bug them constantly to finish them. Make requests understanding that they may never be completed. You just have to deal with it, and be understanding.
8. Do not bug me.
I don't want you to get the wrong impression, I love my guild members and I love to talk with them, but I'm a very busy person. Please don't pm or IM me every time I sign on just 'to talk.' There are very few people who've earned a place in my heart where I like to talk to them regularly. I don't mind if you know me pretty well, but I hate it when people I don't even know want to start small talk with me. Sometimes I'm flattered, and I'm more than happy to talk, but most of the times it just irks me. I've had several people stalk me and IM me every time I sign on and never stop bothering me. Hopefully that won't have to happen again because those people have been banned. Don't get me wrong, I'm not the grinch, its just I usually have my hands full and I don't appreciate people expecting me to give them extra attention. I'd love to talk to you guys in the forums any day, and once you get to know me pretty well, and I you, I shouldn't have a problem with talking to you from time to time.
9. Follow the individual rules of an RP
When someone creates a thread for an RP they're allowed to establish their own rules. The rules listed here are just general rules and guidelines for the entire guild, but rules may change for each individual thread or RP. Likewise though, someone may choose to just go with the general guidelines and not establish their own rules. In any case you should be sure to check to see if the RP you're planning on joining has its own set of rules and be sure to read and understand all of them. These rules are just as important as any other in the guild and if you continuously fail to uphold them the person running the RP can contact a mod and ask that you be punished.
10. Most Importantly
Have fun guys, thats what its all about. Don't just do the RPs, try and interact in the other threads too so you can get to better know the people around you. Sometimes people can get caught up in the drama of an online community (as its inevitable to happen anywhere a group of people gather), but you can't let this ruin your fun. Roleplaying can be a very rewarding creative and enlightening experience under the right conditions, but regardless of what aims you have for it you should always want for you and those playing with you to get a lot of enjoyment out of it. Always keep that in the front of your mind, and don't only try to make sure you enjoy yourself, but that everyone is able to enjoy themselves. Make each other feel welcome.
