WELCOME TO THE KINGDOM!
This document will serve as a detailed introduction to who we are and what we do. If you haven’t already, please read the “about” section on our homepage, which highlights our basic principles and goals as a community. This informational document is meant to be a more in depth introduction to our guild, our policies, and our expectations.
CODE OF CONDUCT
We strive to maintain a safe, positive, and inclusive atmosphere in our community. We want everyone in our community to be able to experience a pleasant and fun environment. Although toxic and disrespectful players are a minority, they often have a large impact and create a negative atmosphere. Disrespectful dialogue will be taken seriously and may result in disciplinary action, up to and including removal from the guild. For more information on what constitutes disrespectful speech, please see this blog post. We expect our members to maintain respectful dialogue regardless of circumstances.
GUILD ATMOSPHERE: We have a large, active community with a wide range of personalities in public chat channels. Remember that every time you talk in guild chat or Discord, many people are seeing what you write. In order to maintain a positive/professional/inclusive guild atmosphere we have chosen to prohibit profanity in guild chat, Discord, and on our forums. Please put a little thought/care into what you are saying! We ask that you be particularly mindful of this during peak raiding hours when we have 10+ raiding teams and potentially hundreds of players online. Before you have a prolonged conversation with another person (or even speak) in a public channel, please consider if it would be a topic better taken to private messages.
TEAM ATMOSPHERE: Our team atmospheres are as diverse as the players in them. All teams are required to be in line with our respect pillar, but may choose whether to have a more or less formal atmosphere. If you think of guild chat as a public area (like a classroom), you could think of team atmosphere as like hanging out at a friend’s house. If you are interested in finding out more about a particular team’s atmosphere, feel free to watch their streams. Remember that nearly all raids in EK are streamed! Don’t say anything you aren’t comfortable having broadcasted.
GUILD ORGANIZATION
Eternal Kingdom is not a single guild, but rather a collection of guilds forming the Eternal Kingdom community. The large amount of players in our community means that we require a large number of officers and officer ranks, as well as detailed organizational structures and tagging to keep everything running smoothly. The purpose of this overview is to help you understand the basics of how players and leadership are organized into ranks, and give you an idea of the most appropriate person to talk to about any issues you may have. This overview is not exhaustive, and doesn’t cover every aspect of guild operations.
GUILDS: In order to maximize the number of people we can welcome into our community, and keep everyone and their alts organized, we use multiple guilds. The guild that you are placed in will depend on whether you are a rostered raider, a social member, or on an alt. Throughout your time with EK, you may move between guilds depending on your current role. The guild chats of each faction’s guilds are linked through a required addon called XFaction. Regardless of which guild you are part of, the community expectations and guild chat remain the same.
The guilds constituting the EK community are as follows:
- Eternal Kingdom (EKA): Home to Alliance raid team members
- Endless Kingdom (ENK): Home to Alliance social team members
- Alternal Kingdom (AK): Alt guild
- Alternal Kingdom Two (AK2): Our second alt guild
- Alternal Kingdom Three (AK3): Our third alt guild
- Alternal Kingdom Four (AK4): Our fourth alt guild
RANKS: Guild ranks will vary slightly from guild to guild. They are typically broken down into several broad categories.
Leaderships ranks:
- GM – Guild masters
- Chancellor – Guild leadership
- Royal Emissary – Team or admin department leader
- Ambassador – 2nd in command of a team or admin department
- Templar – Guild/team oversight
- Master of Coin – Banking team
Raiding ranks:
- Grand Army – Full member raider
- Mercenary (EK) – Proven raider ready to raid (has ilvl requirements) but not on a rostered team. Mercenaries act as fill ins for any team that needs them.
- Squire – Trial
Non-raiding ranks:
- Noble Citizen (ENK) – anyone not on a raid team.
- Veteran (ENK) – Retired raider rank
- Grand Alt – alts of raiding/non-raiding members.
TAGS: We use [tags] to add clarity to our guild rosters. Tags are used to show which team a player is on as well as other administrative information. If you have a question about your guild note please feel free to ask a person in leadership.
RECRUITMENT
Eternal Kingdom is a large guild with multiple teams raiding at multiple difficulties. Recruitment is kept as simple as possible, but with so many teams and applicants it requires a whole team of people to process applications and get them into the right hands. We recruit both externally (from outside the guild) and internally (from within the guild). We also allow raiding members in good standing to switch between teams. We do our best to keep things simple and straightforward, and attempt to work with people on a case-by-case basis to help them find their best fit. Our goal is to find the right spot for every person in the guild so that they, and their new teammates, can have the best possible experience.
EXTERNAL: Each team is responsible for their own recruitment and may approach external recruitment differently. They may also have variations in their trial process. If you want in-depth details about how a specific team recruits, please contact the team lead or recruitment officer of any teams you are interested in.
In general, external recruitment follows a 3-stage process.
- “Open Application” – After completing an application for a specific team or multiple teams, the application will be reviewed by leadership and will either move on to step two or be declined.
- “Application Approved for Trial” – The application is moved to a team specific area and the applicant may begin raiding with that team. During this time you will receive feedback on your Trial status.
- “Trial Approved/Denied” – You will become a full raiding member of that team or be notified that your trial was denied. If denied, you may have the option to trial with any other interested teams, or stay in the Eternal Kingdom community as a social member. Whenever possible, we will attempt to work with all applicants to find a team that suits them.
INTERNAL: Much like external recruitment, each team handles internal recruitment differently. Some teams may bring you along as a fill-in or on farm nights and eventually decide to offer you a spot. Many players in the Mercenary rank find permanent teams this way. Other teams may have you follow a process identical to that of external recruitment. There are many raiding options within EK and we always have teams looking to fill spots. If you have any questions about a specific team’s requirements, feel free to contact the team leads, ambassadors, or recruitment officers of any team.
NOTE: Not every team is going to be a good fit for every applicant. If your trial does not work out, and you are a community member in good standing, there may be other options for you within the guild. Anyone who is willing to work hard and improve themselves is a person we want in our community, and we will work with you to find a better fit.
GUILD/TEAM/PLAYER MOBILITY: We do allow players to move between teams/guilds! We are a community that tries to ensure that everyone has a good experience, and we understand that sometimes your life and availability may change, or you may adjust your personal progression goals. We will do our best to relocate players who experience these kinds of changes. We will utilize mobility in a way that best serves the entire community, and team swap requests are evaluated on a case-by-case basis in order to ensure that no team is unduly impacted. We expect you to review and follow the Team Swap Policy.
RAIDING EXPECTATIONS
Each team has a unique set of expectations, but there are some which are common to all teams. We have a raiding culture that necessitates certain behaviors and communications in order to stay in good standing. This is NOT a complete list, but rather some very basic courtesy expectations which apply to all raiders.
ATTENDANCE: Each team has a required attendance rate. Sometimes a raider’s attendance rate will change, for any number of reasons. It is important to understand that your raid spot is only there if you are there. Once you stop showing up (regardless of your reason) that spot goes to someone else. If you must take an extended leave of absence, speak to your raid leader. They may not be able or willing to hold your spot, but keeping good relationships will certainly help you find a new spot when you return.
SITTING: Most teams keep a roster of 25-30 raiders. A Mythic raid only has spots for 20, and this means that sometimes people will be sat. The exact criteria that teams use to decide who sits will vary. Some teams will sit raiders based on performance and group composition, and some will simply rotate people to ensure that everyone gets play time. You can ask your raid leader for details on how your team decides who is on the bench for a specific boss or raid night. It is important to not take being sat personally.
TWO WEEK NOTICE: If you are unable to make it to a raid night, it is your responsibility to let your team lead or team officers know in advance. Two weeks is generally enough time for adjustments to be made. No-shows put the entire rest of your team in a disadvantageous position. Giving notice is a common courtesy, and ignoring this responsibility can potentially result in you being removed from your team, and even kicked from the guild in more severe cases. Extended absences without notice can make it more difficult for you to find a team when you return.
RAID LOCKOUTS & RAID TIMES: When you join a team, you are committing your raid lockouts and your time during scheduled raiding hours to your team. Doing things like getting loot locked, going AFK, raiding on alts while you are benched, and otherwise being unavailable can negatively impact your team. Keep open lines of communication with your team lead, and ask permission before doing these types of things. Failure to do so is grounds for removal from the team, and in extreme cases, the guild.
NOTE: Removing people from the guild is reserved for only the most extreme cases. These rules are in place to support a culture where everyone is able to have fun raiding. It’s not fun when your teammates miss raid or grumble about being sat. We would much rather work with our raiders to help them improve, than kick people. However, repeated offenses which cause the community to lose trust in you can limit our ability to resolve issues.
ODDS AND ENDS
LOOT POLICY: Each team is permitted to set their own loot rules. Teams are required to give a clear overview of how they handle loot on their team policy forum page. If you have any concerns please bring them up with team leadership.
MEDIA POLICY: Video game streaming is extremely popular, and almost all of our teams have at least one official streamer. When you are in a guild raid, you should assume that everything you are saying/doing is being recorded. Many of our streams are well watched by guild members and leadership, as well as viewers outside of the guild. We recommend that all streamers cover their chat boxes. Not only can you be held accountable for what you and others say in chat, but it is also useful to have a private, non-broadcasted form of communication. If you are streaming in a non-raid setting, such as 5-man dungeons or battlegrounds, please notify the rest of your party. Not everyone is comfortable with being streamed in these contexts and if they are, being notified that you are streaming allows them to be on their best behavior. Please represent yourself, your team, and your guild well while streaming or being part of a stream, and take care to adhere to the code of conduct.
Showing our guild atmosphere through streams is a potential channel through which people are recruited, and it’s important that we represent ourselves well. We encourage members to promote our community through streams, videos, guides, etc. If you are interested in becoming an official EK streamer, contact our media manager. Please be aware of your audience and represent your guild well.
SOCIAL MEMBERS: Casual or social members of the guild reside in Endless Kingdom (A) or Eternal Kingdom Horde (H), with the noble citizen or veteran rank. Friends and family of raiders are welcome in this guild. Social members enhance our community chats and fun runs and are a valuable part of our community. Social members are held to the same code of conduct as raiders, and are expected to uphold the 3 pillars. Social members are permitted to stay indefinitely as long as they are somewhat active. Characters which are inactive for longer than 6 months may be removed simply to keep spots in the guild free and to reduce organizational challenges.
DISCIPLINARY MEASURES: Every person and situation is different. We take all disciplinary considerations on a case-by-case basis, and will work to de-escalate a situation. While we will try and steer people in the right direction whenever possible, consistent negative behavior can result in the loss of privileges, raid spots, etc., up to removal from the guild. We want to help everyone become a positive part of our community, but we will use the tools we have to protect our atmosphere and culture.
RESOLVING CONFLICT: Conflict happens in all communities, and EK is no exception. Some conflict is even healthy and drives us to improve. When handled correctly, most conflict between players should not result in disciplinary action. When conflict happens, you should keep calm. Listen to the feedback of others and try to understand their perspective, and express your own thoughts in a respectful and constructive manner. For detailed information about handling conflict in EK, an in depth conflict resolution guide can be found here.