in the name of Thor!
BEAR POLITICS: Screening new recruits, Player rights, The selection and roles of clan Elders, Guardians, and Leaders.
SCREENING OF NEW RECRUITS
This is our screening process thatwe use to ensure that new recruits are suitable for our clan.
1) RESPONSE
If the new recruit does not say anything when they join we give them three minutes to respond. For example we say "Player XYZ, you have three minutes to respond". If there is no response after that time they are immediately kicked. We are not going to waste our time on people who do not have the common courtesy to greet us when they join.
2) AGE
When a new recruits joins we ask them their age. Anyone who is 18 and over is accepted. Teenagers between 14 and 18 may be accepted if they demonstrate maturity and are over level 30. We draw the line there. No one under 14 is accepted. We try to encourage under age players to leave by themselves, even give them some troops to take with them, but if they refuse to leave then we kick them.
3) RULES
The next question we ask is if they know our rules. If they say they do because they have read them on the forum then we ask the key question. "who do we worship". If they can not answer that question correctly with "Thor" then we ask them to read the rules again and give us the correct answer. If they can not do this then they are kicked if they are suspected of outright lying, or told the rules in chat if we suspect they may have English as a second language.
If they have not read the forum, then we give them the most basic rules: Donate only archers, 50 donations per week, do not ask for elder, check chat for donations.
After that, welcome the new member "Welcome to Bears!"
Sometimes members will stall and respond to the questions in a vague or even aggressive manner. For people who stall, remind them they may leave the clan if they don't want to answer our questions, and then kick them if they remain obstinate. For those fortunately rare instances where players respond aggressively, e.g. by saying "None of your business", kick them immediately.
Why do we have this screening process?
Simply to ensure that the people in our clan are mature solid reliable people who enjoy having good clean fun. This is the fifth clan we have founded. In that time we have found there to be unfortunately many people who simply like to be selfish, abusive and immature. We try our best to keep these sorts of people out of our clan. So we have some rules that we expect people to follow because they benefit everyone, and we screen people to try and ensure that the people who join our clans can follow these rules.
The selection and roles of clan Elders, Guardians, and Leaders.
WHO THE VALHALLA IS THIS GUARDIAN YOU KEEP MENTIONING?
The bears are unique in having a political structure that includes the position of Guardian in addition to the Leader and Elders. The role of the Guardian is shadowy and mysterious. The Guardian can often be found in places of disrepute, usually drunk and slumped over a bar. Other than upholding our Viking
culture, the Guardian performs an administrative role, ensures that the rules of the clan are upheld, and provides advice and assistance to the Leader. The Guardian is responsible for guiding the long term strategic interests of the clan by maintaining and updating the rules when and if necessary. When
sober.
So why bother having a Leader then?
The relationship between the Guardian and Leader is essential to maintaining the long term stability of the clan. The leader applies the rules, the Guardian ensures the rules are applied justly. The leader
controls the elders, the Guardian appoints the elders. The leader acts on advice from the Guardian but is often not bound by the Guardians recommendations. Both the Leader and Guardian deny each other power, so a balance exists where they are forced to work together for the benefit of the clan.
How we roll….
We have regular votes on matters that affect us. Your views and opinions are critical to making this clan work effectively and for making it a desirable clan to not only join but also to stay with. The reasoning for public voting is this: While voting on matters like the nature of troop donations may seem trivial at this time, it is important to establish a solid and transparent democratic tradition in our clan. By transparent that means that any decision, any vote is out there for us all to see, and so avoid any allegations or possibility of vote rigging. There may come a time when we need to vote on more important matters, and then we will have established good system for making such decisions.
Topics to be voted on are made by one of two ways
1)By Guardian Proposal::
A Guardian proposal is one initiated by the Guardian and may include guardian soliciting feedback and opinions from members and elders. The proposal is written in this thread and comes into effect immediately. A guardian proposal may only be overturned by a majority vote against it under Deadman's hand policy. Members have one week form the time the proposal was posted in the thread to vote against it.
2) By Leader or Elder Proposal::
Any elder may with the permission of the Leader or Guardian make a written proposal in the respective clan thread on Supercell forum. The leader may make a public proposal without consultation with any other member. The Guardian has the right to veto any proposal made. Any proposal made and not vetoed by the Guardian will pass under the provision of the Deadman's hand policy. The proposal must be posted for one complete week until it passes
BUT, All members may offer suggestions regarding our clan. These will often be discussed in the clan chat on the Supercell forum. If the discussion is important enough then members may bring it to the attention of the leader by posting in the clans supercell thread. .If the leader gives approval, in writing,, and only if he/she gives approval, then a member may write up a proposal to be offered on the clans thread. The proposal will remain in the forum for a week. Unless the majority of clan members vote against the proposal on the thread, it will be passed and become bear policy. This is the deadman's hand in action.
This means that if you want a say in how the clan operates, and if you are opposed to any of the proposals made, you must take an active role on the clalns thread in the supercell forum. You must make your intention clear or your vote will not be counted. In other words if a proposal is made and you make some negative comment on it without actually saying "I oppose" or something equally obvious, then your comment will not be counted as a vote against.
Deadman's hand policy.
This simply means an event will trigger unless it is prevented from happening. If you agree with the proposal you need do nothing, you will be counted as a vote in favor. This will affect all manners of things, like how we vote. vouching for players who fall below donation minimums, the role of elders and leadership, donation requirements, events within the clan, recruitment policies, etc.
The selection and role of Elders.
At this point elders may only be appointed by:
1) The Guardian
2) The Leader with the approval of the Guardian.
Elders are selected on the following compulsory criteria:
1) Their willingness, as an elder, to sacrifice their time and effort to help other members and to
ensure that rude, disruptive, immature and otherwise unsuitable people are kept out of our clan.
2) Their willingness to sacrifice their time and effort for the benefit of all our members by helping
to promote our clan and our culture through the forums
3) Their willingness to sacrifice their time and effort for the benefit of all our members
by participating in important clan policy discussions and votes.
Elders are selected on the following optional criteria
1) Consistently high donation counts
2) Being active in clan chat
3) Being active in this thread
4) Giving highly quality advice and help to other clan members
5) Behaving as suitably barbaric Vikings
6) Geographical location.
7) Length of time within our clan
It is entirely up to the Guardian and the Leader to decide the relative weighting given to each of the criteria. Some elders may be selected entirely on the basis of just one criteria, some may be selected on the basis of several or all criteria.
The role of Elders. As a group the Elders are the keystone of maintaining our clans culture and strength. Elders ensure that people joining our clan are compatible with our ethos, understand and follow our rules, are encouraged to chat, are encouraged to adopt Viking behavior if not already a Viking, and to be familiar with our guidelines.
Ask to join our interclan communications system. Each clan has its own specific channel. and an Empire-wide interclan communications channel as well.. Be able to talk to anyone anywhere at any time! This is only available to Elders
Elders are responsible for the following:
1) Applying the rules of this clan. Elders should always consult with each other where possible
before kicking any member for rule breaking. The exception to this is (4) below.
2) Accepting new recruits. If a clan is at "invite only"
3) Screening new recruits. A soon as a new recruit is accepted the elders are to question them. How
did they find our clan? Have they posted on this thread? Do they know who we worship? Do they
know what to donate and what not to donate? If the new recruit does not give suitable answers,
or evades the questions, responds aggressively, or fails to respond in adequate time, it is up to
the discretion of the Elder to kick the new recruit out, with the agreement of another elder if at
all possible. If in doubt, leave the new recruit alone, we can always weed them out later if they are
not suitable.
4) KICK IMMEDIATELY, without the need to consult with another elder, any member, new or old
who does any of the following:
a) Deliberately uses offensive language obviously intended to offend, belittle or insult
any member.
b) Attempts to poach our members
c) Asks for eldership.
d) Continues to make inappropriate or immature comments after having been warned by an Elder.
5) Warn only once if:
a) The new member wants to discuss eldership. Refer them to the rules.. If they bring it up again,
kick them immediately.
b) If the new member makes a mildly inappropriate comment.
6) Do not accept into the clan any recruit who
a) Asks to join so they can talk with a "friend"
b) Any ex-member who left without permission from the Leader or notice posted in this thread.
c) Any ex-member who was kicked form the clan.
7) Do accept any member from the sister clans.
8) Promote immediately to Eldership any Elder, Leader or Guardian from the other clans.
The Selection and Role of Leadersip
The Clans have a rotating leadership. Leaders are selected from Elders. This is the process by which Leaders are selected.
1) once a week, or once every two weeks, on Monday afternoon a new leader will be selected.
2) The Guardian will post the name of the new leader on the clan thread
3) The current leader will then promote that person to leader.
These are the criteria by which the Guardian chooses the new leader:
a) They are very active, both in chat and in donations
b) They have posted on this thread in the past week
c) They have actively engaged in our barbaric culture and are well known for their bloody
exploits.
d) They are willing to accept the leadership role.
Note. No ordinary member may become leader. Nor may any ordinary member seek to influence the Leaders decision.
The role of the Leader is as follows:
1) To act as an elder at all times. but in addition to this:
2) To support and moderate the actions of Elders
3) To cast deciding votes where Elder votes are tied.
4) To ensure this thread remains on page one of Clan Talk.
5) To promote the healthy culture of Barbaric Viking behavior.
6) To remove from the clan any elder who fails to meet the required standards of the clan or
breaks the rules.
7) To read the list of members to be removed that the Guardian has posted on the clan thread each
Monday. The leader must then kick those members out of the clan, unless there are reasonable
grounds for keeping them.
The Selection and Role of the Guardian
1) A new Guardian can only be selected by the the current Guardian. The Guardian shall always be a
previous leader. Leadership experience from any other clan does not count. The Guardian will
always carry the rank of Elder while being a Guardian.
2) The Guardian shall remain in position until:
a) They relinquish the position of Guardianship in this thread, in which case the Guardian will select
the new Guardian.
b) The leader calls a non confidence vote in the clan thread or
c) At least three elders call a no confidence vote in the clan thread, in which case for both (b)
and (c) the Leader must nominate a new Guardian.
d) The current leader may not nominate themselves as Guardian. No confidence votes are subject
to a negative Deadman's hand policy: Over half of existing members must vote to remove the
Guardian by individually posting "No confidence" in this thread within a week of the no
confidence vote being initiated.
The Guardian is responsible for monitoring administration details regarding:
1) Members and Elders who are not meeting standards of activity in the forum, or an other
requirement that comes into effect in the future. The Guardian will post a list of those members to be removed for such reasons on this thread each Monday afternoon. It is up to the leader to
confirm or deny those on the list and to see they are either kicked or retained in the clan. The Guardian may also request that certain members move from one clan to another sister clan. If the Guardian makes a formal written "Guardian Request" in this thread it may not be refused. Refusal
will result in the member being removed from our clan and blacklisted from all bear clans.
2) Ensuring that the original values, atmosphere and ethos of the bear clans are maintained
over time.
3) To act as an elder at all times.
4) To advise the leader on all matters as and when either expedient or requested.
5) To promote and encourage the growth of the Bear culture, which is gratuitously violent,
barbaric, uncivilized, heinous, unwashed, rather smelly, and soaked in the blood of its enemies.
6) To initiate proposals, and to moderate proposals raised by Elders and Leaders.
7) To prevent the removal of any member or elder unless that person has actually broken one of
the current rules.
8) To resign from the position of Guardianship if any member or elder is unlawfully removed from
the clan. To declare the clan illegal, form a new Bear clan, and invite all, by PM, existing members
to leave and join the Guardian in the new clan.
As a Member, You have rights
1) You have the right to remain in your clan unless you have broken one of the rules above. You can not be kicked unless you break one of those rules. However you may be kicked out if you have ever been kicked out of one of our other clans for rule breaking.
2) You have the right to vote in clan decisions if you oppose any proposals made by the Guardian, the Leader or any of the Elders. If you do not vote then you are counted as agreeing with the proposal. This is known as the Deadman's hand policy. Clan decisions will be first put forward as a "proposal" in this thread. They can then be discussed in this thread for a few days. If the proposal is not opposed by a majority of members within a week, it will then be automatically passed and
become part of our rules or constitution. Ignorance of new rules and new decisions will not be accepted as an excuse, all members should check this thread at least once a week to see if there have been any changes.
3) You have the right to participate and initiate discussions within our community group forum.
4) You have the right to ask for "sleeper status". Sleeper status is given to members who for personal in real life reasons can not be active in the clan. Perhaps they are going on vacation, or on a business trip. Perhaps they have exams, or are moving house. Whatever the reason a member should post here on this thread and ask for sleeper status for whatever period of time they need. Members with "sleeper status" will not be expected to be active and will not be kicked from the clan. However
sleeper status will only be granted to members who have previously been active and have donated well. Sleeper status is not intended as a way for some members to get out of their clan responsibilities. Sleeper status may be extended up to four weeks, after which we will consider you to be undead, and you will then be moved into "zombie status".
5) You have the right to drink from a skull cup that doesn't leak. However we do not guarantee that the skull cup will be clean or completely free from remains of the previous owner's brain
tissue.
We have regular votes on matters that affect us. Your views and opinions are critical to making this clan work effectively and for making it a desirable clan to not only join but also to stay with. The reasoning for public voting is this: While voting on matters like the nature of troop donations may seem trivial at this time, it is important to establish a solid and transparent democratic tradition in our clan. By transparent that means that any decision, any vote is out there for us all to see, and so avoid any allegations or possibility of vote rigging. There may come a time when we need to vote on more important matters, and then we will have established good system for making such decisions.
Topics to be voted on are made by one of two ways
1)By Guardian Proposal::
A Guardian proposal is one initiated by the Guardian and may include guardian soliciting feedback and opinions from members and elders. The proposal is written in this thread and comes into effect immediately. A guardian proposal may only be overturned by a majority vote against it under Deadman's hand policy. Members have one week form the time the proposal was posted in the thread to vote against it.
2) By Leader or Elder Proposal::
Any elder may with the permission of the Leader or Guardian make a written proposal in the respective clan thread on Supercell forum. The leader may make a public proposal without consultation with any other member. The Guardian has the right to veto any proposal made. Any proposal made and not vetoed by the Guardian will pass under the provision of the Deadman's hand policy. The proposal must be posted for one complete week until it passes
BUT, All members may offer suggestions regarding our clan. These will often be discussed in the clan chat on the Supercell forum. If the discussion is important enough then members may bring it to the attention of the leader by posting in the clans supercell thread. .If the leader gives approval, in writing,, and only if he/she gives approval, then a member may write up a proposal to be offered on the clans thread. The proposal will remain in the forum for a week. Unless the majority of clan members vote against the proposal on the thread, it will be passed and become bear policy. This is the deadman's hand in action.
This means that if you want a say in how the clan operates, and if you are opposed to any of the proposals made, you must take an active role on the clalns thread in the supercell forum. You must make your intention clear or your vote will not be counted. In other words if a proposal is made and you make some negative comment on it without actually saying "I oppose" or something equally obvious, then your comment will not be counted as a vote against.
Deadman's hand policy.
This simply means an event will trigger unless it is prevented from happening. If you agree with the proposal you need do nothing, you will be counted as a vote in favor. This will affect all manners of things, like how we vote. vouching for players who fall below donation minimums, the role of elders and leadership, donation requirements, events within the clan, recruitment policies, etc.
The selection and role of Elders.
At this point elders may only be appointed by:
1) The Guardian
2) The Leader with the approval of the Guardian.
Elders are selected on the following compulsory criteria:
1) Their willingness, as an elder, to sacrifice their time and effort to help other members and to
ensure that rude, disruptive, immature and otherwise unsuitable people are kept out of our clan.
2) Their willingness to sacrifice their time and effort for the benefit of all our members by helping
to promote our clan and our culture through the forums
3) Their willingness to sacrifice their time and effort for the benefit of all our members
by participating in important clan policy discussions and votes.
Elders are selected on the following optional criteria
1) Consistently high donation counts
2) Being active in clan chat
3) Being active in this thread
4) Giving highly quality advice and help to other clan members
5) Behaving as suitably barbaric Vikings
6) Geographical location.
7) Length of time within our clan
It is entirely up to the Guardian and the Leader to decide the relative weighting given to each of the criteria. Some elders may be selected entirely on the basis of just one criteria, some may be selected on the basis of several or all criteria.
The role of Elders. As a group the Elders are the keystone of maintaining our clans culture and strength. Elders ensure that people joining our clan are compatible with our ethos, understand and follow our rules, are encouraged to chat, are encouraged to adopt Viking behavior if not already a Viking, and to be familiar with our guidelines.
Ask to join our interclan communications system. Each clan has its own specific channel. and an Empire-wide interclan communications channel as well.. Be able to talk to anyone anywhere at any time! This is only available to Elders
Elders are responsible for the following:
1) Applying the rules of this clan. Elders should always consult with each other where possible
before kicking any member for rule breaking. The exception to this is (4) below.
2) Accepting new recruits. If a clan is at "invite only"
3) Screening new recruits. A soon as a new recruit is accepted the elders are to question them. How
did they find our clan? Have they posted on this thread? Do they know who we worship? Do they
know what to donate and what not to donate? If the new recruit does not give suitable answers,
or evades the questions, responds aggressively, or fails to respond in adequate time, it is up to
the discretion of the Elder to kick the new recruit out, with the agreement of another elder if at
all possible. If in doubt, leave the new recruit alone, we can always weed them out later if they are
not suitable.
4) KICK IMMEDIATELY, without the need to consult with another elder, any member, new or old
who does any of the following:
a) Deliberately uses offensive language obviously intended to offend, belittle or insult
any member.
b) Attempts to poach our members
c) Asks for eldership.
d) Continues to make inappropriate or immature comments after having been warned by an Elder.
5) Warn only once if:
a) The new member wants to discuss eldership. Refer them to the rules.. If they bring it up again,
kick them immediately.
b) If the new member makes a mildly inappropriate comment.
6) Do not accept into the clan any recruit who
a) Asks to join so they can talk with a "friend"
b) Any ex-member who left without permission from the Leader or notice posted in this thread.
c) Any ex-member who was kicked form the clan.
7) Do accept any member from the sister clans.
8) Promote immediately to Eldership any Elder, Leader or Guardian from the other clans.
The Selection and Role of Leadersip
The Clans have a rotating leadership. Leaders are selected from Elders. This is the process by which Leaders are selected.
1) once a week, or once every two weeks, on Monday afternoon a new leader will be selected.
2) The Guardian will post the name of the new leader on the clan thread
3) The current leader will then promote that person to leader.
These are the criteria by which the Guardian chooses the new leader:
a) They are very active, both in chat and in donations
b) They have posted on this thread in the past week
c) They have actively engaged in our barbaric culture and are well known for their bloody
exploits.
d) They are willing to accept the leadership role.
Note. No ordinary member may become leader. Nor may any ordinary member seek to influence the Leaders decision.
The role of the Leader is as follows:
1) To act as an elder at all times. but in addition to this:
2) To support and moderate the actions of Elders
3) To cast deciding votes where Elder votes are tied.
4) To ensure this thread remains on page one of Clan Talk.
5) To promote the healthy culture of Barbaric Viking behavior.
6) To remove from the clan any elder who fails to meet the required standards of the clan or
breaks the rules.
7) To read the list of members to be removed that the Guardian has posted on the clan thread each
Monday. The leader must then kick those members out of the clan, unless there are reasonable
grounds for keeping them.
The Selection and Role of the Guardian
1) A new Guardian can only be selected by the the current Guardian. The Guardian shall always be a
previous leader. Leadership experience from any other clan does not count. The Guardian will
always carry the rank of Elder while being a Guardian.
2) The Guardian shall remain in position until:
a) They relinquish the position of Guardianship in this thread, in which case the Guardian will select
the new Guardian.
b) The leader calls a non confidence vote in the clan thread or
c) At least three elders call a no confidence vote in the clan thread, in which case for both (b)
and (c) the Leader must nominate a new Guardian.
d) The current leader may not nominate themselves as Guardian. No confidence votes are subject
to a negative Deadman's hand policy: Over half of existing members must vote to remove the
Guardian by individually posting "No confidence" in this thread within a week of the no
confidence vote being initiated.
The Guardian is responsible for monitoring administration details regarding:
1) Members and Elders who are not meeting standards of activity in the forum, or an other
requirement that comes into effect in the future. The Guardian will post a list of those members to be removed for such reasons on this thread each Monday afternoon. It is up to the leader to
confirm or deny those on the list and to see they are either kicked or retained in the clan. The Guardian may also request that certain members move from one clan to another sister clan. If the Guardian makes a formal written "Guardian Request" in this thread it may not be refused. Refusal
will result in the member being removed from our clan and blacklisted from all bear clans.
2) Ensuring that the original values, atmosphere and ethos of the bear clans are maintained
over time.
3) To act as an elder at all times.
4) To advise the leader on all matters as and when either expedient or requested.
5) To promote and encourage the growth of the Bear culture, which is gratuitously violent,
barbaric, uncivilized, heinous, unwashed, rather smelly, and soaked in the blood of its enemies.
6) To initiate proposals, and to moderate proposals raised by Elders and Leaders.
7) To prevent the removal of any member or elder unless that person has actually broken one of
the current rules.
8) To resign from the position of Guardianship if any member or elder is unlawfully removed from
the clan. To declare the clan illegal, form a new Bear clan, and invite all, by PM, existing members
to leave and join the Guardian in the new clan.
As a Member, You have rights
1) You have the right to remain in your clan unless you have broken one of the rules above. You can not be kicked unless you break one of those rules. However you may be kicked out if you have ever been kicked out of one of our other clans for rule breaking.
2) You have the right to vote in clan decisions if you oppose any proposals made by the Guardian, the Leader or any of the Elders. If you do not vote then you are counted as agreeing with the proposal. This is known as the Deadman's hand policy. Clan decisions will be first put forward as a "proposal" in this thread. They can then be discussed in this thread for a few days. If the proposal is not opposed by a majority of members within a week, it will then be automatically passed and
become part of our rules or constitution. Ignorance of new rules and new decisions will not be accepted as an excuse, all members should check this thread at least once a week to see if there have been any changes.
3) You have the right to participate and initiate discussions within our community group forum.
4) You have the right to ask for "sleeper status". Sleeper status is given to members who for personal in real life reasons can not be active in the clan. Perhaps they are going on vacation, or on a business trip. Perhaps they have exams, or are moving house. Whatever the reason a member should post here on this thread and ask for sleeper status for whatever period of time they need. Members with "sleeper status" will not be expected to be active and will not be kicked from the clan. However
sleeper status will only be granted to members who have previously been active and have donated well. Sleeper status is not intended as a way for some members to get out of their clan responsibilities. Sleeper status may be extended up to four weeks, after which we will consider you to be undead, and you will then be moved into "zombie status".
5) You have the right to drink from a skull cup that doesn't leak. However we do not guarantee that the skull cup will be clean or completely free from remains of the previous owner's brain
tissue.