PREAMBLE

BEL Clan (BEL for short) is a group of people who enjoy playing multi-player games for fun. Given the fact that that BEL had a blowup between key members, including most of the clan leaders, which would have resulted in the total dissolution of BEL were it not for a small group of members, this document is being drafted to hopefully help prevent a repeat of this event. Since those who forget or do not know the past are doomed to repeat it, readers are also encouraged to read the history of BEL, found on the clan web site.

It should also be noted that the terminology here will at least initially be focused around the Unreal Tournament family of games, given that this is the initial set of games played by the members of BEL. Should a term such as ``LMS'' be used, the reader is encouraged and instructed to look around to see what the term means. NOTE: In the case of LMS, it is a game where the goal is to be the last player surviving.

NOTE: This is a work in progress.

THE GOLDEN RULES

There are a number of simple ``golden rules'' by which the members of BEL must agree to abide. There is nothing special about these rules, since they are just those by which any civilized person should live. But sometimes it does not hurt to have a reminder.

• RESPECT

  Of all of these rules, respect is the most important. The key is to treat others, both clan members and non-members, as well, if not better than you wish to be treated.

  Besides the obvious means of respecting others (not name calling, not cheating, etc.), one means which we must remember is that at one time, we were all ``Noobs''. And the best cure for ``Noob-ism'' is a bit of training, and time playing with folks who treat the ``Noob'' as neither a baby seal nor a baby! Instead, teach them, let them play, and don't abuse them by fragging them into tater-tots every other second.

• REALITY

  There is more to life than ``The Game'', regardless of what the game is called. If you have troubles understanding this, perhaps you should take a break and think about it a bit until you do understand.

• NO CHEATING

  This is really a part of respect, and BEL members should know about this one already. However, I am putting this here more as a reminder and for those who are thinking about joining. Put simply, using cheating ruins your reputation and that of your clan. As a result, it may not be long until you find that only other cheaters will play with you. When that happens, it soon becomes a competition who who can play the dirtiest.

  When you think about it, cheating also takes away from the fun that you and other can have. Is it really any fun to know that you can get a headshot each and every time you fire at an opponent? Is it really any fun to know that you can always win the game? It certainly is not fun to know that every time you play against a cheater that you do not stand a chance.

  Here are a few extra items to think about:

  • CHEATER MODS

    One of the most often thought of means of cheating, they are also some of the most distructive, since they ruin your skills. So unless a special session is being played to help folks recognize and combat the latest cheater mods, and everyone is aware of that fact, check them at the door. Failure to do so will not only result in being banned from clan game servers, but should the person be a member of BEL, they will be placed into a probationary status until the matter is cleared up one way or the other.

    Special note: Do not use a cheater mod and then try using the defense of ``I cannot be cheating! The server is running XXX which prevents that sort of thing!''. That does not work when you rob a bank, and it does not work here either. If you are reading this, you are almost certainly a computer user, and as such, should be aware by now that anti-virus software is out-of-date by the time the end-user gets the update. Anti-cheat mods are like anti-virus software in that they tend to be more reactive than pro-active when it comes to what they are protecting against.

  • TEAM KILLS

    Since most servers do not have team damage enabled, we often forget about this one. In cases where team damage is enabled, you can expect it to haapen by accident. However, in cases where it is not enabled, there are indirect ways of accomplishing this. The obvious ones are using the shield gun to either keep someone away from an item spawn point, or pushing them off a height to take damage when they hit, possibly going SPLAT! and creating a crater. Others include not sharing ammo, adrenalin, health, etc. So, remember to share from time to time, and your teammate may just save your bacon when you need it! And if he does, you may just be able to enjoy the sweetness of victory!!

  • TALK KILLS (TKs)

    We know they happen all the time, and were the game reality, we would immediately take advantage of them and frag our opponents whether or not they were talking. However, we should give them the curtesy of not killing an opponent if they are talking, unless they abuse the curtesy. Sometimes, it is difficult to tell if they are talking. But if they are standing faced into a corner or some out-of-the-way place, or if you are lucky enough to see them talking curtesy of the messages on the screen or a balloon, don't frag them immediately!!! Give them at least 15-30 seconds in games like LMS, especially if they are nowhere near the top. And give them longer in games like DM, TDM, and BR where they obviously their score, or that of their team!!

    On the flip side, help the others know you are physically having to talk with a family member by going to a corner and facing into it. But do not abuse it!!! If you are playing a game like LMS and are going to be more than 15-30 seconds, expect to get killed if you take longer than that. If you and your teammates all decide to chat at the same time in a TDM game, it is open season!

  • SPAWN KILLS (SKs)

    Spawn kills are those kills which happen when a player spawns or respawns after a death. They are not kills which result from two players trying to use the same portal, or even waiting by a portal for someone to appear. Spawn kills happen for all sorts of reasons. Sometimes you are playing with 16 people on a map intended for much less, and the game has two of you spawning at the same location at nearly the same time. Sometimes, a fire fight breaks out near a spawn point, and someone else spawns into the middle of it. But then there is the cowardly and dastardly act of waiting by a spawn point, and killing them as they appear.

    What can be done about it? Needless to say, you let the spawning player orient themselves for a few seconds, and decide whether or not to run off for weapons if they so choose. If you are really nice, you give them a nice, long head start or let them go. In the case of the over-crowded map, a respectful note to the server admin may be in order, particulary if his server is normally running with more users than for which the map was designed. In the case of the fire fight near the spawn point, players should try to move it away from the spawn points. As for the player who consistently waits for a player to spawn and kills them as they appear, let the other players and the admin know if it becomes a habit, and then declare open season upon the jerk!!!

    Special notes: Once you start firing after spawning, it is open season on you! Also, given the area of effect of some weapons such as the redeemer or ion painter/cannon, you may die as you spawn when these weapons are used, particularly if you respawn near a key location such as a flag or goal. We should learn to live with these, especially when the intended effect is not the SK but control of that key location. But on the flip side, we should not abuse this by making a habit of hammering a spawn area for an extended period of time (more than a second or so), unless the real intent is the control of a key location (excluding spawn points).

  • TEMPORARY ALLIANCES & GANG FRAGGING

    There are few games where this is possible, but in games (such as LMS) where it is, it can be one of the worst offences possible. This is particularly true when used by the stronger players to clear the field of the weaker players before proceeding to deal with one another. Down this path lies the Dark Side young paduan! This is in part what caused the problems with BEL back in 2002, and will not be tolerated!!!

    You may be thinking that team games are immune to this. They are not. It is just harder, since the server will often try to balance teams. But folks manually changing sides can make this possible. Indeed, outside of clan games, where you want to group folks together, this may be worse forms of this practice.

    What can be done should it occur? First, you can notify the admin. But if they do not care, or are one of the guilty, then , you can either play the same game elsewhere, or you can find a different game to play (e.g. play CTF instead of LMS). Or, you can choose to live with it, though you should not have to do so.

  • HIDING

    In some games such as LMS, the goal is to be the last person with any lives left. In those games, the easiest way to win is to find a hole to crawl into and stay there until the game is almost over. Simply put, the player hides like the coward they really are! But this is not always a clear cut, black-and-white issue. Indeed, there are times it may seem like player X is hiding, but they are really not. Situations like this include:

    • It is nearly impossible to hide in games where you score either by killing your opponents (e.g. DM), or by a goal (BR, CTF). The only real way you can do this is to be way ahead, and then remove all possibilities of the other side from scoring (e.g. it is 1-on-1 and you hide, or everybody on the winning side hides).

      Consider this...is it cheating for a player to hide in DM rather than trying to go out and kill folks. Absolutely not, unless bets are being made as to who will be the low scorer! If someone decides to do this, let them.

      NOTE 0 (from _e):Yea, I know, technically you can hide regardless of the game or situation, at least as far as the definition in the dictionary is concerned. However, for the sake of this discussion, crawling under a rock in a DM game where you are not denying the opposing side is not hiding...IT IS JUST PLAIN STUPID!!!

      NOTE 1:An area of greyness occurrs when you consider games like BR and CTF. You can be ahead, remove any possibility of the other side scoring, and win the game on time rather than reaching the target score. However, realize that part of the whole idea behind these games is to get to goals at fixed locations with an object (ball or flag) without getting seen and killed. The other side can try to block access to the goal, and in the case of CTF take the other flag. In these cases, it is almost certainly a case of precautionary measures which are the nature of the game rather than cheating. Add to this the fact that in CTF, you can pull tricks like luring the opposing flag carrier back to a trap at their goal by letting the flag return, and it becomes even less a question of cheating, and more a question of just good strategy.

      NOTE 2:Another area of greyness occurrs when you consider INV, where the point of the game is to have someone survive the wave. Is it cheating to use what are clearly flaws in the map (such as the hole through the sand to the area under the stairs in BR-Anubis, or the holes in the cliff behind the complexes in BR-Bifrost) to hide. It is defintely getting there, and clearly would be if the other side were players instead of monster bots. However, it does take away from the fun and challenge of the game. Should you do it and you get kicked or banned for doing it, so be it!

    • It is not hiding (and therefore cheating) if the person is in a location which can be plainly seen from another point which is easily reached. If the person is hiding on the top of a wall, or on top of a door frame or in a corner in a room which the opponents could get to, it cannot be considered hiding. All the opponent needs to is to go there and look!

    • It is not hiding if you walk, jump or even use a translocator (to reach a higher location) a location, then fire weapons to kill your opponents, and they could possibly fire back at you. At this point, it is clearly a case of sniping, not hiding. This is also a good test to determine whether it is a map flaw (such as in BR-Anubis and BR-Bifrost), or just a good sniping point (such as on top of the tower in DM-Phobos).

WEAPONS and SPAM

Not quite fitting into the Golden Rules, there is a whole book which could be written about weapons and spam. This section will no doubt need and get some additional work, but it is a good start.

If you have played a game such as UT for any amount of time and been involved in discussions, you have no doubt heard people complain about the various weapons, saying that they should be removed from the game. Often times, the complaint is that weapon is too powerful, and that any noob could use it to dominate a game. Anyone who does this is being foolish for a number of reasons, and if they would stop, pull their head out of what ever hole they stuck it in (be it their six or one in the ground), and really thought about it, they would realize this. Here is why:

• It takes skill to use any weapon!

  Think about it for a minute. There are a number of reasons why it takes skill to use any weapon. They include:

  • Splash Damage!

    You can kill yourself with any weapon while trying to kill your opponent. In some cases, doing so is quite obvious to everyone playing at the time, such as when you fire the redeemer at your opponent at point blank range! But the splash damage need not be as obvious. You can even do it with the enforcer, both with or without the grenade.

  • BB Gun vs. the Elephant

    There are some times when you just need to pick the right weapon for the job. If your opponent is at medium range, pounding at you with the rocket launcher, odds are, you are not going to be able to kill them with the enforcer. Then again, if you have the skill to avoid the rockets and their splash damage by jumping around while continually hitting them, you can do 120 points of damage in 10 seconds.

• You can defend against any weapon.

  It does not matter if it is the assult rifle, the flak cannon, the rocket launcher, or the super weapons like the redeemer and ion painter/cannon, there is a defense against that weapon. In some cases, it may simply be to move away from the point of impact. Or, it may be a case of getting into the shadow of some object to avoid the blast. This shadow could be from a column, a corner in a passage, or in some cases from your shield gun (remember that thing??). Or, you may be able to shoot the weapon projectile down (as is the case with the redeemer or Avril).

[to be continued...]

CLAN MEMBERSHIP

A clan is ideally a living organism. As such, it may spend a great deal of time with little, if any change. However, changes do occur. Members may unfortuately decide (or be forced) to permanently leave the clan as they decide to spend their time on other pursuits, or as real life impacts their situation. In other instances, they may choose to take a leave of absence. However, try as we might to prevent it, it may also be the case that someone is forced by the clan to leave. Without any means to combat these, the clan would be destined to fragment until it ceased to exist. For this reason, a process must exist for the clan to gain additional members.

On first glance, it may seem that a clan can grow without any concern. Unfortuately, this is rarely the case. If everyone were free to invite whoever they wanted to join a group, it is only a matter of time before you have to members or sub-groups who have a difficult time just saying "hello" or discussing the weather. Soon, such a group would begin to look like Congress. And when this happens, it is likely that the group will fragment, and perhaps cease to exist. For this reason, guidelines must exist to help preserve the clan.

Member types

There are essentially four different types of members within any organization. These types are based upon the rights and responsibilities of those members within the group. These types of members are as follows:

Leadership

The leaders of a group are those who control the running and direction of the group. This may be done with or without the input of the rest of the group. However, while they sometimes may have to make unpopular decisions, a leader would be a fool to think that they can do so without considering and often following this input. In the case of nations, a leader may find themself failing to be re-elected of become the subject of a recall or coup if they choose to ignore the people. A military leader may find themselves suffering either a defeat or a mutiny if they ignore those they lead.

For BEL clan, the leadership consists of the clan general and the clan commanders. Membership into this small group is granted to clan members by the existing members of the clan leadership, though the clan leadership may take input from the general membership when granting someone this membership.

Full/General Members

The majority of the members of any group should ideally fall into this category. These are the soldiers of an army, and the populus of a nation. Often the general members of a group folks who do most of the work. That is not to say that they do all the work, since the best way that leaders interact with the general members is to work beside them (a point often missed by some military leaders and our own politicians).

In the case of BEL, these folks are often given a chance as a body to provide input to the clan leaders. This input may consist of comments, or may be done via a vote or other means, as decided upon by the clan leadership.

Auxillary/Associate Members

This is a smaller group of members, who are often given some, but not all of the rights granted to the general members. In our own society, this would consist of those who have not yet reached their own age of majority. In some groups, such as a volunteer fire department, an auxillary group may be formed by wives and other family members. These groups may function as a separate group, but may also be asked to provide input into the parent group.

BEL clan may have auxillary members in the future, such as a junior auxillary or a spouses auxillary. However, these members may or may not be asked for their input by the clan leadership, and will not take place in inter-clan matches.

Probationary Members

Some groups may have probationary members, who are placed there to determine their suitability as a regular member. This may be the result of their starting to join the group, or as the result of some action on their part while a member which results in their punishment and a re-evaluation. This means that probationary membership should be for a short term.

Persons belong to this group are almost never granted the rights granted general members. In rare cases, such as those dealing directly to their evaluation, they may be asked to provide input by the leadership, but such imput is almost never extended beyond the probationary members own evaluation.

BEL clan will normally use probationary periods ranging from 30 days to a few months, during which input may be taken from the general clan membership. Those being placed into a probationary period shall be notified of such, along with the reasons (which may be simply that they are a potential new member) and the initial length of the probationary period. The probationary period may be longer or may be extended, but for anything lasting more than 3-4 months or being extended a second time, serious though should be given as to whether or not the person is suitable, and a unanimous decision by the clan leadership is highly desirable.

New member process

The following are the steps taken to bring a new member into the clan.

1. A nomination is given to the clan leadership giving the name and other contact information of person who is thought to be suitable and wants to be a member of the clan. This nomination must be made by a general member of the clan, or an individual belonging to the clan leadership.

2. The nomination is then discussed by the clan leadership. This may involve soliciting additional input from the member who nominated the candidate, or the candidate themself.

3. If the clan leadership decides to proceed, the clan membership as a whole is polled for their comments and objections. These comments and objections are taken as recommendations to the clan leadership at this point.

4. If the clan leadership decides to proceed, the candidate is notified that they are a probationary member of the clan, and is given a minimum probationary period, not less than 30 days, at that time. The candidate will then add the tag for that of a probationary clan member to their player name, and will be placed on the roles as such.

5. During the probationary period, an effort should be made by the members and leadership of the clan who play the game(s) in question played by the candidate to do so with the candidate. It is hoped that at least 2/3rds of the clan leadership and as many of the other members might do so in the interest of being able to provide meaningful discussion when the time comes.

   Comments may also be passed along to the leadership at any time during this period. This way, if general members see something which may affect the decision, they clan leadership may be made aware of it so that they may look for it themselves.

6. At the end of the probationary period, the clan membership is again officially polled for their comments and objections. Once this information has been collected, the clan leadership will vote to decide to do one of the following:
   1. Offer non-probationary membership to the candidate.

      At this point, the candidate shall be notified that they are a new member of the clan. They will then replace the tag for probationary members with that of their new status. If there were still concerns which were found to be non-blocking, then feedback should also be given at this time.

   2. Continue the probationary period.

      This status indicates that there are still concerns which must be addressed before the probationary member may become a full member. Feedback should be given at this point to help the probationary member address these concerns.

      NOTE: Probationary status is not intended to be a long term state. It is intended to normally last for a period of 30 days upto a few months. As such, this should not occur more than once, or in rare cases twice to a probationary member. If concerns are still not addressed, then the probationary member should not be considered for clan membership.

      [In extremely rare cases, such as in the case of rare disciplinary cases, a probation period of from 4 to 6 months may be used, but only upon the unanimous decision of the clan leadership].

   3. Reject the candidate for membership with the clan.

      This indicates that some major concerns or objections were found. At this point, the person is notified that they were not found to be acceptable to the clan, and if appropiate, that they should not use a clan tag. Feedback should also be given as to why they were rejected.

   With regards to feedback given. Great care should be given to protect the identity of the source of comments and suggestions used to produce this feedback.

   It should be noted that the decision made should represent the majority view of both the membership and the clan leadership. Should this not be the case, the clan leadership should give extreme thought and consideration to the situation.

   However, if a minority of the membership feels strongly about their view, those members should invited to discuss their views with the clan leadership, where both the majority view and their view is discussed.

Personal Feedback

From time to time, it may be necessary for the clan leadership to give feedback individuals to help prevent a small problem from growing, or to help correct a larger problem. In some cases, this may be the result of comments made members of the clan, or possibly even those outside of it. In such cases, care should be taken to protect the identity of those making the comments which resulted in the feedback.