The Pillars

Preface

The Pillars are the most fundamental rules of how the outfit operates. They've served us well for almost twenty years. Live by them and you'll thrive. Break them and you may be removed from the outfit.

If you have questions about The Pillars, it is up to you to ask. We can't answer questions you've kept secret. Start a thread, send a PM, ask in our Discord, or send an in-game tell/whisper.

GOTR is a rich, multi-gaming community (members link only). Each major GOTR Game Branch has its own set of complementary pillars to these. Be sure to read and follow them.

The Foundation: Lead by Example (for Officers)

Officers are held to a higher standard. The officers are the foundation of the outfit upon which the pillars rest. If the foundation is flawed, the Pillars will be crooked and the building will collapse. We cannot expect our troops to do anything we aren't already doing. We must be examples of what the outfit should be. We must treat our troops with respect, and earn their respect.

Pillar 0: Real Life Comes First

Life > Games. If you'd rather be doing something else, go do that. If your mind is on finances, romance, homework or some other game, go deal with that. If your dog is eating the couch or you have spouse aggro, go deal with that. If you're choosing between a night out with friends or playing, go have a drink and raise a glass for us. If your head isn't in the game you'll be a less effective player. You'll be annoyed with your performance and so will everyone else. You'll resent the game and the outfit for keeping you from having some other kind of fun or dealing with your real life responsibilities. No outfit officer or member will give you grief for putting your life first.

Take a night off. We are all friends here, and friends support each other. There is no such thing as spare time. Every minute you spend is gone forever. Spend it wisely. We'll be here when you get back!

Pillar 1: The Forum

Our forum is the lifeblood of our outfit. It is how we plan, inform, and organize. It's also fun. We expect you to take part in the forum if for nothing more than to stay informed of what is going on. Activity is also a consideration for advancement in rank within the outfit, if that is an avenue you wish to pursue.

Pillar 2: Voice Communication (TeamSpeak)

You MUST have TeamSpeak installed on your system to be a member. There are those here that will help with any problems you may have, so technical difficulties are not a consideration. A small few special exceptions can be made, ask an officer if you have any doubts. You are not required to have a mic, but TeamSpeak must be running for you to properly follow your orders from your commanding officers - having a mic is definitely encouraged. Additionally, if you ever wish to advance into the officer ranks, you must have a mic. You must be on TeamSpeak to hold any sort of in-game Squad/Team Leader position as well.

Pillar 3: Respect and Sportmanship

Since 2002, GOTR has maintained a stellar reputation in the games we play for remaining positive and demonstrating good sportsmanship. You have a responsibility to maintain our reputation whenever you represent the outfit, online or offline.

Because not everyone understands respect and sportsmanship, here are some explicit rules. Members who violate these rules in speech, writing or action are subject to disciplinary action, including suspension and banning (kicked from the outfit), via our three strikes policy (Members Only link).

1. GOTR welcomes and encourages participation by everyone. We are committed to being an inclusive community that everyone feels good about joining. We explicitly honour diversity in age, culture, ethnicity, individuals with disabilities or chronic health issues, genotype, gender identity or expression, language, national origin, neurotype, phenotype, political beliefs, profession, race, religion, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, subculture and technical ability.
2. We are a family-friendly outfit. Please keep to "PG-13" acceptable language. Occasional swearing is OK. Offensive, discriminatory, or sexually explicit content is not. If someone asks you to stop, stop. This extends to in-game character names.
3. We act with respect to each other and outside the community. Trolling, baiting, harassing, threatening or sharing others' private information without consent is unacceptable.
4. Respect the outfit leaders and officers. This means following orders, not disrupting gameplay, stopping talking when asked, and forming up for group events in a timely manner. If you have a problem with something an officer is asking you to do, try to resolve it privately, e.g. via /tell, whisper or private messages on the forum. Do not argue with officers in a combative tone or undermine their authority. If there is a persistent problem, take it to another officer.
5. We do not hack, cheat or exploit, nor tolerate those who do. If you think something might be an exploit or hack, don't use it, and talk to an officer about it. Don't relay information from opponents.
6. We do not tolerate illegal activity or its glorification. This includes discussing or promoting crimes relating to drugs, rape, solicitation of a minor, computer hacking and copyright violation.
7. We do not advertise without written consent of GOTR leadership. This includes any gambling, tournaments, promotion of personal or commercial business, or unsolicited private/public spam messages.

Pillar 4: Participation

Each game we play has a schedule for raids and other events. If you want to be considered part of the PlanetSide outfit, for instance, we expect you to attend our Thursday night raid. These events are the purpose of the outfit: to get together and kick ass. However, real life comes first. If you can't make it, please let someone know. Usually there is a thread on the forum where you can post, or you can PM your division/raid leader. We won't kick you for missing raids. We might kick you if it seems you aren't really a participating member of the outfit.

Please remember that from time to time we will remove inactive characters from in-game rosters in order to keep a "clean house", but this does not mean you're banned. Simply ask for a reinvite when you return to activity and we'll reinstate your full permissions. "We remove characters for inactivity - not people".

PlanetSide Specific Pillars

In addition to The Pillars, the following PlanetSide specific pillars apply:

Pillar 0: Real Life Comes First

We ask that you let us know that you'll be on leave for a given Thursday night raid. Post in your division's respective "Missing raid? Let us know here" thread. Knowing who will be online and how many troops is part of our planning. Remember, you're not asking us for permission, just letting us know.

Pillar 1: The Forum

Participating in the forum is a good way to learn new tactics, discuss strategies and share stories. Share your ideas. Offer constructive feedback to others.

Pillar 2: Voice Communication (TeamSpeak)

During all scheduled events (Thursday Night Raid, Practice, SFR, etc.) being on TeamSpeak is required. You don't have to talk, but we expect you to listen. Communication is what makes us more than the zerg. If you want a leadership role or squad lead, having a mic is required.

Pillar 3: Respect and Sportmanship

We treat all players with respect, even our opponents. Keep the smack talk and name-calling out of all in-game text chat and voice. We have earned the respect of other outfits and empires by showing good sportsmanship. Don't be the person that ruins nearly 20 years of street cred.

Respect the Chain of Command. This is more important in PlanetSide than most of our other games. It takes a measure of discipline to coordinate and control 30 to 200 players at once. Dissent should be dealt with privately.

PlanetSide's complex military-like nature requires a few more rules than other games. Specifically, we do not Team Kill any GOTR or VS on Emerald. If you're dueling, or someone asks you to kill them so they can respawn elsewhere, fine. If someone of our empire is harassing you or blocking something, or otherwise jeopardizing empire/outfit operations, get approval from a GOTR PS2 officer before TKing.

Relaying is considered cheating. For example, do not play a TR or NC character and report any squad/platoon's position, plans or any other information we should not have.

Pillar 4: Participation

If you are in GOTR for PS2, and you are online and playing video games Thursday nights 7:30 PM to 10 PM Eastern, we expect you to be participating in the GOTR raid. Our ability to win depends on how many troops we have. We need your specialities to give us flexibility. Being part of a organized and large team is the purpose for the existence of the outfit. It's the purpose of you joining our outfit.

If you live in a time zone that makes those hours hard for you, or if you're working the nightshift, let us know: Pillar 0 always applies. We won't be mad at you for being on leave. Habitually missing raid night with no explanation given is cause for dismissal.

All members will join a division. You join a division by joining the Group on the website (click Planetside in the top level menu, then click the green "Join Group" button if it appears - if it doesn't, you're already a member). Joining the group automatically puts you in the Death Angels (Infantry Division). You may ask to be transferred to FEAR (armor and air division) or to try out for Daemon Legion (small squad tactical units) by posting in the Mess Hall.

You can change divisions by making a transfer request to your current and future commanding officers. We require this because we don't want you to be standing around the Warpgate wondering what to do or what's going on. We also like to know the relative troop strength of each unit. If you are new to the outfit you may transfer relatively freely as you find your niche, but a heads up to the division leader is always a good idea.

Divisions will have specific requirements around certification; you can find this information in the Articles section of our website or within each division's Social Group.

The special operations division (Daemon Legion) units require approval to join. This usually involves a tryout period.

Minecraft Specific Pillars

Many of us in GOTR have downloaded and continue to play Minecraft, the new creative expression engine thing. And we now have our own official GOTR Minecraft server! So, it's time to set down some ground rules to ensure that we all have a great time and no one gets annoyed at one another.

• Ask to be whitelisted for server access by following the instructions on the server whitelist page.
• Don't Team Kill. Friendly fire is enabled on the server, so be careful where you swing your pick/sword/block of wood. This is different than PlanetSide in that you can actually lose some very valuable things if you die. So don't do it.
• Don't grief other players' buildings. They have the right to build anything they want, so do you (other than things blatantly racist or offensive, that we'll have to put a lid on).
• Respect other players' space. This means, if someone's built a nice castle and likes the view, it's only fair that you not build a huge railway zigzagging across the castle, or a huge floating castle right beside theirs if they ask you politely not to.
• IMPORTANT: Feel free to booby trap anything you build, but you MUST post a notification via a wooden sign that is clearly visible. You don't have to say "This building is trapped with a TNT detonator located on the third block to the left" but it can be as simple as "Do Not Enter". If they read the sign which tells them not to enter, and they enter anyway resulting in their death, it's not your fault.
• Do not booby trap other players' buildings unless they ask you to do so.
• Do not move any notification signs. Obviously.
• Do not steal any other players' resources. Some chests will be locked, marked private or personal, while others are marked for communal use. Feel free to take anything you want out of the communal chests but don't be greedy, we're an outfit and a team here and no one likes a resource hog.
• When exploring underground caverns, place torches on the right as you descend. This helps lost people escape by keeping torches on their left as they flee from the hordes of skellies, zombies and spiders.

Violations of any of these rules could result in your user ID being temporarily or permanently banned from the server. Most likely your position as a GOTR outfit member will not be in jeopardy, but that can always change. In short, don't be a smacktard. If you're a new player, please ask lots of questions, we would rather take a few seconds to explain something to you than have you explode.