The Constitution of The Short Bus Riders Gaming Community
Preamble:
We, the Membership of The Short Bus Riders, do incline to, and in an effort to
create a more stable
and enjoyable gaming environment do so set forth the following Constitution and
By-Law to establish
a set of rules by which all members are to adhere. All Members of SBR Prior to
Adoption of this Constitution are Grandfathered under it.
Article I: Membership
Section 1: All current Members of The Short Bus Riders Gaming
Community are
Grandfathered under this Section of The Constitution.
Section 2: New Applicants for Membership
A. Membership Requirements
I. Minimum age to join SBR is 18 years old, proof
of age may be required.
II. You need a sense of humor about yourself.
III. Understand and acknowledge the fact that SBR is an
adult community, with adult content
IV. Some people who apply may not fit with our
community, your application may be rejected
but as long as you maintain
respect for SBR and its members you will still be allowed to
be part of the community in
the forums, just not wear the tag.
V. Applicants must fill out an application and tell
SBR about themselves, after which a trial
waiting period will start, with a
minimum of 2 weeks and a maximum of 6 weeks after which
you will be voted upon.
VI. Any attempts to harass SBR members on the status
of your application will
only drag out the process.
VII. During the application period,we will evaluate
any
prospective member to the
community. It is the prospective
members responsibility to be a
very active member of the community,
doing things such as spending
time in teamspeak and posting messages in the forums.
VIII. Prospective members who fail to get the required
number of votes to acquire membership are
still encouraged to participate in the Community, and are also
allowed to re-apply for
membership after a "cool off"period of no less than 60
days (2 Months) from the date of their
rejection notification.
IX. Prospective Members may belong to more than one gaming community or clan
when applying
to SBR and upon confirmation of membership may retain their
membership in another gaming
community and or clan.
X. All Members must adhere to the "What happens at SBR stays at SBR"
rule and must not
bring SBR business to other communities and clans
XI. Tags are to be worn in front of your name in the following
configuration: [_SBR_>
XII. Any SBR member caught using hacks or cheats will
automatically be ejected from the
community, with no chance of reinstatement. Whomever wears
the SBR tags represents us as
a group and if anyone uses hacks it is as a representative of
this community which would harm
every member of the community.
Section 3: Revocation of Membership from SBR:
A. Any Member found to have seriously violated the Terms of Service
Agreement of the Forum,
threatening physical harm, causing harm to come to the server
out of spite, causing any other
member to be threatened in their real life career by the actions
of said member or being
disrespectful to the community in the hospices of another
community shall have their continuing
membership brought before the general body of SBR Members for
review.
B. Concerning Member Disputes: SBR will not take sides in disputes, the
problems between the
parties involved should not be publicized in the forums,
teamspeak or other communications
medium, to try and garner sympathy for their cause. If
need be they may ask for a mediator to help
settle the dispute.
1. If this is done please respect the mediator and
allow them to help settle the dispute.
2. If the situation can not be mediated, a recommendation from
the mediator will be made and this
recommendation on how to resolve the dispute should be respected
and followed.
a. Whatever happens between the parties and mediator should stay
between them
3. A 3/4ths majority of SBR Members may vote to revoke another's membership,
which will then
be subject to approval by the Council of Morons.
Section 4: Banning of Non-Members:
A. Any non member of SBR may be banned from the
forums/teamspeak/servers for a violation of the ToS
of the Forums, threatening physical harm, causing harm to come
to the server out of spite, causing
any other member to be threatened in their real life careers by
the actions of said member or being
disrespectful to the community in the hospices of another
community or overtly disrespectful of SBR to
the SBR Community itself.
1. The Council of Morons May be called upon by the membership to
mediate any dispute between
members and non-members.
2. Prior to being banned a non-member may receive a warning about
his or her actions. For the serious
infractions such as those listed in subsection one of this section
a ban may be issued without warning or
explanation.
Article II: Community Representation
Section 1: Leadership
A. Hierarchy of Leadership
I. Everyone in SBR is an equal member with
regards to member voting and general decisions.
II. No one person will ever make decisions
for SBR, however, there is a council of the founding
members of SBR that will deal
with serious issues.
A. The Council of Morons is made up of
Dilly, Whubee, Matrixman, Aussie and Horner
III. The council will never exclude
information and advice from SBR members, some
SBR members might be invited
to council meetings to discuss the issues.
B. Council's Responsibility
I. The council will only be asked to make
decisions when SBR can not via a borderline vote or on
issues resulting from disciplinary behavior (See Article I,
Section 3). And must be summoned by a
majority of the membership SBR via vote poll in the Membership
section of the forum.
II. The councils votes must be unanimous
decisions, otherwise the issue is put on hold
and voted on again by SBR
members, who may pass or fail an issue by 3/4th majority after the
vote has been posted in the forum for more than 14 days (2 full
weeks or one fortnight).
III. The council is also responsible for
assigning administration responsibilities on the server,
teamspeak and forums.
A. The Membership may also nominate their
own Administrators, no more than 2 per year for a term
not to exceed 6 months for no more than two terms within one
twelve month period.
1. Only in cases where at least one
administrator slot is open on the TS, Forum, or Server(s).
B. Candidates for Admin must meet the
following:
1. Member for 6 months
2. Active and constructive member of
The Community
3. Have good interpersonal skills on
the server
4. Act as a good example to the other
members of The Community
2. Any person elected by the membership to any admin
position is subject to approval by
the Council of Morons.
B. Two Trustee's shall be elected by the membership to stand in for
any member of The Council that is
unavailable due to illness, injury or lack of internet for more
than 24 hours after the Council has been
called to Quorum by the Members.
1.Trustees are to be nominated by the Membership,
and voted on in a Poll in the Members
Section of the Forum which will stand
for One week (7 Days) at the end of which
the two persons with the most votes
will be Trustee's of The Short Bus.
a. No Member of The Council of
Morons is eligible for the position of Trustee of The Short Bus.
b. Trustee's shall serve a term
of no greater than 6 months and no more than two terms in one
year's time.
1. Any Trustee elected
to two consecutive terms shall wait a minimum 1 year before they
can
be nominated for the position of Trustee of The Short Bus again.
C. Conflicts of Interest:
1. At any time if one or more of the Members of the Council
of Morons is involved in a dispute
with another Member of SBR or a Member of The Council, the
Trustee's shall be
called upon to adjudicate in their stead.
2. Should the problem be involving both a member or members
of the Council
and a trustee or trustees then an impartial mediator shall
be elected by the uninvolved
members of the Council from the membership of SBR.
D. Reporting from The Council to the Membership
1. The Council may choose to select one of it's members to act as
the Announcer of Findings or may
choose to speak as one.
2. The Council of Morons must inform the membership of any
decisions, either verbally or through text,
before taking action on said decision.
a. The Council may take immediate action upon a decision if
the council meeting is
open to the general membership.
b. Upon the membership requesting a meeting of the council,
the council must inform the membership
of a time and date for said meeting in no more than
one week (7 days) from the time
the council receives the request.
Article III: Servers:
Section 1: All current Administrators of the Short Bus
Riders Gaming Community are
Grandfathered in under this Section of The Constitution.
A. Administrator Responsibility for our gamer servers
is one of the most important we have.
I. Only members who have proven they can handle this
responsibility will get it.(see article II Part B,
Sect III, Sub. Sect. B)
B. Abuse of Powers
I. If admins are found abusing their power they will
be subjected to the following
A. First time they will be warned and have
their admin revoked for one week.
B. If found abusing a second time admin will
be removed for a month
C. On the third infraction of admin abuse admin
will be revoked for one year before they can be
reviewed to have admin again.
C. Examples of admin abuse:
I. Are considered, but not limited to the following:
A. Harassment of player for minor server
infractions without first warning them
B. Harassment of players for no reason.
Example: Abusing a player because you're bored.
C. Instigating confrontations with other
players resulting in use of your admin power.
D. Admins on the server will also be
responsible for monitoring each other as well as dealing with
player complaints in the forums.
Article IV: Vote Management:
Section 1: All votes are to be held in the Members only section
A. All eligible voters are to be notified of a vote that
has been initiated by the person initiating the vote,
be it via email or request to have it posted on the main page or
other form of transmission
Section 2: Duration of "Open Polls"
A. Open Polls are defined as those being open to the voting
membership for a specified period of time
I. No poll may be opened for less than 72 hours or longer
than 6 weeks, the duration of which to be
determined by the Member who Initiates the Vote.
Section 3: Eligibility to Vote:
A. Eligible Voters are Members of SBR.
Section 4: Carrying of Vote:
A. For a vote to carry an Eighty (80) percent (%) majority
of Eligible Voters must vote on the issue
I. 80 percent of eligible voters shall always
be the "8 out of 10" rule.
A. For every 10 members 8 must vote, for 15
members 12. for 20, 16 etc.
B. A vote can pass on simple majority unless
otherwise stated in this constitution.
B. A simple majority of fifty one percent (51%) of voters
can summon the Council of Morons to Quorum.
Article V: Liability of The Community:
Section1: Purchasing of Software and Games
A. The Short bus Riders Gaming Community is a multigaming
community. While most if not all members
already own the games, The Community in no circumstance can be
held financially liable for any
games players purchase, either before,during or after membership
of SBR, its teamspeak servers,web
domain or its forums.
I. The community shall not force players into buying games
or software of any sort at any time.
A. This is entirely the decision of the player or
players and in no way the responsibility of The
Community.
B. Current members of SBR may be playing games which
requiring monthly fees, (subscription)
and payment for the game client
(such as City of Hero's or
World of War Craft).
1. The choice to make this purchase falls on
individual player not The Community.
C. The Short Bus Riders Gaming Community cannot and
will not under any circumstances become
financially liable for purchases made by a player.
1. Even if such game/software/subscription
was bought to enable a player to be able to play on our
servers.
2. Specifically applies to the Prospective
member(s): Purchasing a game,software or subscription
does not guarantee membership in the gaming community and nor is
any such guarantee inferred
or implied by the Community.
B. The Community is not under any obligation to reimburse a player
for any purchases they have made.
C. The Community is in no way responsible for a player's use of
cheats and programs bypassing anti-
cheat utilities, vac/ punkbuster and any financial liability
regarding such.
Section 2: Player responsibility
A. Any games programs, patches or mods installed to
participate in games we play are done at a
player's own risk, SBR is under no liability if a virus or
spyware are installed on a member or player's
system from said downloads.
B. SBR is NOT responsible if for any hardware upgrades
players do to their own computers.
Section3: Player Contributions:
A. The Community is not under any obligation to refund any
monetary donation given to it by a player.
I. If a player can prove extenuating circumstances with
three (3) days (72 Hours) of donating money to
the community the player may have their money
refunded to them.
A. Players shall be required to show proof of extenuating
circumstance such as a bill of sale.
Article VI: Amending the Constitution:
A. Any Amendment to this Constitution must come from the General Membership and
approved by 2/3rds
majority of voting members in order to be ratified and then added.
the vote poll shall be at
http://www.theshortbusriders.org in the Membership
section and shall remain there for voting purposes
until no less than 14 days (2 weeks or one fortnight) have
passed.
Article VII: Ratification:
A. The above stated constitution upon adoption by the Framers and after
input from the General
Membership shall be released to the Membership in the form of
Vote poll.
The vote poll shall be at http://www.theshortbusriders.org
in the Membership section and shall
remain there for voting purposes until no less than 14 days
(2 weeks or one fortnight) have passed.
At the end of the 14th day the poll shall be closed and the
votes tallied. A Two thirds majority of
members WHO VOTED within that time period is required to
carry this
Constitution to ratification.
1. This Constitution shall go into effect following ratification
at 1201 (0001hrs) EDT the day after it has
been ratified.
B. "Clean Slate" Clause:
I. No current member of The Short Bus Riders Gaming
Community is to be held responsible for past acts
in violation of this Constitution, nor shall be held
responsible for past acts in violation of any
amendment to this Constitution.