The Company - Charter

Company Charter
5/7/2004 5:06:45 PM
Valandil Telperion

Introduction

The Company is a small to medium sized guild on the Bertoxxulous server that has been in existence for near as long as Norrath itself. This charter attempts to summarize what the guild is about, what our core values are, and the policies we abide by. The guild is its core values, with only a minute amount of actual written policy needed as guidance. Although this document describes the founding rules by which we abide, it cannot fully convey the fierceness of our resolve, the loyalty of our members, and the seemingly infinite number of intangible qualities they all bring with them. These are merely a few of a myriad of qualities that combine together, transforming a guild tag to a living entity that no document is capable of representing.

Though we may not yet be the most powerful guild in terms of raw power or resources, the soul of the guild has seen us through the toughest of times and is our most powerful asset. We are a family through and through, and the blood of the guild flows strongly in each and every one of our hearts.

This document is intended to describe the basics of our guild and convey to other Bertoxxulous players at least a part of the true meaning the guild has for us.

The charter is set up into the following sections:

History
Core Values
Resources
Raids
Policy

History

The Company was begun by a band of players who had previously been together in a guild playing the online game Subspace. Agusta Steelton formed the guild around May/June of 1999, originally to be named Black Company based on book series by Glen Cook. Alas, the server GMs would not allow the guild name Black Company, so the name The Company was adapted, and adopted.

The Black Company in the book series is a band of elite mercenaries who represent the best of the best. Black Company was known for doing more, the improbable, with less. This was one of the key ideas the guild founding fathers had in mind.

By December, 1999, the guild had grown to be between 30 to 40 members, and found allies within the guilds Pontificate Lusus and Defenders of Aleria. Together, their swift valor and teamwork swept forth into the newly discovered Plane of Hate, decimated Innoruuk's realm and were the first on the server to slay the Maestro of Rancor and Innoruuk himself, under Agusta's lead.

Lo, but the death of Innoruuk came at a price. The founders of the guild were struck with a curse before Innoruuk fell, and they began to seek adventure elsewhere, meandering through the realms with unfocused direction. As the members of the guild not present for the slaying sought direction and leadership from the founders, little could be found as the cursed heroes meandered into the shadows. As the guild lay in shambles, there was bickering and misguided folks who had stopped to ponder their place in the guild.

Eventually, near the end of February, 2000, Agusta broke the gloom and declared that his adventuring days were through, and declared that new leadership be decided. The remainder of the guild that had not fallen to Innoruuk's curse, now approximately 16 members, bestowed upon Brother Domique the role of guildleader and a new council of officers were chosen.

The guild struggled through these tough times, though ever confident and persistent that the guild would persevere. Several of the original 16 remaining members also fled to seek solstice in the company of other guilds from what they considered a sinking ship. These were very grim times for the guild, but our will was strong and our resolve invulnerable.

Too physically weak in these times to declare victory over mighty foes, The Company reborn sought allies in several guilds of like-minded adventurers. Though these alliances too fell short of the strength that might have been.

The guild, strong in will, character, and persistent in the vision we all believed in, began gaining power. Through hard work, perseverance, never straying from the path of honor, the guild has advanced to tremendous strength. Strength in not only the physical power we possess, but the strength of honor and pride we hold in seeing the guild through the toughest of times to the state it is in today, and will continue to grow to in the future.

Today, we are over 60 strong members and will continue to grow in power. If not in more people who wish to become apart of us, then the continued strength and pride in knowing that we have persevered through the grimmest times through teamwork, togetherness, sacrifice, and honor.

Core Values

The guild is much more than the sum of its parts. Where other guilds may rely, and consider members as mere resources, we in The Company rely on our core values and beliefs to prevail over challenges. Different people, based on what their goals and objectives are, and how those goals and objectives will be met, measure success differently.

Regardless of what challenges we face as a guild, our core values remain unscathed. As mentioned previously, the guild IS its core values.

To us, the greatest facet of the game is not merely the defeat of a newly discovered or invented non-player character, yet it is to be there as a team, together as friends, under the auspices of our own strengths and weaknesses, and to do it while respecting one another and those around us without straying from the path less traveled. Often times, traveling down that path will mean that we lose out on material opportunities, but we will never sacrifice our core values for the gain of mere material things.

New members and potential recruits should know that we are a strong guild, but not a powergamer guild. There are important differences, and perhaps they should be defined as part of the core values. We consider real life to be of paramount importance, and the "its only a game" mentality must be preserved and kept in perspective with the successes we have as a guild. The fact that we are not usually the first guild to take an ubr mob and subsequently obtain its possessions is not reflective of a lack of motivation or desire to obtain those rewards, but rather it reflects our careful consideration to not take on a challenge that we cannot win without sacrificing our integrity, our members, or our real life obligations. What good does it do us to succeed in the most difficult challenges in the game if it costs us our morale and means our members will become mere cannon-fodder for the those few elite who will ultimately reap the benefit by standing on the backs of the weaker members? The Company is made up of people, and our members are ultimately of much higher value than any accomplishment we can achieve in the game. We firmly believe that this mentality is what is responsible for our success as a guild, and this mentality has allowed us to succeed far beyond what most guilds would ever be able to accomplish in the game.

We consider family, honor, and valor to be the three main attributes of our core values.

Family

When asked to contribute to the charter, one veteran member stated: "Family, loyalty. Nuff said". That is the guild in a nutshell.

As stated above, The Company is not a powergamer guild. We are a more an ever-growing family of friends. Whether you've been close friends with members for over two years or a new member, you are a close part of the family, and welcomed with open arms. The growth of the guild is kept at a slow, sustained rate, in order to keep the family atmosphere lest we get too large too fast. Every member knows everyone else, from the veteran member to the member who just joined the day prior.

That stated, it should be said that "guild hoppers" would not find themselves welcome within the family. We recognize there are different players with different goals and play styles than us, yet realize that this is not the guild for hopping, nor will we be used as a stepping stone. Very rarely do members depart our ranks for other guilds once they join. In the history of the guild since it was reborn, only a few have departed the guild. This in and of itself reflects who we are. It also lends why there is no level limit to joining the guild. There is no minimum level on friendship.

Honor

The guild has a strict, unspoken code of honor. As a member, you are both treated with respect, and expected to treat others as you would expect to be treated, both in and out of the guild. We are bound by doing what's right, no matter the cost, knowing that doing the right thing is its own reward.

Valor

A family type guild does not mean that we are inept in combat. Quite the opposite. As we spend so much time together, we become a honed, well-oiled machine. We are keyed into each other's timing, and fighting habits, and thus meld together as a highly effective fighting force. Our organization and planning are exceptional, and we possess great strength in battle to overcome the odds of fearsome foes.

Resources

The guild has two entities that we would consider physical resources: The guildfund, and the web page.

The guildfund is a bank of physical resources, either through donation from members, or through equipment gained on raids and held for future use. Money for raid reagents such as peridots, pearls, and port stones come from the guildfund, as well as the resources for resist jewelry, which is made for members free of charge as it becomes available (e.g. blue diamond jewelry). Within the guildfund is also the spell library, where members request spells from the library once they are able to cast them.

The webpage is a great resource, and incorporates a raid planner, which makes it easy to sign up for and organize raids.

Raids

The Company is family first, raid second. We raid fairly frequently, yet such is not the fabric of the guild in the least. We constantly seek out new challenges to test our valor and mettle. People seeking to join the guild based on raids alone will find themselves unfulfilled, and the true magnitude for what the guild has to offer will be lost to them.

Our raid "window" is typically 10PM eastern til 2AM eastern. To see the raids we have scheduled, look at our "Guild Calendar" listed under "Guild Information".

Policy

Character policy

When a player joins the guild, they join the family not as a resource, but as a person. Therefore, any secondary characters are automatically invited to join the guild.

Players are allowed to have characters in other guilds, officers are not.

Players must clearly define who their primary character is. Primary characters have preference on looting considerations. Players who play two characters simultaneously regularly are allowed to define two primary characters, or one per account, provided they are regularly reliable as both characters.

If players are requested to bring a secondary character on a raid by the officers, the officers respect the sacrifice the player makes in potentially missing out on items they would have by not having that character present. In such cases, the player is allowed considerations for either character if possible. In other words, the secondary character is temporarily another primary character for the raid.

Looting policy

Please refer to the looting policy section under the navigation bar for our looting policy.