Guild Charter
Guild Charter
a work in progress
Our charter is a work in progress and will evolve and change over time as the guild evolves. Members can go add to our brainstorming page here: Talk:Guild Charter.
Consensus as collaboration
Consensus - Why choose such a name for a guild?
"Consensus usually involves collaboration, rather than compromise. Instead of one opinion being adopted by a plurality, stakeholders are brought together (with facilitation) until a convergent decision is developed. Genuine consensus typically requires more focus on developing the relationships among stakeholders, so that they work together to the achieve agreements based on willing consent." [1]
So Consensus is what we are striving for. A meeting of the minds. An exchange of ideas, friendly debate, learning from each other in an environment that is open and honest and uses "transparent community-based processes to promote participation, accountability, and trust." [2]
Standards, not rules
One aim of Consensus (the guild) is to have as few rules as possible, based on the idea of "verkeersbordvrij":
- The Dutch city of Drachten has undertaken an unusual experiment in traffic management. The roads serving forty-five thousand people are "verkeersbordvrij": free of nearly all road signs. Drachten is one of several European test sites for a traffic planning approach called "unsafe is safe." The city has removed its traffic signs, parking meters, and even parking spaces. The only rules are that drivers should yield to those on their right at an intersection, and that parked cars blocking others will be towed.
- The result so far is counterintuitive: a dramatic improvement in vehicular safety. Without signs to obey mechanically (or, as studies have shown, disobey seventy percent of the time), people are forced to drive more mindfully—operating their cars with more care and attention to the surrounding circumstances. They communicate more with pedestrians, bicyclists, and other drivers using hand signals and eye contact. They see other drivers rather than other cars. In an article describing the expansion of the experiment to a number of other European cities, including London's Kensington neighborhood, traffic expert Hans Monderman told Germany's Der Spiegel, "The many rules strip us of the most important thing: the ability to be considerate. We're losing our capacity for socially responsible behavior. The greater the number of prescriptions, the more people's sense of personal responsibility dwindles."
The actions of guildies will be guided by standards or blueprints rather than rules and loopholes.
Civic engagement
Another goal is to provide an environment that promotes "civic engagement" - one's interest to improve the WoW experience for fellow guildmates, the entire server, or the WoW community as a whole. Examples include participating in guildchat/forums, writing guides, programming addons, hosting events, writing fan-fiction, participating in management, leading groups/raids, mentoring new guildies, and so on.
It is our belief that civic engagement should never feel like a duty or obligation; in particular, there should be no "minimum time requirement" for contributing to the guild. Guild members contribute because they want to, not because they're required to, so we will encourage people to contribute at whatever level they're comfortable with. There will be no 15 Pieces of Flair requirement.
The goal of the guild management will be to empower its guildies with the support and tools they need to make the game what they want it to be.
Character
Our primary focus when recruiting is character. Guildies should be open to advice and take constructive criticism well; not easily offended by debate or open discussions; be willing to apologize when they make a mistake; be good communicators with positive attitudes; self-sufficient; and be respectful of others at all times. Guildies should be able to actively support a decision even when they may not think it is the best possible decision. Our secondary focus when recruiting will be those players who have the desire to improve the gaming experience for their guildmates, as mentioned above in regards to civic engagement.
An open community
In addition, the guild will pro-actively try to do things to invite participation from individuals outside of the guild, to discourage insularity or an "us vs them" mentality, to benefit other communities in WoW, and to build reputation. Some ways we will do this include, allowing non-guild-members to post to our forums, holding server-wide events, being an active member of the SGA, offering our help to non-guildies to achieve their goals, and participating in the WoW Guild Relations forums.
Regarding Alts versus Mains in Consensus
While we do not require anyone to have their "main" toon in Consensus to participate with us, and since we do allow alts to join us while you have other toons in other guilds, we ask you to check your other guild's policies regarding removing characters before tagging a toon with us. This community is built on trust and transparency and we ask you take appropriate steps to let your "main" guild know your intentions and to safe guard your status in that guild.
Where to go from here
If you like what you see so far and haven't introduced yourself to us, please feel free to do so! To learn how, check out our welcome page.
On the other hand, if you're still a bit confused as to what exactly we're about, but would like to learn more, try reading Frameworks for a slightly different perspective.
