CLAN_SHORT Rules and Regulations

Article 1 - Server Procedure & Conduct

Section 1.1 - General Regulations

  1. General behavior of all persons should at all times be in-line with all AOF Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) codes and regulations. Violations will be dealt with accordingly.
  2. Respect all persons in AND out of the server regardless of personal feelings towards that person. At no time should there be any character bashing of anyone or of any kind.
  3. Absolutely no profane, racial, derogatory or inappropriate language used at ANY time for any reason. This includes anything that could be taken incorrectly or out of context and insinuations of language that would otherwise be inappropriate. In the event of something being taken out of context or inappropriately it must be brought to the attention of the offender and is from then on considered inappropriate and should not be used. It is also considered inappropriate to use substitutions of language that would otherwise be inappropriate.
  4. Absolutely no use of exploits or hacks at any time. This includes anything that gives any person an advantage over another by any other means than by true skill. This also includes boosting of any kind, if you cannot get there on your own then it is considered a violation.
  5. No use of any weapon in spawn areas. This includes the use of bullets, knives, bayonets, rifle butts, grenades and RPGs of any kind. This directive pertains primarily to use of such in one's own spawn area in reference to team killing or team wounding, not shooting from burms. Shooting from burms is not appreciated as it allows the opponent to engage the burm but is not against the rules.
  6. Team killing and team wounding are strictly prohibited at any time. This includes purposeful killing or wounding of teammates, and does not include accidental instances unless it violates another article or paragraph. This includes the killing or wounding of teammates at the conclusion of a round.
  7. There should be no blocking of pathways or going AFK. Any player found blocking a pathway or AFK will be warned and then removed from the game.
  8. Spectator mode should be used only for team selection and by admins. This includes joining spectator mode to enable you to spawn more quickly.
  9. The servers are for playing their respective games. They are not a platform for discussions, chatting or idle horseplay. Non-game related chatting is considered a violation if it begins to interfere with game play.
  10. Spamming (Microphone and text chat) is strictly prohibited at all times.
  11. The names of players should not violate any other regulation such as inappropriate language and so on. This includes insinuation of other terms deemed inappropriate.
  12. The use of political, drug, racial, religious, and foul language as names is strictly prohibited.
  13. There should be no arguing of any kind in the servers - the servers are not the place for such discussions. There should also be no arguing with admins or with others about the rules that are herby stated. If there is a dispute regarding a rule or action it should be brought up to an AOF Commanding General by use of Private Message (PM) in the forums.
  14. There should be no attacking of the opposite team while they are in their spawn area. There should be no use of grenades in reference to spawn areas at all.
  15. Accusing someone of cheating/hacking while in a public server is strictly prohibited. If you have a legitimate concern take it to an admin. Otherwise record a demo for review by the AOF Command Staff at a later date.
  16. Websites and advertisements are not to be used in a name or in typed text. Recruiting for any reason is also prohibited. When in-game sprays are supported by the game or server, they are to be strictly G-rated and within common standards of good taste (may be viewed by young children).
  17. Spawn camping of any spawn exit is prohibited. A player's feet must touch the ground before being fired upon. Players exiting spawn may not fire, throw grenades, or prime grenades until their feet touch the ground outside of spawn.
  18. Team stacking is strictly prohibited.

Section 1.2 - Expectations for Members

  1. All members should wear their proper name and tag while playing on any AOF or allied server.
  2. If you are wearing the AOF tag in another server then all AOF standards and expectations apply whether the servers rules state it or not. Otherwise, if you are not wearing the AOF tag you are still required to obey the rules in place on each individual server. If it is found that an AOF member wearing tag or not is causing problems in any server there will be action taken. You are a representative of AOF, act like it.
  3. As a member of AOF you are responsible to assist in enforcing the AOF rules while in AOF servers. Normally this simply means leading by example. If an admin is in the server let them handle the problems within reason.
  4. Be calm, professional, and pleasant whenever you are enforcing the rules. At no time should any member yell, become angry, be disrespectful, or otherwise demean a player. A pleasant tone of voice should always be used.
  5. All members will follow their chain of command set forth by the General Command Staff.

Section 1.3 - Expectations For Recruits

  1. All recruits should wear their proper name and tag while playing on any AOF or allied server.
  2. While you are wearing the AOF recruit tag you are responsible for your actions in regards to the AOF rules of appropriate conduct. If it comes to the attention of AOF that you have violated the rules your recruitment may be withdrawn.
  3. As a recruit of AOF you are responsible to assist in enforcing the AOF rules while in AOF servers. If an admin or AOF member is in the server let them handle the problems within reason.

Article 2 - Forums Procedure & Conduct

Section 2.1 - General Regulations

  1. Upon registering, you agree to never use this forum for any vulgar, false, sexually oriented, threatening, obscene, abusive, hateful, slanderous, or anything that violates ANY laws.
  2. Never post any copyrighted material, which you do not expressly own the copyright to, or that you do not have the authorization to use.
  3. Advertisements, Spam (or useless information posted often), solicitation, and chain letters ARE NOT allowed on this forum.
  4. Post only informative fun and "G-rated" posts. The Moderators or Administrators will delete pointless posts.
  5. Do NOT use the AOF Forums for personal messaging. The Moderators or Administrators will remove threads with personal conversations.
  6. Do NOT post unless you are sure of your information. Giving false or misleading information is harmful. The Moderators or Administrators will remove any post they feel contains potentially harmful information.
  7. Do not post offensive, inconsiderate messages or attempt to "flame" another member. Discussions and arguments can be private messaged to a Forum Moderator or Administrator to be handled.
  8. Please be aware of the location of the items you are posting, some links may link to things deemed inappropriate for younger AOF members and will be removed regardless of topic.
  9. Your avatar should be no more than 100px by 100px and your signature should be no more than 600px by 200px. Registered users are restricted to one signature.
  10. Leave the task of forum moderation to the forum administrators and moderators.
  11. Do not put inappropriate websites in your individual profile. Websites such as MySpace and YouTube are expressly prohibited. Links or references to any other mass-posting forums, websites, web blogs, etc where control of content cannot be guaranteed are highly discouraged. Please note that content will be reviewed by forum Administrators and Moderators and may be removed. Any removed link should not be reposted.
  12. Do not post to something that you are/were not involved in. In the case of an admin banning someone, the acting admin is more than capable of explaining it. If necessary your statements can be taken by a Commanding General. If you post to something in this fashion your post will be deleted and your access rights to the section may be removed.

Section 2.2 - Forums Reminders

  1. Warnings can and will be issued by the Forum Administration or Moderators. Violators of any rules will be issued a warning and face potential banning. If a ban is required, you will lose all Forum and Server privileges and your post may be removed from the forum.
  2. Please be advised: AOF is committed to maintaining a friendly and clean Forum. Please use common sense when posting.
  3. Your IP address is logged each time you post a message, login or logout of the forum and each click is logged for a certain amount of time. This information will be expressly used to assist us if there are any attempts to hack into certain areas of this forum and may be used to contact your Internet Service Provider upon breaking this agreement.
  4. Forum Administrator, and Moderator actions: Those who own and/or are charged with running this forum will strive at all times to be as consistent in their decisions as possible. Members by their participation acknowledge that the actions of those charged with running this forum are undertaken with an objective desire, but a subjective eye, and agree to accept these decisions as final.

Article 3 - Admin Procedures & Conduct

Section 3.1 - Server Admin Regulations

  1. The highest ranking admin on the server will have final say in a dispute.
  2. Admin is not a toy, use it according to the guidelines specified in §3.2.
  3. Admins are required to assist in the enforcement of all AOF rules.
  4. As an admin in the server it is your foremost responsibility to see to the environment of the server.
  5. In regards to the use of aliases by admins, the use of aliases should be restricted to spectating persons in the server for reasons such as hacking. The general use of aliases should not be used unless you are at least a Colonel or have full admin.

Section 3.2 - Admin Guidelines

  1. As an admin your are to be exemplary in all your conduct. Adhering to all AOF guidelines and should follow and enforce them at all times.
  2. Do not use your admin abilities ( i.e. slap, slay, kick, ban, llama, etc.) in the public servers unless it is well deserved. These commands can be very inviting in a lot of cases, but do not use them just because you can. This also includes testing your abilities on other players. Without proper cause you can lose your admin rights. (See also admin abuse).
  3. Csay and Tsay are not your own personal messaging method, they should not be used unless it is for admin purposes.
  4. It is wise to know your abilities as an admin before you are forced to use them on a public scale. Remember that we all gain or lose respect depending on your actions as an admin.
  5. Suspicions regarding cheaters/hackers will be reviewed by the AOF Command Staff upon their submission of the evidence and should not be dealt with in public prior to the Command Staff's decision. (See §7.1.A for proper procedures.)
  6. If you ban someone from the servers you must submit the ban via the online form within 24 hours of banning the person. We request that you submit all bans, however if they are less than 2 hours it is not required unless the person you ban is a member of AOF or one of its allied clans which must always be posted regardless of duration.

Section 3.3 - Forum Admin Guidelines

  1. As an admin you are to be exemplary in all your conduct. Adhering to all AOF guidelines and should follow and enforce them at all times.
  2. Please refrain from simply deleting a post, move the post to a more private section so that it may be properly dealt with by a higher ranking admin. Also PM a senior admin after moving the post to ensure an immediate response.
  3. Use of admin to edit posts or unlock items that are locked by other admins should be restricted to only the most necessary situations.

Article 4 - AOF Command Staff

Section 4.1 - Explanation of the Command Staff

  1. Lizard shall at his sole discretion appoint and bestow command authority, typically but not always, to members of Full Colonel or General Rank.
  2. At no time will any such appointee use such authority in a fashion contrary to Lizard vision or the rules of AOF.
  3. Command Staff acknowledge their accountability to Lizard and the AOF membership.
  4. Commanders will make the best possible decisions with the information at hand. However, they shall keep an open mind, revisiting issues if new information presents AND be open to reversal of individual or group decision by Lizard.

Section 4.2 - Duties & Responsibilities

  1. As a Command Staff member you should be fair and impartial in dealing with any situation that you are dealing with.
  2. As a Command Staff member it is your responsibility to keep up on the matters of the clan within reason.
  3. In dealing with permanent bans regarding people accused of cheating/hacking all decisions and rulings should be unanimous with all Command Staff members that vote.

Article 5 - Competitive Team Regulations

Section 5.1 - Rules & Standards

  1. Competitive Team is defined as any scrim, ladder, match play, etc. group.
  2. Always be on your best behavior when in the presence of any non-AOF team or personnel. You are a representative of AOF at all times.
  3. Competitive team members will not stack teams on the public servers, just to fight along side fellow squad members.
  4. There will be no inner clan matches, practice scrimmages, or competitive team practices, on the public servers.
  5. The General Command Staff will be in charge of all competitive teams. They will assign a member from that competitive team to be leader.
  6. No competitive team member may recruit, or coerce any other to join a competitive team.
  7. No competitive team may be enlisted into a league without first being approved by the General Command Staff.
  8. Only AOF members are allowed to be in the competitive teams.
  9. Each registered competitive team will be allowed one thread in the competitive team only section to post any news and they must have an updated roster in this section at all times. No outside forums of any kind are permitted for any competitive team that is associated with AOF.
  10. All competitive team members will follow their chain of command set forth by the team leader of that competitive team.
  11. If any competitive team member is found to be intoxicated or otherwise impaired they will be removed from the team. This includes the public & private servers as well as Ventrilo or Teamspeak.
  12. Any complaints and/or accusations must be done in writing by e-mail or PM and sent to the General Command Staff.
  13. The General Command Staff will have the right to observe any clan practices or matches.
  14. Competitive teams are permitted to have their own servers on the condition that said servers are only used for competitive team practice, matches, or special occasions. Any competitive team that does have their own server, The competitive team must give full admin to the General Command Staff.
  15. If you miss four consecutive practices or four out of any five practices without proper cause you may be at risk of being suspended or removed from the competitive team.
  16. Do not go AFK during any practices or matches, you could cost your team a win by doing so.
  17. Good sportsmanship should always be observed, no exceptions.
  18. All AOF regulations apply no matter what sort of competitive team function you are present for.
  19. The competitive team servers are password protected for a reason, passwords should only be given by the competitive team leader or co-leader or by a member with specific permission from the leader or co-leader.
  20. The competitive team Teamspeak server is for competitive team personnel only, the only people allowed in the squad Teamspeak server besides competitive team personnel are Command Staff members, Lizard or any other persons given permission by the competitive team leaders.
  21. Any AOF member or competitive team that are in violation of any of the above rules will be subject to suspension and/or banned from the clan depending on circumstances reviewed by the Command Staff members.
    • 1st offense - 2 week ban
    • 2nd offense - 4 week ban
    • 3rd offense - expelled from AOF
  22. These guidelines may change at anytime.

Article 6 - Definitions

Section 6.1 - General Definitions

  1. It is considered abuse of admin when the admin in question makes use of his/her power without justified reason or cause.
  2. It is considered team stacking when a group of people intentionally choose a side with their teammates/friends and upsets the axis vs. allies ratio.
  3. The spawn area is defined as the area in which people spawn or an area in which the opposing team has no intended access.
  4. Blocking of pathways is defined as an individual or group of individuals that intentionally block passage through a small area that could cause backlogging or obstruct the general flow of traffic.
  5. AFK or Away From Keyboard is defined as going away from your keyboard without legitimate reason and/or without informing and admin of your reasoning. Any player found to be AFK will be kicked to make room for other players.
  6. Spamming is defined as making use of communications types in excessive amounts in such that it detracts from the enjoyment of the game by other persons. This can be done through voice chat, text chat, automated voice or hand signals.
  7. Cheating/Hacking is defined as employing a program, script or game file alternation that performs an operation or alters a game function that would normally be performed by a human player.
  8. Exploiting is defined as making use of something in game that was not intended by the game developers or making use of a glitch that would alter game play in a manner that would give an individual an advantage over another through any means other than skill or acceptable tactics.
  9. Spawn Camping is defined as a person or persons cutting off the opposing teams route out of their spawn area. In the instance that there is more than one spawn exit the opposing team cannot camp both exits. Exiting players must touch the ground outside of spawn before firing, rocketing or grenading. Likewise, enemy team members may not fire upon exiting players before their feet touch the ground outside of spawn.
  10. Proper AOF Name is defined as the name that is visible on the official AOF roster. Official AOF assigned ranks are optional additions to your name and shall be placed in front of your official name:
    • Example: PFC [your name here] [AOF].
    • From time to time, Lizard or Command Staff (as a group) may assign temporary team or specialty tags that shall trail the AOF tag:
    • Example: SGT [your name here] [AOF-MP].
    • The only other acceptable alterations to game names are situational temp alterations, they are:
    • PFC[your name here][AOF]-music, PFC[your name here][AOF]-no mic, PFC[your name here][AOF]-no sound.
    • No other alterations are acceptable.
  11. An alias is defined as a name that the majority of people would not know you as.

Article 7 - Proper Procedures

Section 7.1 - Server Procedures

  1. When someone is suspected of hacking a demo should be recorded to be viewed by the council. Be as discrete as possible when dealing with a suspected hacker as they might change their behavior. The following are the steps that should be taken in this regard:
    • Record the demo of the evidence that you believe makes the person a hacker.
    • During the demo type "status" in console and then "snapshot" immediately following it.
    • At the end of the demo just before you type stop to stop the demo, type condump in console.
    • Zip up the demo, the screenshot, and the condump log and submit them to the council.