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Clan Charter

HellJumpers is a social clan, far more like a family than a regimented organisation as is the case with many gaming clans. Despite this, we feel it is necessary to set out a clear set of rules and guidelines for how we expect our members to behave, what is expected of them, and what they will get out of it in return.

Clan Objectives

This might sound simple, or obvious, but these are the most important things to remember with this clan. If you're not doing one or more of these things, then you're probably better off not being in HellJumpers.

"Play for the team"

There are a lot of people who play online games who think they're heroes. Some of them are genuinely good at playing solo, but in the games we play we don't like to elevate any specific individuals to a higher level than the team as a whole. When you play for HellJumpers, you're working towards the common goal that the team is striving for, not trying to get the most kills.

"Treat others with respect, honesty and friendship"

Respect is one of the most important elements of this clan. If you don't respect your fellow clanmate, then you can never expect respect for yourself. This goes for the people we play against as much as your fellow clanmates. Online gaming seems to lend itself particularly well to trashtalking and animosity, but we should always try to rise above it and continue to treat fellow players and opponents with respect. Remember that as a HellJumper you are representing the clan as a whole whenever you play in public wearing the clan tags, and even if you are playing under a pseudonym, poor behaviour has a habit of coming back to haunt you. Getting kicked or banned under a pseudonym can still have repercussions when playing games with a global ID (such as any Steam game).

We expect honesty of our members. It is very important that everyone within the clan shares their honest opinion with each other concerning clan issues. Honesty is important for the friendships we have within the clan, so if you don't feel you can be honest with us then this clan is not for you.

"Have fun!"

It sounds obvious, doesn't it? Having fun is all what HellJumpers is about, both inside and out of gaming. If you're not enjoying the time you're spending with the HellJumpers, whether on the battlefield or in the forums or at one of our frequent social events, then perhaps you're not with the right crowd. We hope that you are, though!

Clan Rules

1. Recruitment

1.1 All clan members must be at least 18 years of age. There are several reasons for this. Firstly we have found that in order to encourage the level of maturity and responsibility we want in our members, we need to set a minimum age limit. Secondly, some of the games we play have age restrictions in order to legally play them. In the unlikely event we were to ever compete in a professional competition in these games, players who were under the required age to play and buy the game would be ineligible to play. Finally, as we are a social clan we do tend to meet up and get drunk every now and then, and we don't condone underage drinking!

1.2 All recruits must demonstrate a good attitude and friendly personality, as in joining HellJumpers they will become our representative in any games they play and their conduct and behaviour will be under close scrutiny. If a member acts in an inappropriate manner, or breaks specific clan rules then that person will be removed from the clan. By applying to join the clan you are assumed to have read, understood and agreed to the rules in this charter, so ignorance of the rules does not excuse poor behaviour.

1.3 All members must be solely committed to HellJumpers, and should not play for any other clans. So-called ‘mercenaries’ or ‘freelancers’ will be removed from the clan immediately should it be discovered they are playing for more than one clan. This includes playing a game for a clan which is not played by HellJumpers, if that clan also plays a game which is played by HellJumpers. Members who play a game for another clan which is not at that point played (or planned to be played) by HellJumpers are free to apply to join, but this is subject to a case-by-case review to ensure there is no conflict of interest.

1.4 Candidates interested in joining a specific chapter should email the appropriate recruitment address and/or post in the forum to state their interest. You should tell us a bit about yourself, your background, your nationality, age and anything else you feel would be useful to know. Bear in mind that as we give a lot of consideration to who we invite to join us, the more you can tell us about yourself, the more likely we are to consider offering you a trial.

If we do offer you a trial, then you will enter a one-month trial period in which your behaviour, practice attendance and general performance will be watched by the other clan members. During this period you should wear a [T] tag at the end of your in-game name, along with the appropriate clan tag in-game (see below). After the period ends, the entire clan will be invited to vote on whether or not to accept you as a member. A unanimous decision must be reached on this, so should any member vote against you joining, the reasons for this should be discussed with the Triumvirate. If this issue cannot be resolved with further discussion between the person objecting and the Triumvirate, you won't be able to join.

2. Communication

In order for this clan to work properly, communication is vital. Just as we expect people to be honest, we feel it is important that our members are able to express their feelings and thoughts to each other. All our members communicate regularly through a number of means, including our website forum, IRC, MSN Messenger and TeamSpeak. It is expected that you will have an IRC client, MSN Messenger and TeamSpeak client installed so that you can communicate with us at required times, such as clan practice and during meetings. We expect you to check the forum regularly for news, fixture announcements and general updates, and we expect you to use TeamSpeak whenever you are attending practice.

When playing official matches, attending practice or on clan communication channels (including IRC or Steam Friends), it is expected that you will use your known name and the appropriate clan tag (including, if applicable, the trial [T] end-tag). The tags currently in use are:

You are encouraged to use this name format on closed communication channels such as TeamSpeak as well, so as to let others know who you are (and also since we sometimes have non-clan members on these channels).

3. Teamwork, Fair Play and Clan Activity

As a member of HellJumpers you are expected to - at all times - act as an ambassador for the clan. This means that your behaviour must at all times reflect the values of the clan. This goes beyond your attitude and friendliness towards other clan members and members of the public and extends to how you play on clan servers.

As a clan we are more interested in playing games to enjoy them and work as a team than for anybody's individual personal glory. This means that we expect members to play for the team regardless of if they are playing in a clan practice, a match or on a public server. So long as you are representing the clan, you should always carry our values with you.

Cheating is something that we as a clan will not tolerate. If it is discovered that you are using cheats, you will be expelled from the clan immediately.

In order for us to maintain a decent level of teamwork and skill, it is requested that members attend practice sessions regularly. Although there is no official requirement for you to attend every practice, it is encouraged that you attend as often as possible, not only so that you keep your skills sharp, but also in order to maximise your chances of playing clan matches. Members who turn up for practice irregularly or not at all are unlikely to be picked for matches.

As with everything in life, sometimes you need to take a break from certain parts in order to concentrate on the rest. If you feel you need to take a break from gaming within the clan, just let us know by posting on the forums in the Holidays section. If your reasons for taking a break are related to the clan itself, then we ask that you talk to members beforehand, so that we can resolve the problems (if we can). Even if you decide to leave the clan, you would be welcome to stay in touch with us and visit the forums; leaving the clan doesn't mean leaving your friends.

4. Server Payments and Clan Subscription Fees

In order to maintain clan servers for public usage, private practices and matches, we have to pay a considerable amount every month. This amount is not paid by any single individual but is instead spread out amongst all members in the form of clan subscription fees.

The actual fee is subject to change according to our needs, but at the moment it is £5 per member, per chapter. This means that a member who plays in 3 chapters would be expected to contribute £15 a month towards server costs. The clan has a bank account to which payments should be made, details of which can be found on the forum.

Members who live outside the UK are likely to have difficulty paying by direct bank transfer or standing order, and are recommended to pay by PayPal instead (details for which again can be found on the forum). Members paying by PayPal are not required to pay monthly, but can choose to pay a lump sum to cover a number of months so as to minimise additional fees. Members in the UK are required to pay by direct bank transfer or standing order.

Each chapter within the clan - both present and future - will be classified as either 'competitive' or 'casual'. Any chapter for which regular practice sessions and matches take place will be considered to be 'competitive'. Chapters which are wound-down due to lack of interest or activity where there are no fixed practice dates and matches will be considered to be 'casual'. Before any chapter is downgraded from 'competitive' to 'casual' we will always discuss this move with all members of the chapter to ensure we are in agreement.

As any 'casual' chapter will not have any requirement for members of the chapter to attend regular practice sessions, it is difficult to clearly define just who is a member of the chapter and who isn't, and as such, difficult to enforce server contributions. Therefore, contributions for chapters of this kind will become voluntary as opposed to compulsory, so as to allow the less-well-off members to concentrate their contributions to the more active parts of the clan.

If voluntary contributions towards a 'casual' chapter drop too low to cover all the servers we are renting, then this server would be the first to be dropped, so that active servers remain paid for, although this won't happen without being announced in advance, so as to give volunteers an opportunity to pay towards it if they feel it is worth keeping.

As member contributions are fundamental to the smooth operation of the clan and services we use, should any member stop or refuse to contribute his or her owed subscriptions, there will be disciplinary consequences. If a member is over a month late in making his or her payment that member will be warned that payment is overdue, and asked to pay the missing payment. If a member is over two months late in making payment, they will be ineligible to take part in matches and a thread will be created within the Accounts section of the forum pointing out the reason why. After a third month of late payment, the member will be dismissed from the clan. Members should be aware that previous late payments will still be owed to the clan even if a recurring payment system is subsequently set up.

Should a member be unable to make payment due to financial hardship, they should contact a senior member as soon as possible to discuss this, letting them know the reasons why they are unable to pay, and for how long this will be the case. Subject to approval with the triumvirate, the member will be permitted to take part in closed practices and official matches as a reserve, at the team leader's discretion.

There may, at times, be occasions when a chapter is unable to make up a team for a match due to a shortfall of players. In these situations, at the discretion of the chapter leader, a non-contributing player from another chapter may be seconded to play for this chapter. This should only happen when there are insufficient players to make a match team, not when a match team is deemed to be under-strength. Due to specific ladder rules, this may mean that all players who wish to be considered reserves in this fashion must also be registered as members of the chapter with that ladder, in order to be eligible to play.

5. Discipline and leaving the clan

Although the clan is and always will remain a group of friends first, and a social club second, it cannot exist without the rules discussed above. As such, it must be remembered that breaking these rules will not be without consequences.

The following offences are considered gross misconduct and will be punished with immediate dismissal from the clan:

In the case of the latter offence, warnings will be given; should these not be heeded, then dismissal will follow.

If a member leaves the clan, either willingly or because of dismissal, all server fees sent as subscriptions — regardless of how far in advance they cover — will remain with the clan.

6. Hierarchy and the Decision-Making

Although HellJumpers is for the most part a friendly and democratic clan, in order to ensure the security of the clan finances, website and servers, an element of hierarchy is necessary. This is for the most part redundant, as almost all important decisions will be dictated either by this charter or by majority consensus with all clan members having equal say. However, there are certain decisions which the top level of clan members will have supreme authority to dictate, which include:

On matters of discipline, the Triumvirate will not have the ability to arbitrarily eject members from the clan, and these decisions will rather be handled by the majority. On all other decisions the Triumvirate make, these will be based on unanimous consensus between the Triumvirate, and will be publically stated so as to give other members an opportunity to raise points before any decision is made final.

Where any matter is subject to a clan vote, each member shall have one vote, and no member is allowed to vote on behalf of another member. No bloc voting rights will exist.

Version 1.3, published Tuesday 6th March, 2007