The RPGC Charter

Preamble

The following contained in this RPGC Charter shall represent the main ideas of this site. Present and future staff members must agree to follow its directions, and any future changes will be debated and decided upon by the present staff. The Charter will outline policy towards revenue, site structure, and the division of jobs between the staffers among other topics. The chief aim of this document is to ensure that no one person ultimately holds power over the rest of the site, and thus this charter will ensure that this event does not occur, chiefly through its democratic voting system.

Article I: Advertising, Revenue Uses, and Site Maintenance

Clause I: Site Maintenance

Paragraph a:

RPGC's finances and official management will be assigned to Merlin, with payment being split amongst whoever is interested in paying. It is a goal of RPGC to be eventually self-sufficient financially. Our goal is also that future server upgrades be paid through advertising or hosted site profits, and that server upgrades will be a major use of any funds.

Clause II: Advertising and Revenue Uses

Paragraph a:

The primary use of future revenues and profits (through donations, advertising, hosting sites, etc.) will be to pay RPGC's monthly maintenance fees. Once these bills are dealt with, existing previous debts will be repaid or the server will be enhanced with the remaining money, as need dictates. Uses for future profits after the above is dealt with will be decided by the staff when such a situation exists and a sufficient surplus exists.

Article II: Division of Site Responsibilities

Clause I: The Chat Room

Paragraph a:

Channel Operator Status (COPs) will be given to three staffers who know IRC extremely well and also spend an extraordinary amount of time in the chat room (#rpgclassics). Senior Operator Status (SOPs) will be granted to a select few staffers who know IRC very well and also spend a lot of time in the chat room. Auto Operator Status (AOPs) will be given out to another select few staffers (more than SOPs though) who are familiar with IRC to a certain degree and also spend a good deal of time in the chat room. Remaining staffers in the chat room will be given Voice Operator Status (VOPs). Operator status is not necessarily determined by site participation. The number of SOP and AOP-level operators will be decided based on need and not on a staffer's desire for "ops."

Paragraph b:

Any COP or SOP or AOP can obviously accomplish chat room kicks and bans; "mean-spirited" kicks should be discouraged. Banning without just cause is extremely disfavorable and should be avoided. If an operator bans a user for a long length of time they must post why they banned him, what kind of further punishment (if any) they recommend and a log of the offense. All COP, SOP and AOP operators will then debate and mutually decide upon any further punishment length. The results will be recorded and the banned user informed of the penalty. All this is to happen at the Chat Administration Board, which all chat ops will have access to.

Paragraph c:

A staff member should only be banned under the most extreme of circumstances and a more thorough reason must be given. A banned staffer can appeal one week afterwards if they choose; if there is a denial the staffer can reappeal in two-week intervals.

Paragraph d:

All operators should have auto-logging enabled, appear regularly in the chat, and possess the wav file "ophorn.wav" so that a user may call them if operators are needed.

Clause II: Forums

Paragraph a:

RPGC must always have at least two webboards. One will be a public board, where anyone can post information. The second will be a Staff Board, where in-staff discussions can take place, and also securely debate new policies and ideas away from regular visitors. Other boards can and will be added when they're deemed necessary.

Paragraph b:

There shall be three administrators for the forums, so that those who are admins can be held more accountable for their actions and so necessary maintenance can be easily split amongst them. There should be a minimum of two administrators active at all times. Moderators will be assigned as needed on all webboards (except the staff ones). Their choice will be decided upon availability, interest in moderating, and ability to moderate well and within the rules. The chief public forum should have the most moderators of any board, with other boards requiring less mods depending on their popularity.

Paragraph c:

All moderators and admins will be allowed to access the MB Admin Forum. These mods and admins will be able to view, propose, discuss, and debate bannings. Only those mods in the Core Forums list (and the admins) will vote though. Non-moderator staff will not have access to the MB Admin Forum to keep debates more coherent. All forum bannings are to be debated and decided only in the MB Admin Forum, and a ban must be approved by at least a margin of 5-3 (or proportionate depending on number of mods/admins) for it to go into action. The moderators and admins who are to vote on bannings will be listed in a forum announcement.

Paragraph d:

A staff member should only be banned under the most extreme of circumstances and a more thorough reason must be given. A banned staffer can appeal one week afterwards if they choose; if there is a denial the staffer can reappeal in two-week intervals.

Clause III: Other Sections

Paragraph a:

RPGC will run a regular mailbag and also a weekly newsletter. Other sections may be added or removed as the staff sees a need for them, and they will be maintained and run however the staff decides; usually those staff who are interested and are qualified enough to maintain a given section will be allowed to.

Paragraph b:

If a staffer decides they'd like to add a new "section" to RPGClassics (not counting subsites), they must first propose the idea on the main staff board. Barring significant disagreement, the idea will likely be accepted, or accepted after suggestions are made. The staffer (or staffers) in question can then begin work. If it is contentious enough to merit a vote, the decision of acceptance or rejection should be by a 2/3 margin for a new site section.

Paragraph c:

While staffers are normally in full control of the sections they maintain, if they decide to do something drastically different in the way that their section is run (or the sorts of information it provides), then they must receive staff approval prior to making the changes. The staff can also overrule a modification of a section if they find it sufficiently disagreeable.

Article III: Shrine Submission

Clause I: Choosing a Shrine

Paragraph a:

There will be three lists of shrines anyone can view. The first will just list the current shrines RPGC has built, and explain these are not available to be built. The second list will contain all the shrines currently in production; and the third list will show available high-profile shrines the staff would like to be shrined.

Paragraph b:

A user may request to work on a current unfinished shrine via whatever rules the shrine submission staffer deems necessary. If a shrine is already being built by another, then the person requesting it will be put on a waiting list for that shrine. If no one else is building the shrine, and the requester meets the shrine submissions staffer's criteria, they may begin work after receiving proper instructions from the staffer maintaining the section. Shrines-in-progress should also have frequent status checks to ensure that they are being worked upon regularly. Future branching into other non-RPG game genres will be done at the staff's discretion.

Clause II: Joining RPGC

Paragraph a:

There are two ways to join RPGC. The primary and most encouraged method is through shrine creation. Once your shrine is built, you notify the shrine person that it is finished. They then examine your shrine, and if it meets approval they present it to the rest of the staff, and barring any debates or further things to be fixed, the shrine will soon be inducted. If the shrine person sees many omissions, they will tell you what's missing and once the changes have been made you can be reviewed again. The only other way not to get a shrine approved is if the rest of the staff has issues with the shrine, after which the shrine person will let you know how to improve your shrine. At that point the staff submissions person is notified of the incoming staffer and they complete the joining-the-site process.

Paragraph b:

The second way to enter RPGC is through fulfilling a necessary role. Staff artists, ROM hackers, database maintainers, layout designers, virtually any secondary job RPGC feels that they need and does not fulfill on their own are possible. Once this need has been found, a request on the join or main page will list any jobs needed. You may always submit a request for a non-listed job to one of the staff, but don't expect to get it unless the staff could use those talents. Also you may be asked to submit a sample work of whatever job you are expected to fulfill.

Paragraph c:

As a member of the staff you are under certain obligations. A shrine maintainer is to continue upgrading their shrine until it is complete. Someone fulfilling a non-shrine role is expected to continue making products for the site or be subject to dismissal. The primary obligation however (especially for shrine maintainers) is to continue an active role on the site through Staff board debates and voting on issues and otherwise helping "maintain" the site.

Article IV: The RPGC Government

Clause I: Procedure

Paragraph a:

Any future policy changes shall be done on the Staff Board. Accepted new ideas will be implemented into practice directly, and added to this Charter if needed. When someone has an idea that will modify the site, they bring it up on the Staff Board. If there is an overwhelming amount of staff in favor of this issue, then it is implemented quickly.

Paragraph b:

Certain issues however will be controversial. If there is disagreement on an issue (a good barometer is if three or more people disagree with the idea), then it shall be debated for an appropriate amount of time and then sent to a majority-vote (except for new site sections) of all staff that chooses to participate. After an appropriate amount of time has passed, the vote will determine whether or not the idea will be used.

Article V: Staff Activity

Clause I: Activity Levels

Paragraph a:

An active RPGC staffer is one who regularly updates the site, and they are very involved in RPGC's day-to-day operation. Not only may they make shrines, but they also may maintain other sections of the site and discuss new plans and help make decisions often. Active staff are generally the most available (on either the forums, chat, or private messaging) and almost certainly respond to discussions on the staff board and e-mails promptly.

Paragraph b:

An inactive staffer has contributed to the site, but is not very participative nor involved in regular maintenance. They also do not make as many appearances publicly (on either the forums, chat, or private messaging) and it is not guaranteed that they will even view new threads on the staff forums let alone participate in staff discussions.

Article VI: Staff Violations and Penalties

Clause I: Other Violations and Penalties

Paragraph a:

Just because you are staff does not mean you are immune from a ban in the chat room or forums. You must follow the same rules as everyone else, and demonstrate even better behavior than your average user because you represent not just yourself, but the site as well.

Paragraph b:

Chat room or message board maintainers who abuse their power, through excessive or unnecessary banning, or who otherwise abuse their authority, or who fail to fulfill their duty, shall be punished. The penalty can either be a suspension of duties (length to be determined by the chat room ops or the mods/admins), or the complete dismissal from that position under extreme cases.

Paragraph c:

Staffers cannot store excessively large amounts of personal data on RPGC, violation of this will result in file removal. Storing of banned file types (as determined by our server hosts) is also prohibited. A staffer's personal "staff" folder should not exceed 20 megs of space; the staffer will first be warned to reduce its size, then the size will be brought down on the basis of largest-files first. On an emergency or temporary basis staff can store larger files in their staff folder, but these files should be removed within 48 hours.

Paragraph d:

Unauthorized editing or deletion of another staffer's work is unacceptable. A warning will be issued under minor offenses, and the staffer told not do this again. Further instances of this, or flagrant and malicious primary offenses, can result in either server suspension or dismissal from RPGC, with penalties to be decided by the staff. The staff however has the right to format any new or current shrines, etc., into the proper layout and design, and to remove information that is stolen from others without permission.

Paragraph e:

Major offenses shall be treated with the most severity. Deletion of large areas of the site (such as an entire shrine) will be met with an immediate suspension, while the rest of the staff determines other necessary action. Subverting the server, such as tampering with the server's password or otherwise locking out staff members, will also be met with immediate suspension and likely dismissal. Furthermore, legal action could be taken as a result of manipulating the server, for this will be viewed as hacking the site.

Paragraph f:

Prospective staff members (i.e., shrine builders) who are working with other people must follow the above guidelines in regards to the tampering of others' intellectual property. If there is a disagreement between people co-creating a shrine, please direct all complaints to the staff, who will decide the matter fairly.

Paragraph g:

If the staff feels that a current shrine maintainer isn't willing to finish or otherwise maintain a shrine, they have the right to reassign its maintenance after first asking the maintainer to complete it themselves. Otherwise an explanation for the change will be given, and permission to change maintainership will be asked for before a change. The staffer has the right to remove the shrine completely rather than turn over maintainership, but this applies only to their original work.

Paragraph h:

If a staffer proves himself or herself to be a severe detriment to the good of the site and its community, and reasonable discussion to resolve the dilemma fails, then the staffer may be "fired" from the site following a 85 percent or greater vote of the entire voting staff. They have the option of leaving their work with RPGC or not if the vote passes. This likewise applies to prospective staffers who the current staff feels would be a severe detriment to the good of the site and its community if they joined.

Article VII: Intellectual Property

Clause I: Shrine Ownership

Paragraph a:

When a shrine or other information is added to RPGC, it is done under the agreement that the author's ownership rights most sovereign. If a staffer leaves RPGC, they can determine whether or not their information can still be listed on RPGClassics.

Paragraph b:

Information donated to a shrine, whether from inside or outside the RPGClassics staff, is considered property of the site, not of the shrine maintainer or the person who donated the information.

Paragraph c:

In the event that a shrine creator relinquishes maintainership of a shrine, the creator waives his or her ownership rights to that shrine. In that event, the shrine and the information therein shall be property of RPGClassics.

Paragraph d:

Any information added to a shrine by a maintainer that did not create the shrine shall remain the property of the maintainer that submitted the information for as long as he or she maintains the shrine.

Paragraph e:

If a maintainer of a shrine-in-progress abandons their shrine before it is completed, any information that is left on RPGC's server shall be deemed abandoned, become property of RPGClassics, and shall be backed up for the usage of future shrine maintainers, provided that proper credit is given for any information used. Likewise, other information belonging to RPGClassics for games without a completed shrine shall be backed up in the same manner.

Clause II: Information Donation

Paragraph a:

Staffers shall be given a forum in which to discuss and propose additions and improvements to existing shrines. In the event that a staffer is willing to donate to an existing shrine, they shall post on the aforementioned forum, and the current maintainer shall agree or disagree to the proposed change. The maintainer shall retain the right to gather the information themself, should he or she desire, otherwise the proposer shall be allowed to gather the information and update the shrine themself.

Paragraph b:

In the event that the current maintainer does not respond to the the thread in a week, an email shall be sent out to the maintainer's RPGClassics email address, requesting that they respond to the thread. If, after a period of 2 weeks, they still do not reply, the staffer who proposed the addition shall be allowed to gather the information and update the shrine themself.

Paragraph c:

In the event that a maintainer disagrees to a proposed addition to the shrine, the proposer and the rest of the staff has the right to discuss the matter further with maintainer to attempt to reach a compromise. Should a compromise fail to be reached, the rest of the staff shall debate the issue and vote on it. If the staff considers the requested addition important, the maintainer shall once again be given the opportunity to make the update themself, or allow the proposer to to do it. If the maintainer remains contentious, he or she may be asked relinquish the shrine. If the current maintainer is also the creator, he or she may choose whether to remove the shrine's information from the site completely, or allow it to be used by RPGC in this case.

Paragraph d:

Proposed changes in a shrine, whether being made by the staffer proposing them, or the shrine's maintainer, shall be started within a reasonable amount of time, which is defined to be within a week of the agreement between the proposer and the maintainer. This does not mean that the update must be completed within a week, just that work on the update needs to begin within a week.

Article VIII: Staff Rights

Every non-suspended staff has:

It should not be construed that the staff have only the rights just listed, one of RPGC's goals is to ensure that all staff are as protected as possible for this helps promote the success of the site and helps those who work on it as well.

Article IX: Ratification

Paragraph a:

It is assumed that all present staff are familiar with and agree in principle to the Charter. People who become staff after a charter has been ratified will be directed to read and agree to its terms prior to joining.

Paragraph b:

After debate and modifications, the charter will be put to a vote of the staff in the forum. If the vote passes then that indicates that all the current staff (regardless of their voting position) will accept and abide by the terms of the charter. Three-fourths of all voting staffers will be needed to accept this Charter before it comes into effect. At that point, all the rules in the Charter shall become the "law" of RPGClassics.com.