Constitution

1. Prologue
   
   The Universal Gaming Alliance, Unigamia, or |UGA|, aims to unify organizations across different games, mods, and genres, or rather, "gaming universes". In doing this, the Universal Gaming Alliance hopes to bring about a unification of diverse peoples without prejudice. This Constitution will go into full effect after ratification by 2/3 of the Universal Gaming Alliance's members at the time of ratification. The |UGA| Constitution will instill its Core Values into its members for the enhancement of not only the organization, but its members as well.
   
2. Mission Statement
   1. Introduction
      The Universal Gaming Alliance identifies first and foremost as one thing: a family. The |UGA| consists of a group of friends whom have grown so close to each other that they have stayed together through thick and thin. If anyone can come out of the |UGA| with one thing, it is this: once a member, always a member. If the individual is willing they will be fully welcome back into the |UGA| at any time, unless that individual was Banished.
   2. Life
      The Universal Gaming Alliance respects all forms of life and the necessities that life has thereof. The |UGA| aims to make every member the best version of themselves by instiling in them the Core Vales of the |UGA|: Respect, Loyalty, Selflessness, Discipline, Patience, Honesty, and Dignity. Out of its discriminate against any ideology, race, ethnicity, religion, age, gender, or sexuality. The |UGA| cannot teach even a fraction of the life lessons a member receives from education and the discipline it has with it. Because of this, the |UGA| values education over anything |UGA| related, and will inspire members to prioritize their schoolwork over everything else.
   3. Authority
      An organization can follow three different types of authority: traditional, charismatic, and legal-rational authority. In the beginning, it has a need for a traditional authority, traditional meaning a semi-dictatorship under one leader. If this authority no longer suits the organization and all its needs, a charismatic authority forms to temporarily replace the traditional authority, which will soon revert to a traditional authority of one or many, or a legal-rational authority. This Constitution resolves the need for authority in building an authority that transcends even the highest members of the organization, a legal-rational authority.
   4. Core Values

      1. Respect

         The |UGA| holds Respect in highest regard, as without Respect, there can be no friendships and no community.

      2. Loyalty

         The |UGA| asks of Loyalty not to its creators, but to the organization itself.

      3. Selflessness

         The |UGA| expects that members do not join for personal gain, but rather personal enjoyment in community involvement.

      4. Discipline

         The |UGA| aims to instill Discipline in every member of the |UGA|. Such Discipline will allow members to prioritize themselves, their time, and their lives.

      5. Patience

         The |UGA| endevors to install Patience in every member of the |UGA|, as that which we most want requires us to wait for it.

      6. Honesty

         The |UGA| considers Honesty an extremely important quality for all members to have for the quick and easy resolution or arguments and the building of a better community.

      7. Dignity

         The |UGA| wants every member to remained Dignified in times of triumph. This means that no member should gloat unnecessarily and show themselves as a proud member of the |UGA|.

3. Laws
   1. Naming
      1. Every member must place |UGA| before their Steam Friends name, without a space in-between the |UGA| and his or her name, for online and offline sorting.
      2. Every member of the |UGA| must have a permanent, registered name without special characters from the Character Map, spacers ( , _, -), or any other grammatical character (!, \| #, $, %, &, ', (, ), *, +, ., /, :, ;, <, =, >, ?, @).
      3. Every member must capitalize the first letter of his or her name whilst next to the |UGA| tag, and members cannot capitalize any other part of their name unless it starts an independant word, space or no space preceding. For instance, none of the names 'patpeter', 'PaTpEtEr', 'Patpeter', or 'patPeter' are valid.
      4. No member may place military, social, or other organizational ranks in his or her name.
      5. No member may use numbers (or symbols) in place of letters in his or her name.
      6. No member may change his or her permanent name without the direct approval of the Universal Admiral.
      7. New members cannot pick the name of a past, non-abolished |UGA| member or a name similar to a current |UGA| member.
      8. New members cannot pick names of a racial, ethnic, or religious affiliation.
   2. Conduct
      1. Towards Self

         1. No member shall have personal information requested, revealed, or redistributed.

            No member shall have another member ask for personal information; no member shall have another member look for that member's personal information; no member shall spread another member's personal information if obtained.

         2. No member shall flame.

            The |UGA| defines flaming as attacking an individual with insults and other such devices with the intent of emotionally harming an individual.

            No member may flame another member under any conditions.

         3. No member shall troll.

            The |UGA| defines trolling as a statement made to antagonize individuals, usually followed by an emotional reaction. This means that members can joke around with each other, for instance, when PatPeter says he hates anime. This solicites an emotional response, but PatPeter is not attempting to attack anyone.

            Examples of trolling include: 'u mad?' and all variations, and 'weeaboo'/'wapanese' and all variations.

         4. No member shall bait.

            The |UGA| defines baiting as a statement made indirectly with the intent of provoking an emotional reaction.

            Examples of baiting include: 'calm down'/'chill' and all variations, 'let it go' and all variations, and making characteristical references.

         5. No member shall rage.

            The |UGA| defines raging as an overexcessive display of anger

            by an individual in the form that disrupts others' moods and/or games. Examples of raging follow.
            1. Screaming into the mic directed at no one, directed at someone, or directed at others, possibly insulting or flaming them.
            2. Passively raging, which means making snide comments and alluding to one's own opinion, but not communicating it.
            3. Prematurely leaving a game because of loss, either of the entire map or single kills.

         6. No member shall punk.

            The |UGA| defines Punking as a sort of passive Flame, wherein instead of insulting someone, the individual insinuates that that player is inferior to said individual. For instance, comparing K:D ratios or comparing score with the goal of undermining someone.

            Examples of punking include: 'sit down' and all variations, and 'get owned'/'get wreaked' and all variations.

         7. No member shall haze new members.

            The |UGA| defines hazing as treating new members as less than older members.

         8. No member shall grief.

            The |UGA| defines griefing as purposely ruining a game or team. The |UGA| excuses griefing on the account of Sluggers on the other team if the senior |UGA| member notifies the other team of our refusal to play.

         9. No member shall spam.

            The |UGA| defines spamming as the continuous repetition or overuse of text, voice, or any other system in place at the time.

      2. Towards Another

         1. No member shall insult another member with contempt.

         2. No member shall repetitiously insult another member with the same insult.

            This law applies to insults said over a long period of time, as flaming identifies as short-term repetitious insulting. For example, giving someone a disliked nickname.

         3. No member shall use anything said in confidence against another member.

         4. No admin shall abuse.

         5. No member shall publically discuss another member whilst not in their presence.

            This more applies to negatively talking about someone when not in their presence, but also applies to having the need to talk privately about someone else out of concern or otherwise, in which case the individual can only talk about said person in front of no more than two |UGA| officers, and only |UGA| officers.

         6. No member shall impersonate another member.

         7. No member shall mock another member.

         8. No member shall laugh at another member.

         9. No member shall assume bad faith on another member.

            Conversely, all members will assume good faith on one-another. This means that each member will give all other members chances to reform their ways when those members previously harmed that individual. For instance, no member of the |UGA| can block or mute another member in TeamSpeak.

         10. No member shall harass another member.

         11. No members shall exclude a present member from a game without deliberation and consent of the member.

         12. No members shall exclude a present member from a current coversation and, if a majority, will change the subject, or, if a minority, will move to a Discussion Lobby.

         13. No member shall publically accuse an admin of admin abuse.

         14. No member shall ask for officer.

             The officer position has requirements as detailed later in this document. Members should either wait until they meet those requirements, and/or wait until those requirements go through.

         15. No member shall ask for admin.

         16. No member shall withhold information from an officer.

         17. No member shall assume passivity means assent.

             The |UGA| defines 'passivity means assent' as a member assuming that, because

             another member did not 'no', nor said 'yes', that that member meant 'yes'.
      3. Towards Community

         1. No member shall disrupt the tranquility of the community.

         2. No members shall create factions.

            Factions have destroyed |UGA| in the past. The |UGA| defines a faction as a group of members allied to someone other than the |UGA| itself. For instance, if a member obeyed the commands of a charismatic leader even if those commands broke |UGA| law.

         3. No members shall create unregulated sovereignties.

            The Universal Admiral and no one else must approve all |UGA| sovereignties.

            If a member creates a sovereignty group before approving it with the Universal Admiral, he or she breaks this law. A member can, however, ask others if they would like to belong to a sovereignty to build a roster to present to the Universal Admiral.

         4. No member shall publically mention or reference negative incidents in previous organizations.

         5. No member shall publically discuss or reference negative past arguments in public context.

         6. No member(s) shall deteriorate another sovereignty.

         7. No leader shall instigate tunnel vision.

            The |UGA| defines 'tunnel vision' as the leader stating his opinion before anyone else and then asking peoples' opinions on the issue. By design, most people will tend to agree with the leader when they know his/her opinion.

         8. No member shall remain online while not in the default voice communication.

            1. As of the writing of this Constitution, the |UGA| uses TeamSpeak 3 as the default voice communication client. This means all members must join our TeamSpeak 3 server at 67.167.44.51:9987.
            2. When a member is Online, Away, Busy, or Snooze on Steam he or she must remain in a channel of their choosing.
            3. We ask members to join the DVC so that they become acquainted with the community and so that the community becomes acquainted with them.
            4. The Lobby belongs to the majority. Any minority game or discussion must join the appropriate channel.
      4. Towards Organization

         1. No member shall misrepresent |UGA|.

            When a member wears the tag, they represent |UGA|, and shall obey all rules of the |UGA| as if pubbers had |UGA| status themselves.

         2. No member shall disobey the rules with the tag on.

            If a member wishes to grief, troll, or flame users in other games, they may do so, but without the |UGA| tag on.

         3. No member shall pollute the tag.

            This means that no member can replace the letters with different versions of themselves or change the vertical bars to brackets, parenthesis, etc.

         4. No member shall go without tags for a long period of time.

            All members who remove their tags must place them back on after or during a period of 24 hours and must keep them on afterwards for a period of 12 hours.

   3. Games
      1. Counter-Strike: Source
         1. Don't play it. Offense Level: Over 9000.
      2. Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2

         1. No member shall chastise another member for leaving a game on the finale right before it ends.

         2. No member shall leave the safe room until the enemy team loads in.

         3. No member shall join a private game without requesting to join.

         4. No member(s) shall attempt to restart a game without just cause and community approval.

   4. Punishment

      The |UGA| manages punishment in the form of Marks. When a |UGA| officer or member commits an offense, they have a mark added to them on their roster entry. When an officer reaches 7 marks, the Universal Admiral will demote them to a member and the marks will reset. When a member reaches 13 marks, the Universal Admiral will banish them.

      1. Major Offense

         Highest offense a member can commit. This offense will add three marks to a member.

      2. Minor Offense

         Average offense a member can commit. This offense will add two marks to a member.

      3. Venial Offense

         Lowest offense a member can commit. This offense will add

4. Structure
   1. Individual Positions

      1. Officer

         A member reaches Officer status when he or she has belonged to the |UGA| for a year and has the approval of the officer body.

      2. Adieu

         Members may take an adieu if they cannot access their computer or play a game for an extended period of time. This can range from a few days to a few months, and at most a year. To have Adieu status, a member must post a comment on the |UGA| group's page specifying how long the individual will take off and for what reason, unless the reason has a private connotation in which the individual can simply say 'private'.

      3. Banishment

         The |UGA| abolishes a member when it evaluates as a whole that the individual in question contributes negatively to the community. This individual will lose membership in the |UGA| group, banned from TeamSpeak, and ostracised.

   2. Sovereignties

      1. Supremacy

         A Supremacy belongs to a game or games that has its own independant ranking structure, tag, and organization.

      2. State

         A State does not have its own tags or ranks, but it does have its own identity.

      3. Commonwealth

         A Commonwealth does not have its own tags, ranks or identity. It usually will have a group titled in accordance with the game or in association with the |UGA|.

   3. Roles

      If anything can be said of roles, it is this: roles do not mean power. Roles fill needed positions in the community. The Universal Admiral and his or her two Supercluster Commodores form a Triumvirate.

      1. Universal Admiral - Community Manager

         The Universal Admiral monitors and manages the community. He or she regulates community relations and retains community tranquility.

      2. Supercluster Commodore - Community Overseer

         The Supercluster Commodores have the powers of the Universal Admiral and a maximum of two.

      3. Galactic Commander - Sovereignty Leader

         Galactic Commanders run the sovereignties of the |UGA| (cite above) and make up the Galactic Command Centre.

   4. Ranks

      Roles are based on the position a member takes in the community. The OvO. and two MtM.s act as a triumvirate in administration and decision making. The organization will also have a Galactic Command Centre, a collection of all members of ranks GaC. through OvO., which will create amendments and pass them to the Univeral Gaming Federation for consensus.

      1. Omniversal Organizer
         1. Abbreviation: OvO.
         2. Role: Leader
         3. Admin Group: Server Admin

         4. Requirements:

            Maximum of 1. No requirements, only the leader of the |UGA| holds this rank.

      2. Multiversal Mediator
         1. Abbreviation: MtM.
         2. Role: Co-Leader
         3. Admin Group: Server Admin

         4. Requirements:

            Maximum of 2. Upholds the Core Values and leader of a Supremacy or State.

      3. Universal Ultrahumanoid
         1. Abbreviation: UnU.
         2. Role: Officer
         3. Admin Group: Game Admin

         4. Requirements:

            Leader of a successful State or Supremacy.

      4. Supercluster Admiral
         1. Abbreviation: SuA.
         2. Role: Officer
         3. Admin Group: Senior Admin

         4. Requirements:

      5. Galactic Commander
         1. Abbreviation: GaC.
         2. Role: Junior Officer
         3. Admin Group: Junior Admin

         4. Requirements:

      6. Spur Spectator
         1. Abbreviation: SpS.
         2. Role: Senior Apprentice
         3. Admin Group: Apprentice

         4. Requirements:

      7. Bubble Supervisor
         1. Abbreviation: BbS.
         2. Role: Apprentice
         3. Admin Group: Janitor

         4. Requirements:

      8. Fluff Surveyor
         1. Abbreviation: FuS.
         2. Role: Senior Member
         3. Admin Group: Member

         4. Requirements:

      9. System Guardian
         1. Abbreviation: SyG.
         2. Role: Junior Member
         3. Admin Group: Member

         4. Requirements:

            Uses the default voice communication service on a day to day basis and takes an active role in the community.

      10. Planetary Defender
          1. Abbreviation: PaD.
          2. Role: Recruit
          3. Admin Group: Member

          4. Requirements:

             Downloads, installs, and uses the default voice communication service of the |UGA| and has to become acquainted with the community.

5. Ratification Clause

   By agreeing to ratify this constitution, the individual agrees to work towards internalizing the Core Values and obeying the Laws of the |UGA|. In addition, the Community Manager of the |UGA| agrees to remove all comments in this Constitution and make this document read-only.

   Ratifiers
   

   1. PatPeter
   2. Sox207

   Vetoers
   

   1. None.

   Abstainers
   

   1. None.

6. Amendments

   Amendments will take effect when the Constitution is officially ratified.

   1. Steam Name Games

      We in the |UGA| have come to the realization that having a subsidiary in a game which forces you to use your Steam name cannot exist as its own sovereign entity inside the |UGA|. It is because of this that the Knights Templar Mercenaries/Saladin's Honor Guard are now officially retired |UGA| units for the game Counter-Strike: Source. The

   2. Ban on Official |UGA| 5+ Man Left 4 Dead/2 Versus Games

      Prior to this discussion, I shall retell the history of |UGA| games. |UGA| games started on versus, yes, but they did not consist of more than four |UGA| members. These games rallied the |UGA| team against a common enemy, a series of pubbers. It was through the transition from this to |UGA| games of more than four people that we had the "good games" people remembered. These games rallied the |UGA| members against pubs, with one |UGA| member on the other team to serve as a challenge to the |UGA| team.

      Games of five to eight |UGA| members have no such common enemy, a member sees the enemy as a specific member on the enemy team, or the score of the game itself, but a team has no unity in whom to defeat. One could argue that a member should have no enemy, and should simply play, but the construction of Versus in Left 4 Dead/2 contradicts that statement. The gamer always plays against an enemy, whether the artificial intelligence of a single-player game or a group of teammates in a team-based (16-32 players) multi-player game. Conflict drives games, without conflict a game cannot exist.

      Therefore, because the level of competition cannot decrease, and because every member by the nature of gaming aims to win (whereas if a member did not aim to win, they would act in griefing by the very notion), |UGA| versus games of more than four players have no validity. Members have no obligation to join such games and should group off into 2s, 3s, and 4s to play their own games. For this to work, members must abide by III. C. 2. c. "No member shall join a private game without requesting to join. Offense Level: Major."

      By joining a |UGA| game of more than four |UGA| members, a player relinquishes their freedom to play a game in order to have fun. A member becomes locked in a game, unable to leave less breaking the rules of the |UGA| itself, and unable to default to playing for fun in a way contrary to winning. This violation of freedom creates discord that propagates into the |UGA|, and therefore cannot be accepted.

©2010-11 Universal Gaming Alliance.

All rights reserved. All content on this page identifies as intellectual property of the |UGA|.
This Constitution began on 2010-07-13 23:14:00. It was last edited on 2011-05-11 20:23:16.