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Sections: 1. Name 2. Leaders 3. Help File 4. Theme 5. Ranks 6. Recruitment 7. Promotions 8. Demotions 9. Outcast 10. Decisions 11. Restrictions 12. General Rules

1. Name

2. Leaders

3. Help File

Now is the time for Tao to have a physical presence on the lands of Aardwolf. Close to Midgaard, The Creation has started with the few current followers of Tao pulling their resources together to start the growth of Tao. Devoted to relaxation and individuality, all are welcomed to come gaze upon Tao. Maybe a few will decide to follow.

All are free to achieve their own individual goals. All are required to relax. As Tao's followers grow stronger, so shall Tao be empowered.

The call of Tao is strong on Aardwolf now, those wanting to hear it can follow it's sound from anywhere. Only one question now remains. Are you strong enough to follow Tao?

If you would like to find out more about The Creation of Tao please feel free to contact one of the leaders, or browse the website.

4. Theme

Tao understands that people come to Aardwolf to have a good time, to relax, to get away from real life. With this in mind Tao offers a clan that doesn't require all members to be involved in everything. The clan is something for them to be a part of but not to the detriment of their enjoyment in their individual playing style, having to feel restricted by having to sit at levels, give all their gold or quest points, or have alignment requirements. Tao enables these people to join and be more of a part of the clan if they so choose.

The first steps within Tao are to have members gain an understanding of clans in general, and Tao specifically. We don't force our members to be involved, we don't force them to come to meetings, we don't force them to give us all their gold. But if they desire to be more involved they are welcomed to proceed onto further steps of Tao.

These further steps are the paths of Creativity and Self-Advancement. Progression further down the steps of Tao requires that members will have to show dedication to the clan and actually achieve something. Through creativity they are expected to make up descriptions for mobs/items/rooms for the clan and also offer the service of creating these for other people that are not part of the clan. Through self advancement they are expected to donate to the clan via gold and information on the world of Aardwolf.

Each member does not have to travel this far down the path, it is up to each individual, although there are incentives.

5. Ranks

Lowest to highest.
1 - Hopeful
2 - Believer
3 - Follower
4 - Disciple
5 - Adept
6 - Guide
7 - Tao Incarnate

The ranks will be the same for males and females.

Description of each rank:

Hopeful - Hopefuls are able to, but not expected to vote on various clan upgrades or other matters that come up to a clan vote. People at this rank are not expected to donate to the clan, but it is appreciated. Hopefuls can interview applicants, but must have a person at Follower rank or higher present while they do the interview. The maximum amount of Hopefuls at any one time is 3, it will never be more then 3 but may become less.
Hopefuls votes count as half.

Believer - Believers are able to vote on all votable matters. Believers can interview applicants, but does not count toward the 3 minimum required interviews. A person at this rank is not expected to donate but is expected to be active.
Believers votes count as 1.

Follower - The members of this rank are expected to vote on everything that requires a vote to be cast. They can interview applicants freely if they wish to do so. At this rank members may choose to stay at this rank, or may further their role in the clan by contribution to the clan. That contribution can take take the form of Creativity, Self-Advancement, donations, Gathering and sharing of information, writing guides, helping others etcetera. Followers may begin these these activities at any time to prepare themselves for a future promotion that becomes available when the minimum time-in-rank requirements for the promotion have been passed.
Follower votes count as 1.

Disciple - The members of this rank have shown their commitment to Tao and its members through substantial contribution.
Disciple votes count as 2.

Adept - The members of this rank have shown themselves to be committed to Tao over a much more extended period.
Adept votes count as 2.

Disciples and Adepts are expected to continue to be active and helpful.

Guide - Those at this rank should endeavor to help out members of the clan wherever possible. Guides do as their rank suggests: guide those in need. While this includes clan members at all times, when an outsider requires some assistance that a Guide can give, it should be given. Guides help settle disputes and tell the leaders if someone has broken rules or done something that doesn't follow the theme. They are also here to help those outside of the clan understand the workings of the clan. A Guide is automatically pre-selected for the eventuality a leaderspot becomes vacant.
Guides votes count as 3.

Tao Incarnate - These are the leaders of the clan. They should provide everything that Guides do. Also, they should organize the voting of upgrades and anything else that might require a vote. They are to tally up votes and keep the members informed of what is going on.
Tao Incarnates votes count as 3.

6. Recruitment

The applicant will be required to be level 604 or greater, and have completed a number of quests equal to 2 per level. Campaigns count as 5 quests each.
In order to join the clan an applicant must first write a note to the clan, detailing a little about themselves, their character and why they would like to join.
After a leader has posted acceptance of the applicants petition, the applicant may begin seeking "interviews." The applicant is responsible for arranging these interviews with clan members, which are conducted to familiarise the member with the applicant, for the applicant to see if they would fit with clan ideals and for the member to see if they feel the applicant will fit in. Applicants may have as many interviews as they wish, and the results shall be written up by the interviewer and posted to the clan for viewing.
At least three interviews with members rank Follower or above are required. The more interviews the applicant can manage the better, as all clan members will vote on the applicant's acceptance. Please be courteous in your requests and keep in mind many of our members have alot to do in our real lives.
Leaders will open the vote for allowing the applicant to join after the third interview review rank Follower or above has been posted. Applicants will be accepted after the number of votes is totaled, and positive votes equal to 75% or more of votes made.
Applicants with clanned alts will not be considered.

7. Promotions

Hopeful -> Believer - a Hopeful will be promoted up to Believer after being with the clan and active for 2 weeks.

Believer -> Follower - this promotion will require the member to have been active at Believer rank for at least 1 month. After the month has gone by the leaders will discuss whether the member deserves to be promoted. If the leaders agree then they will contact the member, if not, a review of promotion will be considered after another month.

Follower -> end of the line - After 3 months, a Follower may choose to either remain at the Follower rank or begin work on advancement.
After 3 months at current rank a Follower or Disciple may be eligible for promotion to the next rank. At least several of the following should be completed for consideration for promotion from follower to disciple, and at least several more for consideration for promotion to Adept.
- designing and posting for vote a completed item, room description, "mob" etc. for our clanhall. (completed as in ready to post to imms)
- donating a lump of cash, 35 mil.
- completing 50 CPs and 200 levels (these should be done AFTER joining Tao/after last promotion)
- writing and posting at least one script, Area info, some kind of info guide, comprehensive list of potions in a certain level range, or a map, etc. onto the clan site. These should be non-trivial and provide something not already present on the site.
- notably mentoring or helping newer clan members. for "helping" contributions, we will like to have names given. at least 3, we will inquire with those people what the nature of support was. (perhaps here the member, the helped one and a third clannie would all need to vouch that the extended help occurred if it is not obvious to leaders.)
- sitting at SH for an extended time (>1 month) and providing spellups, portals or dragging to clan members

Then, upon completion of 1 or more tasks particular to the individual member, that member will be promoted. The member should expect that these additional tasks may be quite difficult or time consuming.

Follower -> Disciple - For promotion into this rank the member must have a history of contributing to the clan, such as making equipment, designing rooms, donating money, gathering information etc. The member will be given a task to complete, such as the creation of an item (item name, keywords and descriptions), a room (name and description), a mob (keywords, mobname, and descriptions), finding mobs or items, write a small guide into some arcane knowledge of aardwolf.

The leaders will decide on whether the member shall be promoted or not.

Disciple -> Adept - This promotion will require the member to have been active at Disciple rank for at least 3 months. The member should have further contributed in significant amounts (i.e. through donations, gathering of information, maps, guides etc) over an extended period. For promotion into this rank, the member will be given a task to complete. This task will be challanging and in that task the member will have to show they warrant the rank. Potential Adepts will also be expected to either a) have at least 70 million gold donated, have a very good exploration rate and have reached 7X SH, or b) have made very substantial non-monetary contributions to the clan, or c) BOTH.

Adept -> Guide -For a member at Adept level to get a promotion to Guide they must have been in Adept rank for at least 6 months. The Adept must show that they are capable of guiding people in the world of Aardwolf. The tests will involve the writing of a guide on some arcane subject. Guides and the Leaders will decide on whether the member shall join the ranks of Guides.

Promotion to leader - If there is to be another leader appointed the members at the rank of Guide shall all be automatically nominated. Guides may choose not to stay nominated by informing the clan via a note. If someone believes another non-Guide would make a good leader then they are allowed to nominate them. Nominator must be of rank Follower or higher and nominated must be ranked Disciple or higher. Those nominated must have a minimum number of nominations that total to 10% of the total clan size. If the clan had 30-35 members, then 3 nominations are required. The nominees may then write a note to the clan stating why they would make a good leader. Leader will then be decided by a majority vote of the whole clan in a set period.

Times and other requirements specified for promotions may change as the size of the clan does, those stated are the absolute minimum for promotions.

8. Demotions

Breaking a rule or not following the clan's theme can result in a demotion, the leaders will decide whether the person gets a demotion or just a warning.

Members rank Adept or below who are inactive for 2 months or may be demoted 1 rank. Members will lose no more than one Rank per 2 months, due to inactivity. If the person being demoted is rank Hopeful, they shall be outcast. This essentially means that a person inactive for very long periods of time will be demoted till they reach bottom rank then eventually outcast.

In order to reduce the bookeeping load for each member, Leaders from time to time may invoke a "Housecleaning" Demotion/Outcast policy that may produce more than one demotion at one time; it is essentially the above normal policy on inactivity time, but with a more lenient amount of time allowed per demotion. That is, Leaders may demote a member so that rank shown in finger (player) is below roster rank by (e.g. inactivity time/4 mos) rounded down. For example, a player inactive for 5 mos could be demoted so that the actual (finger) rank is 1 below the rank show on roster, while a member inactive for 10 mos could be demoted to 2 ranks below that shown on roster. If these demotions would take a member below rank 1 (hopeful) they may be outcast.

Members with some valid and known "excuse" (e.g. shipped off to Iraq. lost internet due to moving homes, etc) shall be exempt, subject to leader discretion.

As leaders are not subject to normal clanadmin commands, leader demotion is a special process determined by majority leader vote, or by 2/3 of members' vote to demote with at least 50% vote turnout of all current members. Leaders that are demoted will become Guides.

9. Outcast

A member of the clan may ask to be outcast at any time, and are not required to tell anyone why they decided to outcast. However, to be clear that they desired it, they should post a note to clan explicitly asking to be outcast.

A member that has been inactive extended periods without contact may be outcast (see part 8 on demotions).

If a Hopeful or Believer breaks a rule or doesn't follow the clan theme, they might be outcast if the "infraction" is severe.

10. Decisions

Most decisions will be put up for vote to the members. If it is considered by the leaders that a decision is urgent and needs to be made straight away then they can make a decision without consulting the clan.
Decisions regarding outcast, promotion and demotions will be made just by the leaders.

11. Restrictions

People will be required to speak English to be considered to join the clan, however there will be no alignment or race restrictions.

12. General Rules

Have fun, play the way you want and understand that different people come to play Aardwolf for different reasons. Do not break any mud rules.
Always follow the clan's theme.
Treat all people with decency.
There will be a 0% tax rate, increasing only if the entire clan agrees. An increase will only be considered in desperate times.