Constitution

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.

Mission Statement

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.

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 instilling in them the Core Vales of the |UGA|: Respect, Loyalty, Selflessness, Discipline, Patience, Honesty, and Dignity. Out of its respect, the |UGA| does not 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.

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.

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. Empathy
   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|.

Laws

Core

1. No member shall reveal or use personal information, whether his/her own or another member's.
   Personal information includes but is not limited to: real names, addresses, birthdates, and phone numbers, and anything else that applies to real life. Offense Level: Major
2. No member shall have an unstandardized name.
   All offenses are venial other than the last which is minor. Offense Level: Major
   1. Name must be permanent.
   2. Name must not use special characters, spacers, or punctuation.
   3. Name must have proper capitalization, i.e. PatPeter, not pAtpeTer.
   4. Name cannot have numbers or symbols in place of letters.
   5. Name cannot have military, social, etc. ranks.
   6. Name cannot have a racial, ethnic, political, or religious affiliation.
   7. Name cannot resemble a previous |UGA| member's name.
   8. Name changes must be sanctioned by the Triumvirate.
3. No member shall play a game which he or she does not find fun. Offense Level: Major
4. If all |UGA| members currently online cannot play the same game, they must separate into groups, whether groups in the same game or different games. Offense Level: Major

Behavior

1. No member shall reject or disrespect the Mission Statement. Offense Level: Major
2. No member shall flame.
   The |UGA| defines flaming as attacking an individual with an insult(s) and/or other such devices with the intent of emotionally harming an individual. This includes, but is not limited to: Offense Level: Major
   1. Insulting a member with contempt – Not to be confused with insulting a member in jest.
   2. Repetitiously insulting a member with varied insults over a short period of time.
   3. Repetitiously insulting a member with the same insult over a short period of time.
   4. Repetitiously insulting a member with the same insult over a long period of time (i.e. giving an unwanted nickname).
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. This includes but is not limited to: Offense Level: Major
   1. Harassing another member.
   2. Mocking another member.
   3. Impersonating another member.
   4. Laughing at another member – Not to be confused: laughing with another member.
   5. 'umad?' 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 Offense Level: Major
   1. 'calm down'/'chill' and all variations.
   2. 'let it go' and all variations.
   3. Making characteristic references towards a person that are untrue, unproven, or not polite to voice aloud.
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. Offense Level: Major
   1. Screaming into the mic directed at no one, directed at someone, or directed at others, possibly insulting or flaming them.
   2. Passively raging – such as making snide comments and alluding to one's own opinion, but not communicating it.
   3. Prematurely leaving an official game because of loss, either of the entire map or single kills.
6. No member shall slug.
   The |UGA| defines sluging 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.
   1. 'sit down' and all variations.
   2. 'get owned' and all variations.
7. No member shall haze (new members).
   The |UGA| defines hazing as treating new members as less than older members. Offense Level: Minor
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. Offense Level: Minor
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. Offense Level: Minor

Personal

1. No member shall use anything said in confidence against another member.
   The phrase 'in confidence' refers to anything said from one member to another under the trust that the member receiving the message will not use that information to harm the member sending that message, for instance in Steam chat. Offense Level: Major
2. 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. Offense Level: Minor
3. No member shall assume passivity means assent.
   The |UGA| defines 'passivity means assent' as a member assuming that, because another member did not say 'no', nor said 'yes', that that member meant 'yes'. Offense Level: Minor
4. No member shall pressure another member into a game. Offense Level: Minor
5. No member shall disrespect another member's hobby(ies). Offense Level: Minor

Communal

1. No member shall remain online while not in the default voice communication. Offense Level: Venial
   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.
2. No member shall disrupt the tranquility of the community.
   This rule only applies to the community at large over long-term events. Offense Level: Major
3. No member shall publically discuss another member whilst not in his or her presence.
   This applies more 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. Offense Level: Minor
4. No members shall exclude a present member from a |UGA| game without deliberation and consent of the member. Offense Level: Minor
5. No members shall exclude a present member from a current coversation.
   If the majority, will change the subject, or, if a minority, will move to a Discussion Lobby. Offense Level: Minor
6. No member shall interrupt another member's(s') conversation.
   This includes not contributing to the conversation (interjecting unrelated topics). Offense Level: Minor

Organizational

1. No member shall argue the Triumvirate's rule on the Law.
   In the case of ambiguity during the application or interpretation of a Constitutional law, the Triumvirate rules on its meaning. Offense Level: Major
2. No member shall publically accuse another member of breaking a Constitutional Law.
   Members must call for an inquiry if they believe another member has broken a Law. Offense Level: Major
3. No members shall participate in 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. Offense Level: Major
4. No members shall participate in 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. Offense Level: Major
5. 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.
6. 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. Offense Level: Venial
7. No member shall withhold information from an officer, or an officer withhold information from the Triumvirate.
   This does not work vice versa, i.e. a member of the Triumvirate can withhold information from an officer just as an officer can withhold information from a member. Offense Level: Venial
8. No member(s) shall deteriorate another sovereignty. Offense Level: Minor
9. No member shall publically discuss or reference negative past arguments in public context.
   'Past' refers to a period of three months or longer. Offense Level: Minor

Administrational

1. No admin shall abuse. Offense Level: Major
2. No member shall publically accuse an admin of admin abuse. Offense Level: Minor
3. No member shall ask for admin. Offense Level: Venial

Public Relations

1. No member shall misrepresent |UGA|.
   If a member chooses to wear the tag that member must not only obey the rules him or herself, but also treat pubbers as though they are |UGA| members as well. Offense Level: Major
2. 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. Offense Level: Major
3. 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 168 hours and must keep them on afterwards for a period of 24 hours. Offense Level: Minor

Games

1. Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2
   1. No member shall talk about griefing, trolling, or |UGA|.
   2. NO member shall talk about griefing, trolling, or |UGA|.
   3. No member shall pass a jukebox without starting it.
   4. No member shall disregard "The Rule of Fourths"–the fourth player will always cause your team of three friends to lose.
   5. No member shall have compassion on pubbers.
      The |UGA| takes a strict stance on having no mercy on pubbers. When mercy is given, pubbers either take advantage of said and flame/troll/punk |UGA| members, or after 'giving them an inch they take a mile' and end up winning the game.
   6. No member shall chastise another member for leaving a game on the finale right before it ends.
   7. No member shall leave the safe room until the enemy team loads in.
   8. No member shall join a private game without requesting to join.
   9. No member(s) shall attempt to restart a game without just cause and community approval.

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 13 marks, the Universal Admiral will demote them to a member and the marks will reset. When a member reaches 21 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 one mark to a member.

Inquiries

Inquiries occur when a member has supposedly broken a rule. That member will be pulled into a private channel with the highest ranking officer present to which they will discuss what rule the member broke and not to break it again.

Rules

1. All inquiries must be recorded.
2. All inquiries have (A) a judge, claimant, and defendant (and optional witness) or (B) judge/claimant, defendant, and witness.
3. Witnesses of the (A) type inquiry can be selected by the defendant,
4. In the (A) type inquiry, neither the claimant or defendant may speak unless given permission by the judge.
5. Inquiries are not a contained environment immune to rules. Any further rules broken during an inquiry will be assembled for another inquiry.

Schedule

1. Inquiry Start.
2. Inquiry Adjourned.

Structure

Omniversal Triumvirate

The Omniversal Triumverate consists of (1) the Universal Admiral, (2) the Supercluster Commodores, and (3) the Galactic Commanders. All officers in the |UGA| core group are members of the Omniversal Triumvirate, and join the Galactic Command Center upon their first election. To become an officer, a member must have belonged to the |UGA| for half of |UGA|'s lifespan at the time of their joining |UGA|. For instance, in 2012 a member must wait until 2014 to become an officer, in 2014 a wait until 2017, so on so forth. In addition, a current officer of the |UGA| must nominate the officer in an announcement made by the Universal Admiral. The officer nominee requires more than 50% of the officers' votes, with non-voting officers counting as abstentation and not counted towards the overall percentage. At the same time as officer elections, officer recalls take place. Any officer inactive in gaming or in duty can be recalled and have their officer stripped. This member must then wait until the next officer election to become an officer again.

Universal Admiral - Executive Branch

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

1. PatPeter

Duties

1. Blank.

Powers

1. Blank.

Supercluster Commodore - Judicial Branch

The Supercluster Commodores compromise 30% of the entire Omniversal Triumvirate body. Current chairs:

1. None.
2. None.
3. None.
4. None. (Absentee Replacement)

Duties

1. Blank.

Powers

1. Blank.

Galactic Commander - Legislative Branch

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

1. None.
2. None.
3. None.
4. None.
5. None.
6. None.
7. None.
8. None.

Duties

1. Blank.

Powers

1. Blank.

Statuses

A member has one of three statuses at any given time:

1. Current
   Members are active when the regular the VoIP server and participate in organizational activities.
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'.
   1. Minimum Adieu: 3 days.
   2. Maximum Adieu: 6 months.
3. Banishment
   The |UGA| banishes 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.

Versioning Clause

The current version can be seen at the bottom of the page in the format version-beta-alpha-fix.

1. Version
   Versions increment the first version identifier by one. New versions include but are not limited to complete semantic changes, addition of entire sections, removal of entire sections, and changes to the structure of |UGA|. New versions require a re-ratification of the Constitution. Re-ratifications blank all other version counters (Beta, Alpha, and Fixes).
2. Beta
   Beta edits increment the second version identifier by the number of laws added or removed. Beta edits require a vote by the Galactic Commanders made in a |UGA| core group announcement. The vote must have more than a 50% majority to pass, with non-voting Galactic Commanders counting as abstention. Beta edits do not clear Alpha or Fix version counters.
3. Alpha
   Alpha edits increment the third version identifier by the total number of changes made to laws. Alpha edits change the wording of laws. Alpha edits require a comment posted to the |UGA| core group page notifying of the change. Alpha edits do not clear Fix counters.
4. Fix
   Fixes increment the fourth version identifier by the number of fixes applied. The fix cannot contain any semantical changes to the wording that would alter the law's meaning. Fixes are usually restricted to typos, misspellings, grammatical errors, and moving line items around (not violating the previous sentence).

Ratification Clause

The ratification of this Constitution requires a 2/3 majority of the Omniversal Triumvirate. 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 Universal Admiral of the |UGA| agrees to remove all comments in this Constitution and that no edits will be made that do not comply with the Versioning Clause.

1. Ratifiers
   1. None.
2. Vetoers
   1. None.
3. Abstainers
   1. PatPeter
   2. Sox207
   3. Fullmetal
   4. Rezin
   5. TechPanda
   6. Raxor
   7. Kagnarok
   8. White
   9. Wazza
   10. The Village Idiot
   11. Fishy
   12. Joey

©2010-2012 Universal Gaming Alliance.

Version 4.6.0.128 of the Universal Gaming Alliance Constitution. 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 GMT-06:00. Check the History for the last edit.