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 as per the Ratification Clause. 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

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. The |UGA|'s overarching goal is to make every individual the best version of him or herself.

Respect

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

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 (i.e. an irrational stance void of objective reasoning) against any culture, ideology, race, ethnicity, religion, age, gender, or sexuality.

Privacy

|UGA| believes in respecting the privacy of its members. In accordance with Law III, no personal information of any kind should be shared without consent.

Loyalty

The |UGA| asks of Loyalty not to its creators, but to the organization itself over other groups and individuals.

Empathy

The |UGA| expects that members care for other members as much as they care for themselves.

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.

Education

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.

Patience

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

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.

|UGA| is based on honesty and trust. If that trust is broken, the community falls apart. Therefore, anything said in Steam chats or other private messages is to remain confidential unless explicit consent is given.

Dignity

The |UGA| wants every member to remained Dignified in times of triumph. This means members should show pride in belonging to |UGA| and not to gloat or act foolish while playing.

Naming

The |UGA| has naming standards for your name. Note that you can change your Steam name and TeamSpeak nickname to whatever you want (so long as it does not break a rule):

Name must be permanent.
Name may not use special characters or punctuation.
Name may not be more than 27 characters long.
Name must have proper capitalization, i.e. PatPeter, not pAtpeTer.
Name cannot have numbers or symbols in place of letters.
Name cannot have ranks; for instance, military or social ranks.
Name cannot break the Mission Statement, Core Values, or Laws.
Name cannot resemble a previous |UGA| member's name.
Name changes must be sanctioned by the Supercluster Council.
Name changes do not guarantee that other members will call that member by the new name.

Structure

The Omniversal Triumvirate consists of (1) the Universal Admiral, (2) the Supercluster Commodores, and (3) the Galactic Commanders. The Omniversal Triumvirate is the administrative and governing body of |UGA|. The Supercluster Council is made up of the Universal Admiral as its head and all Supercluster Commodores. The Galactic Command Center is made up of a Supercluster Commodore as its head and all Galactic Commanders. Note that:

Every Tier has the Powers of the Tiers below it.
Every Tier has the Restrictions of the Tiers above it.

Universal Admiral - Tier 1

The Universal Admiral maintains |UGA| alongside the Supercluster Commodores.

PatPeter

Powers

Banish a user permanently from TeamSpeak 3, all game servers, and the community.
All powers necessary to fulfill the duties of the Universal Admiral that do not conflict with the laws of |UGA|.
Immunity to all punishment and inquiries.

Duties

Management of the |UGA| community.
Management of |UGA| game servers.
Management of |UGA| groups.

Requirements

To be the founder of |UGA|.

Supercluster Council - Tier 2

The Supercluster Commodores are the second authoritative group below the Universal Admiral. They are usually sovereignty leaders or judges and command power over all lower members. The Supercluster Council must always consist of an even number so that, in addition to the Universal Admiral, votes are never tied.

Powers

Create a sovereignty with the permission of the Universal Admiral.
Ban a user up to a week from TeamSpeak 3.

Duties

To judge disputes on |UGA| Constitutional law.
To judge appeals on |UGA| Sovereignty law (when the dispute cannot be contained within the sovereignty).
Those of Galactic Commanders.

Requirements

Belonging to |UGA| for at least two years and showing the capacity to judge disputes amongst both higher and lower members.
Recruiting three members (in addition to the previous two).
Cannot be under the influence of alcohol during rulings or deliberations.
Must be adept at using and administering Steam forums.

Galactic Command Center - Tier 3

The Galactic Command Center is comprised of Galactic Commanders and Supercluster Commodores. Galactic Commanders are the third authoritative group below Supercluster Commodores. They are usually recruiters and command power over those lower than them.

Powers

Create a sovereignty with the permission of the Supercluster Council.
Move users in TeamSpeak 3.
Kick low-tier users from TeamSpeak 3.
Ban low-tier users for up to an hour from TeamSpeak 3.

Duties

To lead sovereignties to the best of their abilities.
To police TeamSpeak 3 with the powers allotted.
Those of System Lieutenants.

Requirements

Belonging to |UGA| for at least one year and showing the maturity to handle administrative powers.
Recruiting two members.

Restrictions

Galactic Commanders cannot make decisions on behalf of the entire |UGA| without a Supercluster Commodore's approval. For Sovereignties, a non-leader Galactic Commander cannot make decisions pertaining to the sovereignty without approval from a Sovereignty Leader.

System Lieutenants - Tier 4

System Lieutenants are normal members of |UGA|.

Powers

Extended permissions in game servers (reserved slots, more commands, etc.)

Duties

Those of Planetary Ensigns.

Requirements

Regularly joining the TeamSpeak 3 server over a period of a month.
Place |UGA| in your Steam name.
Join our public server group: http://steamcommunity.com/groups/uniserva
Get an invite to our core group: http://steamcommunity.com/groups/unigamia

Planetary Ensigns - Tier 5

Planetary Ensigns are recruits to |UGA|.

Powers

No powers.

Duties

Wear |UGA| tags.
Join TeamSpeak 3 regularly.
Participate in |UGA| games.

Requirements

Joining the TeamSpeak 3 server.

Policy

Elections

Nominations

In order to become a Galactic Commander or Supercluster Commodore, a member must be nominated by a member of that tier.
Each Galactic Commander has only one nomination. Each Supercluster Commodore has two nominations.
A member cannot nominate his or herself.
Nominations can only occur during an election cycle.

Voting

Both Galactic Commanders and Supercluster Commodores are elected by the whole of the Galactic Command Center (Galactic Commanders and Supercluster Commodores) and Supercluster Council (Supercluster Commodores and the Universal Admiral).
Supercluster Commodores do not have two votes.

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

All inquiries must be recorded.
All inquiries are judged by three members of the Supercluster Council (with the Universal Admiral and absentee judges , claimant, and defendant (and optional witness).
Neither a claimant nor defendant may judge an inquiry. If either is a member of the Supercluster Council, the Universal Admiral or absentee judge must take his or her place.
All members of the Omniversal Triumvirate may witness an inquiry, but may only speak when requested by a judge or allowed after a request from the claimant or defendant.
In the inquiry, neither the claimant or defendant may speak unless given permission by the judge.
Inquiries are not a contained environment immune to rules. Any further rules broken during an inquiry will be assembled for another inquiry.
Most inquiries can be thrown out with a simple discussion and apology.

Schedule

Inquiry Start.
The claimant presents his or her claim first.
The defendant gives his or her account of the claim.
All evidence by the claimant is examined and determined to be valid or invalid.
All eyewitness accounts are heard and either deemed valid or invalid.
The claimant makes his or her closing statement.
The defendant makes his or her closing statement.
The judges determine whether the claimant is guilty or not guilty, and then decide punishment based on the sum of offenses.
Inquiry Adjourned.

Statuses

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

Active
Members are active based on the following standards:
- The member regularly wears |UGA| tags.
- The member regularly joins TeamSpeak 3.
- The member regularly plays |UGA| games.
Hiatus
Members may go on a hiatus 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 Hiatus 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'. Failure to do so can flag that member as Retired and removal from the group.
Retired
Retired members are members that fell off the grid, failed to comply with activity standards, or left |UGA| gracefully.
Banishment
The |UGA| banishes a member when it evaluates as a whole that the individual in question makes no contributions, negatively affects other members, and degrades the community. This individual will lose membership in the |UGA| group, banned from TeamSpeak, and ostracized.

Versioning

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

Version

Versions increment the first version identifier by one. New versions include, but are not limited to, complete Constitutional rewrites, entire sectional restructure, removal of whole 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).

Beta

Beta edits increment the second version identifier by the number of laws added or removed. Beta edits require a vote by the Supercluster Council and the Galactic Command Center 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. After a week the vote will automatically close. Beta edits do not clear Alpha or Fix version counters.

Alpha

Alpha edits increment the third version identifier by the total number of changes made to line items. Alpha edits change the wording of line items or moving line items around. Alpha edits require a comment posted to the |UGA| core group page notifying of the change, though failure to do so does not void the change. Alpha edits do not clear Fix counters.

Fix

Fixes increment the fourth version identifier by the number of fixes applied. The fix cannot contain any semantic changes to the wording that would alter the line item's meaning. Fixes are usually restricted to typos, misspellings, grammatical errors (not violating the previous sentence).

Ratification

The ratification of this Constitution requires a 2/3 majority of the active Omniversal Triumvirate members present at the time of ratification either by regular attendance in TeamSpeak 3, regular participation in |UGA| games, and/or regular usage of the |UGA| tags. 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 that no edits will be made that do not comply with the Versioning Clause. Ratification of a new Constitution voids the previous Constitution and if ratification fails the old Constitution will still be in effect.

Ratifiers

Vetoers

None.

Abstainers

The Village Idiot

Amendments

First Amendment

|UGA| exists to have fun. If you won't have fun, don't play.

Second Amendment

All members must strive to abide by the Mission Statement and the Core Values. This means no discrimination, disrespect, factioning off, not caring about others, bribing, impatience, lying to other members (especially triumvirate members), polluting the tag and/or your name (replacing the vertical bars/letters or putting a space between your tag and name), etc.

Third Amendment

No member shall directly cause harm to another member or oneself including but not limited to: sharing personal information, flaming, trolling, baiting, kyteding, hazing, griefing, spamming, attacking, harassing, mocking, impersonating, threatening, scapegoating, laughing at that member, etc.

Fourth Amendment

No member shall indirectly cause harm to another member including but not limited to: contributing to drama, instigating arguments (intellectual debates are allowed), assuming bad faith, betraying trust, assuming no reply means yes, peer pressure, insulting hobbies/game choice, blackmailing, spreading rumors, talking behind a member's back, labeling, holding grudges, interrupting, blocking or muting in TeamSpeak (which can be enforced with a block check), blocking in Steam, etc.

Fifth Amendment

No member shall partake in action that disrupts or weakens the community. This includes advertising to other servers.

Sixth Amendment

No member shall exclude another member from a game or discussion. If not all members will fit into one game, branch off into groups.

Seventh Amendment

Keep it positive. Talk about the good times in |UGA|, not the bad.

Eighth Amendment

All members must join TeamSpeak while online in Steam or any |UGA| game with the capability of being "online". Users must also create a sound mute bind.

Ninth Amendment

All members will wear |UGA| tags as often as possible.

Tenth Amendment

All members must belong to the |UGA| and |USV| groups. All triumvirate members must have the Universal Server Alliance Steam Group as their default Steam Group in order to belong to the triumvirate.

Eleventh Amendment

When you wear the |UGA| tags, you represent |UGA|. This means that every Law applies to pubbers as if they are |UGA| members.

Twelfth Amendment

As a leader of |UGA|, do not be biased, do not state your opinion first which will influence lower members (let lower members give their opinions first), and do not abuse your powers.

Thirteenth Amendment

Obey the admins and leave the administrating to the admins. In a legal dispute, the ruling of the most senior (or consensus of the most senior) officer(s) will hold true until an appeal is filed (if filed) with the Supercluster Council. Do not ask for admin, ask for officer, or try to create sovereignties without permission from the Supercluster Council.

Fourteenth Amendment

Respect the rights of sovereignties and do not attempt to deteriorate them. Laws created in sovereignties that do not contradict the Constitution have as much weight as Constitutional law.

Fifteenth Amendment

Your privileges and status can be suspended or terminated at any time, for any reason (including removal from the group). Appeals in TeamSpeak are allowed.

©2010-2012 Universal Gaming Alliance.
Version 8 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.

Constitution