Difference between revisions of "Clan Titan"

Latest revision as of 13:41, 7 July 2012

A Pretty kickin' multi-gaming clan.

Go visit their website: http://clantitan.org

More text here.

Titan was originally conceived as a Clan in the game Dragon Court, founded on the tenets of hard work, honesty, and fair play. Since that time, Titan has branched out into other games, most notably Ultimate Dominion (which has since disbanded) and Newage. In order to ensure that the mission of Titan was being followed by the new branches, an overall council was formed.

However, with the change in leadership and the permanent retirement of carnelianfire from the clan's public government, it is time to reclassify Titan and to issue a new mission statement. The overall community will be rebranded as "Clan Titan", with the individual chapters being called "Titan" in their respective games.

Specifically, this would entail changing the classification of Clan Titan from "Dragon Court clan" to "Online Gaming Community". All existing branches of Titan would be reclassified as "branches" or "Chapters and would be mostly self-governing. In order to maintain that the rules of Clan Titan are followed, the overall council will have the authority to intervene and enforce basic rules. These rules will be maintained and enforced by the overall council.

Mission Statement

Clan Titan's new mission statement is to "Provide the best service and assistance to our members, bolster enjoyment of our games, and spread the principles of honor, honesty, community, and fair play."

Clan-Wide Council

In order to solidify the breaking from our previous "Dragon Court-centric" mentality, the overall council will be rebranded as the "Clan Governors", with the council itself being rebranded as "Board of Governors". The Governors will represent the leadership of the various chapters underneath them and will be composed of both voting members and non-voting advisors. The voting membership will be composed of two representatives from each branch of the Clan. The voting members may nominate up to one trusted member of their branch's government each as a non-voting Advisor to the Governors. Further Advisors may be appointed only with the approval of the Governors. Game-neutral positions, such as the Clan Webmaster, will be automatically appointed as Advisors, with a possibility of making them voting members at a later time pending a vote by the Governors. If a game-neutral position changes, the new appointee will be automatically placed as an Advisor until his is voted to a voting membership by the Governors.

For issues that require a vote, a discussion period of no less than one week will precede all votes. The purpose of this discussion period is to determine possible courses of action and identify any issues that may arise as a result of the proposed actions. Once the week is over and distinct voting options are established, a motion to call the issue to vote may be made by a voting member of the Governors. This motion must then be seconded by any member of the Governors, either a voting member or a non-voting Advisor. Non-voting Advisors may not participate in the actual vote, but are welcome to propose options during the discussion period. The voting period will continue until one of the following conditions are met: (1) one week has passed since the vote was called and seconded; (2) all Governors have voted; or (3) the issue has been superceded by another issue or otherwise rendered irrelevant.

Votes must be either "yes", "no", or "abstain". Once a vote has been concluded, the Overall Leader will have twenty-four hours to review and veto the vote, if he chooses. In the event of a tied vote, the Overall Leader will cast the deciding vote. If a vote is passed in this manner, the Overall Leader may not choose to veto the vote at a later date.

Votes that involve a specific member of the Governors will consider that Governor to be excluded from the Board for the purposes of the vote. The exception to this policy is in votes of No Confidence of the Overall Leader, which are explained in the following section.

The Governors will set the policy for Clan Titan and enforce them in their respective branches.

Overall Leader

Some have argued that Clan Titan's Governors should be a true democracy, with no one member higher than any other. However, this theory has proven to be faulty, both in true politics and in on-line gaming communities. As such, Clan Titan will have an Overall Leader with executive privilege in order to quickly resolve issues that do not require a full vote of the Governors.

As the Overall Leader has executive privilege over the individual branches, he may not participate in any vote being taken in any of the branches. However, he will maintain an advisory position.

Since no human is infallible, and the possibility exists that future leaders may seek to engage in a "hostile takeover" of Clan Titan, any voting member of the Governors may call a vote of No Confidence in Overall Leader. Such votes do not require a discussion period and will continue until a "reasonable" amount of time has passed (set by the person calling the vote). This vote must still be seconded in order to commence

Existing Branches

For purposes of documentation, here is a list of the current established branches of Clan Titan:

• Dragon Court (Governed by the High Council and Officers of the High Council)
• Newage
• Legend of the Green Dragon

The following branches are formed under special consideration and are not privy to the requirements set forth in the subsequent section. Likewise, these branches are not given voting representation on this council.

• Cheating Investigation Committee (Originally formed for the Dragon Court branch... and hopefully to be all-encompassing at some point)
• Roleplaying (A Dragon Court-inspired forum-based play-by-post free-form roleplaying system; governed Titan Roleplay Council)

Requirements of Branches

All branches must adhere to specific requirements and rules as set forth and maintained by the Board of Governors. Specifically these are:

• Must conform to Titan mission statement and policies
• Must have a minimum of twenty active members
• Must have some form of benefits of assistance program established for the branches members
• Must have a distinct system of government in place to enforce clan policies and distribute assistance to members
• Must submit monthly reports to Board of Governors regarding the branch's performance

Any branch found in violation of these rules may be subject to discipline by the Board of Governors. Branches or branch leaders repeatedly found delinquent in these rules may be removed from command or the possibility of that branch's disassociation with Clan Titan ("unofficial branch").

Branches may require tribute from their members on a game-specific basis only, and it must be contained within that specific branch. For example, the leadership of one branch cannot hold a member exempt for favors done in another branch, neither can they penalize a member in their branch because of actions taken in another branch. The exception to this rule is a blatant violation of community-wide policy. Any tribute taken from the members must be used for the futhering of the branch's benefits to the members. "Stockpiling" or using tribute to benefit the leadership alone is considered a violation of basic Clan Titan tenets.

Likewise, the spending of clan resources may not be performed to benefit only the core leadership of the branch. Use of clan funds to specifically benefit a single member, or a small group of members, of the clan is considered theft.

Monthly Progress Reports

Monthly progress reports will be required from all branches in order to establish whether the branches are adhering to the rules and policies of Clan Titan. The reports should be written by the branch leader, but may be posted by any Governor or Advisor representing that branch. Reports are due by 23:59 EST on the Saturday of the first full week of the month. For example, reports for February 2005 would be due by the 12th.

The progress reports should, at absolute minimum, contain the following information. Branch leaders are encouraged and requested to give more detailed information, of course. The following list are guidelines, not a template.

• Number of members (approximate, if exact number is impossible to determine due to lack of feature in the branch's game)
• Change in members since last month (Number of members lost vs. number of members gained)
• Benefits being provided to the members (either tangible of statistic-based)
• Tribute taken/donations received and how it has been applied to the branch
• Status of member-assistance programs
• Key events, if any (giveaways, sales, recruitment promotions, etc)
• Plans in progress
• Goals to be attained (Next Month, Next year, beyond?)
• Goals achieved in the previous month
• Problems that exist (specific members, diplomacy issues, game bugs, etc)

Requirements For New Branches

In order for a new branch to be considered an "official" branch of Clan Titan, the leadership must demonstrate adherence to the requirements for existing branches.

Clan Website

The Clan Website will be maintained by the Clan Webmaster, a de facto member of the Overall Council.

The clan website is located at: http://clantitan.org

Clan Forums

Control over the Clan Forums will be the responsibility of the Overall Leader, who will function as the primary Board Administrator. Moderator access to the Clan Forums will selected from or by the Overall Council.

Clan forums are located at: http://clantitan.org/forum

A crude map showing Titan's controlled territories within Dragon Court

Titan: Location

Titan is a nation existing to the west of Salamander Township, Dragon Court's chief city. While the immediate properties of Titan are not large -- encompassing primarily the Palace and the city-state of Cartes, its political influence expands to the northern reaches of Dragon Court. The Titan Army is a massive organization counting among the largest organized armed forces in Dragon Court.

Titan holds a handful of key properties, the most prominent being the Titan Palace. The Palace sits west of Salamander along the East-West highway that leads from Salamander Township to the logging camp located in the western forest. The Palace has five levels: a ground floor, which houses the majority of the Clan's amenities; a second floor, which houses the Council's chambers, offices, and meeting hall; a third floor which houses the War room; a basement, which houses the dungeons and war room; and a sub-basement, which holds the storage rooms for the Clan's services.

Titan also possesses a large territory to the North of the Arcane Forest, known simply as the Northern Territories. Titan's ownership of this land is a result of protective treaties with the barbarian tribes that live in the north. The Titan property extends from the northern edge of the Arcane Forest to approximately halfway across the northern lake. Key properties in this protectorate zone include Thistle's Family Castle, Azrael's Azure Mountain, Castle Blood, and the Proudwater Naval Base.

The land from the lake northward still belongs to the native tribes, but Titan is contemplating further treaties to accept them as Titan citizens, thereby gaining full access to the vast steppes that stretch to the northernmost edge of the Fenris Mountain range.

Allies

Titan Flag, Motto, and Symbol

The symbol of Titan is the griffon, which symbolizes Titan's tenet of protection and vigilance. The Titan Motto is "Unitas in forte, fidelitas in honore, veritas ante omnia", which translates to "Unity in Strength, loyalty in honor, truth above all". Sometimes, the motto is shortened to just the final phrase, "Veritas ante omnia".

The flag of Titan is a black standard, with a two facing griffons outlined in gold. The clan shield is black with a red cross. In the top-left quadrant there is a gold casltle and in the lower-right quadrant there is a gold griffon. The Clan Seal with two golden griffons on either side and the clan's motto written in a circle on the center.

While it is not an official Titan symbol, the fleur-de-lis (lily flower) is often used in clan banners and designs.