Faction Rules

Code of Conduct:

BLUF (Bottom Line Up Front): RESPECT.

The "Golden Rule" of treat others in the manner you wish to be treated should be in effect at all times, because everyone is equal no matter who they are or what class they have chosen to play (No one is any better than anyone else EVER). This is the basis of the entire Hikari Faction philosophy and as such must always be in the back of everyone’s mind at all times, basically use some common sense.

In other words we are all here to have a good time, and thus don't make others feel unwelcome or uncomfortable by your actions and or statements.

Hikari is more than just another faction we are a FAMILY! And as such yes there will be disagreements from time to time but no one should ever feel that they not important. This means that everyone should help to encourage faction member though your manners, generosity, and moral conduct.


COMMUNICATIONS AND CHAT CONTENTS:


GENERAL:

Under no circumstances should any communications whether it be direct communications, Private Messages, World Chats, or Faction Chats should ever use language intended to harass, abuse, or belittle another faction member, player or faction. This should be in effect no matter whom they are or what they have done. Remember treating them with kindness and respect is a much better form of retaliation.

Voice Chat (i.e. TeamSpeak and Ventrilo) servers are available by some members of the faction, but as they are owned and operated by the individual members they are not under the direct control of the Hikari faction. Most of these services are used by the members associated with them for other games other than Perfect World International. Due to this those who own and operate these services are the ones who have final say over who is and who is not allowed to connect to them.

Public chat channels (i.e. Common, faction, and world chat) should only contain discussions that are appropriate for broad cast television, suitable for someone who is at a minimum 12 years of age (a general reference).

All players have the ability to “blacklist” other players in the game. This function essentially makes it where any communication on any of the chat menus is filtered and you will not see it from those you have blacklisted. This ability should be used as a final measure to stop dealing with offending parties.

FACTION CHAT:

This area should be used to discuss faction business, and conduct general friendly conversations. From time to time adult content may surface in the faction chat area, but should anyone become uncomfortable at any time speak up and ask the offending people to please take this to a private chat area. If they fail to do so please don’t hesitate to CONTACT an officer (executor, marshal, director, or leader) of the infraction. If those conducting the offensive discussions are an officer please speak up and call us on it. We will not be upset as we are all capable of straying just like anyone else. This also applies to conversations involving politics and religion as these are very confrontational subjects in nature so if those not involved in the main conversation become uncomfortable with the direction that the conversation is going or the subject for that matter please speak up and ask those parties involved in the conversation to please change the subject or move the conversation to a private chat area. Remember we don't know that you feel uncomfortable unless you SPEAK OUT and let us know we do not want to anyone to feel uncomfortable at any time. Remember we are all here to have fun and play the game.

This area should never be used for conflict resolution between members of the faction, this type of thing should rarely happen due to RESPECT but should it occur from time to time Private Chat should be used to come to a resolution. Should this type of thing spill into faction chat an officer will promptly ask the offending parties to respectfully take the confrontation to private chat for resolution, and any party not directly involved in the conflict is asked to please stay out of the conversions and let the individuals work this out for themselves.

This area should never be used to belittle, slander, argue or harass other players remember RESPECT.

PRIVATE CHAT:

This area should be used for conflict resolution between guild members, and messages between members that have been determined as inappropriate for the general faction chat area.

This area should never be used to belittle, or harass other players EVER. Should this occur, promptly ask the offending person to stop. If they persist in their actions, please contact an officer with a screenshot of the conversation.

This area can be used to vent to other players as it is private keep it that way, to paraphrase a famous tag line…What happens in private chat STAYS in private chat.

COMMON AND WORLD CHATS:

This area should be used for recruiting and for promoting the faction to other non faction members of the Perfect World International gaming community.

This area will also be used by the faction to advertise our help for those in the Heaven's Tear server community needing to complete their “FB” runs with an experienced squad in the most efficient and fast manner possible, more information on this will be listed below in the INSTANCES section.

This area should NEVER be used to belittle, harass, slander other players, faction members, or guilds as this portrays the guild in a negative manner. This area should never be used to “SPAM” or “FLAME” other members of the community or faction as this could portray you in a bad light and when that happens it also portrays the faction that way as such. Should anyone see another member of the faction doing this please confront them about it using private chat, should this not bring an end to the behavior please private message an officer to help bring this type of behavior to an end.

FORUMS:

This area, both the Hikari faction private forums and the Perfect World International public forums and wikis will be used for helping the faction and others in the gaming community.

One of our members has already contributed a wonderful sticky on the subject of forum etiquette, which has been sticked as “Hikari forum guidelines”, and as such I see no need to repeat the information again here, but all users should review that topic. This information contained there should be used not only on the Hikari forums but on those of the main Perfect World International official forums and wikis as well.

The Private Hikari forums will be used for helping other faction members, asking for help, scheduling faction events. This area will be a FUN place for the faction to come and visit leave screen shots tell of positive experiences and where we as individuals can share our experiences with those that should need it.

The Public Perfect World International forums and wikis will be used for all general non faction knowledge of the game. This area will be where you can research information on instances, class builds, equipment recommendations, etc. You are encouraged to use this area to help share your knowledge with those of the entire PWI gaming community.

These areas should never be used for spamming, flaming, belittlement, harassment, or slander of other members of the faction or the PWI gaming community. This type of behavior will give the faction a bad reputation, and will not make people feel comfortable with our members. Remember RESPECT is what you should be showing at all times. Should a faction member find a member has made posts of this type of manner it is asked that you bring this to the attention of an officer so that the situation can be reviewed and the individual contacted.

DISPUTES:

All members are asked to work out disputes for themselves in private chat one on one. Gossiping and belittling a member behind their backs will not be tolerated. If after attempting to resolve this for yourselves you feel that it is impossible to reach an amicable conclusion amongst yourselves. As a final step don't hesitate to contact an officer for a non biased decision in the matter, but should this happen please be aware that the OFFICER"S DECISION IS FINAL THERE WILL BE NO APPEALS TO AN OTHER OR HIGHER RANKING OFFICER, so it is in your best interest to work these things out on your own.

SUMMARY:

Please remember RESPECT at all times when communicating with faction members as well as the rest of the Heaven's Tear server community. Officers will have the final say when it comes to communications if you are asked to change the subject or stop a rant. You must respect their wishes and move on to another subject or take the conversation to private chat, failure to do so will result in disciplinary action being taken, more on this in the CONSEQUENCES section below. Remember the officers are not here to BABY SIT the faction members; you are old enough to ask responsibly and with RESPECT in their interactions with other people, just use a little common sense.


SQUAD BASED INSTANCES (FB, BH, TT, FROST, LUNAR, ETC.)


GENERAL:

Instances are special locations where players squad up in groups up to six (6) players each and all help each other work toward a common goal. These types of “parties” should be opened to faction members before looking outside faction to fill empty spots. The leader of the party will be responsible for making sure that all members are informed on the type of run and how drops will be distributed at the conclusion of a successful run.

FB & BH:

These instances are dungeons that contain a multitude of “elite mobs” and a 1 or more major bosses.

FBs are instances that all characters run once they have advanced to a certain level of experience. They are used to test the abilities of that individual and his squad. During this type of instance runs the “Tab Holder” will be the person that will receive any 3 star, Mold, and book drops (in higher level FBs) should they drop. The distribution will be set on random and you are responsible for turning over any drops that you receive. All faction members are required to act honorably during these runs and give up the required drops should you receive them during collection. The tab holder will have the final say if a different type of distribution method would be desired. During these runs, once the squad has been formed the “Tab Holder” shall be made the leader for the duration of the run. The Faction will from time to time advertise on World Chat and Common Chat to help those needing these types of instances to contact us for help running them. The faction will also have a Private Room set up in the chat area called HikariFBs for use in this type of recruiting, of instance runs. It is encouraged that all members of the faction join these rooms when logging on so when people come to the room for help we are available to help them.

BHs are a Daily Quest where players are asked to kill a certain boss for that day. These types of runs take place in the same instances as that of the higher level FBs. On these runs if not being done in conjunction with a FB run squad members are encouraged to determine drop distribution before the start of the run. Faction members are encouraged to help the other members who need them before going outside faction to completion of these instances. Most of these type runs require “Wines” to be made and used for removing most of the “elite mobs” from the instance. Due to this there are several ways to handle this which are: One person “makes” the wines (this can be either made or purchased from shops in game) and they get all drops that they want from the bosses that need to be killed. The squad members each “buy” their way in to the drop rate by either giving coins or a determined amount of each of the materials needed for making the wines. When this is done the drops will be a random grab bag thus everyone in squad has an equal chance of getting anything good should it drop.

TT / LUNAR / WARSONG:

These instances are dungeons that contain a marginal amount of “elite mobs” and several major bosses.

TTs (Twilight Temple), LUNAR (Lunar Glade), WARSONG (Warsong City) are instances where the squad works together to defeat bosses and mobs for quests inside each instance and for drops to make special high level gear (Level 60+, and Genie gear in the case of WARSONG). These instances require special items called ultimate substances, Essence of Nature, or Mirage stones, to unlock the areas you wish to go. During this type of run the squad should agree to the type of distribution system before the instance is EVER opened.

Round Robin type Distribution: In this type of distribution everyone will generally get something from a run. With this type the order should be: Person providing the Ultimate Substances (SUBBER), tank, cleric, puller, damage dealer. When you run into a multiples of the same classification it should be highest level chooses first (i.e. squad consists of 86 Barbarian, 90 Blademaster, 89 Venomancer, 88 Wizard, 84 Cleric, 92 Cleric, with 88 Wizard Subbing the run: order would be --- 88 Wizard, 90 Barbarian, 92 Cleric, 84 Cleric, 89 Venomancer, 90 Blademaster providing that the Venomancer was not tanking with a Hercules).

Need before Greed type Distribution: In this type of distribution everyone will agree before opening the instance which players need which drops and how many, should someone join the squad after the instance is opened that player must be informed that is for need and if they need the same type of drop as someone else it must be worked out before continuing on with the run. With this type of distribution system, not everyone will be guaranteed something as this type of run is usually run to help out your fellow faction members gather the required materials for their gear.

For Profit type of Distribution: In this type of distribution all members of the squad MUST agree before the instance is opened should someone come into the group after the instance is opened that person must be promptly informed that this run is for profit only. With this type of run all drops for gear that drop will be sold in the Auction House (AH) for 24 hours and the money distributed among the members of the squad once all items have been sold. With this type of run it is common practice to give the non collectable drops to the “Tank” for repairs, unless said character is a Venomancer with a “Hercules” pet tanking.
General occurrences that faction members should be aware of are: They type of drops will be distributed are as follows: (green named materials for crafting gear, mirage stones, and crusade orders {gold named materials will be handled in a special manner}). With all the different type of distribution systems a “banker” will be determined before the instance is opened, this person should be someone that is respected and trusted among the faction, new members are discourage from being the banker for at least one month after joining the faction. This “banker” will be responsible for collecting all of the distributable drops listed above when they drop after killing the bosses, all members of the squad are REQUIRED to drop any of these materials they receive while the drops are picked up. At the end of the run the “banker” will then distribute the materials according to the type of distribution system decided upon before the instance was opened.

Special Occurrences that the faction members should be aware of are : In the event that a Gold Named Material should drop during run, and the run was not a “Need before Greed” run where someone is specifically looking for the gold material, it should be listed in the Auction House (AH) for 24 hours and the profits distributed evenly minus the mailing fee of (500 coins) to each of the squad members, but should a member of the squad doing the run want to purchase the material on the spot he/she will buy out the other members of the squads share right there on the spot (i.e. a material is agreed to be worth 12 million coins in a squad of 6 members the person purchasing the material will pay the other 5 members of the squad 2 million coins right then and there). Should there be 2 or more people wanting to purchase the material it will be listed in the auction house and they can bid on it there.

In the event that the squad runs a Round Robin type distribution run and there are not enough drops to distribute evenly, there are basically three things that can be done and they are: 1) the drops can be taken and listed in the Auction House (AH) for 24 hours and profits split among the members. 2) The drops can be distributed in correct order with those getting drops giving coins to those getting nothing. 3) The squad “banker” can hold on to the drops and all members do another run together at a later time, with the squad working out who gets first pick if a different person should sub the run.

FROST (Forgotten Frostland), RB (Rebirth), and DT (Dragon Temple Raider), WB (World Boss) & COA (City of Abomination):

These types of instances and/or expeditions are where the squad or individual works to complete the instance and gain experience or items. With these instances it is basically every person for them self, even though you are in a squad it is to help move along faster, gain more drops, or working to take out mobs before looting the areas. These types of runs are usually done on a “random drop” where you keep what you get, you are not required to keep or give away anything that you receive on these runs (in the case of CoA it is impossible to trade the drops you pick up).

In the case of WB items should be passed out on a need base system or everything put up for sale in the Auction House and all proceeds split amongst ALL those who participated. The person who organized the WB encounter will be responsible for making a list of all those who were present for the encounter.

Everyone should be happy and work together as a large FAMILY and obtain the goal you are after.


SUGGESTED CONDUCT


The following are suggestions for interacting with guild members and the general public and should be used as a basic guidance; you are not required but just a road map if you will in the way of RESPECT.

FACTION MEMBERS:

It is highly recommended that you party with other faction members whenever the opportunity to squad becomes available, this does not in any way mean that you should not squad with friends in Real Live or others you have made from other games, all it means is that once you have a squad if you have extra room, make an effort to see if other faction members need what you are doing before filling from other venues. You should make attempt to make sure that when going out for instance runs that you take appropriate level faction members with you before filling spots with the general population of the Heaven’s Tear server. This should be done by making an announcement in the faction chat area that you are looking for members for the run and take them on a first come first serve manner. When you volunteer to go on a run please make sure that you are level appropriate for that run (i.e. a level 67 cleric should not volunteer for a FB 69 run as you will not get any experience for the bosses due to your level).

Faction members are asked to be tolerant of new members, and to share your knowledge with those how ask for help. This tends to bolster a large amount of good will and will lead to let the faction to become more successful as our members become more efficient and knowledgeable of the game. All members of the faction should attempt to support each other and have fun that is the main thing. Faction members are high encouraged to attend and participate in all faction events when they happen. Come be part of the family and enjoy yourself.

While everyone likes to be the master of their own destiny, this does not mean that should you leave that you will always have a place back here. This is not meant to say that should you choose to leave and then decide that where you went was not what it all cracked up to be, it does mean that if you leave the faction twice (except in the case of swapping out one char for another) that once you click that resign from fraction button you will not be allowed back. I know that we consider ourselves to be a large family, but we are not a dysfunctional one where you just keep leaving and coming back over and over again, after you leave the second time it is for good. Now should you contact a member that did not know you had reached your 2 chances Decus will remove you from the faction no questions asked.

On an additional note, anyone that leaves and returns will not have their position immediately restored unless prior arrangements were made with Decus and the general population was made aware of this before the departure happened.

Please remember that to paraphrase a famous saying yet again “What happens in Faction STAYS in Faction”. Please do not spread what has happened in faction with friends or others outside of faction. (I.e. a person leaves that is a friend and joins another faction, we then have a TW with that faction do not provide information on those going on the TW etc to your friend). Remember you are in Hikari your LOYALTY should be to your family first.

NON FACTION MEMBER/GENERAL PUBLIC:

Faction members should present the faction in a positive light at all times. When dealing with people outside of the faction members should not kill steal other peoples mobs from other players, sometimes this is hard to do especially in a “Wraith Invasion” type scenario, but all care should be taken no to do such things. Do not go and interfere with other faction’s events or quests. Do not belittle, slander or harass other factions or players on world chat. Do not coheres or steal members of other factions, you may ask them if they want to switch but, don’t cause DRAMA in another faction by coercing their members.

Do not leave a squad, or eject a person (member or not) from a squad under any circumstances without first explaining the situation so that all other members are aware of the reason.

Do not volunteer to help other with instances, bosses, crafting or other activity unless you can do so in a reasonable amount of time (i.e. 15 minutes), don’t expect people to wait until it is convenient for you to help them.

Do not under any circumstance commit any fraudulent or dishonest trade transactions (i.e. no scamming or cheating faction members or other of the Heaven’s Tear community be better than those you see around you.

Do not steal drops from instances or groups; this does not portray the faction in a positive light.

Any other form of Douchbaggery is frowned upon as well.

No one should BEG other players for money or equipment; this does not however discourage faction members from selling items to other members cheaper than the rest of the Heaven’s Tear Community, or loaning equipment to others until they can acquire their own. Members are encouraged to offer their old gear (legendary, 3-Star, and Twilight Temple) for other faction members to purchase before placing in the Auction House for sale. Members are not required to offer discounts to other faction members but remember don’t try to rip them off either.

Faction members should not continually ask or spam for the same boss, or instance help over and over again, one or two times is fine but please realize that the other members even the higher level ones also have quests to complete. If you do not get an answer in a few minutes please don’t get frustrated go to something else and ask again in a reasonable amount of time you might get a response. This also works the other way if you see someone asking for help and are unable to help them at that time, let them know so that faction members don’t feel like they are being ignored.

PK MODE:

Please be aware that all characters can go into PK mode at level 30 should they choose to do so. Also be aware of the consequences of your actions by entering into PK mode. If you choose to enter this mode of combat be aware if you are legitimately killed do not come back to faction chat and complain about it, there is nothing we can do unless you are getting killed repeatedly by the same individual. Along the same lines do not single out an individual or a faction to only PK this could very well start a faction war. One last thing about being in PK mode use RESPECT if a person does not attack you doesn’t attack them as it is not honorable unless you let them know beforehand.


FINAL THOUGHTS


If everyone RESPECTS everyone in faction and not and you should have a wonderful time, please don’t become the “Black Sheep” of the family. We want you to be part of Hikari and help us to become the best faction on the Heaven’s Tear server both in reputation and respect of the community. Thank you and welcome to the fun!!!


CONSEQUENCES


Anyone found to have violated the above rules and code of conduct will be held to the following consequences. These are listed by punishment with the types of offenses that will cause that action to be taken.

Reprimand – to be determined

Removal of Title – to be determined

Banishment from Faction – to be determined