Everything below is all stuff that is defined in the CoC and the Charter of the Guild, throughout, but this is an attempt to bring it together, in a more compact fashion. Remember this in all your dealings with the Old Timers Guild.
Statement of Community
We have a lot of opinions here in the Old Timers Guild. You may or may not agree with everyone’s opinion. The chances are that you will not agree with everyone. Welcome to the human race. You are free to share your opinions, and differ with others, as long as it is done respectfully. If you share your opinion, be prepared for someone to disagree, and possibly even make a better sounding (if erroneous) argument than you. If you cannot “take it”, do not “dish it out”.
However…in all things here…you must respect each other. Disagree with the point made, not with the person making the point. The CoC is great but it does not, nor will it ever, encompass everything- nor should we try and make it encompass everything. The Old Timers Guild is founded on no drama, among other things. The staff needs to be able to diffuse, remove, etc. drama (especially repeat drama) whether it’s part of the CoC or not. That is one of the many reasons we say the 1st Amendment of the United States of America does not apply here. The staff will step in if things are getting heated. Respect them and listen to them. It may be a judgment call, and you may disagree with it. That is your right, but you must respect the call of the staff. I assure you that we continually debate what is and is not allowed here, monitoring the “temperature”, so to speak, of OTG. If the staff has overstepped, the leadership will tell them. But that is for the leadership to decide.
If you continually butt heads with others, you need to take a look at yourself and decide if the problem is with you. If your position is “If everyone doesn’t like my style, then that is their problem,” then the problem is with you. If you are laying the onus of getting along on everyone else and not taking up your responsibility to be a good citizen of the Old Timers Guild, then you are being selfish and the staff will call you aside, unofficially at first, and then officially. We let people march to the beat of their own drummers regarding humor, likes, and dislikes, but we are a community, not a collection of individuals. You may or may not care what others think, being a strong person, but you have chosen to join a community and have a responsibility for how you act in that community. It’s right there in our CoC - “praise in public, disagree in private”. If you disagree with an opinion, make sure you are disagreeing respectfully. Re-read your own posts. Make sure it is clear without being disparaging of the individual. If you are READING a post - give it the benefit of the doubt. If it can be taken two ways, assume the nicer/better one. If you choose to not consider others when you write, or when you read, then the staff will, and the Administrative Team will back them to the hilt.
Everyone came here for “no drama”. It doesn’t mean no fun, no opinion, and no disagreements. That happens. It is how we as a community deal with it that determines what happens next. The staff is tasked with interpreting that. It’s a TOUGH job. Make it easier on them. Add to the community, respect others, and check yourself if you see drama occurring.
Drawn from the Guild Charter (entire), and Code of Conduct (entire).