Cognitive Dissonance is important to me (as it is to many of you). Not many people outside gaming understand that, but it has grown to be a learning space for so many, an extension of our pln's, and a social outlet for others. For me, a leadership challenge I have been more than willing to take on. Over close to two and a half years the guild has evolved as players come and go. Most recently we have seen steady growth due to publicity, as well as changes to players based on personal choices.

For some, those personal choices are private matters that that needs to be honored and respected and kept, well, private. Even if we don't have all the information we need to understand.

Marciage has agreed to help me out a bit. I have promoted him to grand council. I respect and trust his perspective and approaches. I have been honored to have him as part of the guild leadership structure, and humbled to have him agree to assist me in this way.

There are a few other items that I need to address. I am coming to a point where writing and my dissertation will take over my WoW time for a while. I need people to be patient and understanding with what may be perceived as my "not being around a lot at times". It is not that I don't want to be here, it is that I have a life goal that needs to be completed and I have to set priorities for myself and my family.

I also need players that are willing to take on a few challenges. I am looking for someone(s) to manage 10 man raid content within guild. Those of you who know what this entails recognize it is a commitment, and I would be more than grateful for someone who stepped up to grow this aspect of CogDis. I am looking for someone to become a PvP captain, willing to help and manage and explain this aspect of the game to players in the guild who want to learn more. I am looking for player-teachers who are willing to formally mentor new players to our ranks. There is a wide span of game goals across the guild, and I would like to know that our newest are getting the support and attention that they need. I am also looking for someone willing to develop website content and facilitating forum discussions - including linking to resources for players or gaming research helping us all become empowered learners. If you are up for any of these challenges, please contact me in game and we can plan a strategy that works for everyone.

Thank you all for being part of CogDis, each of you is important to what we are and will be. May Elune be with you!

The Founding Charter
Ab Ordine Libertas

The Small Guild Alliance was founded on the basis of cooperation and shared experience; pooling our collective skills to become greater then the sum of our parts. When we began, our small size and modest goals required little management, and the quality of our members ensured our positive growth. Now as one of the larger alliances, we decided to lay down our intents and purposes in this document. Through this we may have a blueprint by which we might plan our growth, and ensure the continuation of our incredible success.

The foundation of the SGA was based on cooperation, and so should it be continued. All actions and decisions taken by SGA members should be considered on positive aspects they bring to the SGA. Key amoungst these ideas is respect and good faith towards all SGA members. Honorable conduct best represents members and their guilds and should always be the rule. Courtesy and graciousness are expected. Discourtesy will not be tolerated; seek to represent your guild in the best possible light at all times. Seek to better yourself and those around you through assistance and diplomacy, never fear to help or assist. Be kind and expect the same, all of these things are fundamental.

The SGA is an oligarchy; authority over SGA matters ultimately rests with a handful of founding members, but consensus will tradionally be sought. It is however merely an organizational body, and not a ruling one. All members guilds maintain total sovereignty as SGA members; the SGA will not engage in any aspect of guild management, notwithstanding situations where such management is requested. As a result, all guilds accept total responsibility for the actions and behavior of their members, though the SGA leadership reserves the right to exercise authority over SGA events and proceedings. Membership within the SGA is granted to all members of SGA guilds; though it may be individually revoked if SGA rules are repeatedly violated. Extensive violations may imperil the membership of the guild itself. Individual membership is lost upon leaving an SGA member guild.

The SGA is administered by selected representitives of each founding guild (Cognitive Dissonance, Riders of the Moon, and Silent Cartographers); traditionally each guild leader and a selection of officers, though this is at the discretion of the guilds themselves. These representitives hold authority to govern SGA rules and conduct, though concensus should be traditionally sought from leadership of every member guild. Admittance of new guilds to the SGA can be sought by anyone at any time, requiring a consensus of the founding members. All new guilds are admitted on a conditional basis, and may be rejected at any time by a single founding vote. Conditional status will end once the founding members vote to accept that guild as a permanent member; after which removal can only be accomodated by all three founders voting as such.

The endeavor of the SGA is to ensure the fun, fairness and equality of all its members, to that end all decisions should be made in good faith, and with the intent of promoting well-being and good morale amoungst every member. Beyond the scope of administrative affairs, all members are considered equal. With no benefits given to seniority, rank, skill or progression. It should be the intent of all SGA members to act in the best interests of the group, while always considering the fairness to the individual.

All SGA members enjoy the freedom to any views, beliefs or opinions they may have without fear of discrimination, though discussion of inflammatory subjects within SGA channels may be prohibited. Racism, sexism and all other forms of hate speech are subject to the most severe penalities, including immediate expulsion. All public SGA channels, including the Public SGA Channel, the officers channel, raid and ventrilo, are all considered to be family-friendly environments. Crude language or inappropriate subjects are not permitted, this applies dramatically more so on Ventrilo. Inappropriate language on voice communication during SGA events may result in removal from the event, and further disciplinary actions.

All members have the freedom to plan SGA events of any kind, as long as they do not directly conflict with official raids. Every member should feel welcome to participate in any non-private events, and all should be encouraged to take part in discussions in any of the non-restricted SGA channels. Members may voice opinions or issues to SGA leaders and at any time, and all members will be given equal weight in the consideration of any subject.

Through the SGA channel members are free to take part in events, whether social or gameplay oriented, engage in positive discussions, or seek the assitance of their fellow members on any topic. All members are required to be respectful and helpful to one another, and should never disregard another members question or opinion. All members are encouraged to utiltize the resources of the alliance guilds, whether for crafting or otherwise. Everyone should be encouraged to supply their expertise to other members at little cost as long as it the service is not itself costly or inconveinent; this is at the discretion of each member, but generosity is looked upon favourably.

Alliance Raid Charter
Ex Tyrannis Victus

Notwithstanding all the rights confered to members by the General Charter, while attending SGA raids, members are required to adhere to the code of conduct as described in the Raid Charter. The Raid Charter requires all responsbilities of the General Charter but grants none of its freedoms. The raid charter applies during SGA official progression raids, and not to introductory or casual raids, and may or may not apply to unofficial member organized raids, if decided so by that raid leader.

The raid leader is the ultimate authority on all subjects during the raid period; they should be the arbiter of any disputes or issues that arise therein. However the raid leaders authority can be revoked if they flagrantly act against the intentions of the founding SGA principles.

In terms of formation of raids and raiding events, invitations will be supplied to all eligible members who meet certain basic requirements for the given raid, which will subjectively change at the discretion of the raid leader. Invitations will be sent out seven days before the raid event. As official raids are currently held Saturday night, sign-ups for the follow weeks raid will be available shortly after the completion of the current raid. Sign-ups will remain open for five days - until Thursday at Midnight Central Time on our current schedule - at which point the raid will be locked and no more sign-ups allowed.

Choosing 'Accepted' as your raid status commits you to being present for the raid, and failing to attend after commiting to do so will be strictly penalized with No-Show status reducing your priority for future raids. It is strongly recommended that members take the maximum amount of time to ascertain their availability before choosing a status. 'Tenative' status will be disregarded.

Once the events have been officially locked, unlocking the event by a moderator is prohibited, except as detailed below. Members may change their status at any time during the week, either by calendar controls, or by contacting any of the raid moderators - indicated by the symbol beside their listing for the event - however once the raid is locked, members may only change their status from Accepted to Declined, and must do so ahead of time. If not they must contact the raid leader, or have someone else do so, in order to inform them they will not be attending. Failure to do so will result in a no-show and the penalities thereof. Emergencies do not follow this guildline, and members will never be penalized for emergencies if the raid leaders are notified within at least a week following the event.

There is no priority given to early sign-ups. All signups between Sunday and Thursday night are considered of equal priority for invites. Be certain of your availability before choosing a status.

Raid times indicated the official start time of the raid event - that is combat itself - therefore all members are expected to be online and ready twenty minutes before the scheduled start time; at which point invites will be sent out. All attending members should be online with the character with whom they've signed up; in general you may bring any character you wish, but you must be online with your sign up character to receive an invite. If you expect to regularly not be bringing your character with whom the invite is sent to, ask a moderator to replace it with another. Do not under any circumstances contact the raid leader and ask them to invite a specific character; you must log on with the character you've signed up with to receive an invite. There will be an opportunity given to you before the raid to switch to your desired character, though the raid leader will have full control over the raid composition and may overrule you.

Do not under any circumstances contact the raid leader, or anyone else to hold a spot for you, if you are not online when invites are sent out, you imperil your placement.

Invites will be sent out to all Accepted status members; if the raid reaches capacity before all receive invites, restructuring will be undertaken, taking First Priority members, explained below, after which those with 'no-show' status will be dropped - which then returns them to normal status - then the lowest gear level, determined by the raid leader, will be dropped until all invites are sent. Any members who do not meet the basic eligbility for the raid will be dropped regardless, unless the raid leader decides otherwise. In an overflow situation, any members who are dropped or those whom voluntarily leave to accomodate others, will be given First Priority status. These members will always be the first selected for the next attended raid, as long as they meet its basic requirements. This status remains until that member attends an equivilent raid, and will only be granted from being dropped from a progression raid.

Invitations will continue for ten minutes, after which, if spaces still remain, raid invitations will go out to all online SGA members via the SGA Channel and through their guilds representitives. Invitations will be sent based on elibility for the raid, past attendance and raid composition, all of which is at the discretion of the raid leader. Inadequately geared or prepared members may be disallowed. After five minutes no priority will be given to Accepted members, and five minutes following that - the designed raid start time - all Accepted members will be marked No-Show unless prior notice was given by them or a proxy, even if they attend later in the raid. These rules may be suspended or modified at any time, at the discretion of the raid leader.

Once the raid has begun all members are expected to be in the instance, or if not, heading to it with all managable haste. SGA members now lose their status as SGA members and are now considered SGA raiders, and are under the direct and complete command of the raid leader, or leaders. Within the confines of the raid itself, the raid leader is the absolute authority, and may supercede any or all SGA Charter rules, if it might be considered to be for the benefit of the raid. The raid leader may decide raid composition, assignments, strategy and any other elements of the raid itself. The raid leader may remove raiders from the raid at any time, if they feel they are disruptive to the raid. The raid leader's authority, within the raid, supercedes that of SGA leadership, guild leadership and Loot Council authority in all raid matters. However the raid leader may not excercise any authority outside of the scope of the raid, and the raid leader must ensure their duty is to the enjoyment of all involved first; it is recommended that their unlimited authority be tempered by concensus where possible.

During the events of the raid itself, all members should demonstrate their highest qualities, both in terms of performance and personality. Be deferent and honorable to fellow raiders, and show respect towards the raid leader and Loot Council. Air all grievances to the raid leader privately. Raiders should be reserved and attentive in communication; both in Raid Chat and in Ventrilo, whose use to listen to the raid leader is a strict requirement. Ventrilo communcation should be kept to a minimum, in specific during any encounters that require raiders to coordinate actions via voice communcation. Raid Chat in general can be considered for more casual conversation - however this does not apply during loot assignement during which all raid chat communcation is prohibited, unless related to the requests of the loot council.

When engaging in encounters where explaination is required by the raid leader to some or all of the attending raiders, we ask that everyone allow that person to speak over ventrilo freely - raid chat is the ideal place to discuss whatever you like during this period. If you have suggestions you wish to make, whisper the raid leader directly and allow them to decide if they wish to promote the suggestion, at which point we ask that the raid leader attribute it to whom suggested it. During explaination of fight mechanics it is not appropriate to introduce conflicting information, either via raid chat or ventrilo, and any disagreements of strategy or corrections of mechanics should be addressed to the raid leader privately. Introducing new techniques mid-raid for any reason is prohibited for everyone but the raid leader. However all raiders should feel free to suggest any idea they like to the raid leader, who is required to consider the suggestions. Clarifying information for fellow raiders in raid chat, if it does not conflict with the raid leader, is encouraged however, and should be done freely. Attempt to avoid simply rephrasing and then restating the complete strategy however.

After an encounter is successfully completed, all dead raiders will be resurrected; at which point loot assignments will begin. Leaving your computer during loot assignment waives your right to any loot from that encounter. If a raider must leave their computer, you must notify the loot council ahead of time. A reason for the absence is not required, however this should only be for emergencies, repeated delays of loot assignment will result in removal from the raid at the raid leaders discretion. Once all raiders are confirmed alived, loot assignment will commence in the following fashion. Raider chat from this point forward is prohibited.

• Announcement of loot assignment beginning via raid warning.
• All items will be linked at once.
• After 10 seconds any generic upgrade items such as trophies, will be linked.
• All raiders who wish to roll may do so now, rolls will be checked for 10 seconds, after which a last call will be made. If no more rolls follow immediately the item will be given to the highest roller.
• Once generic upgrade items are assigned, the remaining look will be linked one at a time, in the follow order: Weapons, All other gear, Patterns, Crafting Items.
• Each item will be linked one by one based on priority. For each that is linked, raiders must state they intend on roll on something.
• The loot council will confer, and confirm the eligibility of the rollers, and if there is no concerns, will ask that all that stated they will roll now do so.
• As before rolls will continue for 10 seconds, then last call, and finally assignment. Rolling without having stated your intention to do so ahead of time, will result in your roll being void and possible disciplinary action.
• Rolling will continue for each piece in turn, until complete.

The loot council will be comprised of three SGA members, appointed by leadership, whose purpose is to determine the suitability of a given piece of gear for the raiders whom wish to roll on it. In general they will not make specific decisions about stat weighting, such as the suitability of Armor Penetration for a given spec, but may restrict people whom are demonstrably ill-suited to a piece of gear from rolling on it. If the loot council decides someone is not eligible for an item, they will say so, and why in raid chat, giving that person an option to contest. This should not be a drawn out process, and as much as possible the loot council should err on the side of the roller if they are uncertain. If a raider does wish to contest the loot councils decision they may state their case very briefly in raid chat or ventrilo. In general even weak arguments should be given the benefit of the doubt - the loot council should not act as arbiters of who should use what stat, however this is their right.

There are an enormous amount of rules that could be said to determine loot assignments, however none can be said to cover all possible scenarios. Ultimately the loot council decides to whom goes what items. Ideally there should infrequently be restricted rollers, and if so, it should ideally be for an obvious reason. For the foreseeable future all classes will roll on their 'native' armor class type only; this is a controversial decision and ultimately has no right answer, but for the purposes of fairness and based on our analysis of the current loot tables, this has been our determination. The loot council members themselves may roll as well, though if they are contested by another member of the council they may not protest the decision, and will lose the roll automatically. The internal debates of the Loot Council will be done in secret and not made public beyond their rulings.

During the Loot Council process, 'Fake' rolls, weighted rolls, or any kind of chat disruption during rolling may result in removal from raid. If the person who receives a given item decides they do not want it, they must either return it to one of the Loot Council, or to the person who rolled 2nd highest to them. Trading any item to a player who did not take the next highest roll, or did not roll at all is strictly prohibited.

Raiders may not contest other raiders elibility for rolling during the process, if they believe someone is unfairly rolling they may contact a Loot Council member privately.

Once a raider has a received an item from an encounter, they may not roll on any further items from that specific encounter, except for basic crafting items such as Orbs, which do not count. There is not an official restriction on the number of items a person may win in total from multiple encounters, however we ask that people be modest in their aquisition of gear and be generous towards their comrades.

Contrary to our loot policy so far, raiders will not be able to roll on any spec they choose throughout the night. Raiders will only be allowed access to items that compliment their raiding spec. If a raider wishes to receive healer or tanking items, and is specced for DPS, that raider must switch specs and ask to be given that roll. The raider is expected to be able to perform at the required level of their chosen spec; tanks in particular should have extensive experience on the fights as a DPS if they are tanking for the first time. In virutually all cases we should be able to compose the raid in order to suit the needs of each persons chosen spec, though the raid leader may override your choice if it damages the ability of the raid to complete encounters. This rule does not apply if players switch spec partway through the raid in order to assist the raid in completing the encounter. Players who go above and beyond will not be penalized with loot they do not typically need.

The loot council will be moderate in its application of this rule in situations where we require players to be a spec not of their choosing; they will not be inflexible on a case-by-case basis.

Crafting plans may only be rolled on by classes capable of crafting those items, and those people should make themselves availible to other SGA members whom wish to have the pieces crafted, as long as they supply the materials. It is considered dishonorable to charge a fee, if materials are supplied, for crafting items for SGA members if the plans for the item was won in an SGA raid.

After every item is assigned, applicable bosses will be called on to be rolled for, if they provide additional items via skinning or engineering, et cetera. This is more unofficial and should be conducted very quickly. After all loot is assigned the Loot Council will end and regular raiding will resume; if any raiders have left their computers during the loot assignment, the raid leader will check for this before continuing. Loot is a reasonable time to take a short break if you don't need to roll on anything, however it is very impolite to remain away after loot is finished, and prolonged absence of a few minutes may result in removal. There will be designated breaks during the raid at the raid leaders determination, and if you do require some time away, simply notify the raid leader as such, via whisper. Unannounced absences will typically result in removal if prolonged, or repeated.

Raids will continue for a period of time as announced by the raid leader before the raid itself starts. While there will be breaks during the raid, raiders are expected to attend for the duration, as leaving during a raid without valid reason may be marked as a No-Show at the discretion of the raid leader. If you will be only able to attend for example, 2 of the 3 raiding hours, tell the raid leader so before the raid begins, this may result in you being passed over, however you will be given First Priority status in this situation, versus No-Show status if you simply left. Raids will nearly always range between 2 and 3 hours, ending early if a natural ending to the raid has been reached, such as completion of a dungeon or inability to progress. The raid leader alone determines when a raid ends, however any raider may freely leave after the designated raid period, stated by the raid leader beforehand, has lapsed. Raids typically end around 10:30 Central (Server) time and attendance past 11:00 Central (server) is never required.

We recognize that even a short block of time can be difficult to allot completely to one task for certain people, for this reason there are several valid reasons that will always be accepted in every scenario for short absences or a need to leave.

• Anything regarding the care of children
• Sudden illness or other medical issue
• Emergencies of any kind

In general these are accepted for any absences that might arise, we do ask however that if your situation requires you to be away for more then ten minutes, that you ask to be replaced, unless the raid leader feels that a break in general is appropriate. Leave a raid for any of these reasons, as long as the raid leader is aware of it, will not result in a No-Show status. It is of paramount importance that each raider take care of their family and themselves first and foremost. After all it is our founding purpose to promote the prosperity and enjoyment of all our members.

We ask that all raiders give their best effort in any encounter we tackle, as well as reading about new encounters ahead of time, something that would be very helpful, of course the standard elements of knowing your class and abilities are vital. In addition each raiders performance may be greatly aided by the use of a few addons available online. These are not strictly required, but will significantly improve ones performance, and so we ask each raider to consider their use.

• Deadly Boss Mods
• Omen Threat Meter
• Recount

Recount will allow you to track both your own DPS, as well as critical elements of a fight such as what killed you and how, who broke your CC and where the healers mana ran out. Omen will allow you to very accurately track your own threat, which is critical a raiders gear begins to improve. Finally, Deadly Boss Mods, in addition to having the basic announcements everyone will see in the raid, will give you meters and accurate timers for special abilities that can interupt or kill you; a huge benefit to have this installed.

This is a living document and may have changes made to it over the coming weeks, any changes made will be recorded below so that mutliple repeat readings are not required. This initial document was written based around the input and suggestions of a large number of SGA members, and was first drafted January 26th, 2010.

http://web.me.com/cjsdpars/victoriagloucester/Blog/Entries/2010/1/13_May_Elune_Light_Your_Path.html

Some people may know that Vyktorea is a twin. Two nights ago her brother, Kylthorne, passed away.

 

I met Scott Swanson one Sunday night in the spring of 2007 while working my docent shift for ISTE in SL. In very Victoria form I was spouting questions to spark conversation and “Kyle” did not miss a beat. Looking back at my SL blog, the post I have entitled “Kyle Thorn” begins with “he had me at hello…”. From that point on we spent many a night contemplating life venning in and out of virtual worlds. He was a founding member of Cognitive Dissonance, a pivotal part of establishing ISTE in SL, and no matter what he was my friend.  He would stop and listen at any moment giving support and sometimes holding a mirror up that one did not want to see.

 

I have my stories, such as when I was driving home from work one night at midnight he stayed on the phone with me the entire way ensuring I was awake and safe and called me back EVERY time the call dropped. The list could go on for pages and I will spend some time recalling each moment.

 

Relationships ebb and flow. On one hand I have walked arm and arm through the parks of Atlanta with Scott and on the other I know I have called him a manipulative SoaB. The diversity of emotions between those two events to me sum up what Scott brought to my life: honesty, inquiry, emotion, learning, opinion, caring, examination, love, assumption, intensity, curiosity, and friendship.

 

I am glad to know that the last time we were together I wrapped my arms around him tight when saying goodbye and told him “I love you” and heard him say the same.

 

To Kylthorne, may Elune light your path. To Scott, thank you. I learn from you even now. Death may end a life but it does not end the relationships that go on in the minds of the survivors.