A Guide to the CVRIA

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Useful Curia Links

-- The Constitution -- Quaestiones Perpetuae (Citizenship Proposals) -- Prothalamos (Proposals and Discussions) -- Curia Vote -- Consilium de Civitate Archive --
-- Citizen List -- List of Curial Officers and Suspended Citizens -- Curia Reports --

Discussion Threads: Townhall - Curial Feedback Thread | Curial Election Commentary Thread | Curial Commentary Thread

The Tabularium Records: Annals of Amendments | Annals of Curial Decisions | Annals of Curial Officer Elections | Register of Medals Awarded by Vote of the Curia

Guides: A Guide to the CVRIA | Guide to Patronising New Citizens | Citizenship Templates

A Guide to the CVRIA

Preface

First of all, welcome to the Curia. It is a special and unique place that serves the site in a huge way. Of course, such a body is multi-faceted and at times difficult if not impossible to understand. In this guide we, the authors, have consolidated most of what you need to know in a handy guide that is ready to use. It is our hope that use of this guide will result in a deeper understanding of the Curia in general and it’s role on the site.

Citizenship is not to be taken lightly. In essence, Citizens are valued for their contributions and, in being valued, should act in a mature and responsible fashion; members aspire for your special role. Participate in the votes, propose an idea, be an active part of it. Don’t hesitate to propose something simply because you are afraid of making an error - others will help.

Contents:
Subfora
Citizen Classifications
Curial Offices
Curial Glossary
Curial Awards
Proposing a Bill

Subfora

The Curia is divided into 4 separate sections or subforums (pl. subfora, for us clever citizens). Each one handles a different aspect of running the site and overseeing the votes and bills proposed by the citizens.

The Quaestiones Perpetuae is where all Citizenship applications take place and is visible to all Citizens. It also contains the Citizen Antechamber sub-forum where all concluded public applications are archived.

The Prothalamos is the subforum where proposals are put forward for discussion with fellow citizens and members. Proposals which are supported by at least three other citizens will then be moved to a separate vote thread in Curia Vote forum by the request of the Proposer, while any continuing discussion stays strictly in the Prothalamos. You can indicate which way you are voting; the only restriction being public (non-Curial) support for a proposal, e.g. in sigs. The Prothalamos is open to posting and discussion by all site members regardless of citizenship, but other Curial forums and voting rights are still exclusive to citizens.

The Curia Vote is where all ongoing Curial votes take place, for example election polls and proposals made by Citizens. It also contains the Tabularium sub-forum where all concluded votes and election threads are archived.

The Politia forum is where the Curial Officers discuss the day to day running of the Curia, and is open to the Consul, Censors and Praefects. Praefects privately discuss disciplinary cases until they are concluded. Cases that remain private are archived in this forum, public cases are moved to the Citizen Antechamber.

Citizen Classifications

You by now should know all about the process of becoming a Citizen as you just went through the process. Now that you are a citizen, you are able to do things that you previously weren't able to do. The benefits of each classification are the same, they are merely ways to distinguish Citizens and honour them for their type of contribution to the site (as there are many ways to contribute).

The benefits of each are the same and include:

· The beloved custom user title
· Ability to post and vote in the Curia
· Ability to post in the Symposium
· Ability to run for a Curial Office

Citizen: The Citizen is the basic unit of the Curia, recognized for their contributions to the site and honoured with the title and badge. Citizens have made some form of contribution to virtually any area of the site.



Civitate: A Civitate is a class of Citizen that is recognized for their contributions to the site in the form of debating, constructive posting, and writing - whether that be Creative Writing, posting an article, or anything in between.



Artifex: An Artifex is a Citizen usually recognized for contributing towards the Modding aspect of TWC, and not always just TW games. An Artifex is more than likely part of a modding team or has created some form of mini-mod.

Patricians: A Patrician is still a Citizen, but one that has received one of the Curia's Large Awards, or served as an Administrator for more than 6 months.


Upon gaining Citizenship Citizens may choose how they would like to be recognized from the sub-classes above.

Curial Offices

Within the Curia there are several offices for which a Citizen can run. These include the Consul, Praefects and Magistrates. In order to run for these positions one must have been a Citizen for three months and not received a Moderation or Curial Warning in the past 6 months. Praefects may have further requirements related to moderation history and practice.

The Citizens Triumvirate was traditionally a trio of Citizens (2 Censors and the Curator) elected by the Curia to handle Citizen disciplinary actions i.e. when one Citizen has referred another for acting unbecoming of a Citizen. The Triumvirate has since been changed in that the Curator is now known as the Consul, and the Censors are no longer elected positions nor positions dealing with citizen referrals. Censors now act as the official Consul's Assistants, and the newly appointed office of Praefect deals with Curial Moderation as well as Referrals.

In the case of a Citizen receiving an infraction their case is referred to the Praefects for disciplinary measure. In essence, the Praefects responsible for additional disciplinary measures for Citizens alongside the punishment issued by Moderation.

If the body decides to take further action on a referral, the following disciplinary measures may be taken:

· Censure
· Suspension of rank for 1 month
· Suspension of rank for 2 months
· Suspension of rank for 4 months
· Suspension of rank for 6 months
· Revocation of Citizenship

The Consul is an elected Curial Official who manages the day-to-day issues within the Curia. Their responsibilities include, but are not limited to, putting up votes, and posting vote results in their respective forums. It is a work intensive position and crucial for the productivity of the Curia. The Consul, in a sense, is the local moderator of the Curia. The Consul is also responsible for interpreting the Constitution in cases where direction is unclear. The Consul must appoint at least one person as an assistant, known as a Censor, and you may see these people around helping out the Consul.



Any Citizen is eligible to run for these positions, provided they meet the criteria to become a Magistrate. Each Curial Office has a term of three months. If a Curial Officer is VonC’ed or found to be too inactive to carry out their duties, they may be removed by various measure upon which the Consul would then post new elections to fill the position.

CVRIAL Glossary

The Total War Center uses many 'legal' terms that are uncommon in everyday speech or that may and often prove confusing to the new Curia-user. Some abbreviations are:

VonC -- The 'Vote of No Confidence'; this is put forward in the Curia Main by a citizen who has become disillusioned or dubious about the skill, vision or acumen of any of the the Consul, Tribunes, Staff Members or Curial Officials. It will go to a vote, which, if won, will remove that person from office.

Veto -- The Veto is used in very rare circumstances. One instance is when a Citizen applies for a certain Curial position. If the Hexagon Council decides that said Citizen is technically eligible for the position (has the correct requirements) but is deemed unfit for said position, they can be vetoed. The Hexagon Council may also veto any CVRIAL decision.

Large Awards

Divus: the Divus is widely considered to be one of the highest honours that can be bestowed on a member of TWC. In order to receive Divus:

·The nominee must have served as a Site Administrator (or previous equivalents)
·Made clear and distinguished contributions to the community and provided exceptional service to TWC
·The nominee cannot be nominated within three months upon resigning as an Administrator

Any Citizen can nominate a member for the award. The proposing Citizen will create a thread to discuss on the matter and the legitimacy of the nominee will be brought to light. The procedure will follow Section 3 Article 3 of the Constitution and require a two-thirds majority of non-abstaining votes to pass. Should the nominee fail, they shall become eligible for re-nomination in six months time.



Opifex: An Opifex is an award conferred upon a member that is to be recognized for their contributions to modding or TW sections of the boards, either by modding or other contributions related to the those sections. Any member can be nominated for the position, and receive Citizenship if it is granted. Voting takes place for one week and a two-thirds majority of non-abstaining votes is needed for the vote to pass. If the vote does not pass, the member will be eligible for re-nomination in three months.



Phalera: Phalera is an award conferred upon a member contributions for contributions to any section of the boards not covered by Opifex. Any member can be nominated for the position, and receive Citizenship if it is granted. The voting process is identical to that of an Opifex award. If the vote does not pass, the member will be eligible for re-nomination in three months.



Novus: Novus is an award conferred to members who have contributed exceptionally to the site in the capacity of a Staff Member. Any member can be nominated for the position, and receive Citizenship if it is granted. The voting process is identical to that of an Opifex award. If the vote does not pass, the member will be eligible for re-nomination in three months.



Asterix Loincloth: The Asterix Loincloth is an award conferred to member who have demonstrated purity of mind and spirit on TWC, in the pursuit of humour and good times for all members. The voting process is identical to that of an Opifex award. If the vote does not pass, the member will be eligible for re-nomination in three months.

Medium Awards

Each of these awards has six degrees of worth: bronze, silver, gold, emerald, ruby and amethyst - and is awarded for service approximating to 3, 6, 12, 18, 24 and 36 months respectively under each branch. The Wiki Award is given by Discretion of the Director of Content. These awards are not generally given by a vote of the CVRIA.

Moderator’s Mace: The Moderator’s Mace is awarded at the discretion of the Moderation Overseers to Moderators who actively moderate the site.


Scribe’s Quill: The Scribe’s Squill is awarded at the discretion of Senior Content Staff to to Content Staff members who have contributed to official site content. The recipient could have served the site through contributing to the Helios, Eagle Standard or the Scriptorium (as a Librarian) for example.



Technician’s Screwdriver: The Technician's Screwdriver is awarded at the discretion of the Chief Technician to those who serve the site as part of Technical Staff or Vault Staff.



Gaming Staff Chess Piece: The Gaming Chess Piece is awarded at the discretion of the Gaming Hex to those who serve the site as part of Gaming Staff.


Modding Staff Anvil: The Gaming Chess Piece is awarded at the discretion of the Gaming Hex to those who serve the site as part of Gaming Staff.


Consilium de Civitate Service Medal: The Consilium de Civitate Service Medal is awarded to former members of the Cdec at the discretion of the Curator. The bronze medal is given for two completed terms as a member of the Consilium de Civitate; the silver medal is given for four completed terms; the gold medal is given for six completed terms; and the emerald medal for 12 completed terms. These medals shall be awarded to all those who qualify, past and present.



Wiki Contributor Medal: Awarded by Senior Content Staff in consultation with the Wiki Editor to those who have made exceptional contributions to the TWC Wiki.



Judge's Gavel: Awarded for significant contribution to the Tribunal process in the capacity of a Tribune or Magistrate at the discretion of the Hexagon Council.



Curial Service Medal: Awarded to any Citizen that has served the Curia with distinction for at least six months.



Man of the Hour: Awarded by the Curia for a remarkable deed that benefited TWC.


Artist: Awarded at the discretion of the Hexagon Council to those who have contributed art to the look of TWC. This includes, but is not limited to: Frontpage design, forum skins, badge art, medal art, interface art and helping the graphically challenged.



Professor’s Robes: Awarded for successfully instructing and carrying out a course in the TWC university. Awarded at the discretion of the Hexagon Council.



Graduate’s Diploma: A small award given to any member that completes a University course. This award is divided into three parts:

• Bachelor’s degree: completion of one course
• Master’s Degree: completion of two courses
• Doctorate: completion of three or more courses

Scriptorium Contributor's Medal: Awarded to the utmost contributors to the Scriptorium's Archives at the discretion of the Chief Librarian.


Gaming Service Shield: Awarded for contributions to admining hotseat games on TWC, or other service to gaming areas and gaming staff.

Proposing a Bill

First of all, you need an idea, or something to either change or add, often to the Constitution. When you've got that idea, go to the Prothalamos. This is where your proposal will be put to scrutiny, supported or opposed and discussed. You can find the Prothalamos on the Curia Main screen

Once you've entered the Prothalamos, it'll be just like any other subforum. To propose something, just click New Topic:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

As usual, it will come up with a New Topic screen:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Now to write your proposal. Your topic title will depend on what type of proposal it is. There are three types of proposal, and these are as follows:

Amendment - this proposal plans to alter something in the Constitution already, e.g. renaming a Curial officer, or adding something entirely new to the Constitution, e.g. creating a new award.

Decision - this proposal is an idea for improving the Total War Center website, e.g. creating a new subforum or designing a new skin.

Medal - this proposal is for conferring a special award or medal. Find more info in the Curial Ranks section above.

For sake of example, I'm going to show you how to propose an Amendment, since they are most prominent. The proposal will be as follows:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

When proposing an Amendment, you have to find the corresponding article or area in the Constitution, and copy paste it into your thread. For example, if I wanted to abolish the CVRIA, I'd go to Article 1 of "The Executive" section to find where they are mentioned. Here is the area of the Constitution mentioned:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Simply copy paste the text referring to your proposal. In my example, I'd copy paste the lower text box into my proposal. This text would accompany a summary of my proposal, and would be edited to what I would want it to look like. For example:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

The part I wanted to remove have been crossed out using the [DEL*][/DEL*] (minus the *s) tags and the replacement has been added using [INS*][/INS*] (minus the *s) tags. Once the proposal is added and discussed, generally it gains supporters. A proposal requires three citizen supporters and 3 days since the most recent major revision. Edit in the names of your supporters into your original post (as above). Then, it goes to vote and voila, you've proposed something.

This has been your Curial Guide. If you've got anything to add or change, just PM the Consul, the Censors or the acting Consul. Thanks again to The Sundance Kid, Pontifex Maximus and Shyam. Edited by Hotspurand, Soulghast. Redrafted by a Committee consisting of: Major Darling, Empress Meg, Mega Tortas de Bodemloze, Nole4694, Lysimachus. Revised again in October 2011 by Major Darling. Further given revisions by Okmin in January 2012. Given revision and corrections in August 2012 by Major Darling. Given further revisions in September 2014 by Major Darling and Shankbot de Bodemloze. Updated and revised again in 2019 by Hader.