New Syntagma

[Garbarsardar]

The following is my proposal for a new Syntagma. The main changes are the following:

• All references to Triumvirate/ON have been removed. Triumvirate is non existant and ON is beyond the Syntagma.
• Staff veto act has been re-worded
• Pro-Curator is drawn by the Patricians and elected by the Curia. it is reasonable since Curator comes from Hex, that his assistant can be elected by the representative body
• CdeC can be viewed by Patricians. The requirments for the rank are so high that it would be non-sensical to restrict viewing and posting only to the CdeC members and Hex.Voting remains as it was.
• Moderator elections remain as those were. The system produced excellent results no need for a change there.

The Syntagma

1. Preamble

• Membership Ranks:

1. Network Administrators & Moderators
2. Member Ranks and Rights
3. Staff Veto

• The Curia:

1. The Curia
2. Elections
3. Consilium de Civitate
4. Patronization
5. Citizens' Behavior
6. Legislation

• The Symposium:

1. The Symposium
2. The Councils

• Appendices:

1. Appendix A

Preamble

All Citizens are expected to adhere to the rules of the constitution and the Terms of Service.The constitution can be suspended the Hexagon Council in times of crisis or danger to the community and website as a whole. However, if the Council does so it is its duty to inform the Citizens as to why the action was taken and either how long it is to be suspended.

Network Administrators & Moderators

TWC is run by the Strategoi, who form the Hexagon Council. A majority vote of the Hexagon Council is the supreme authority on the site save for decision of the network admins. New Strategoi are appointed from among any members (although traditionally from the staff and ex-staff) by vote of the Council, and Strategoi may be removed by such vote. On any matter where the Syntagma notes some particular responsibility or right of the Hexagon, any of its members may fulfill that responsibility or exercise that right, possibly subject to internal Hexagon policies.

• Strategoi have the power to veto the actions of all lower staff members and can veto any action on TWC as per The Staff Veto Act.
• hold full administrative powers.
• have responsibility for the appointment and firing of all moderators and admins (although management and appointment of moderators and admins is usually delegated to the Site Administrator).

Moderators
The Moderators handle all moderation of the site and are directly responsible to the Administrators.

Tribounos - Magistrate
Any Hexagon Council's member has full powers to hire or fire Tribounos at will but, while retaining their powers, have delegated the elections of them to the Curia. Tribounos are voted into their position by the Curia (see Curia Elections section below). Citizens with one month experience in either Citizen rank are eleigible to stand for Tribounos. The total number of Tribounos, their assignments and powers are set by the Censor. If a Citizen is elected by the Curia then he will undergo a vote on Patrician status after gaining one month's experience. If they are already performing another function, as indicated in Appendix A, then this vote is initiated immmediately.

Local Moderators
These are members drawn from both the general membership and Civitates, Artifex and Patrician classes. They generally run personalized sub forums such as Mod Project forums or News sections and have the abilities to edit posts and Pin/Unpin, Close/Open and Move threads. Some specific local moderators are:

• Syntagma Pro-Curator - elected by the Curia to manage day-to-day duties in the Curia with moderation powers in the Curia and all its sub-forums. The Pro Curator is chosen from the Patricians as and when the Curator determines there is a need.
• Members appointed to handle some basic site responsibilities such as News writers, picture of the day, TWC daily news and so on. These people fall directly under the responsibility of staff and can be appointed and dropped according to the needs of the site.
• Content Staff - Members can be appointed to provide the community with content such as reviews, guides, walkthroughs and any other information which is of benefit to the community.

Member Ranks and Rights

All members of the Total War Center forums can be divided into the classes listed below. Each class confers to the member who holds it a specific set of rights and privileges unavailable to other classes unless specifically stated. It is possible for a member to hold more than one of these classes, in which case he may choose which he wishes to display while still retaining the associated rights of the additional classes he holds.

• Peregrinus
  The rank of Peregrinus is conferred automatically with registration to the TWC forums. Any Peregrinus has the right to ask questions and suggest changes in the "Questions and Suggestions"forum.

• Citizen
  Contributing members of TWC have the opportunity to become a Citizen of the forum as per the Patronization section of the Syntagma. There are two ranks of Citizen, one is elevated for their contributions to the Total War Community (Artifex), the other is elevated for their contribution to the Common Community (Civitate). All Citizens of TWC have limited rights to post within the Curia forum, as stated in the Curia section of the Syntagma. Both ranks grant access to the Symposium and the [insert name of new forum dedicated for advanced discussion of Total War.] Both ranks grant the right of Patronage if held for 3 months without any warnings.

• Patrician
  Patricians are members who have proved they are good posters (as conferred by the rank of Civitate or Artifex), are interested in TWC and have made a good contribution to it, and who therefore deserve the right to have a greater say in the running of TWC.
  
  
  • Patricianship is awarded by the Consilium de Civitate for significant contribution to TWC (Appendix A). None of these contributions provide automatic Patricianship however, but they do allow for nomination. In addition to those contributions, the member must have at least one month’s experience as a Citizen and have no active warnings at the time of the election. Patricians are expected to contribute to the developing the site. Involvement in the Curia is part of that.
    
  • Patricians have the same rights as Citizens but may also participate in the Curia to a greater extent, as stated in the Curia section of the Syntagma.
    
  • All Patricians may nominate members for Citizenship in accordance with the Patronization Section of the Syntagma.
    
  • Citizens may be nominated for the rank of Patrician by any other Patrician in accordance with the Patronization section of the Syntagma. There is no patronage link created in this process (as per Patrician/Citizen relationship).
    
  • The rank of Patrician can be removed by the CdeC as per the Citizens' Behavior section of the Syntagma.

• Senatorii
  Any Citizen who gains the rank of Magistrate will gain the rank of Senatorii. They will retain it upon retirement if time served as moderator exceeds twelve weeks and upon unanimous agreement of the Triumvirate. The Senatorii rank confers no advantage, save status. The secondary rank – Civitate, Artifex or Patrician is the one that determines where the member has access or the legibility for elections, unless stated differently.

• Opifex
  To qualify as Opifex, the nominee must meet the following Criteria:
  
  
  
  • Served the Total War Center or Total War Community with exceptional input to any of the boards or mods in any capacity other than staff.
  • The nominee must be seconded by a member of the Consilium de Civitate before it can go to a vote. Vote shall be refused to any user who fails the criteria for citizenship with regard to warnings and post count.
  
  
  Qualifying nominees shall be voted upon in the Curia for a period of one week, and a three-fourth majority will be sufficient to decorate a user as an Opifex. A user who passes the vote shall be awarded the rank of Artifex (if the nominee was not one already). A nominee who fails to achieve a three-fourth majority is eligible to be nominated again after a three month period.
  
  The secondary rank – Civitate, Artifex or Patrician is the one that determines where the member has access or the legibility for elections, unless stated differently.

• Divus
  To achieve apotheosis, the nominee must be seconded by 3 members of the Consilium de Civitates and meet the following criteria:
  
  
  
  • Served as a Triumvir or Hex member and subsequently has been a Senatorii for at least three months.
  • Provided exceptional service to TWC in their capacity as staff.
  
  
  After at least three days of discussion, qualifying nominees shall be voted upon in the Curia for a period of one week, and a three-fourth majority is sufficient to become 'Divus'. A nominee who fails is eligible to be nominated again after a three month period.
  
  A Divus is considered automatically to be a Patrician and retains all privileges of that rank.

• Curator
  The Curator is responsible for the day to day running of the Curia. The Curator is drawn from the Hex council. The Curator may request the election of a Pro-Curator to aid in this duty.

A "basic" member of a class is a member of that class but no higher classes, for instance, a Patrician would not be a "basic Citizen", but he would be a Citizen. Citizens have the right to have their highest class membership(s) revoked, provided they have publicly made a request to that effect in the Curia.

Staff Veto

Any Hex member can veto any act or descision on TWC. However this veto is considered provisional until approved by a majority of Hex members. The approval should be obtained in 96 hours.

The Curia

A special section shall be made in the forum to discuss pertinent topics in governance, a place for the Citizens to propose legislation, and to post relevant developments. The Curia is a place for the exchange of ideas, and if the rules against any infractions are tough in the normal forums, in the Curia, they are doubly so. The Curia is broken into distinct sections:

• Curia
  For general discussion of governance related matters. Polls are not permitted within the Curia main. All Citizens may post in this area and propose informal legislation for discussion, though it will require Patrician support to become officially recognised in the Prothalamos, as per the Legislation section of the Syntagma.

• Prothalamos
  An area specifically for formally proposing and discussing legislation and ideas relating to TWC, but not for voting. Only Civitates may post in this area.

• Curia Vote
  An area strictly used for voting on proposed legislation, as outlined in the Legislation section. Surveys are not permitted within this sub-forum. Only Patricians may post and vote in this area.

Additional areas may be added at the discretion of Curia members and following an appropriate vote.

Curial Elections

When a Curial election is required, and the Triumvirate deems it necessary, the Curator or Senior Staff will open a Qualification thread for the vacant position and post a relevant announcement in the Symposium. Applicants to the vacant position must post their reasons for wishing to participate and relevant qualifications within this qualifications thread, which shall remain open for no longer than one week.

Qualifying candidates are Citizens with at least one month of experience in either Citizen rank, and must also meet any further requirements stipulated by the specific position they are applying for. All qualifying applicants not vetoed by Staff go forward to a vote open for one week. If more than six eligible users apply and are not vetoed, the Staff may select the six they believe to be the most suitable to be voted on.

Where one position is to be filled, the candidate who receives the plurality of votes receives the position. Where two or more positions are to be filled, only one poll need be held, and the candidates with the highest votes are appointed. In the case of ties there will be a run-off vote between the tied members lasting three days.

Consilium de Civitate

Function:
The Consilium de Civitate (CdeC) manages the granting and removal of the ranks of Civitate, Artifex and Patrician through votes as per the "Patronization" and "Citizens' Behavior" sections of the Syntagma. The CdeC may also function as an advisory body to the staff of TWC in matters concerning the Curia and its Citizens.

Membership:
The Consilium de Civitate is primarily an elected body of Patricians. The full membership of the CdeC comprises of:

• 16 elected Patricians, who may discuss and vote on all matters within the CdeC forums.
• Senior Staff and Patricians, who may discuss all matters within the CdeC forums, but have no normal vote.
• The Syntagma Curator and Pro-Curator, who may take part in all CdeC discussions, and has the deciding vote in cases of a tie, but otherwise has no normal vote. The Curator has veto powers over any CdeC decision and may fire any elected member of the CdeC for non-attendance.

Elected members of the Consilium de Civitate must actively participate in discussions and votes, Senior Staff participation is optional.

Elections:
CdeC members are elected as per the Curial Elections section of the Syntagma - with the added requirement that candidates hold the basic rank of Patrician and have no Staff warnings at the time of election.

Each elected CdeC member has a term of three months starting from their date of election. When their term expires, new elections will be held for membership to the CdeC.

If a member of the CdeC resigns during their term, or if during elections less than 16 eligible Patricians apply in the candidates thread, the 'spare' positions may be filled by staff of any rank (with normal voting rights) until appropriate Patricians can be found to stand for election.

Patronization

Any Citizen holding their rank for three months without warnings can Patronise a peregrinus for Citizenship at a rate of one per month (subject to requirements, section1). The granting of Citizenship is determined by the Consilium de Civitate. The process for patronage works as follows:

1. The patron reviews the member before recommending him, ensuring the member has at least one hundred posts, has been a registered member for at least three months & has no warnings in the last six months.
   
2. The nominee sends a private message to explain his duties, privileges, and contributions towards TWC to his patron. The patron then sends this paragraph (along with his own paragraph outlining why he chose this person for a client) to a member of the CdeC.
   
3. The CdeC member then opens a thread and vote in the Consilium de Civitate section and the proposed nominee is then discussed and voted on.
   
4. If the nominee achieves at least a 75% majority, the nominee shall become a Citizen. This must be concluded within 1 week.

If a nominee fails his Citizenship vote he must wait a minimum of one month before being put up for vote again. The nominating Patrician of a failed candidate may not patronise again for two months. Members of the CdeC must abstain from voting on those they wish to patronize.

All CdeC votes associated with patronage shall be concluded within one week (7 days) of the thread being opened in the CdeC.

Points 3 and 4 above are used for the promotion of Patricians nominated by an existing Patrician as per the requirements listed in Appendix A.

Citizens' Behavior

The Consilium de Civitate (CdeC) handles all disciplinary proceedings against Citizens of TWC regarding the removal or temporary suspension of Curial ranks. No Citizen may be subject to more than one of the following procedures for a single offence. There are two kinds of disciplinary proceedings:

1. Referral from any member of the forum:

Any member of TWC may report a Citizen to a member of the CdeC for behaviour unbecoming of a Citizen. The specific procedure is as follows:

• The accuser must present a detailed charge.
• The accused is then asked to produce a written defence within 72 hours - they are shown the written charge but the name of the accuser is withheld.
• The CdeC has a further 72 hours to investigate the charges.

After this investigation, a public vote is held by the CdeC as to whether the accused loses one level of rank. A 75% majority of non abstaining voters is required in order pass. The vote must be closed within 72 hours.

If this first vote fails to pass, a second vote is automatically held as to whether the accuser should have their rank suspended 2 months for reckless use of the disciplinary process. This second vote operates the same as the first but must be concluded within 24 hours.

2. Referral for recieving a Staff Warning:

If any Citizen receives an official warning from a member of Staff, they will be automatically referred to the CdeC. A public vote will be held after two days discussion of the case. All relevant user notes of the accused member will be viewable in this discussion, and the accused may return no defence. The voting options in this vote depend upon the referred member's current Staff warning level.

• A warning level of one will result in a poll where the CdeC can vote for a suspension of rank of up to two months.
• A warning level of two will result in a poll with where the CdeC can vote for a suspension of rank for up to two months, or for a maximum penalty of permanent loss of rank.

A simple majority of non abstaining members is required for votes to pass, otherwise the case is dismissed.

Legislation

Any Patrician is able to post a Bill in the Prothalamos for discussion, which does not require named support. If a version of the bill becomes supported by a minimum of three other Patricians, the proposer can request that the Syntagma Curator move the supported version of a bill to a vote three days after it was first posted.

Should it be judged that after the minimum of three days more time is needed for debate on the subject, or that the debate is active, and moving the Bill would be premature, the progression to voting of the Bill may be delayed at the discretion of the Syntagma Curator. If the Syntagma Curator decides to delay the vote on a Bill beyond one month, then this decision is subject to staff ratification in the same way as a staff veto.

Once moved to vote, all bills shall be voted on over a one-week period. All Bills will be required to run for the full duration so that all Patricians may be able to vote if they so wish. Patricians are proscribed from viewing the results of any poll in the Curia they have not voted in. In addition, responses (including indirect methods such as signatures) in the Curia Vote sub-forum will be limited to notification of having voted. A Bill shall pass on the basis of a two-thirds majority in favor. Abstentions are not considered when determining whether a Bill has achieved the required proportion of voters. If any Bill fails a vote, no revote on a substantially similar bill will be permitted for twenty-eight days.

To the extent made possible by the forum software, no member will be able to view the results of a poll in the Curia until he has voted in the poll or it has closed.

If the forum software cannot reasonably be modified to prohibit viewing of poll results by any given member, that member, is hereby obliged on their honour as a Patricians not to view the results of any poll in the Curia he has not voted in unless necessary for the execution of any duties he may have to the site.

The Symposium

All Citizens of TWC have access to the Symposium forum. This forum exists as a general meeting place for both old and new Citizens of the Total War Center Forums. Within the Symposium, rules are generally more relaxed so as to allow for more concentrated debates to take place. Breach of the Terms of Service shall still be dealt with accordingly in this forum.

The Councils

Two Councils exist that advise the Staff directly about the Total War Community (Consilium Belli) and the Common Community (Consilium Pacis). They have their own subforums within the Questions & Suggestions forum.

Consilium Belli
Six members in total, drawn from the Civitates, Artifex and Patrician ranks shall be appointed by the Hex Council to discuss and advise on ideas concerning the Total War section of the forums. These members should have a strong background in the Total War modding community and be in good standing.

A public forum will be created in the Questions & Suggestions forum, where all suggestions regarding the Total War section of the Forums will be discussed. The Consilium Belli shall make necessary recomendations to the staff on issues of the TW Sections.

Appointment to the Consilium Belli:
Each member of the Consilium Belli has a term which lasts for a period of two months from when they are appointed. When a Council member’s term is due to end or a Councillor resigns, the Curator will choose when to open a candidates thread and post an announcement in the Symposium. Applicants must then post their reasons for wishing to participate and relevant qualifications within this qualifications thread, which shall remain open for 72 hours.

After the candidates thread is closed the Triumvirate will appoint as many new Councillors as are required at that time. Councillors may serve consecutive terms though in the interests of fairness the Triumvirate will attempt to introduce new qualified councillors when possible.

Consilium Pacis
Four Civitates or Patricians shall be elected by the Curia as per the "Curial Elections" section of the Syntagma to discuss and advise on ideas concerning the Common Community section of the forums. These candidates should have a strong background in the Common Community and be in good standing.

A public forum will be created in the Questions & Suggestions forum, where all suggestions regarding the Common Community section of the forums will be discussed. The Council shall make necessary recomendations to the staff on issues of the Common Community. Each member of the Consilium Pacis has a term which lasts for a period of two months from when they are elected.

Appendix A: Qualifiers for the Patrician Rank

1. Community News
   
   1. Eagle Standard Contributor or Editor
   2. Helios Contributor or Editor
   3. Podcast Contributor
   4. General Sun's Tent Contributor or Editor
2. Local Moderator
   
   1. Technical War Help Center
   2. The Basement
   3. The Mod Workshop
   4. Coliseum
   5. Foreign Language Discussion
3. Librarians
4. Tribounos
5. Member of CoW or CoP
6. Total War Contributions
   
   1. Modding Tutorials
   2. Modding Tools
   3. Open Source Modifications
7. Common Community Contributions
   
   1. Articles on History, Religion, Politics, Science, Art, etc.
   2. Gaming Reviews in the Circus Maximus
   3. Hosting Contests in the Coliseum
   4. Significant contributions to the Suggestus Forum
   5. Proposing legislation in the Symposium sub forum
8. Contribution to the Total War Community
   
   1. Repeated contributions of content such as articles, strategies and other general helpful information
9. Any other contribution, as Defined by the Senior Staff and CdeC, meriting consideration for Patricianship

[Spiff]

The section concerning Staff cant be set in stone as we haven't ourselves decided on the exact structure we will use.

Aside from that the Trib section could perhaps have this minor change

Network Administrators & Moderators

...

Tribounos - Magistrate
Any Hexagon Council's member(this depends on the agreed on staff structure) has full powers to hire or fire Tribounos at will but, while retaining their powers, have delegated may also delegate the elections of them to the Curia. Tribounos are voted into their position by the Curia (see Curia Elections section below). Citizens with one month experience in either Citizen rank are eleigible to stand for Tribounos. The total number of Tribounos, their assignments and powers are set by the Censor.

If a Citizen is elected by the Curia then he will undergo a vote on Patrician status after gaining one month's experience. If they are already performing another function, as indicated in Appendix A, then this vote is initiated immediately.

...

As for all Patricians viewing the CdeC forum, i cant see what youve changed to allow for that in this draft, but i really think it would require a substantial rewording of the CdeC, Behaviour, Patronization, Curia and Members rights and ranks sections to be put into proper effect.

To be honest though i would be against this. The CdeC for one thing handles disciplinary actions at the moment, and im not sure how comfortable the rest of staff will be with having full user notes and infractions displayed to such a large group on the forum.

As for Pro-Curator, i've no problem with that being an elected figure from the Patricians, and i would happily resign if the Curia enacted that proposal.


One thing though.. how the devil did you quote the Syntagma..? i thought people couldnt quote closed threads..


EDIT:

Also, Divus doesnt seem to be coming back as far as i know, though Senatorii is safe.

[Garbarsardar]

The section concerning Staff cant be set in stone as we haven't ourselves decided on the exact structure we will use.

Aside from that the Trib section could perhaps have this minor change

Network Administrators & Moderators

...

Tribounos - Magistrate
Any Hexagon Council's member(this depends on the agreed on staff structure) has full powers to hire or fire Tribounos at will but, while retaining their powers, have delegated may also delegate the elections of them to the Curia. Tribounos are voted into their position by the Curia (see Curia Elections section below). Citizens with one month experience in either Citizen rank are eleigible to stand for Tribounos. The total number of Tribounos, their assignments and powers are set by the Censor.

If a Citizen is elected by the Curia then he will undergo a vote on Patrician status after gaining one month's experience. If they are already performing another function, as indicated in Appendix A, then this vote is initiated immediately.

...

Yes this seems appropriate.

As for all Patricians viewing the CdeC forum, i cant see what youve changed to allow for that in this draft, but i really think it would require a substantial rewording of the CdeC, Behaviour, Patronization, Curia and Members rights and ranks sections to be put into proper effect.

To be honest though i would be against this. The CdeC for one thing handles disciplinary actions at the moment, and im not sure how comfortable the rest of staff will be with having full user notes and infractions displayed to such a large group on the forum.

I added "Patricians" next to "Senior Staff";easy.

I understand your concern but i remind you that the body is not as large as you think and that the requirements are extremely high. Why Hex should not trust people who achieved entrance to the Patrician class?

As for Pro-Curator, i've no problem with that being an elected figure from the Patricians, and i would happily resign if the Curia enacted that proposal.

I was actually thinking of your ascencion to Curator since Fab is not very much around...

One thing though.. how the devil did you quote the Syntagma..? i thought people couldnt quote closed threads..

But now you can quote it too from my post... Actually you can ask someone to forward it to you by PM...

EDIT:

Also, Divus doesnt seem to be coming back as far as i know, though Senatorii is safe.

I care not about honorary ranks although I see no reason to remove Divus from people like Sibs, Paul, GEN, Sulla...

But it is not a flaming issue for me.

EDIT: I was not aware that there is a discussion about staff structure. Was there a problem with the existing one?
Strange...I cannot think of any...

[Spiff]

Ok heres another draft, it has all the changes you suggested. Main change is the deletion of the CdeC section (which is added in brief to the Curia section). I appologise if there are errors or typos - its pretty late here. Im not sure if i like it yet.. but its a draft anyway.

The Syntagma

1. Preamble

• Membership Ranks:

1. Network Administrators & Moderators
2. Member Ranks and Rights
3. Staff Veto

• The Curia:

1. The Curia
2. Elections
3. Patronization
4. Citizens' Behavior
5. Legislation

• The Symposium:

1. The Symposium
2. The Councils

• Appendices:

1. Appendix A

Preamble

The Syntagma is the Constitution of the Total War Centre Forums.

All Citizens are expected to adhere to the rules of the Syntagma and the forums Terms of Service. The Syntagma can be suspended the Hexagon Council in times of crisis or danger to the community and website as a whole. If the Syntagma is suspended it is the duty of the Hexagon Council to inform the Curia why the action was required, and to estimate how long the Syntagma is to be suspended for.

Network Administrators & Moderators

(Subject to Change)

• Strategos
  TWC is run by the Strategoi, who form the Hexagon Council. A majority vote of the Hexagon Council is the supreme authority on the site save for decision of the network admins. New Strategoi are appointed from among any members (although traditionally from the staff and ex-staff) by vote of the Council, and Strategoi may be removed by such vote. On any matter where the Syntagma notes some particular responsibility or right of the Hexagon, any of its members may fulfill that responsibility or exercise that right, possibly subject to internal Hexagon policies.
  
  
  • Strategoi have the power to veto the actions of all lower staff members and can veto any action on TWC as per The Staff Veto Act.
  • hold full administrative powers.
  • have responsibility for the appointment and firing of all moderators and admins (although management and appointment of moderators and admins is usually delegated to the Site Administrator).

Moderators
The Moderators handle all moderation of the site and are directly responsible to the Administrators.

• Tribounos
  The Tribounos are the frontline moderators of TWC. Any TWC Administrator has full powers to hire or fire Tribounos at will but, while retaining their powers, may also delegate the elections of them to the Curia, as per the "Curia Elections" section of the Syntagma.
  
  Citizens with one month experience in either Citizen rank are eligible to stand for Tribounos should an election be called. The total number of Tribounos, their assignments and powers are set by the TWC Administrators. If a Citizen is elected by the Curia, he will undergo a vote on Patrician status after gaining one month's experience. If they are already performing another function, as indicated in Appendix A, then this vote is initiated immediately.

• Local Moderators
  These are members drawn from both the general membership and Citizen classes. They generally run personalized sub forums such as Mod Project forums or News sections and have the abilities to edit posts and Pin/Unpin, Close/Open and Move threads. Some specific local moderators are:
  
  • Members appointed to handle some basic site responsibilities such as News writers, picture of the day, TWC daily news and so on. These people fall directly under the responsibility of staff and can be appointed and dropped according to the needs of the site.
  • Content Staff - Members can be appointed to provide the community with content such as reviews, guides, walkthroughs and any other information which is of benefit to the community.

Member Ranks and Rights

All members of the Total War Center forums can be divided into the classes listed below. Each class confers to the member who holds it a specific set of rights and privileges unavailable to other classes unless specifically stated. It is possible for a member to hold more than one of these classes, in which case he may choose which he wishes to display while still retaining the associated rights of the additional classes he holds.

• Peregrinus
  The rank of Peregrinus is conferred automatically with registration to the TWC forums. Any Peregrinus has the right to ask questions and suggest changes in the "Questions and Suggestions"forum.

• Citizen
  Contributing members of TWC have the opportunity to become a Citizen of the forum as per the Patronization section of the Syntagma. There are two ranks of Citizen, one is elevated for their contributions to the Total War Community (Artifex), the other is elevated for their contribution to the Common Community (Civitate).
  • All Citizens of TWC have limited rights to post within the Curia forum, as stated in the Curia section of the Syntagma.
  • All Citizens are granted access to the Symposium and the [insert name of new forum dedicated for advanced discussion of Total War.]
  • All Citizens, who have held their rank for three months without receiving a Staff warning, may themselves nominate other members for Citizenship as per the "Patronization" section of the Syntagma.

• Patrician
  Patricians are members who have proved they are good posters (as conferred by the rank of Civitate or Artifex), are interested in TWC and have made a good contribution to it, and who therefore deserve the right to have a greater say in the running of TWC.
  
  
  • Patricianship is awarded by the Consilium de Civitate for significant contribution to TWC (Appendix A). None of these contributions provide automatic Patricianship however, but they do allow for nomination. In addition to those contributions, the member must have at least one month’s experience as a Citizen and have no active warnings at the time of the election. Patricians are expected to contribute to the developing the site. Involvement in the Curia is part of that.
    
  • Patricians have the same rights as Citizens but may also participate in the Curia to a greater extent, as stated in the Curia section of the Syntagma.
    
  • All Patricians may nominate members for Citizenship in accordance with the Patronization Section of the Syntagma.
    
  • Citizens may be nominated for the rank of Patrician by any other Patrician in accordance with the Patronization section of the Syntagma. There is no patronage link created in this process (as per Patrician/Citizen relationship).
    
  • The rank of Patrician can be removed by the CdeC as per the Citizens' Behavior section of the Syntagma.

• Senatorii
  Any Citizen who gains the rank of Tribounos will gain the rank of Senatorii. They will retain it upon retirement if time served as moderator exceeds twelve weeks and upon unanimous agreement of the Triumvirate. The Senatorii rank confers no advantage, save status. The secondary rank – Civitate, Artifex or Patrician is the one that determines where the member has access or the legibility for elections, unless stated differently.

• Opifex
  To qualify as Opifex, the nominee must meet the following Criteria:
  
  
  
  • Served the Total War Center or Total War Community with exceptional input to any of the boards or mods in any capacity other than staff.
  • The nominee must be seconded by a member of the Consilium de Civitate before it can go to a vote. Vote shall be refused to any user who fails the criteria for citizenship with regard to warnings and post count.
  
  
  Qualifying nominees shall be voted upon in the Curia for a period of one week, and a three-fourth majority will be sufficient to decorate a user as an Opifex. A user who passes the vote shall be awarded the rank of Artifex (if the nominee was not one already). A nominee who fails to achieve a three-fourth majority is eligible to be nominated again after a three month period.
  
  The secondary rank – Civitate, Artifex or Patrician is the one that determines where the member has access or the legibility for elections, unless stated differently.

• Curator
  The Curator is responsible for the day to day running of the Curia. The Curator is drawn from the Hexagon council. The Curator may request the election of a Pro-Curator to aid in this duty. The Pro-Curator is elected as per the Curial Elections section of the Syntagma.

A "basic" member of a class is a member of that class but no higher classes, for instance, a Patrician would not be a "basic Citizen", but he would be a Citizen. Citizens have the right to have their highest class membership(s) revoked, provided they have publicly made a request to that effect in the Curia.

Staff Veto

Any Hexagon member can veto any act or descision on TWC. However this veto is considered provisional until approved by a majority of Hex members. The approval should be obtained as soon as possible.

The Curia

A special section shall be made in the forum to discuss pertinent topics in governance, a place for the Citizens to propose legislation, and to post relevant developments. The Curia is a place for the exchange of ideas, and if the rules against any infractions are tough in the normal forums, in the Curia, they are doubly so. The Curia is broken into distinct sections:

• Curia
  For general discussion of governance related matters. Polls are not permitted within the Curia main. All Citizens may post in this area and propose informal legislation for discussion, though it will require Patrician support to become officially recognised in the Prothalamos, as per the Legislation section of the Syntagma.

• Prothalamos
  An area specifically for formally proposing and discussing legislation and ideas relating to TWC, but not for voting. Only Civitates may post in this area.

• Curia Vote
  An area strictly used for voting on proposed legislation, as outlined in the Legislation section. Surveys are not permitted within this sub-forum. Only Patricians may post and vote in this area.

• Consilium de Civitate
  An area visible to the Patrician class only. The Consilium de Civitate (CdeC) forum is used for granting and removing the ranks of Civitate, Artifex and Patrician as per the "Patronization" and "Citizens Behaviour" sections of the Syntagma. Viewing Access to this forum is granted to the following classes:
  
  • All Patricians, who may vote and discuss in all topics within the CdeC forum.
  • Senior Staff, who may discuss all topics within the CdeC forum, but have no normal vote.
  • The Syntagma Curator or Pro-Curator, who may take part in all CdeC discussions and has the deciding vote in cases of a tie, but otherwise has no normal vote. The Curator also has veto powers over any CdeC decision.

Additional areas may be added at the discretion of Curia members and following an appropriate vote.

Curial Elections

When a Curial election is required, and the Triumvirate deems it necessary, the Curator or Senior Staff will open a Qualification thread for the vacant position and post a relevant announcement in the Symposium. Applicants to the vacant position must post their reasons for wishing to participate and relevant qualifications within this qualifications thread, which shall remain open for no longer than one week.

Qualifying candidates are Citizens with at least one month of experience in either Citizen rank, and must also meet any further requirements stipulated by the specific position they are applying for. All qualifying applicants not vetoed by Staff go forward to a vote open for one week. If more than six eligible users apply and are not vetoed, the Staff may select the six they believe to be the most suitable to be voted on.

Where one position is to be filled, the candidate who receives the plurality of votes receives the position. Where two or more positions are to be filled, only one poll need be held, and the candidates with the highest votes are appointed. In the case of ties there will be a run-off vote between the tied members lasting three days.

Patronization

Any Citizen holding their rank for three months without warnings can Patronise a peregrinus for Citizenship at a rate of one per month (subject to requirements, section1). The granting of Citizenship is determined by the members of the Consilium de Civitate. The process for patronage works as follows:

1. The patron reviews the member before recommending him, ensuring the member has at least one hundred posts, has been a registered member for at least three months & has no warnings in the last six months.
   
2. The nominee sends a private message to explain his duties, privileges, and contributions towards TWC to his patron. The patron then sends this paragraph (along with his own paragraph outlining why he chose this person for a client) to a Patrician.
   
3. The Patrician then opens a thread and vote in the Consilium de Civitate forum and the proposed nominee is then discussed and voted on.
   
4. If the nominee achieves at least a 75% majority, he shall become a Citizen. This vote must be concluded within 1 week.

If a nominee fails his Citizenship vote he must wait a minimum of one month before being put up for vote again. The nominating Patrician of a failed candidate may not patronise again for two months. Patricians must abstain from voting on those they wish to patronize.

All CdeC votes associated with patronage shall be concluded within one week (7 days) of the thread being opened in the CdeC forum.

Points 3 and 4 above are used for the promotion of Patricians nominated by an existing Patrician as per the requirements listed in Appendix A.

Citizens' Behavior

The members of the Consilium de Civitate (CdeC) handle all disciplinary proceedings against Citizens of TWC regarding the removal or temporary suspension of Curial ranks. No Citizen may be subject to more than one of the following procedures for a single offence. There are two kinds of disciplinary proceedings:

1. Referral from any member of the forum:

Any member of TWC may report a Citizen to a member of the CdeC for behaviour unbecoming of a Citizen. The specific procedure is as follows:

• The accuser must present a detailed charge.
• The accused is then asked to produce a written defence within 72 hours - they are shown the written charge but the name of the accuser is withheld.
• The CdeC members have a further 72 hours to investigate the charges.

After this investigation, a public vote is held in the CdeC as to whether the accused loses one level of rank. A 75% majority of non abstaining voters is required in order pass. The vote must be closed within 72 hours.

If this first vote fails to pass, a second vote is automatically held as to whether the accuser should have their rank suspended 2 months for reckless use of the disciplinary process. This second vote operates the same as the first but must be concluded within 24 hours.

2. Referral for receiving a Staff Warning:

If any Citizen receives an official warning from a member of Staff, they will be automatically referred to the CdeC. A public vote will be held after two days discussion of the case. All relevant user notes of the accused member will be viewable in this discussion, and the accused may return no defence. The voting options in this vote depend upon the referred member's current Staff warning level. This vote must close within one week.

• A warning level of one will result in a poll where the CdeC can vote for a suspension of rank of up to two months.
• A warning level of two will result in a poll with where the CdeC can vote for a suspension of rank for up to two months, or for a maximum penalty of permanent loss of rank.

A simple majority of non abstaining members is required for votes to pass, otherwise the case is dismissed.

Legislation

Any Patrician is able to post a Bill in the Prothalamos for discussion, which does not require named support. If a version of the bill becomes supported by a minimum of three other Patricians, the proposer can request that the Syntagma Curator move the supported version of a bill to a vote three days after it was first posted.

Should it be judged that after the minimum of three days more time is needed for debate on the subject, or that the debate is active, and moving the Bill would be premature, the progression to voting of the Bill may be delayed at the discretion of the Syntagma Curator. If the Syntagma Curator decides to delay the vote on a Bill beyond one month, then this decision is subject to staff ratification in the same way as a staff veto.

Once moved to vote, all bills shall be voted on over a one-week period. All Bills will be required to run for the full duration so that all Patricians may be able to vote if they so wish. Patricians are proscribed from viewing the results of any poll in the Curia they have not voted in. In addition, responses (including indirect methods such as signatures) in the Curia Vote sub-forum will be limited to notification of having voted. A Bill shall pass on the basis of a two-thirds majority in favor. Abstentions are not considered when determining whether a Bill has achieved the required proportion of voters. If any Bill fails a vote, no revote on a substantially similar bill will be permitted for twenty-eight days.

To the extent made possible by the forum software, no member will be able to view the results of a poll in the Curia until he has voted in the poll or it has closed.

If the forum software cannot reasonably be modified to prohibit viewing of poll results by any given member, that member, is hereby obliged on their honour as a Patricians not to view the results of any poll in the Curia he has not voted in unless necessary for the execution of any duties he may have to the site.

The Symposium

All Citizens of TWC have access to the Symposium forum. This forum exists as a general meeting place for both old and new Citizens of the Total War Center Forums. Within the Symposium, rules are generally more relaxed so as to allow for more concentrated debates to take place. Breach of the Terms of Service shall still be dealt with accordingly in this forum.

The Councils

Two Councils exist that advise the Staff directly about the Total War Community (Consilium Belli) and the Common Community (Consilium Pacis). They have their own subforums within the Questions & Suggestions forum.

• Consilium Belli
  Six members in total, drawn from the Civitates, Artifex and Patrician ranks shall be appointed by the Hex Council to discuss and advise on ideas concerning the Total War section of the forums. These members should have a strong background in the Total War modding community and be in good standing.
  
  A public forum will be created in the Questions & Suggestions forum, where all suggestions regarding the Total War section of the Forums will be discussed. The Consilium Belli shall make necessary recomendations to the staff on issues of the TW Sections.

• Appointment to the Consilium Belli:
  Each member of the Consilium Belli has a term which lasts for a period of two months from when they are appointed. When a Council member’s term is due to end or a Councillor resigns, the Curator will choose when to open a candidates thread and post an announcement in the Symposium. Applicants must then post their reasons for wishing to participate and relevant qualifications within this qualifications thread, which shall remain open for 72 hours.
  
  After the candidates thread is closed the Triumvirate will appoint as many new Councillors as are required at that time. Councillors may serve consecutive terms though in the interests of fairness the Triumvirate will attempt to introduce new qualified councillors when possible.

• Consilium Pacis
  Four Civitates or Patricians shall be elected by the Curia as per the "Curial Elections" section of the Syntagma to discuss and advise on ideas concerning the Common Community section of the forums. These candidates should have a strong background in the Common Community and be in good standing.
  
  A public forum will be created in the Questions & Suggestions forum, where all suggestions regarding the Common Community section of the forums will be discussed. The Council shall make necessary recomendations to the staff on issues of the Common Community. Each member of the Consilium Pacis has a term which lasts for a period of two months from when they are elected.

Appendix A: Qualifiers for the Patrician Rank

1. Community News
   
   1. Eagle Standard Contributor or Editor
   2. Helios Contributor or Editor
   3. Podcast Contributor
   4. General Sun's Tent Contributor or Editor
2. Local Moderator
   
   1. Technical War Help Center
   2. The Basement
   3. The Mod Workshop
   4. Coliseum
   5. Foreign Language Discussion
3. Librarians
4. Tribounos
5. Member of CoW or CoP
6. Total War Contributions
   
   1. Modding Tutorials
   2. Modding Tools
   3. Open Source Modifications
7. Common Community Contributions
   
   1. Articles on History, Religion, Politics, Science, Art, etc.
   2. Gaming Reviews in the Circus Maximus
   3. Hosting Contests in the Coliseum
   4. Significant contributions to the Suggestus Forum
   5. Proposing legislation in the Symposium sub forum
8. Contribution to the Total War Community
   
   1. Repeated contributions of content such as articles, strategies and other general helpful information
9. Any other contribution, as Defined by the Senior Staff and CdeC, meriting consideration for Patricianship

[Garbarsardar]

I like this; *you changed the Staff veto to "as soon as possible" which is reasonable. My time limit had to do mainly with the fact that a veto always was a rare occurence, therefore there would not be a nuisance to PM all hex in case.
But I have no problem with your wording...

[Spiff]

My issue with the veto line was simply that it very clearly states a time limit but doesn't then say what will happen if it expires. I figured it was best to keep it general while ensuring the duty did remain intact.

[gigagaia]

i'd like to see all references to any kind of "awarding" of the rank, or anything along the lines of entitlement to curial position, changed, in the same vein as my proposal here http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=69585

I'm not saying that it requires a verbatim copy, but just something to change our "entitlement perspective" towards duties in the curia to a "responsibility perspective."

[Garbarsardar]

Giga, feel free to include the whole amendment even verbatim. I just re-read it and it's good work...

[gigagaia]

Giga, feel free to include the whole amendment even verbatim. I just re-read it and it's good work...

Put a placeholder in there for me then, I'm off to bed now, but I will get to the ammendment and writing up part tomorrow evening. Noone gets to touch that part before me!

*yawns*

[imb39]

i'd like to see all references to any kind of "awarding" of the rank, or anything along the lines of entitlement to curial position, changed, in the same vein as my proposal here http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=69585

I'm not saying that it requires a verbatim copy, but just something to change our "entitlement perspective" towards duties in the curia to a "responsibility perspective."

To be honest, I think it would be prudent to sort the Civitate and Suffrage Bill. If that goes through all these changes will be pointless. See what the Curia wills before proceding down that avenue. If it is rejected, then your version should be incorporated.

[Tom Paine]

Spiffster, isn't the Strat section general enough to be able to accomodate any changes you might want or need to see anyway? As far as I can see it just says you get global moderation powers and doesn't actually limit matters like numbers, organisation, roles at all.

[Spiff]

Blah ive changed my mind on this.

I'll draft and enact a Syntagma revision which deals with the issues the network administrators have expressed regarding the staff ranks - but i will not amend anything else (CdeC, pro-C elections). If things like that are to be changed it will need to be accomplished via Bills and normal legislation procedure.

I also request that no bills to that effect be introduced until the sections relating to Staff are enacted properly, so all future bills can start from the same version of the text.

My feeling is that there is too much split discussion at present for me to do anything here that will please everyone, so rather than overhauling the entire document in one go, i would rather see it done bit by bit with a vote on each change at a later date.

[Garbarsardar]

I'll draft and enact a Syntagma revision which deals with the issues the network administrators have expressed regarding the staff ranks - but i will not amend anything else (CdeC, pro-C elections). If things like that are to be changed it will need to be accomplished via Bills and normal legislation procedure.

This is not a bad idea, the sooner the better.

Although I am a little bit confused about "the issues..." and their relation to the Syntagma, I guess the mists will be dispelled by your draft.

[the Black Prince]

if divus and senatorii still exist under this new version can i ask that all those who previously held those ranks be given them


other than that, i care not either way. it makes little difference it would seem, what words are enacted here.

[Simetrical]

if divus and senatorii still exist under this new version can i ask that all those who previously held those ranks be given them


other than that, i care not either way. it makes little difference it would seem, what words are enacted here.

Divus and Senatorii will be visually restored sooner or later, don't worry.

[Kscott]

I personally feel Divus should still exist. Besim does not have to give them a badge, however they can still have reconition in the Curia. The Curia still has the rights to give ranks as they please, they simply might not be shown visibily anymore.

*I know its in Garbs version, im just speaking in general here.

[Garbarsardar]

I personally feel Divus should still exist. Besim does not have to give them a badge, however they can still have reconition in the Curia. The Curia still has the rights to give ranks as they please, they simply might not be shown visibily anymore.

*I know its in Garbs version, im just speaking in general here.

What really drives me insane with all this, is not the existance or not of a variety of ranks but the total absence of a conscise reasoning for their removal besides the generic "not functional" and similar nefarious statements.

I would really like to see someone justify "changes' in a similar manner that every poster has to justify a proposed bill.