A Long Winded Introduction -

My first draft was considered too complicated by many. Other drafts have also been criticised for being inflexible. One thing I have learned over the past few months on Hex is that both are not helpful to the running of the site. I do maintain that some sort of accountability is no bad thing.

I have looked at the various options put forward and would like to take this opportunity to thank people. I won’t mention names – I hope they know who they are. Both privately and publicly they have influenced this process.

It is apparent that the definition of Staff is now changing. We have already moved Content to within the Staff Forum. Both Moderators and Content have their own specific forums too. Technical is also starting to evolve, though it is in its very early days. Given that all three are vastly different in their impact on the site, all three have different stresses placed on them in terms of Curial involvement.

With one notable exception, numbers are not provided for any aspect of Staff. The goal is to allow Hex and Staff to respond to changing circumstances without being bogged down by the Syntagma in terms of structure and numbers. There is provision for the Curia to manage this, however, within certain limits.

It must be noted that not all within Hex agrees with this. Undoubtedly not all within the Curia will either. As I see it, you either have the status quo or this plan.

Ultimately for this to work, everyone needs to be flexible. The time for ‘rules’ lawyering’ should be gone. People should look to the spirit of the rules as much as the written word. I say this as I am no lawyer. I have no wish to be a lawyer.

Not everything is included. I have taken the current Syntagma with a few changes. For me the crucial aspect is the structure to be in place as soon as possible. Some aspects are up for grabs. For example – I have no problems with Senatorii (perhaps ex-Hex members only) forming the Tribunal. There again, I can see valid reasons why it should remain within the province of the Senior Staff.

Taking the leaf out of a former Admin’s book, the Syntagma is split into two. One aspect is beyond the remit of the Curia, the other falls squarely within the Curia’s sphere of influence.


Remember, this is my first draft. By all means suggest alternatives but I’d like for the spirit to remain as is. Firstly the structure –


The Syntagma
Preamble
The Syntagma is the Constitution of the Total War Center Forums, which defines the role of the various bodies of authority on the site. The guiding principle of the site is to be that barring technical or fiscal obstacles, any considered mandate from a supermajority of established, contributing, well-behaved members will be implemented by the administrators.

The Syntagma is not absolutely authoritative. It is a compilation of the Curia, written and approved by the Citizens, which may become outdated or may contain oversights. Nevertheless, this master copy of the Syntagma should be kept essentially up-to-date at all times, with any provisos, interpretations, or suspended sections clearly indicated in that thread. The procedures for suspension of the Syntagma in part or in whole are outlined in the Syntagma itself. Site Administration and Moderation and the Hex Veto do not fall within the remit of the Curia.


Parte De Firste

Site Administration and Moderation
The Hexagon Council
The Hexagon is the policy, executive, and administrative branch of the government. It is composed of 5 Permanent Positions and an undefined number of other members representing different aspects of the site. Normally they are drawn from Staff but other members of the site can be invited in. Each member is intended to lead policy decisions for their branch of the site. All members fulfil day-to-day administrative duties and all should discuss and coordinate their policies inside the Council, but it is expected that the representative for each branch will be the main link, and in some cases the leader, of that branch. The 5 Permanent seats on the Council are:
  • Owner: The Owner acts as the financial administrator, and is granted a permanent seat on Hex, as there are facilities and accesses only he will have (financial records, etc.)
  • Technical Manager:Is the head of the Technical branch and is in charge of deciding accesses for junior technicians and other technical responsibilities. Decisions such as software, etc., are also his realm and he is to work closely with both the Technical Branch and the Hexagon.
  • Chief of Content: Is head of the Content branch.
  • Chief of Moderators: Is Head of the Moderator (Staff) branch.
  • Curial Representative: Serves a term of x months. Is elected by the Curia from the rank of Patrician from a shortlist of nominees. Has posting rights inside of Hex, but does not possess veto power or moderator status.


Wherever a manager on Hex is appointed (moderator, Content) that manager must face two tiers of ratifications.
  1. From affected staff: This allows staff to veto a candidate who they essentially would be vehemently against working under. let's not forget that not all staff are citizens and that the collective body of citizens may not care as much about the appointment.
  2. From the curia: For stated reasons.


All members of Hex, while being appointed by Hex themselves, are subject to a ratification vote in the Curia immediately after appointment, which they must pass. At any time a Citizen may initiate proceedings asking for a Hex member to step down due to inactivity or abuse of duty by posting their case in the Curia; however, frivolous use of this power may result in a hearing under the Citizen's Behaviour Act. While this vote of no confidence is exempt from veto, it is nonbinding in all cases except that of Curial Representative.


Staff
Staff are intially comprised of three sections, outlined below. This might change depending upon circumstances.
Moderating Branch
The Moderating Branch enforces the ToS.

Strategos (Senior Moderators)

The Senior Moderators are in charge of all Moderation at TWC. They are led by the Chief of Moderators. They are promoted from the Junior Staff to Senior Staff by the existing Senior Moderators. They have Global Moderation powers and can hire and fire Junior Moderators at will but a ratification vote must take place after the appointment. Some may have admin rights depending upon what duties they are required to undertake

Tribounos (Junior Moderators)

The Tribounos are the frontline moderators of TWC. The Senior Moderators have the power to hire or fire Tribounos at will, but, all selections must pass a ratification vote by the Curia.

The total number of Tribounos, their assignments and powers are set by the Senior Moderators.



Technical Branch
The Technical Branch deals with the infrastructure of the site. They handle all administrative issues and can provide differing levels of admin access to different forum users, dependant upon what they deem necessary. They maintain the forum software and ensure the security and reasonable running of the site overall.

Technical Admin

The technical Admin is a member of Hex. He directs the department overall and can hire and fire members of the department at will. He can also remove any admin or moderator privileges at will from any other member, though it is expected he will consult with the Hex about such actions under normal circumstances. His primary concern is the security of the site.

Technical Assistants

These aid the Technical Admin. They have differing levels of admin rights dependant upon the tasks delegated to them. They can be hired or fired by the Technical Admin. Technical Assistants can be appointed to Admin.


Content Branch
Content comprises all official publications of TWC (Helios, Wiki, Eagle Standard, General Sun’s Tent, Podcast). It is overseen as a whole by the Content Manger, a member of Hex as delineated below, and each publication is edited individually. Content Contributors are volunteers with no set tenure.

Content Manager

The Content Manager [CM] is a member of Hex selected by the Editors with approval of Hex, and ratified by the Curia. He has no fixed term of office. His duties are overall organisation, especially permissions of Content Contributors [CCs] and the Front Page. He may also hire & fire Editors at will, with the exception of that of the Wiki, though it is expected that in each of these cases he will discuss it with the other Editors and the relevant Content Contributors.

Editors

Editors have responsibility for a single TWC Content Publication each. All Editors, with the exception of that attached to the Wiki, are appointed by the Content Manager, may be hired and fired at will. They should hold the appropriate rank to post in the Curia. An Editor may hire & fire CCs at will with reference to no external agency, though they are expected to consult the CM on such matters. An Editor is responsible for ensuring that all articles fall within the ToS and for posting their publication.

The Editor of the Wiki is a Curial Officer, in line with the Curial Officers Act.

Content Contributors

CCs are writers for the TWC Content Publications, and may be hired & fired at will by the Editor of the TWC Content Publication to which they contribute. They may hold any rank, and may be drawn from any part of the site.


Ex Staff
This section needs looking at.

They are considered Staff in terms of availability to Hex but do not have their own forum or any extra moderating powers. The Senatorii rank remains for moderator staff only. The other parts of Staff might be awarded a specific rank/medal depending upon current discussions. The ranks/awards are placed here as they fall outside of the CDC in terms of removal. They are the gift of Hex and can be withdrawn by Hex or by resignation/refusal by the candidate.

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 Hex. 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.



The curia can change the names of the ranks detailed above so as to fit in with any given theme chosen for the site.


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




Parte De Seconde

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). – note, this aspect might change depending upon legislation currently voted on.
    • 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.
    • All Citizens may nominate other members for Citizenship as per the "Patronization" section of the Syntagma.
  • Patrician
    Patricians are members who have already gained either Citizen rank and have subsequently continued to excel in their position within the forums by contributing to a greater extent than Citizenship alone requires.
    • Any Citizen 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).
    • 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.
    • The rank of Patrician can be removed by the CdeC as per the "Citizens' Behavior" section of the Syntagma.
  • 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 and Curial vote, the nominee must be supported by 3/4 members of the Consilium de Civitates and meet the following criteria:
    • The candidate must have served as a site admin, has to have made a clear and distinguished contribution to the community and cannot be proposed within 3 months of their resignation from Staff.
    • Provided exceptional service to TWC in their capacity as administrator.
The CdeC will contact the nominee and ask if he or she will accept the nomination. If the nominee should reject their nomination, for whatever reason, no further action will be taken and the nomination will be declared null and void.

If the nominee should accept, the CdeC will create a thread within the CdeC forum to further investigate the legitimacy of the nominee’s accolades. The CdeC has the right to request any and all relevant material from staff to ascertain this with the approval of the Hex. The CdeC will discuss the nominee and his qualifications for at least a week before the vote is held inside the CdeC.

After at least three days of discussion inside the Curia, qualifying nominees shall be voted upon in the Curia for a period of one week, and a two-third majority is sufficient to become 'Divus'. A nominee who fails is eligible to be nominated again after a six month period.
  • Curator
    The Curator is responsible for the day to day running of the Curia. The Curator is a Citizen, elected by the Curia, as outlined in the Curial Elections section of the Syntagma. He is considered a local moderator.
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 contact a site administrator and make a request to revoke their membership(s).


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.
  • Prothalamos
    An area specifically for formally proposing and discussing legislation and ideas relating to TWC as stated in the "Legislation" section of the Syntagma, but not for voting.
  • Curia Vote
    An area strictly used for voting on proposed legislation and in Curial Elections, as outlined in the "Legislation" and "Curial Elections" section of the Syntagma. Surveys are not permitted within this sub-forum.
  • Consilium de Civitate
    An area visible only to elected Patricians and Senior Staff as per the "Consilium de Civitate" section of the Syntagma. Within this forum votes shall be taken regarding the granting and removal of certain Curial ranks.
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 Hexagon Council 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, who may discuss all matters within the CdeC forums, but have no normal vote.
  • The Syntagma 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, section 1). 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 fifty posts, has been a registered member for at least one month and 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 60% majority, the nominee shall become a Citizen.
If a nominee fails his Citizenship vote he must wait a minimum of one month before being put up for vote again. Members of the CdeC must abstain from voting on those they wish to patronize.

Alternatively, a peregrinus can propose themselves as Citizens providing they fulfill the required criteria. They can submit their application paragraph (as outlined in part 2, above) to a member of the CDC.

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. In addition to these requirements, the nominee must have at least one month’s experience as a Citizen, and have no active warnings at the time of their election.



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 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 end 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 Citizen may post a bill in the Prothalamos for discussion, which does not require named support. Bills can take either of two forms:
  • Amendments
    A proposal for an alteration to the text of TWC's Constitution, the Syntagma. Amendments may alter existing sections of the Syntagma, or add entirely new ones.
  • Decisions
    A proposal for the creation of an official Decision of the Curia on a topic relevant to the functioning of TWC. The Curia has authority to direct the Staff of TWC in this way on any topic of which the primary say has been delegated from the Staff, who shall take such Curial Decisions under strong advisement. The Syntagma Curator shall determine if proposed Decisions fall within the jurisdiction of the Curia.
The procedure for proposing and voting on either type of bill is the same. Each version of a bill requires named support from at least three Patricians and must be debated for at least three days before the proposer may request a bill be moved to vote by the Syntagma Curator. If after three days a debate is still active, the Syntagma Curator may delay moving a bill to vote for a period of up to one month. Delay of longer than one month is subject to Staff ratification.

Once moved to vote in the Curia Votes sub-forum, all bills shall be voted on over a full week. Responses (including indirect methods such as signatures) in the Curia Votes sub-forum are limited to notification of having voted. All bills shall pass on the basis of a two-thirds majority of non-abstaining voters in favour. If any bill fails a vote, no re-vote on a substantially similar bill will be permitted within twenty-eight days.

All Citizens are honour bound to not view the results of Curia votes until they themselves have voted, unless necessary for the execution of other duties 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.


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


OK folks, take it to pieces...

edit 1 - Broadened the definition of Staff. Added a proviso that this could change depending upon circumstances.
edit 2 - Made the slection process into Hex from Staff the same across the different branches.
edit 3 - Made the selction process into Hex more open. Curial ratification still remains.
edit 4 - Revised the procedure for appointing Managers to Hex.
edit 5 - Changed Technical Administrator to Technical Manager.
edit 6 - Added self proposal to the patronisation section.