Realms Beyond Background History!
We're a community, not a clan, that are spreading across the traditional lines of game title and who are like-minded on several key points...
... to seek challenge and fun, not simply 'high score' or 'the most elite stuff!'
... to excel is virtue
... to look to become friends with those you play with
... to treat others with respect, whether you agree with them or not
... to steadfastly avoid cheating

You'll find at this site not necessarily a large volume of information, but what is here I hope you find valuable. The focus is on quality, not quantity. We're not interested in being a 'top site' or even have a large 'group'. But as we discover interesting new things about the game, we want to share that with others, especially if it involves greater challenge. Realms Beyond people (RBD - Realms Beyond Diablo, or now, maybe... Realms Beyond Diehards!) are one subset of a greater "Variant" community where we use **self-imposed** game restrictions to increase challenge, add a nice role-playing element, and push the game to its limits. If you're familiar at all with Diablo, you might know that a Sorcerer is fairly easy to play, in fact at high levels he can be grossly easy. Well try playing one who wears no magic items. That's a naked mage, and a nice variant. Buy why stop there?? Go Beyond!!! Wear no magic items EXCEPT cursed items!! See the player killers expression on his face when he sees your elite gear fall to the ground, like that Tin Ring of the Fool! You can't help but gain in skill as you learn how to master the "Beyond Naked Mage" (BNM).

Carrying that flavor over to Guild Wars, we play not only regular games, but ones with honorable, and variant, rules. If you want to join an RB associated game, you do NOT have to be good. But if you're looking to learn, have fun, and can respect others in the game with civil posts and playing in a timely fashion, you're welcome!

Still hungry for more RB background history? Read on...

RBGW Philosophy and Guidelines - 24/Sept/09

Guild Administration
All members of RBGW are first and foremost members of Realms Beyond. As such, there is an expectation that we will all embrace the Realms Beyond philosophy:

We're a community, not a clan, that are spreading across the traditional lines of game title and who are like-minded on several key points...
... to seek challenge and fun, not simply 'high score' or 'the most elite stuff!'
... to excel is virtue
... to look to become friends with those you play with
... to treat others with respect, whether you agree with them or not
... to steadfastly avoid cheating

Within RBGW, there is an additional expectation that all members will abide by the RBGW guidelines as outlined here. Membership in RBGW indicates a member’s agreement to be bound by these guidelines.

Members, Officers, and Guild Leaders
Within GW, the roster is broken up into 3 groups, (not including Guests):
* Members
* Officers
* Guild Leader

While Guild Wars assigns different administrative tasks based upon “rank”, within RBGW, there is no fundamental difference between a Member, an Officer, and the Guild Leader in terms of their voice within the guild. All members have equal voice, equal rights, and equal responsibilities. The only difference is the access they have to administrative tasks.

Members can:
* Leave the guild
* Use guild and alliance chat
* Wear a guild cape
* Access the Guild Hall
* Participate in GvG battles
* Use Faction Transfer
* Access the exclusive area of a town or outpost
* Add NPCs to the Guild Hall

Officers have all the administrative access of a Member, and can also:
* Make announcements
* Kick members (not officers) out of the guild
* Promote other members to officer
* Invite players to the guild
* Give guest status to visitors
* Authorize a rated GvG match by their presence

Guild Leaders have all the administrative access of an Officer and a Member, and can also:
* Demote and kick guild officers
* Change the guild's cape design
* Disband the guild (must be the only person in the guild)
* Promote someone else to leader (which demotes themselves to officer)
* Buy or change a Guild Hall
* Join/leave alliances

In summary, a Member enjoys all the privileges of a guild without the ability to make changes that affect the guild or other Members. Officers have the ability to make minor changes, while the Guild Leader can make major changes. While only 1 individual can be Guild Leader, there is no limit to the number of Officers vs Members, only the guild size limit of 99 + 1 Guild Leader.

Invitations
Any member who wishes to invite someone else to join RBGW should discuss the guild philosophy and guidelines with that individual, or refer them to the RB web-site and forums. It is an expectation that anyone inviting a new member to the guild will make reasonable attempts to make that individual feel welcome, by introducing them to other guild members, and trying to involve them in guild events. Should the RB member wanting to invite someone to join the guild be listed as a Member on the roster, they can request an online Officer to invite the individual. Should no Officers be online, a request can be made through a forums thread that will be created and/or maintained for that purpose.

New members of RB will be on the Guild Roster as “Members” for the first 2 weeks, allowing some of the existing members to get to know them and ensure that they embrace and live the Guild Philosophy and Guidelines. During that time, they are encouraged to get to know the other members of RBGW and let the other members get to know them. This can be done both in game and through the forums. At the end of that time, they will be promoted to “Officer” barring any serious concerns being raised as to their behavior. These expectations should be communicated to new members by the RBGW member inviting them into the guild.

Promotions/Demotions
Should a Member not log on within 6 months, the Guild Leader or an Officer may choose to kick them from the guild, provided that we are at maximum guild size and a spot is needed for a new member.

Should an Officer not log on within 3 months, the Guild Leader may demote them to Member if there is a concern that the number of inactive officers is preventing members from easily seeing the entire Guild Roster. Upon resuming activity, that member could request re-promotion without delay from any Officer or the Guild Leader.

This will enable RBGW to maintain an active Officer list, which will allow administrative tasks to be done in a timely manner, while also eliminating frequent changes in the Officer roster and any perceived “us vs. them” mentality.

Change of Guild Leader
Should the Guild Leader voluntarily plan to step down, an election to find a replacement Guild Leader should be held through the forums. Any member can indicate their interest by posting in the thread. After 1 week, all interested names will be put into a poll, and all members would be able to vote for the Guild Leader of their choice. The outcome of such a vote would be based upon a majority finding by respondents.

At any time, a member of RBGW may ask for a ‘confidence’ vote in the forums for the replacement of the Guild Leader. However, they must provide an explanation, including detailed examples of why they feel the individual should not be Guild Leader. The outcome of such a vote would be based upon a majority finding by respondents.

Secondary Accounts/Minors Accounts
In order to facilitate a better gaming experience for all members, secondary or “mule” accounts belonging to members of RBGW may belong to the Guild as Members to facilitate easy transferring of in-game items between accounts, but should not be Officers.

Given the administrative tasks that Officers are capable of performing, Officer status should not be given to accounts that belong to minors (defined as age 16 or lower).

Guild Changes
The Guild Leader has the administrative ability to make major changes that affect the guild and it’s members. As these changes affect all members, and as all members are equal, it is expected that the Guild Leader will act upon the wishes of the majority of the guild for such changes. Any long term change to the Guild Cape (e.g. lasting longer than a holiday season), any change to the Guild Hall, or any change to the RBGW alliance status must be voted on and approved by a majority of respondents.

RBGW Code of Conduct
Respect for our members
All members of RBGW have the right to expect a pleasant gaming experience. While this definition is different for every person, at a minimum, all have the expectation of being treated in a respectful manner within the guild, as persons, as players, and as part of a team in the game environment.

Personal Respect is defined as “esteem for the worth of a person”. Every person brings value to our community, and while individual opinions will vary, by treating others with respect, even when we disagree with them, we build a stronger guild. As such, any comments that are threatening, abusive, harassing, defamatory, or libelous (including but not limited to comments based upon an individuals race, ethnicity, religion, sex, or sexual orientation) would be considered disrespectful of that individual as a person.

Player Respect is defined as “esteem for the sense of worth of a player”. Just as every member brings something different to the game, every player wants something different from it. As such, non-constructive criticism of an individual’s playing style, or what they enjoy about the game, for example, would be considered disrespectful of that individual as a player.

Team Respect is defined as “esteem for the sense of worth of a team”. GW is designed to allow players to explore the game environment on their own or as part of a team. Should a RBGW member participate in team activities within the guild, they are expected to work with the team, with all opinions heard with respect. Working with the team could include being a constructive team member (being willing to adopt a specific role, and possibly a specific build, for the success of the team), accepting constructive suggestions without rancor, and in situations where team setbacks occur, to refrain from assigning blame to particular teammates, etc. Failing to work cooperatively within a team environment would be considered disrespectful of the team.

Dealing with disputes
Given that we are a community of individuals, it is inevitable that conflicts will arise between different personalities. Any member having an issue with another member of RBGW should attempt to address those issues directly with that individual using the ‘Whisper’ function of chat, so as not to lessen the enjoyment of the game for all Guild members.

Should the attempt to resolve the issue directly between the parties not work, the individual with the concern can approach the Guild Leader or a Council Leader (described below), who can attempt to provide guidance, and act as a mediator, if necessary.

Should that not work, and should the member feel they have received disrespectful treatment that negatively affects their enjoyment of the game, they may make a complaint against that individual for consideration by an impartial Peer Review Council. Such a complaint should include a description of the incident, steps taken to resolve it to that point, and any documentation (e.g. screenshots, names of witnesses, etc) relating to the complaint.

Peer Review Council
The Peer Review Council will work to confidentially resolve any disputes having to do with behavioral issues within RBGW, by allowing all involved parties the opportunity to explain their point of view. While no member of RBGW is required to participate should a complaint be laid against them, they will still be bound by the finding of the Council.

The Council will be comprised of 5 RBGW members: the Guild Leader, 2 ‘Council Leaders’ which are Officers who would be elected by the Guild with a 6 month term, and 2 ‘Council Members’ which are Officers selected by the 3 permanent members on a case-by-case basis to ensure impartiality. No individual is allowed to be on the Council to hear an issue that they have a direct role in, nor that of a spouse or other family member. Should the Guild Leader or one of the Council Leaders have a conflict of interest, they will remove themselves from hearing that complaint, and a suitable unbiased replacement will be appointed by the remaining 2 Council members.

Should a member have a complaint, they would notify the Guild Leader privately, either through the ‘Whisper’ chat in game or through a private message in the forums. Should the Guild Leader be involved, the complaint can be provided to either of the Council Leaders.

The Council will consider all factors available to them, including any provocation and acknowledgement of wrong-doing, before making any disciplinary decision.

The Council may utilize in-game channels like Team Chat or out of game channels like private messages on the forums or meet through VoIP channels to review complaints, discuss opinions, and form a majority consensus.

The Council process would be confidential. Anyone serving on the Council is expected to be discreet about any information provided to them by any member of RBGW for the purpose of a complaint review, and any discipline arise from those findings.

Guild Discipline
Any individual found to be disrespectful to another RBGW member in such a way that it negatively affects their enjoyment of the game will be subject to disciplinary action.

For a first complaint, a verbal warning will be issued to the individual, clearly describing the inappropriate behavior. For a second complaint, the individual would be considered “on probation” within the guild for a period of 2 months. Should the individual be found to be disrespectful to a guild member while on probation, that person may be kicked from the guild. A 3rd infraction after an initial probationary period is completed would automatically result in a 2nd probationary period. Should a 4th infraction occur at any time, the individual may be kicked from the guild.

For severe offenses, and at their discretion, the Council may, with a unanimous consensus, choose to kick a member regardless of any previous discipline level or lack thereof.

Oringal Thread