These are our general policies and procedures regarding our members, our community, and our in-game branches. They are much like military SOPs that you're probably familiar with. This document is to be considered a "living document" and will be updated as we evolve and branch out to new games which present new opportunities and new challenges for the MilitaryGamers.com community.

The Code of Conduct supersedes this document as it defines the hard and fast rules all members must abide by or face disciplinary action.


Membership

MilitaryGamers.com is a community created by and intended for US military personnel, of any branch, past or present. MG membership is exclusively for those who've served in the US military.

MG memberships are lifetime memberships and are retained indefinitely for our US military service members, regardless of the time you spend actually playing games. You're welcome to come and go as your life and schedule allows.

Positions of responsibility within the MG community and the games we play are the exception to the policy regarding activity, and while you will not lose your membership should you require time away for any reason, if you are in one of these positions you do need to let someone in the chain of command know so we can compensate for your absence and continue to support the rest of our members. If you are an MG staff member, or an in-game responsibility holder and for some reason you are gone for an extended period of time without notification, expect to be demoted or back to general MG member status.

You may also be temporarily removed from in-game branches for prolonged inactivity at the discretion of the Branch Leader so that he/she can keep the branch organized effectively. This in no way affects your membership status within MG, but you may need to resubmit a request to rejoin to the appropriate Branch Leader should you decide to return to playing a game. A Branch Leader must accept you back into their game branch so long as you hold a membership in our community, this is not optional.


Cancellation of Membership

If, at any time, you wish to have your membership canceled and your account deleted, simply go to Settings, then to Edit Profile, and then under Desired Membership select the option "Cancel Membership (Delete Account)". Your account will be deleted during the next check, effectively ending your membership in our community. Bear in mind that this will also result in the immediate removal of any accounts you may have from all MG-related servers, groups, game branches, etc. In the event that your account names differ from your official MilitaryGamers.com account, it is your responsibility to ensure the staff is notified of your desire to have them removed, or to remove them yourself.


Loss of Membership

If you break our Code of Conduct, you may be dismissed from the community. You may or may not be warned first, depending on the nature and seriousness of the issue. We strive to provide a stable, relaxing environment where all of our members feel welcome. When in doubt, ask yourself, "Do my words or actions reflect poorly on myself or the community I represent?". Every member and their words and actions are a direct reflection of MG and do to the nature of our organization, the US armed services as a whole. See our Code of Conduct and Disciplinary Action Policy for more clarification on this matter.


Registered User Accounts

Registered users not possessing an MG membership are not considered members. Registered user accounts are purged periodically as the MilitaryGamers.com staff sees fit. Generally speaking, we do not retain non-member accounts for longer than 30 days unless there are extenuating circumstances.


Official and Unofficial MG Game Branches

We define an official branch of MilitaryGamers.com as an actual in-game cabal, clan, corporation, fleet, guild, organization, society, squadron, unit, etc., that is ran by an MG member and has the full endorsement and support of this community. Official branches are found in games where a persistent group mechanic exists, either from within the game itself, or via a supporting website, such as most MMOs.

An unofficial branch of MG is similar to an official branch and is still composed of MG members, but they must choose to wear our tags, logos, etc., by adding them to their names or profiles. Unofficial branches can be found in games where we do not have the resources or member strength to create or sustain an official branch.

Unofficial game branches are also common in games where no persistent group mechanic exists, i.e., the ability to form or manage a cabal, clan, corporation, fleet, guild, organization, society, squadron, unit, etc., regardless of member activity. Most First-person Shooter, Real-time Strategy, and similar game genres fall under this category.

There will be absolutely no official branches of MG, in any game, where we do not have at least one MG staff member to act as the Branch Administrator. This does not mean our members cannot participate together in such games, but they must do so in an unofficial capacity. In order to use the MilitaryGamers.com name or logos, you must seek prior approval from the MG CO, MG XO, or an MG Officer. Furthermore, there must be MG staff oversight in place to ensure that in-game recruitment follows MG policy, that all in-game members have registered an account and have been granted an MG membership through our website prior to an in-game invitation, and that all other MG policies are being adhered to. An MG staff member must have the ability to administrate the branch should, for any reason, an appointed Branch Leader not be able to maintain their responsibilities.

Always obtain prior approval from the MG CO, MG XO, or an MG Officer before attempting to found an MG game branch.


MG Game Branch Names and Member Tags

In order to facilitate continuity between various game branches, all game branches and game branch/member tags must follow our common naming/formatting standard.

Branch Names

"MilitaryGamers.com", "MilitaryGamers", or "Military Gamers" are the only acceptable names for any new game branch formed after 26 JAN 2012.

Member Tags

You don't always have to wear our tag unless you're actively participating as a member of/with MG at the time, but we appreciate it when you do because it shows the public our camaraderie and pride in who we are.

MG members are to use the tag letters "MG".

Tag Format

Tagged branch names and member tags may use special characters to surround the MG tag letters, after branch and/or member names, so long as all members follow the same scheme within that game branch and those tags match the game branch tag where applicable. In games that require more than two characters for a game branch tag, "MILG" is the acceptable alternative.

As for the special characters to be used in member tags, they should be brackets "[" "]" before and after "MG". When no special characters are permitted by the game, simply use "MG". If spaces are allowed, use them to separate the name and tag. Other special characters (".", "-", "=", "_", etc.) are allowed on a game by game basis in order to best represent our tags so long as all members adhere to the same format.

Examples (spaces allowed):

  • CleverAlias [MG]
  • CleverAlias MG


Examples (spaces not allowed):

  • CleverAlias[MG]
  • CleverAlias.MG


MG Game Branch Leaders

Our game branches are run by you, the members. Branch Leaders are volunteers appointed by the MG staff, based upon experience and commitment, to organize and lead our in-game activities. Branch Leaders and Assistant Branch Leaders are not considered MG staff members, but are considered to be in positions of responsibility when referencing the aforementioned activity requirements.

Branch Leaders are allowed to maintain a level of discretionary control over their individual game branches so long as all MilitaryGamers.com policies are being followed. If the Branch Leader is not an MG staff member, they can expect to have to report the activities of their branch to an appointed staff member periodically. These policies will be followed in order to keep all of our various game branches fully operational.

Assistant Branch Leaders may be assigned, where needed, to act in a similar capacity to Branch Leaders.


MG Game Branch Administrators

As mentioned above, the day-to-day activities of our game branches are organized and run by our members, however, due to experience, we have deemed it necessary to assign Branch Administrators to all official game branches. A Branch Administrator is an MG staff member who is assigned the highest role in an in-game cabal, clan, corporation, fleet, guild, organization, society, squadron, unit, etc., i.e., the creator, founder, owner, etc., in order to ensure that we, as a community, are always able to support and administer our game branches regardless of member activity.


Participation in Other Gaming Communities or Organizations

It's up to each MG member to decide whether they participate with MG or with another gaming community. Our members tend to stick together and travel between games in groups. Ultimately though, it's up to each member to decide when and where they want to participate with us.

In the case of a conflict of interest, where a member is participating in a competing organization in the same game as one of our branches, we reserve the right to limit that member's access to our servers, forums, etc. Membership in our community is held sacred by most, thus we do not look kindly on those who would abuse membership access to further the interests of other organizations. If it is determined that an individual's sole purpose in obtaining a membership within our community is to serve the interests of one or more competing organizations, in-game or otherwise, that member will be dismissed from the community.


How You Game

We will not tell our members how to play, when or how much to play, or who to play with.

The only exceptions to this general rule are when we need to institute in-game policies which improve the overall quality of the game experience for all of our members. An example would be imposing a taxation system within an MMO game in order to provide all of our members with benefits and resources. These exceptions are usually put to a majority-rules vote by the members in an affected game branch, but ultimately the decision falls to the game Branch Leader.

We may also schedule events that we recommend our members attend to further our game branches or enhance member gaming experience, but your membership in the game branch does not hinge on attending said events. Some Branch Leaders may offer benefits to the members who do choose to attend, but members will not be penalized for not attending.

Branch Leaders may also restrict some scheduled in-game events to only those members willing to participate on our voice chat server. This is so that we can ensure clear, concise communication and enhance everyone's gaming experience.

MG staff positions are also an exception, and attendance at staff meetings and similar events is mandatory, and notification is required if you will not be able to attend.

Your own conduct should always be within the parameters of our Code of Conduct when participating in a game as a member of MG.



Last Revised: 15 JAN 2022