Band of Marines
Rule Booklet
INTRODUCTION: PURPOSE OF RULESIn any military or civilian organization, you will find rules and regulations. They may govern how you act while on duty or how you may dress when you come to work. Wherever you may travel to and wherever you may find a job, you will find rules and regulations. Some of them are likable and some of them are dislikable.
Rules are not put emplaced for people to follow occassionally. Rules are meant to be adhered to at all times, including (in some cases), when you are away from the workplace. Without rules to dictate what is right and what is wrong, there would be chaos. There would be no common standard and no work could possibly be accomplished.
In a military environment, rules are also applied. The expectation to adhere to these regulations is set higher than in the civilian business sector. Regulations set military personnel apart from their civilian counterparts by outlining how they should talk, dress, and behave, in certain situations. As is true in the civilian world, rules are never meant to be broken.
Some people may find that grooming standards, while serving overseas and in a combat zone, do not apply. This is, however, not the case and any senior enlisted man or officer can tell you that the grooming standards must be adhered to at all times. Because if one standard is not followed, other standards will soon lose their followers. It is a domino effect and it is the duty of every individual to prevent such an event from happening.
Finally, rules are in place for safety and uniformity. They are present to make the members of an organization look professional. Those who blatantly disregard these rules, regulations, and standards only contribute to hurting the professional and protective posture of a unit or organization. Rules are crucial to a military organization and they must be upheld strictly.
CHAPTER ONE: GROOMING STANDARDSIn many contemporary military and civilian organizations, there is some standard set aside for the personal appearance of the members of the organization. Some common goal that the leadership strives to be followed in order to maintain the organization's professional appearance.
The Band of Marines is by no means different. Thanks to the inception of the avatar onto the Xbox LIVE Marketplace, players have been able to customize their avatars to act as virtual portraits of themselves. This has been one of Microsoft's great successes and in celebration of this feature, the Band of Marines staff has come up with a list of standards for the appearance of each person's avatar, in an effort to create uniformity.
MALES:
Are to have their avatar's hair cut to one of three styles: high and tight, number one, buzz cut, or
zigzag fringe and
crew cut (Corpsman Only).
- Are not allowed to have facial hair of any kind.
- Are not allowed to have unibrows.
- Are not allowed to have outrageous colors for their avatar hair. Brown, blonde, black, and other natural hair colors are allowable.
- Are not allowed to wear ear rings or other facial piercings.
FEMALES:
- Are to have their avatar's hair in a bun (or cut short).
- Are allowed to wear makeup that is conservative.
- Are not allowed to have unibrows.
- Are not allowed to have unnatural looking ears (i.e., no elf ears).
- Are allowed to wear ear rings as long as they're studs or small hoops; however, no other facial piercings are allowed.
- Are not allowed to have outrageous colors for their avatar hair (see above).
CHAPTER TWO: AVATAR DRESSAvatars have been given a wide selection of clothing to give the player a wide variety of options when choosing what their avatar should wear. With the inception of the Avatar Marketplace, players have been granted the right to purchase additional clothing from popular clothing labels and video games, to further their selection in clothes.
Because of this wide variety of selections, there needs to be some standard set as to how an avatar may acceptably dress, in order to maintain the professional posture of the unit. Avatars with exceptionally skimpy or short clothing could do harm to the appearance of not only the individual person, but of the unit as a whole.
MALES:
- Are not allowed to wear clothes that are skin-tight (with some exceptions) or gothic in nature.
- Are not allowed to wear sandals or cowboy boots (exception being if their outfit is made to look cowboy or western in nature), or formal shoes if not in dress clothes.
- Are not allowed to wear the punk jacket, school tie tee, or tank top (white vest).
- Are not allowed to wear suspenders as their dress clothes.
FEMALES:
- Are not allowed to wear clothes that are too revealing of the avatar's body (i.e., short-shorts) with tanktop.
- Dresses are allowable, but the appropriate shoes must be worn. Knee-high boots are not allowed.
- Skirts are allowed if they compliment the clothes the avatar is wearing. Knee-high boots may be worn with a skirt.
CHAPTER THREE: MEMBER CONDUCTIn every organization, there are special rules in place to govern the conduct and actions of members of the organization. This is to maintain a peaceful, professional atmosphere that is conducive to everyone in the workplace. When people start acting out or getting wild, punishments are imposed on the individuals to correct the infraction.
Like the military, the Band of Marines has its own strict set of regulations that govern the service there are sub-communities (clans). In order to look our best before both the sub-communities and gaming community at large, we must have certain regulations to actively govern the conduct of our members.
Pre-Game Conduct:
- All members must remain civil when in the presence of others outside of our clan. Be respectful to the other team and its players, even if they aren't treating you with the same respect.
- All members are to watch their language in the case of children, even if the children are being pervasive and derogatory in nature. Respect is afforded to everyone.
- If a game has been played and everyone has returned to the pre-game lobby, all members are to congratulate the other team on their performance. If the other team lost, be polite in telling them it was a good game.
- Do not argue while in the presence of individuals outside of our clan. Conflicts are to be dealt with at the appropriate time and place and punishment will be given in public if necessary.
- Do not vote a map unless asked to do so by a higher rank. If individuals outside the clan are voting and the fate rests on clan members to input the last vote, only do so with the permission of whoever is superior in terms of rank.
- Do not blare music over your Xbox LIVE Communicator.
- Do not challenge other clans to clan matches without explicit permission, given in private, from your superiors.
- Do not subtly provoke another individual to anger, whether inside or outside the clan.
In-Game Conduct:
- All members are to remain civil and professional.
- All members are to remain focused on the objectives and task accomplishment.
- Do not blare music over the Xbox LIVE Communicator.
- All members are to respect and follow the orders of their superiors.
- If members outside of the clan are present, show respect to them and their individuality. Coordinate with them if possible.
- If members outside the clan are teamkilling, simply report the player using the features provided on Xbox LIVE. If necessary, teamkill the individual in the beginning to avoid further incident (if the gametype grants only one life).
- All members are to avoid using cheats and glitches to their advantage. Play fairly and legitimately (only get into glitches if you are rooting out enemies who're exploiting the glitches for their teams benefit).
- In the case of individuals outside the clan challenging our members to a clan match or to a one v. one due to losses incurred during the game, the requests are to be effectively ignored.
CHAPTER FOUR: UNIFORM & SUPPLY REGULATIONSIn every organization, individuals are given a strict mandate on how and what they may wear to the workplace. This is to ensure that a level of uniformity and professionalism is sustained. Even fast food restaurant chains have issue uniforms to their employees. Without rules on how members may dress, people would come to work dressed in outrageous and in some cases, inappropriate clothes that would not be conducive to the work environment.
Additionally, in contemporary military organizations, members are given certain supplies (such as weapons, ammunition, and specialized equipment) that they are to take care of and keep track of. With respect to this, the Band of Marines "issues" weapons depending on the military occupational specialty a member has selected. These weapons can be modified only equipment permitted for use by the company staff.
UNIFORMS:
- Must be worn from the time you come online (during a uniform day) until the moment you go offline for the day.
- Must not be tampered with or replaced by non-uniform items.
- If an in-game item (such as with the Rainbow Six series), members must wear what has been outlined for wear as part of the character's appearance.
- Deviations can be made on in-game uniforms only when a member is on an extended period of leave (longer than two - three days, i.e., not liberty leave).
WEAPONS:
- Members must only use the weapons deemed "standard issue" for their particular MOS.
- Members who are 0369 or 9999 may use weapons that they have been qualified to use (due to previous occupations in other MOSs or training).
- Modifications to the weapons may be allowed, but the level of modification may be regulated.
- Camo paints on weapons (unless scout snipers) are not allowed. Standard finishes are all that's authorized.
- Attachments may be authorized, but may be regulated by MOS or other stipulations.
- Secondary weapons are to be reserved for sidearms only (unless a member holds the MOS of 0351 or 0352 or the billet of Designated Marksman).
CHAPTER FIVE: MEMBER CONDUCT ON BAND OF MARINES SERVICES (websites & forums)In addition to the rules already stated on the services provided, this list will act as a catch-all to the various services the Band of Marines actively maintain and implement for daily use.
WEBSITE PRIVATE MESSAGING:
- Members shall not spam others useless messages over the private messaging system.
- Members will write formally when speaking to members of the company staff concerning clan events and standard operating procedures.
- Members will not place inappropriate material or links to sites that may be inappropriate or pornographic in nature.
- Members will only not abuse the private messaging system to taunt or harrass other members of the clan.
FORUM PRIVATE MESSAGING:
- Members will not spam others useless or inappropriate messages over the private messaging system.
- Members will write formally when speaking to members of the company staff concerning clan events, forum improvements, and standard operating procedures.
- Members will not place inapropriate material or links to sites that may be inappropriate in nature.
- Members will not abuse the private messaging system to taunt or harrass other members of the clan; additionally, they will assign the 'subject' field an appropriate name for the topic to be discussed.
FORUM POSTING:
- Members will post messages that are on topic to the discussion at hand (with some exceptions to this rule).
- Members will post only once and await others to post before posting again.
- Members will follow appropriate forum decorum while using the forum service.
- Members will not post one-liner messages and will actually provide bulk to the conversations at hand.
- Members will ensure they remain respectful to other members or guests on the forums in their posts.
- Members will not call out other members wrongdoings unless the topic at hand warrants such an action.
- Members will remain civil on the forums and will avoid "flame wars" to the utmost of their ability in order to maintain a professional and calm environment for everyone.
- Posters will title the subject of their posts (when creating a topic) with a title that is appropriate for the discussion at hand.
FORUM BROWSING:
- Members may browse the forums at their discretion, but should aspire to post at least once before they log offline.
- Members who are browsing should take the time to check the Technical Publications and Information area for new material or updates to the existing material.
- Members who are browsing should take the time re-read the on site rules to the forum to ensure the rules have not been modified or altered.
- Members should do their best to remain active on the forums (browsing is simply browsing, not remaining active. Activity is defined as actively participating in group discussions on the forums).
CHAPTER SIX: END STATEThe Band of Marines rule booklet was designed to be a quick reference book for members of the Band of Marines. It is by no means all inclusive, but provides an outline of the expectations and regulations that are of utmost importance. This booklet is subject to change and, if an alteration or modification is made, the booklet shall be reissued so that members will have the most up-to-date version on hand.
If there are questions concerning this booklet or suggestions for additions or improvement, members may contact Captain Cartwright via cell phone (provided he has minutes) at 757-401-0748. Additionally, you may e-mail him at his hotmail address,
UNSC79@hotmail.com. Be sure to state your rank and name, and gamertag (if applicable) upon engaging in contact with the Company CO.
