Legion of Independent Buccaneers Charter

In an attempt to creat a few guidelines for the Legion of Independent Buccaneers, the following is offered for novice members for consideration. Henceforth in this document the Legion shall be abbreviated LIB. Our charter is designed in a fashion that all of its members shall be considered to have equal say in the addition, governance, and any changes that by majority rule, need to be made in the foreseeable future. A main part of the goal of our group is that new members will feel welcome here and yet retain their own individual identities, i.e. we just want to have fun with this! However we also recognize that certain disputes may arise that need mediation. In such cases (be it game, coalition, or real life conflicts of interest) we will try to govern with majority rule first and, failing in that attempt, submit the issue to vote among the three founding members of the coalition. If such arbitration is needed, the ruling decision of the founding members will be final. All voting issues will be considered open for decisions for a period of two weeks after the issue is proposed. Any current member of the LIB can vote on any issue, however implementation on a voting matter will be decided on by majority rule, based on the number of responses that are received back within the two week voting period. It is hoped that this will expedite the voting proceedure and implement changes more quickly than has been the proceedure in the past.

Some general guidelines to keep in mind outside of the game and more directly related to just having fun with the idea, are to just basically remember that our coalition board is run in the same way as any other website/forum. Just be respectful of each other, if you want to kid around, fine, just be sure that the person you are directing your remarks at knows that. Private grudges will not be tolerated over the site! If the majority feels that such action is warranted, the offending member may be banned from future access. Just keep it fun as it was intended!

All charter rules have been made with the assumption that major ammendments may have to be made once the release of SeaDogs II is made to the general public and the multiplayer aspect of the game has been investigated. there exists the option of creating an interactive web site as well, specifically for the LIB members to make contributions if they so desire.

1. The LIB goal is to provide a viable economic trading service both to its members (for its own interests) and offer its services as it sees fit to other brotherhoods and privateers in the form of contracts. This allows our members not only the chance to pursue a privateering career in the form of escort duties and patrol, but also to conduct trade as well if they so desire. At any given time, various members of the LIB may be engaged on any number of different missions, i.e. the entire coalition does not have to be involved in the same mission all at the same time.

2. A monetary system may be put into place upon the release of SeaDogsII and evaluation of the multiplayer aspect of the game. At the present time, since we cannot know if this will work, we will not elaborate other than to say that a percentage system will be devised for all members that will allow for a captain to accumulate his own wealth and also contribute to the general funding of the coalition. Presently, it is assumed that the company has funding and has been operating for quite some time. Such a monetary system will be purely fictional and in no way related to actual real-life currencies.

3. The LIB will protect its own interests and those of its existing contracts. With that in mind we do not support or endorse any particular nationality over any other. Once under contract, we will protect that contract to the best of our abilities from any hostile faction. (If flags can be edited into the game, then we will have those ships under contract flying our flag along with their own if at all possible).

4. The LIB does not sanction piracy, but will take no active role against it, unless provoked by aggressions directed at its members or parties under contract. Individual acts of piracy, which are not endorsed by a brotherhood, may be handled by the member(s) affected, or submitted to the LIB for further review, at the discretion of the affected member(s). Piracy against LIB, believed to be endorsed by a brotherhood, shall be brought to the attention of the LIB, who will give its members the opportunity to review and vote on an official response.

5. The LIB will attempt to use all methods available to deal with hostile forces:economic, political, social, mercenary, and military, with the intent of maintaining a focus on the pursuit of its privateering and trading goals through the avoidance of petty conflict and unnecessary warfare.

6. In order to maintain a reputation of unity, integrity, and respect for its members throughout the Archipelago, the LIB shall support all actions taken by its members when flying the LIB flag, and shall be responsible for the same. In exchange for this support, LIB members shall be expected to uphold a heightened level of honor, respect, and when necessary, restraint in the conduct of their affairs with each other and other brotherhoods and unaffliated captains.

7. Regarding applicants for membership:
The policy for membership has undergone a change as discussed among the current members at the end of October, 2002. As of this time it has been decided that membership into the LIB will be by invitation only. This will be done by monitoring the SeaDog related forums as well as our own for prospective new applicants. A reccomendation to the LIB can be made by any of its current members at any time taking into consideration the prospective nominee's interaction with other people on the boards and their involvement overall. This is being done to limit the number of new members and also to give those in the LIB already a chance to fully get to know everyone else. At this time it is felt that the group has been growing too fast and not enough time being given to develop a good commeraderie between current members. At the time of nomination, members will conduct a discussion, not to exceed two weeks, on the merits of aforementioned nominee and a consensus reached on whether or not they would make a good addition to the group. If the majority feels a nominee is a candidate, then a letter of inquiry will be sent out to that nominee expressing our interest in them and if they have any interest in becoming a member and to tell us more about themselves if they do. Once that is received back a final confirmation between members of the LIB will be done and an official membership announcement sent out to the nominee.

One additional note at this time to add is that a provision will be made at some point after the release of the game to coordinate times at which coalition members can essentailly run practice sessions against one another on the multiplayer system to hone their skills and practice strategies. this assumes that such a thing will be possible. Members will be notified via e-mails, or on any future homepage of the coalition. All suggestions from members are welcome at any time. It is suggested that all correspondence concerning the charter itself be made available to all of its members, however for the sake of reference, the founding members of the coalition are: