The Dojo












Site graphics by Annias Webmaster: nikh nikh@lbvp.com

Our philosophy and goals

The Dojo is Omni-Tek School of Martial Arts. We devote ourselves into improving our expertise, and progressing on the Path to Enlightenment.

All levels of MA are welcomed in the Dojo. As a school, we are open to low levels, to guide their first steps. But the Masters of high level not only help younger members, they also devote their time to increasing their expertise in martial arts. In this course, no Master is all-powerful, and the shared knowledge is an infinite source of improvement for everyone.

Our rules and organization

"Rules should not limit the individual, but by bringing order and harmony, help him thrive in the community"

Ranks: The org has 6 in-game ranks used (1 unused).

The Sensei ("President" in game): leads the Dojo and runs the weekly assemblies

The Council members ("General" in game): see below

The veteran members ("Squad Commanders" in game): Anyone can become veteran in time, but the Council looks for ppl who have proven their dedication to the Dojo before promoting them. For the time being, this rank brings little more than recognition of high-quality members. Don't expect to become a veteran members before at least 1-2 months as an org member.

The recruiters ("Unit Commanders" in game): Members of House Gassho who are placed at this rank in order to fufill their recruiting duties.

The members ("Unit members" in game): standard member. To be promoted to unit member, you need have spent about 1 week in the dojo, and have posted your introduction in the forums, and of course be approved by the Council.

The applicant ("applicant" in game too): Just recruited. You have limited rights in the Dojo. You are not supposed to actively participate in the assembly - only listen (you can always voice something through a member). There are 4 requirements to becoming a full member: 1. Post your intro on the members presentation board - pls include the name of the recruiter who invited you, 2. Be in The Dojo at least 1 week after posting your intro 3. Ask any council member to be promoted , 4. Be approved by the council.

Rank 3 ("Unit Leader") is not used at the moment.

Recruiting/promoting: Recruiting is done by House Gassho members (see Houses). The Council decides on promotions / demotions. House Fudoshin enforces Council decisions

Sensei: Chronita is in semi-retirement, Thaylia is the current sensei.

Functional Houses: Specific Houses with dedicated roles (recruiting...). see here

The Council: The council now has a varying number of members based on member interest. Prospective Council members are to submit applications during the first week each month to be reviewed by the current council and President. Accepted Council members serve as long as they wish based on activity. Inactive council members who do not step down willingly will be forced to after a vote by the remaining council. Major org decisions are still approved by full assembly, but the council helps members and devotes time to develop the Dojo / organize events (in particular by heading the functional Houses) etc. It also has specific functions such as discipline. Members are volunteers. Lvl is not a criteria, but you need be full-member to become Council member.

Assembly: We have a weekly assembly, usually on Saturday evenings (10pm CET, 8pm GMT, 4pm EST, 1pm PDT). During these assemblies, we discuss current issues and make decisions regarding the Dojo. All members are welcomed to join. Current location is Rome Red.

Dress code: During formal events (eg Assemblies), members are required to wear an Oriental Suit/Organic Suit, reflecting their titlelevel (not rank). Purple suit (called 'blue oriental suit' I dont know why) for initiate, blue suit (just called 'oriental suit') for apprentice, red for monks, and black ('kung fu') for masters, and members of the council. We allow for limited exceptions for overequippers, based on (i) ppl doing their best efforts (ii) ppl wearing a coat of similar color to the suit they should be wearing. See illustration here

Guild House: Highrise 3 in Trade! (North Wall in the middle - right next to the grid!) Hang out there when you have nothing better to do! And buy your appartment here too!

Support: All members should try help each other as much as possible. This includes trying to rescue members in difficulty, answering questions, and donating common equipment to lower level (very rare pieces of equipment can be excluded from this rule: you do not have to donate you 500k cloak...). Applicants are not formally entitled to support.

Org Channel: We have a private channel open to all members. Do not overflow it.(see below)

Behavior (esp. on guild chat): It is important to have a good behavior as a member of the Dojo, and especially in the chat channel (but also toward external members etc...). Inapropriate behavior is the main cause for being excluded from the Org. The Council has a very firm stance on it. We excluded some members in the past, and are ready to do it again if necessary. The council will also prefer in doubt to exclude members behaving innapropriately. (See "discipline" below). Rules should be common sense, but let's make an illustrative list (will be updated with experience):

As mentioned, do not spam the chat channel. This can become a real issue, as some people will eventually switch off those channels that are too active (eg. trade channel) thus cutting them off from the rest of our community. Especially, use private (one-to-one), vicinity, or group channels as much as possible. Under this category we also place the practice of ranting. Rants typically feature one person launching into an essay of how something or someone in the game is unpleasant. While many may agree with the points made, rants typically turn a lot of people off as most do not care to hear a long argument about something negative - it can really bring someone down ;) Therefore we ask that any long rants be saved for private conversation, or even the forums - both ours and the official FC variety.
Keep the org chat channel clean - "PG" or "Disney-ish" only if you will :)"Keeping profanity/vulgarity/lewdness off the org channel is one simple way to keep things pleasing to all members. We certainly understand AO can cause many frustrations that call for colorful language, but we ask that you try and restrain yourself on the org channel. We don't penalize people for letting a phrase or 2 slip occasionally - usually we will counter with a friendly reminder and/or a small virtual mouthwashing ;) People who blatently break this rule in a consistant manner are eligible for an official warning, and immediate removal from the org if it persists. Also, while many of us have differing views on what is "bad" or "vulgar" language, please try and keep in mind the fact that we have many younger members (lower-teens even), and while they are not children per se, consider what you are saying to be only that which you would feel appropriate to say around young ones. In addition, any strong use of words of typical religious connotation or any "special" spellings, abbreviations, or acronyms of vulgar language are to be considered the same as the vulgar language itself - this also include innuendo, etc.
Do not beg, especially for money, but also for anything (gear, buffs...). Begging is best defined as repeatedly asking for something for free. If you are new to the game, it is advised to wait a little (a few days at least) before starting to ask for things. Also, as an applicant, members do not have to give you anything. Asking for help with a certain task also falls under these rules. Certainly all members should feel at ease with making any of these requests, but pls remembers these rules and realize that sometimes ppl are not going to be able to help you.
From time to time, ppl don't get along at some point. They start to argue, some are right, some are wrong, but that is not the point. The point is, those arguments can become very emotional. And if they are relayed on the org chat, the emotion can spread to many other ppl, even some that may just have been trying to help. So here are some general rules/guidelines to follow when this happens:
* Personal matters should be taken on personal chat (direct /tell, temp group etc...). The Org chat should NOT be used to settle publicly issues between members.
* If an issue cannot be resolved by direct discussions between members, you should involve a member of House Fudoshin, or alternatively, a Council member. These ppl will file your complaint, and try to help you solve it if possible. If it can not be solved, the matter will be brought before the Council, the body that holds disciplinary power (see below).
* However let it be knownthat we love every single member . If you happen to get into an argument with another person, 1) dont think this is the end of the world - be zen - 2) take such issues private or through the appropriate structures (not publicly).
It is not acceptable when ppl decide to leave the org (or threaten to do so) in protest to whatever they are not just happy with. (another member, org decision etc...). Your membership in the Dojo is to be taken seriously. If you decide to leave, you will only be re-admitted after a decision from the Council, which will consider why you left in the first place, and why you changed your mind. Here again, the functional houses will help.
It is also not acceptable to "grief" any other player, inside the org or outside.Griefing is defined as any action taken expressly to ruin the gaming experience of another player. This includes all forms of harassment, both verbal and physical (actions taken in the game). PvP action is the only place where these rules are bent slightly. In PvP, any physical action is allowed (it is war btw) but the verbal actions should still be kept under consideration. One area of physical action that has been termed griefing by both FC and thereby our org as well is training (leading) high-lvl MOBs onto other players (regardless of side) in a non-PvP area. Any act of griefing done knowingly is simply unacceptable and may be grounds for immediate dismissal from the org. Also be aware that griefers face possible disciplinary actions by FC itself, such as account bans.

Discipline: Any disciplinary issue should be raised to House Fudoshin, or alternatively, directly to a Council member. Fudoshin members may try to settle the issue while it has limited consequences, but its main role is to report the issue to the Council. Only the Council has disciplinary power. Disciplinary decisions by the Council are then enforced by Fudoshin. The decision process of the Council is simple:

When an issue is reported to the Council (typically by a Fudoshin member), the Council analyses and decides the disciplinary measure (if appropriate). The people involved are notified of the decision.
If they want to contest the decision, a second, formal Council meeting will take place, and the sanction will be confirmed only if a majority of the members confirms it. All Council members should be attending, but if not, a confirmation vote of a majority of the members is still necessary to confirm the sanction.
Two main sanctions are possible: Warning (potentially including a demotion) and being kicked out of the org. Usually, it is not possible to be kicked out if no warning has been issued before. But the Council reserves the right in exceptional circumstances to skip the warning face. Other specific sanctions can be decided eg. monetary compensation etc...).

Important: When Fudoshin acts immediately on a rules violation in-progess, the Sensei has final say on that matter at that time. The member in question then must agree to both a) confirm that their action was against org policies and b) confirm that they will not continue the behavior (at least until the other Fudoshin member is contacted and a final ruling rendered if there is a challenge). If they do not agree to these two items, then they are viewed as standing in direct opposition to Dojo law and enforcement thereof, and are in jeopardy of an immediate kick from the org.

Greeting: We usually greet ourselves using /pray

"Friends of the Dojo": We have created this sister organization at the beginning of 2002. All secondary characters of members of the dojo are automatically admitted in FOTD if they want to, whatever the level or the profession.

How it all began

On November 17th 2001, Nikh, RK2 Omni MA, decided to gather some fellow MA to create the first Martial Art school, and in effect, one the first profession-specific org. After having identified a first group of 6 friends (wakedogg, flupper, druhil, tenchin, gehro and elariah - now kashuya) ready to gather and put the first stone of the School, The Dojo was created on November 25th. Its success was immediate, and the first group quickly evolved into a larger org. All were rapidly convinced by the value that The Dojo could bring to them, as an ever greater source of knowledge and friends.

Comments about an MA-only org

The Dojo is MA-only (almost). This has sometimes been criticized, mainly because "hunting groups limited to MA are not in the spirit of the game", and supposedly "not efficient". To this we can answer the following:

Groups and orgs are two different things. Although you can hunt with your fellow members, you will rarely restrict to only that, just because unless you are part of a very large org, finding within your org a full balanced group ready to hunt at any time (except on set events) is quite difficult. So most of the time you will hunt with various people, in or out of you org.
MA are actually capable of both fighting hard and healing, making them a versatile profession, and MA-only group, although not a goal in the game, where diversity is enriching, is though possible and realistic.

Dojo Pics

Submit yours to Chronita@hot.rr.com

Old Pics

Official Dojo SS Entry