To foster an enjoyable gaming experience for its members, by providing a cooperative atmosphere, information, and material resources.

To fulfill their mission, the Black Hand Gang and the Black Helm Gang require that each member, officer, and leader of the guild must abide by the Code of Conduct, which consist of a few simple principles of human decency and courtesy. Any violation may result in a warning, or dismissal from the guild.

I. Guidelines

1. Be Fair

-Offer to buy and sell at fair market prices. Fair market is defined as that value agreed upon by a willing and knowledgeable seller and a willing and knowledgeable buyer with no obligation to buy or sell, and each acting in one’s own best interest. The most common example of NOT using fair market value: Attempting to purchase black dye from new players in presearing for 50g, knowing full well in postsearing it is worth 7k. I have spoken up in public chat against scammers in pre for doing this--have gotten lots of "threats" about it too!

-Always pay for / render services agreed upon. In other words, don’t not pay your runner to Droknar’s Forge; also, if you’re a runner, don’t accept payment and log off immediately.

-Getting a run to Droknar’s Forge as a low-level player is perfectly legitimate: you may have already finished the game, you only wish to purchase one set of armor for your character, whatever your reason. What we highly discourage is the use of max armor and elite skills in the lower-level arenas (Ascalon and Shiverpeaks Arenas). It is an unfair advantage which cripples your development as a PvP player and griefs your opponents.

2. Be a Good Sport

Occasionally we will encounter teams or guilds in GvG or HoH which will not be the most well-mannered. In fact, some of the worst language ever seen in this game is used in (ranked) GvG battles. We will NOT stoop to their level, and limit our own colorful language to Team chat or the TS channel. A simple "gg" at the end of the game is encouraged.

"Friendly" guilds who agree to practice unranked GvG with us, deserve our extreme gratitude.

3. Be Nice

-Help out fellow guild members whenever possible, whether with information, quests or missions, or items. We all get busy; a simple acknowledgment of your status when someone asks for assistance is only courteous. By the same token, DO NOT be afraid to ask for help yourself! Chances are, there are other members who need to accomplish whatever it may be. If people are busy when you need help or want company, don’t take it personally--just plan ahead next time. Use this forum to arrange quests, missions, teams.

-Trading and gifting extra weapons, runes, crafting materials, to guild members is always encouraged. If an item is extremely valuable, payment of gold is acceptable; however, gifting is the preferable method of exchange.

-Be respectful to others, including those not in the guild; remember that behind every player is a real person. (Unless it’s a bot. In which case, report them to ANet!)

4. Be considerate when using TeamSpeak and Alliance Chat

People enjoy using TS for communicating even when not actually logged on to GW. This is fine, I'd encourage greater communication among members. Listening in on other people is also acceptable. However, when people have set up specific channels to do a quest or mission, please respect that they have done so for a reason. IE, if there is a channel called "Tombs," for example, if you are not in that group, feel free to listen in! But allow the group to use the channel for strategizing and keep your own comments to a minimum. We will not set up password-protected channels.

Alliance chat is a benefit of being in an alliance. There can be up to 10 guilds in any alliance; therefore a potential 1,000 people using the same channel. Spamming, begging, profanity, or selling of any kind will not be tolerated. It is not to be used as a general/guild chat; it is to be used for quest/mission organization, major announcements, and Q&A about the game ONLY.

5. Be Legal

Do not do anything that if ANet found out about it, would get your account banned. For example, do not use faction or gold farm bots, purchase GW gold with real-world money, scam, spam, or verbally abuse anyone.

6. Behavior

As to behavior not specifically mentioned as required or prohibited in this Code: One can extrapolate from guidelines 1-5 stated here, what sort of behavior is acceptable in the guild.

II. Violations

If you are witness to a member/officer/leader violating the Code: If you feel comfortable, approach the person. If not, notify an officer or the leader as soon as possible. This is achieved through whispering in-game or PM’ing via the forum.

Violations will be taken seriously. We have many people in the guild; one person causing drama and headaches for many others, is not acceptable. A warning or possible "kicking" from the guild are possible repercussions for violating the Code.

We all have bad days and misunderstandings, and hopefully with good communication we can keep it all worked out.

Thanks for your attention.