
In light of the recent events, I have now updated our guild rules, specifically the section regarding the Guild Vault, in order to make it hopefully crystal clear how our Vault should (and should not) be used.
The addition is as follows:
CLARIFICATION: PLEASE BE AWARE THAT ALL DONATIONS TO THE GUILD VAULT ARE JUST THAT .. DONATIONS. THEY ARE CLASSED AS GIFTS GIVEN TO THE GUILD TO BE USED FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE GUILD AS A WHOLE. If you place something in the guild vault by accident, please contact an officer or the guild leader as soon as possible after the event in order to reclaim it. By "as soon as possible", we mean a matter of hours .. perhaps a day or so .. however, please be aware that once an item is in the vault, anyone with the rank to remove that item, can do so if they wish (as long as they adhere to our fair use policy). If it is a monetary addition to the guild vault that has been added by accident (for example you added too much), you need to notify an officer or the guild leader within the day ... if we cannot see the donation on the vault logs, we can't verify the amounts involved.
Hopefully this is clear enough to dispel any doubt.
Basically I'm trying to ensure that everyone knows .. if it goes in the guild vault, it is no longer the property of the person who put it in. It is a gift, a donation, and will be treated as such. It doesn't matter what it was, how much of it there was, or how it got there .. an item placed in the guild vault then becomes the property of the guild as a whole.
As I'm aware that sometimes mistakes happen .. you accidentally click on the wrong item, put the wrong number in, etc .. we are happy to return items that have been placed in the guild vault by mistake. However, you must be aware that, until the point where an officer or myself can remove that item and return it to you, it is the property of the vault and anyone who has access, is able to remove it. And at that point it is legitimately theirs. In the case of gold (which is used to fund raiding supplies when necessary, and guild member repairs), you MUST contact us immediately. If the gold does not show up on the vault logs, then it is gone .. it has been combined with all other guild funds and is being used to fund the guild as whole. And the log only covers a finite number of transactions, which generally means at the maximum there will be a record for only a day or two.
THE GUILD VAULT MUST NOT BE USED AS A PLACE TO "KEEP THINGS SAFE".
I'd also like to clarify that the guild vault is dealt with completely separately from my own personal gold supplies. I do not use the guild vault as a personal bank, and the only time I withdraw funds from it (other than the occasional repair) is when I'm buying supplies for raiders.
I have an addon that tracks incoming and outgoing gold, which I set to zero before dealing with the guild vault .. any costs for putting things on the Auction House, the proceeds from sales, the cost of buying supplies are all tracked and whatever the balance is, I then zero it out again with the vault (so if I'm 100g down, I'll withdraw that 100g .. if I'm 100g up, the 100g goes in).
I only deal with the guild vault on my main character, and do not use the auction house for any of my personal auctions using that character.
Bearing in mind the problems of the last week, unfortunately I've also had to revise our recruitment advert on the guild forums. I had been very proud of the fact that we just didn't "do" drama and that we were a drama free environment, but in all honesty I can no longer use that as a draw for new members. I have instead changed the wording to state that we "aim to be drama free".
Finally .. can I please ask that, if anyone has a problem with ANY aspect of the guild .. be it something in the rules; a member of the guild; even something I've done (or not done) .. please don't let it fester. You can speak to myself either direct, in game, or via various other means (Facebook, PM, this website). If you are uncomfortable speaking to me, you are more than welcome to speak to one of the other officers ... I'm pretty sure I heard Hoescht/Pandzer volunteer to be guild problem solver, recently 