This clan is founded on the basic priciples of.

1. Democracy.
2. No minimum membership requirements
3. No stupid rules
4. No clan bank

The Only one of these that can not be altered is #1.
Altering 2-4 will require a 70% majority of all members.

I have been through many clans. I have seen the good, but more commonly the bad in what a clan can be. I have learned from the greatest of leaders such as Irish Wonder as well as from the worst of the foolish leaders such as Compnut. From these experiences I have developed the principles on which I founded this clan.

Founding Principles

Most clans are formed by egomaniacal dictators wanting to control the thoughts and actions of other people. The membership is forced to conform to one persons distorted view while having no say in how the clan works. These clans always fail in great flaming burn outs. Leaving the dictator alone, to lord over an empty forum.

Still other clans are formed as a well disguised scam. Where members are forced to pay dues or donate to a bank. Where only the leaders benefit from the efforts of the clan.
Clan banks are a scam. Designed to rip of people in the name of friendship. These clans rarely get going, failing before they start.

Small minded people with a narrow view of the game create small and narrow clans. Things like PK Only or Mining Clans do not take full advantage of everything Runescape has to offer. Members come and go having little loyalty. These clans rarely last long.

Many clans have long and strict lists of requirements. They do this to make themselves feel part of an elite club. Looking down on the less experience so they can feel better about themselves. They neglect the valuable players who are growing fast and have much to offer

Long lists of stupid rules are unenforceable. They only serve to stoke the ego of the person writing and inflicting the rules on the membership. These rules are designed to control the membership into a specific behavior. These clans never grow and frequently fail quickly.

Games such as Runescape are popular because they are goal oriented. The drive to reach the next skill level pushes the people to play. A clan that forms around the game is a community of people with similar drives. It is the responsibility of the clan to provide similar goals and challenges to its members. Not to restrict them in hole dug for them by the management, but to provide opportunity to grow and expand their ability and rank within the clan. An intelligent and motivated new member should be promoted ahead of a lazy long time member.

Clan members come and go. Life happens and other pursuits take priority. Loyal clan members should be rewarded with status and rank. Members who leave should not be punished but always welcomed back. Many leaders take it as an insult when a member leaves and will start a flame war. This reduces the respectability of the clan and drives away membership.

It was a founding idea when I started this clan. That it would remain open to all levels. Noob players who are welcomed into a clan will grow into strong players. These members will be the ones who remain loyal long term members.

Even as low as lvl 60, If they are not in a clan already it is for one of the following reasons.
1. They are a clan hopper that won't stay long anyway.
2. They are a problematic reject for other clans. (like me, ask the old CBDers)
Anyone who says "I'm not joing a clan with no limits" is an arrogant prick.
These are not the people I wan't in a clan with me.

I have been in many clans seen the arrogant and the dictator. The arrogant fools out there who can not see past the no stat requirement or the small membership are too foolish to see that this clan has quality potential different from all the other clans

Then there is the arrogance. *stares snootily down her nose* .."you're not good enough to play with me". Or the arrogance of a statement like this taken from another clan:

"IF you do not meet with the requirements, u can also join BUT youn need to get to the needed lvl by the end of 2 weeks. "

.....Because we are better than you and you can't play with us until you meet our standards.

You all know me at the level I am now. But I was a lvl 3 noob once. I had enough sense to keep my mouth shut, my head down and work on my stats. What kind of clan mate would I have made at lvl 3? Much the same I am now only a little less skilled at the game.

Then there is the issue of the RL Age of the applicant. An 18 yo who has been playing RPG games for years but just started RS? Or the 12 yo who is lvl 98 has no life and only knows combat?

Most clans put skill requirements on members for the following reasons.
1. They are a PK/antiPK clan and have a narrow minded view of wilderness combat.
2. they want to take advantage of the player by using their high skill for their gain.
3. They want to feel Elite..better then their fellow man.

I agree we need some controlls to prevent morons from joining. You would be surprised how effective our Idot Test is. I get at least 1 application a day were there is no poll posted. I just delete them.

AS you can see this is something I feel strongly about. My decision to put no skill restrictions on applicants was not because I'm too lazy to check it out. As you can see I had put some thought into this. .

However, It's is also a foundation of this clan that anything can be voted into being. I am not a dictator making demands. if you guys choose a standard, I will see that it happens.

It's one of the founding ideas when I started this clan. I can make all my clan mates RICH and you don't have to fuck me over to do it.

It's the short sighted, narrow minded attitude of "make a quick buck and fuck your buddy" that makes runsecape such a hatefull place.

When doing business with a clan mate my motto is.. Buy High, Sell Low. I can't afford to give away my stuff (though I sometiems do) but I can sell to you at what it costs me to make. One of the main reasons to be in a clan is to support each other, not to rip off your friends. If you want to rip off your clan mates, there are many many clans out there created specifically for that reason. If I wana get screwed over on prices I can go to Varrock. I don't have to be in a clan for that.

I make plenty of money selling at fair prices to the public. I don't need to screw my clan mates too. It really irritates me when I make an offer that I make twenty coins profit on and a clan mate trys to screw me down on my price. It is also a nasty little circle of Raw Materials - Finished Goods. Consider these numbers.

Two examples.

Coal 400 ea (takes 8 coal to make a rune bar)
Runite 13000 ea
Screw you, im not helping. You have to Superheat your ores but I will sell you Nature Runes for 400 ea.

8x400 = 3200 + 13000 + 400 = 16600 x 3 = 49800
This means I have to charge my clan mates 49800 for a Rune Battle axe.
It also means I am screwed selling to the public cause 50k is max price for a Baxe and they will not sell very fast.

And it ends here because you won't buy a baxe from me for 50k. And I will be pissed at you and never buy (or sell) anything to you again.

OR.................

Coal 165 ea. (Still an above average price, I can buy in the store for 125 ea)
Runite 12000
Sure, I will Help you at the Blast Furnace. (where it only takes 4 coal to make a rune bar. and doesnt require nature runes)

4 x 165 = 660 + 12000 = 12660 x 3 = 37980
Which means I can sell a Rune Battle Axe to my clan mates for 38k !!!
See how you are screwing yourself when you try to screw your friends !?!?!

But Wait.... There is more.

The profit you make selling me coal to make One R-Baxe at 400 ea instead of 165 ea is 5640 coins. (400-165) x 24
If you sold me your coal at 165 ea, spent the money to buy a battle axe and sold it for 47k (a very fair price). You would make a profit of 9K

But Wait... There is MORE

The profit you make selling one of my battle axes can be used to buy more battle axes. Which can make you more money to buy more axes wich will make you more money.......it goes on and on.

The money I get from selling you battle axes I will spend buying more coal from you. So you can raise your mining and sell me Addy and Runite and make more money.

I can sell my axes to the public for 44k ea. Which means they will sell dam fast. I can make a profit to buy more Ore from you. So I can buy other things that you are selling.

But Wait... There is MORE

You can help me lvl in smithing which means I can make better items which means you can buy better items cheaper than anywhere else in runescape.

I will apprecaite the help and you will be rewarded (ask some of the founding members for details).

The Following was written by EDEVOLI.

Can I say something?

Our wonderful "Idiot test" is faulty. The people in charge know that and are picking their brains to fix it...

If Marl were to reapply right now, based on some people's wonderful opinions...he wouldn't be accepted! He is rather intelligent. He just has a HUGE spelling/grammar problem so in his typing it appears that he's a moron. But in all actuality he's one of the smartest people in this clan.

DO NOT use spelling/grammar as a means of judging a person. Yes they really need to say more than "can i join". They should tell us about themselves. By speaking about themselves we can observe their mannerisms and see if they are the type of person we want.

There was a comment made to one of the applicants saying that we didn't need them. Um no? It is my understanding that we are a community of people who play (or did play upon joining) RS who are here to make friends and participate in clan events...what the hell do we NEED people for anyway? We don't *need* anyone else in this clan, we just *want* to expand it to make more friends. I mean if I'm wrong someone can correct me but this is what I believe is going on.

One does not have the right to tell another that they are not needed in our clan. ESPECIALLY when the comment was coming from a member who has been here less than a month. *scratches head*

PLEASE be kinder to the applicants and do not belittle them. You wouldn't have wanted that done to you so you sure as hell shouldn't be doing it to other people.

Now again I return to the "idiot" test.
When I joined this clan I had NEVER posted a poll so I didn't really know what I was doing. I read all the directions and was still a bit confused. I made my poll and had Ed (Marlboro227) check it before I submitted it. That does not make me an idiot, especially since he told me that my poll was perfectly fine and I had done it right all on my own.

My point is I had to ask for help. Had I not had him to double check I stood the risk of being rejected. Some people who are new to forums may have trouble posting a poll..this does not make them unworthy. I honestly feel that if they've followed ALL of the other instructions but something went wacky with their poll that you should just give them another stab at it (assuming that based on their introduction of themselves they would have been accepted the first time if everything was right)

In another post I said. The Anarchy of Noobdom. And that got me to thinking.
(*Oh god, here she goes again...rant, rant, rant*)

n. pl. anarchy
1. Absence of any form of political authority.
2. Political disorder and confusion.
3. Absence of any cohesive principle, such as a common standard or purpose.
(from www.dictionary.com)

It really is Anarchy. New players. I mean real new players not an existing player creating a Noob, but real first time to the game Noobs.

New players are screwed.

They have no support system. They are shunned by everyone. Those that DO talk to them are trying to scam them or are just abusive for the fun of it. The game is HUGE now and very overwhelming. Noobs are COMPLETELY on their own to make their way. It is complete Anarchy in the Noob lands.

Add to this a large quantity of Moronic Foul Mouthed Dinklemeyer Pudwackers to lower the general intelligence of the game as a whole and....

New players are screwed.

They have only their love for RPG games and the drive to reach a respectable level to make them go on and get better.

It's no wonder that lvl 45-60's are such pricks. If they make it to that level they have earned a little arrogance. They did it on their own with no help from anyone who actually KNOWS the game. With everyone slapping the around.

Sure there will always be the dimwitted, the criminally minded, the foolish idiots, the profane and the violent. That’s just life. Those people are everywhere. But we are increasing the population of the dimwitted criminals by allowing otherwise intelligent and honorable people to live in Anarchy.
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Just like a child in the Real World, a Noob only knows what they learn. From day one they learn...Anarchy...Fight or Die. Cheat.. Steal.. Scam or Just take advantage of the weak. This attitude shows through when they grow up. The Noob Culture and lessons learned remain when they become high level players.

Attitudes like:
Any monster is my monster no matter who is fighting it.
If it drops, it’s mine
Scam if you can
You paid to much… take the money and run.
I can go on and on.

It shows in the Clans that grow up around Runescape. Arrogant High level clans who refuse to even look at you if you are below standard. Clans created to scam and rob. The people who come to this clan looking for an easy opportunity to rip someone off. And all the while the Noobs are left to fend for themselves in Anarchy.

How much of the Noob begging, hostility, obsessive following and general rude behavior comes from pure frustration? How much of it comes from the vacuum of Anarchy, having no support? Noobs are constantly being punched in the face by everyone. Not just High Levels.. but their peers too. Why should they care if you punch them around some.

We all have stories. Of the lvl 100 who steals our kills or takes over our training area. You can abuse them all you want, why should they care. They are better than you and have earned the right to steal whatever they can. The person who comes and steals our arrows, or grabs our dragon bones before we can get them. The scammers and the beggars. The complete lack of honor, respect and honesty in the game. This is what is learned from Day One. This is what We Teach Them by allowing them to live in Anarchy. Fight or Die.

How many times has it been said "Noob is an attitude or behaviour, Not a level". How many High level fighters act like Noobs. Lots of them.

It’s your fault. It’s definitely My fault. We all grew up in the Anarchy of Noobdom and live by the lessons we learned. We associate only with those of the same level as ourselves – and will rob them if we get the chance. We look down on those as little as 10 levels below us…they are unworthy of our attention. Unless of course we WANT something from them. Those far below our level get stomped on as if they were bugs. It is a nasty circle of repetition and all of us keep the circle going.

So what can we do about it? Not much. BUT, we are a clan. A group of people who…if we put an effort into it can have a small impact. We can save a handful of the intelligent and industrious Noobs who just want to have fun. AND Maybe, (yeah yeah, I live in a fantasy world) but just maybe we could change Runescape. Bring up some Noobs who don’t live in Anarchy. Who grow into Honorable Players. Who turn the circle of the Anarchy of Noobdom around and make Runescape a fun place to be. It’s a Utopian fantasy…but ooooohhhh, What if ???

The Runite Legion accepts people shunned by other clans. They may be inexperienced in the game or in real life. We accept them based on the person and not a measurable skill. Because of this we have to be open minded and accepting of the wide variety of people. We will have members of various ages, languages and cultures. Of varying intelligence and skill.

A person who applies may appear to be a fool with no speaking skills. But in reality they are a brilliant computer programmer who’s first language is Swahili and are just learning English. Who are you to judge and berate this person ?

Everyone had to learn somewhere. Do you remember who taught you how to behave on a forum? When did you first learned what spam was? With a little tolerance we can guide these people. Perhaps show them our version of good online behavior.

Instead of being the arrogant and oppressive bully be the supportive teacher. If you can’t do that, keep your mouth shut.

Having shared the leadership of a clan for over a year now I have learned some things.

A pure democracy will not work where people can not truly be held accountable for their actions. The worst we can do is restrict forum abilities and place a social stigma on a person. There are many people who could care less about such things. If we can not cause them real physical pain or loss of freedom there is nothing to motivate them to conform to the social norm. It is a balance of power. If the people are less responsible for themselves, the leadership must be given the authority to take that responsibility. The leadership must be empowered to take action as a dictator would whenever they feel it necessary. An authoritarian democracy.

There is a difference between “stupid rules” and establishing a political or social structure. A stupid rule would be “you may not join another clan”. A political or social structure would be our procedure to change a founding principle. Development of the social structure is necessary. Especially as the clan grows in size. To give a structure to how we interact with each other on clan issues and to define the role of leadership.

These two concepts balance each other: The authority of leadership to act with the power of a dictator when needed, Development of a social structure for the leadership to work within. It is still a democracy, where everyone gets a say and the people establish a structure for leadership to operate within. But it is also authoritarian where the leadership can take decisive action without the approval of the people. The people retain ultimate authority to correct the behavior of a leader.

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As in the real world, within the clan there is a general lack of interest in political activity. The majority does not vote or offer comment. Only an active few are involved. As a result these few get to establish the government in which we live. Only when something serious or egregious happens do the common people take interest. By then it is too late for them to have an impact. They must accept, as they always have with their silence, the decisions of those who have always been active.

Clan mates who do not normally participate in Clan Government discussions can not expect their opinions to be considered. Their voice will not carry the same weight as those who are active. Yes, all get a vote. But it is the discussion that goes on before the vote that establishes the government. The vote is just the end result.

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We live in an “I want it now” environment. The internet compounds this. We want things to happen Now...immediate…rapid. But not all things work that way.

For a clan to be successful you must balance active with involvement. To keep the attention of the active people you must have some immediacy. To respect and consider all members you must have a high level of involvement. These two concepts contradict each other so you must find a balance.

Some discussions on minor issues can be handled with immediacy. While others need to sit for a while allowing everyone to comment. It is up to the leadership to manage this. To keep things moving and active.

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Change, growth and evolution of the clan is necessary and inevitable. However, these things are difficult for many people to accept. We become comfortable with the status-quo and resist change. A combination of Fearing The Unknown and a humans tendency to remember “the good ole days”. To quote a Billy Joel lyric “The good ole’ days weren’t always good, tomorrow’s not as bad as it seems”.

Lack of change is stagnation. Stagnation will destroy a clan. Change must be encouraged.

As the clan grows in size the variations of individual personality grows. This is a good thing as it adds to our diversity and prevents stagnation. Every person has right to exercise their personality within the boundaries of “basic good manners”. Every clan member must be tolerant of personalities that do not agree with their own. This is particularly true in the Leader/Clan mate relationship. A leader is the focus of attention and draws more complaints. I am not going to reprimand a leader just because you don’t like their personality. They have earned the right to demonstrate a strong personality. If you don’t like that, become a leader yourself. This goes both ways. A leader must set the example and be more tolerant of various personalities. For both groups, leader and follower.. when in doubt, shut your mouth.

It's been a long time since I posted a philosophical rant. The clan was founded around the rants of myself and the other founders. Most were dreams and goals of a better world. This rant is more of the harsh reality of life.

Over the two years of TRL I have learned a lot about life, people and myself. Some of these lessons are invaluable. The current lesson I am learning is that Loyalty is an Illusion. I don't mean loyalty to me, I mean to the idea that is TRL. And yeah, maybe I expected some loyalty from those who I considered "friend". There are a few here, that no matter how much I abuse them remain loyal. They believe in the ideal of TRL. There are many more to whom I have been kind to and do not remain.

Early on in TRL I had everything mapped out. I spent over a year writing my ideals and planning my actions. The start of TRL was no whim. Some of the games I played and the direction I pushed the clan were part of my larger plan. Even the Revolution was pre-planned. Part of this plan was, we would have a base of steady members. People who were here from the start or lived through our milestones. People who established and maintained our culture of beliefs. New members could grow to such positions of honor and respect within the clan. Our members would help guide our new people, not just in the TRL way of life, but perhaps create a better world inside RS. Thus is the grandiose nature of my fantasies. It is the disrespect or the devaluation of the Ideal of TRL that I didn't anticipate.

Tonight I stumbled into a chatroom that contained All TRL members. Names I recognize as past and current members. Then I learn that this is a clan. This is the third time where people I consider friends have split off and made their own clan. Taking TRL people with them. There have been many additional cases of 1 or 2 steady members going off to join some other exclusive clan. I stand by everything I have written in the past about Multi-Clanning. Preventing it is foolish and unenforceable. But it is another example of the failure of my ideals. People seem to prefer to be subject to the stupid rules.

I expected Real Life to over rule. Litch moved on to RL with his Girlfriend. Boycott had to focus on his studies. This is natural. My feelings are hurt when I learn someone has left the clan, but remained in the RS world. I understand the vagaries of human nature. Nothing is permanent especially at our age. Change and variation are needed. Conflict and turmoil is not fun (for most). Calm camaraderie is desirable. It is the nature of people who are not leaders to follow into what they perceive as a better place. Only the idealist, the leader or teacher or just the strong willed remain behind. Remain for the challenge, the sense of accomplishment or whatever motivates them.

Because of our ideal of accepting all people. We get all the inexperienced, the morons and offensive people mixed with the occasional quality person. We deal with the hassles, weed out the problems. Eventually the quality people stand out. Only to be lured away to a hidden chatroom or clan.

Problem is.. the steady and calm people, the mature clan mates, the calm camaraderie is bled off by all of the divisions. Steady members go away leaving behind the offensive, new and inexperienced. NO one remains to set an example or present a calm base. This gives the impression that TRL is nothing more than a hysterical rabble of noobs behaving badly.

It also bleeds off our history.

There is no one left that helped grow TRL. Very few have lived the past two years. There is no sense of history or culture. Because there is no one around to help live it. I was counting on culture, clan history to be a guiding feature of the clan. Where the ideal of TRL was just kind of "there" for the new members to feel. We are a lost civilization where history is only documented in words.

This is one of the big flaws in my overall plan. To think that people would be loyal and stick around. That the calm and mature clan mates would out number the new and hysterical. Causing a balance. The reality has been, people come here long enough to learn the ways of things, find like minded people and leave. They go away to create their own hidden world leaving behind the undesirables.

I have been bitter and mean for the last few months. The combination of things: Being one of the few to stick around and keep the ideals of TRL alive and the constant turmoil caused by what I have described in this rant. The thing I am having the hardest time dealing with is... Having my feelings constantly hurt over and over. I didn't anticipate this in my bigger plan. I am reacting badly to it. I have never been one to make friends easily. Worse now is I avoid our new members for fear they will eventually hurt my feelings too. None of you really know me.

All of this is more than just a "vacation" can fix. The basis of TRL, my foundational ideas are a failure.

It is my belief in the ideals of TRL. It is my promise to all of you and to the members that have gone before you. It is these reasons that I remain.

I reaffirm this promise. To those of you who believe in the Ideal that is TRL. I will remain. Together we can find a way to make our Ideal work.

We have long passed the point where I planned the course of TRL. It is time for me to back off and get a new plan. To incorporate your advice and develop a new foundation. No games, no staged revolution. Just a thoughtful restructuring.