2b2tWiki:Group and Base Membership

Group and Base Membership is an editing guideline meant to clearly delineate what constitutes a member of either a group or a base, in order to accomplish a number of goals, namely:

For groups:
 * To delineate what a member of a group actually is
 * To promote a more clear reflection of the membership counts of all groups, especially public groups
 * To ensure that individuals who are added to a group and are unaware of this addition or do not participate at all are not listed as members of a group

For bases:
 * The prevention of addition to Base Templates of noncontributing members
 * The avoidance of listing uninvited residents in the Base Template
 * The avoidance of members of a continuation being listed as members of the original base by default, or the members of a rebuild being listed at all

It is additionally worth noting that bases and base group are themselves a type of group, and as such, situations will arise where both rule-sets may appear to be applicable. In cases such as this, it is strongly suggested that separate pages be made about the base(s) and about the group(s) building them if possible; e.g a separate page about the Melonites in tandem with those on Wintermelon and Summermelon, or a separate page about DonFuer in tandem with pages about their many bases of the same and similar name. Keeping this in mind, for groups that had few major bases (e.g Drain Gang/The Autumn Drain or Ireton/Order of the Tower), it is absolutely acceptable to include all such contents on a single page, preferably under the base's name, with a redirect under the group's name to the base page.

Definition of terms

 * Group - An institution where two or more players are dedicated to a common goal, however abstract, and work towards it in a sustained manner.
 * Rank - A label indicating a position in the hierarchy of a group.
 * Group Leader - Individual(s) who are at the top of a group hierarchy and direct its efforts.
 * Group Member - A player that is involved with a group in a formalized capacity. They hold permanent ranks that allow them to regularly participate in group functions.
 * Group Initiate (aka trial member) - A player that is involved with a group that does not have a permanent rank that allows them to regularly participate in group functions. This tends to be the bottom rank of a group, but sometimes there are multiple initiate ranks, e.g Astral Brotherhood has 2 initiate ranks: Moonshriner, and then Meteorite above that. Initiates tend to not be invited to regular group functions be default, although this is not always the case.
 * Group Affiliates - Some groups have ranks where players that do not actively participate in group activities are given a separate rank within the hierarchy. Some common designations include 'Friend', 'Affiliate', or 'Honorary member'. These are not to be considered members of a group
 * Group Alumni - Past members of a group.
 * Public group - A group that operates out of a chatroom, (usually through discord, skype, or matrix) with readily publicly available means of joining said chatroom. Groups with both public and private chatrooms are to be considered public.
 * Private group - A group that operates out of a chatroom, (usually through discord, skype, or matrix) without readily publicly available means of joining said chatroom. They are exempted from listing their members on the wiki.

Overall Group Membership Guidelines
Many players on 2b2t chose to pursue their goals and activities in tandem with other like-minded people. These activities tend to be through formalized institutions called groups. Groups contain multiple people that work in a sustained manner towards said common goals. Groups tend to have hierarchies, official or unofficial. They also tend to operate through a non-minecraft chatroom such as discord, skype, or matrix. Group hierarchies are made up of members that hold either one or multiple ranks collectively.

Full Member Guidelines
A full member of a group is a player that is involved with a group in a formalized capacity. They hold permanent ranks that allow them to regularly participate in group functions. They are differentiated from Quasimembers in a number of ways, namely: Beyond this, it is important that a 'member' actually participate in the group in even the most basic of ways. If a player is given a member rank and they, for instance, never send any messages in member-specific chats or otherwise acknowledge they are a member of the group, they should not be represented as a member of said group and are not to be counted in the members field of Sample Group Page.
 * 1) They firstly are simply identified as a member of said group. This is not an ironclad way to be listed as a member on the wiki, however.
 * 2) Secondly, they must hold a rank in the group. They are not necessarily to be counted in the members field of Sample Group Page because Quasimember ranks exist. These players holding these ranks must be separated out first.
 * 3) Thirdly, if it is a Public group, they cannot be a holder of an initiate rank - most of these members are incredibly temporary and it is heavily discouraged to list them on the wiki even if they are not included in total membership of a group. (For Private groups this may or may not apply depending on if there are more than one ranks or not)
 * 4) Fourthly, the rank they do hold must be a permanent rank - that is to say it's a rank that is not just for participants of a group event or spawn project etc. - it is permanent until they are either promoted, demoted, or removed from the group entirely. If all these criteria are satisfied, they likely should be counted in the members field of Sample Group Page - please understand that this might not always necessarily be the case as there is a high degree of nuance in play.

Quasimember Guidelines
Quasimembers of a group are players that are affiliated with a group for a temporary amount of time or in a limited capacity. They fall into two categories; Initiate and Affiliate. They are not to be counted in the members field of Sample Group Page.

Initiate Guidelines
Initiates in a group are players recently joined a group and hold a low formalized rank in the group hierarchy. They tend to not be regularly included in group activities, and tend to be involved with said group for short period in a limited capacity before either being made a member of the group or being removed entirely. Common names of initiate ranks include (but are not limited to): initiate, trial member, and recruit. Other names historically used include Sigma in Emperium and Reactive Incursioner in Infinity Incursion. Initiates are not to be counted in the members field of Sample Group Page.

Affiliate, Alumni, and Event Rank Guidelines
Affiliates in a group are players that hold roles outside of the group's formalized hierarchy, but that still may grant access to limited group activities. There tends to be a much more permanent nature about these sorts of ranks, and they generally are referred to with such labels as friend or guest. Affiliate ranks also include ranks granted that give access to group events or group projects. Since these projects are of a limited scope and a temporary nature they are not recognized as group ranks. While affiliate ranks do not technically factor into a group's hierarchy, it is worth noting that group affiliates often later become members of groups they hold affiliate ranks in. Also included in the 'affiliate' category are alumni ranks. They are past and are not present members of a group and the members count should reflect this. Such ranks are still not included in the total of members and should not be counted in the members field of Sample Group Page.

Definition of terms

 * Member - A player that is invited to a base or founds the base. They can be either contributory or noncontributory depending on if they aid in a base's construction in some way shape or form, or not. Only contributing members are to be listed in the Base Template as builders.
 * Founder - a member of a base that is a member by virtue of starting the base.
 * Invitation - The process of being added to a base. While it tends to take a vote to invite a player to a base, some bases add new members through unilateral decisions, or are even public with coordinates being posted in global chat. What constitutes 'invitation' may vary wildly between bases.
 * Uninvited resident - An player that goes to a base uninvited.
 * Ratification - The process by which an uninvited resident becomes a member of a base, it is easy to think of as an 'after-the-fact' invitation, although it must occur before or upon the grief of the base in question.

Overall Membership Guidelines
Bases are operated in a wide variety of ways internally, and for as many bases, there are just as many procedures for becoming a member of one. As such, the most straightforward way of determining invitation to a base is to ask a short line of questioning, namely: If any of these questions are answered with a 'yes', the line of questioning continues into the following sections. If all of the above questions are answered with a 'no', then the player in question is not a member of the base in question.
 * 1) Was this player a founder of a base? If not, then ask:
 * 2) Was this player added to this base in the same manner as the other members of the base that did not found it? If not, then ask:
 * 3) Was this player active in good faith at the base alongside the actual members in an unhindered manner for an extended period of time with a majority of the base group being aware of their activities? (additional guidance and information contained in )

This line of questioning presupposes that the aforementioned circumstances occur while a base is actually standing and active with its original base group. If these conditions are not met, this line of questioning is not applicable, and 2b2tWiki:Rebuilds and Continuations should be consulted instead. It is also worth noting that base membership is totally irrevocable.

Contributing Member Guidelines
To continue with the above line of questioning, the other important question to ask for a member of the base is: 'Did the player in question contribute to this base?' Contribution to a base can take many forms, with many not even involving physical construction of the base. Some examples include: Additionally, Uninvited residents can become members through Activity or Ratification.
 * Placing blocks at the base's physical location
 * Designing schematics for the base that are built or at least requested by members that are actively building at the location
 * Hosting a creative server for the base
 * Providing technical support to the base, e.g creating a Hacked client for the base that other members actively use
 * Traveling to the base location in game

If the base member contributes to the base in some way shape or form between its foundation and grief, they are to be listed in the Base Template as builders.

Noncontributing Member Guidelines
If a base member does not contribute to the base in any capacity throughout their time as a member, they are not to be listed as a builder in the Base Template. Otherwise, the contents of the base infobox become misleading, with members of the base having never been to the base or aided in its construction. A founder of a base that does nothing else for the rest of its lifespan should be considered a noncontributing member.

Uninvited Resident Guidelines
Uninvited residents at bases arrive there in a variety of ways, although usually as a result of a leak (intentional or accidental), or discovery of the base through basehunting. Whatever the case, they are NOT to be considered a member of the base by default. They are able to pursue membership of a base through Activity or Ratification. Satisfaction of either of these criteria means a formerly uninvited resident should instead be considered a member and should likewise be listed on the Base Template as a builder.


 * Membership by Activity - When an uninvited resident is not ratified as a member, but still contributes to the base. Their contributions should be sustained over a reasonably long period and exceed those of others considered to be contributory members. They must also occur in the same time-span as base members are also contributing to the base, and must be in the full knowledge of a majority of the base members.


 * Membership by Ratification- When an uninvited resident is invited to become a member of the base after already reaching the location, in as similar a manner as possible to other members. While it is likely not possible to afford them the same procedure (especially where new members are voted upon, since those voting may risk losing the base by voting no), it is nonetheless necessary for this activity to take place in order for the uninvited resident to be considered a member, e.g Xapamaa becoming a member of The Monastery after discovering the base, and then being added to the group by Marcus4761, the leader of the base.

Continuation and Rebuild Guidelines
Sometimes bases are rebuilt by groups of players other than the original base members following the final Grief of a base. Such activities are known as 'rebuilds'. The members of a rebuild are not to be considered members of the original base, although their rebuild may be considered a new base, e.g The Autumn Drain builders are considered members of The Autumn Drain, and not of The Drain, although they share the same location. Likewise, sometimes bases are re-inhabited after the original base group has ceased activity at its location. Such activites are known as 'continuations'. Continuations may be considered the same base, although the new base group must be designated in a separate grouping in the Base Template, eg, Shortbus Caliphate and later Astral Brotherhood continuing Poppy Town.