Subject: YuGiOh! Duelist's Guild - Imagine if you will, going to your local store and finding a group of YuGiOh! players discussing their strategies to defeat in YuGiOh! style combat another group of YuGiOh! players at another store! This is not very common, as far as I can tell. What's more; imagine one of those players looking at a list of all the local YuGiOH! players living in town in order to find a specific duelist to challenge! Imagine that player taking a quick 10 minute bus trip with some friends downtown to a public spot for a pre-arranged duel with that very same duelist that he/she found in the list! This could be you! All the drama! All the action and excitement possible in a local arena. This is the world of YuGiOh! Duelist's Guild!!! Hi, I'm Johnny, the Wandering Duelist. My friends and I are at work forming the first divisions of YuGiOh! Duelist's Guild in New York City. We will basically become an organized network of different YuGiOh! clubs in various areas of our city. The Guild clubs will provide (a) a more localized trading post for members(the Treasurer's trade request list - safe, supervised trade opportunities within walking or local transportation distance - very convenient); (b) a sense of local team spirit and comradery(especially in a division grudge match); (c) a greater sense of dramatic excitement(i.e. the Official Challenge Match); (d) large cooperative local tournaments(local divisions can cooperate to create a larger tournament than a single store can provide - more often too: a plus for those who love to compete in big events); (e) a more detailed knowledge of local duelists(the roster/ranking lists + newsletter : for those duelists looking for a greater or simply different kind of challenge but can't travel very far for various reasons) It would be great to have guild clubs pop up in different places - we could bring so much more cooperation and dimension and fun to the game this way - It's a Baby Dragon waiting for a good Time Wizard to power it up! So please take a look at the YuGiOh! Duelist's Guild Charter below and, if you are interested, copy and print it out for yourself. If you intend to form a division in your local area, e-mail me at JohnnyBQuick@aol.com so I can let the other Guild members in my local area know that the Guild idea is catching on. If enough Guild clubs pop up, we may be able to arrange cooperative YuGiOh! dueling events of awesome proportions!!! YUGIOH! DUELIST'S GUILD CHARTER 2002 1. YuGiOh! Duelist's Guild is created and maintained for the purpose of providing YuGiOh! duelists a safe medium for meeting with other duelists to duel, trade, and possibly even compete in YuGiOh! Duelist's Guild tournaments. 2. YuGiOh! Duelist's Guild is not affiliated with Konami or any YuGiOh! distribution company. YuGiOh! Duelist's Guild is a semi-private organization created by YuGiOh! duelists for YuGiOh! duelists. 3. YuGiOh! Duelist's Guild events may however be assisted and/or sponsored by an outside organization(s) at the discretion of the current administration. 4. YuGiOh! Duelist's Guild is not in any way responsible for loss/theft of YuGiOh! merchandise. 5. YuGiOh! Duelist's Guild will however provide a 'lost and found' department in each of it's local divisions. See Local Divisions: Departments for more details. 6. Membership in YuGiOh! Duelist's Guild may be revoked at any time for failure to comply with YuGiOh! Duelist's Guild Rules and Regulations. Organization Parameters 1. YuGiOh! Duelist's Guild is divided into National, Regional, District, and Local divisions. 2. An International board of directors will be created for International YuGiOh! Duelist's Guild events under situational circumstances. 3. The International board of directors will be created at the discretion of current leadership in the National divisions involved. 4. Regional divisions will be created and amended at the discretion of current National division leadership. 5. District divisions are limited to 1 per major city or town. 6. The number of Local Divisions is limited at the discretion of current District leadership. Local Divisions: Requirements for District Membership 1. Each local division of YuGiOh! Duelist's Guild is required to have an administrative group of four: a President, a Vice President, a Secretary, and a Treasurer. 2. Each local division of YuGiOh! Duelist's Guild must have at least 1 adult supervisor to assist in the administration of the division. 3. Each local division of YuGiOh! Duelist's Guild must have a designated public meeting place where meetings and YuGiOh! Duelist's Guild tournament events can be held. 4. Each local division of YuGiOh! Duelist's Guild must submit a local charter to the current YuGiOh! Duelist's Guild District President for approval and entry into the YuGiOh! Duelist's Guild District as an official YuGiOh! Duelist's Guild local division. See Leadership: Local Charter Requirements for details. 5. Each local division of YuGiOh! Duelist's Guild is required to have a minimum membership roster of 12(including leadership). 6. Each local division of YuGiOh! Duelist's Guild is required to meet officially at least once per week. Local Divisions: Requirements for Individual Membership 1. An individual applying for membership is required to be a minimum age of ten years old. 2. An individual applying for membership is required to have a YuGiOh! Deck and Side Deck constructed accordingly to official YuGiOh! Deck Construction Rules. 3. An individual under the age of 18 years applying for membership is required to bring proof of permission to participate in YuGiOh! Duelist's Guild activities from a parent or legal guardian. 4. An individual applying for membership is required to pay a membership fee of $5 for the first year of membership in YuGiOh! Duelist's Guild. Membership dues are $3 each following year. 5. An individual applying for membership is required to sign a documented agreement to comply with all YuGiOh! Duelist's Guild Rules and Provisions. 6. An individual applying for membership is required to register his full legal name with his age and deck type in the official YuGiOh! Duelist's Guild roster. 7. An individual applying for membership may be allowed entry despite being under ten years of age if said individual defeats the current Local division President in a 3 round Match. Local Divisions: Departments [President] a. is required to attend and organize Local division meetings/events. b. is required to represent his/her local division at District division leadership meetings c. oversees the other departments in his/her division. d. gives a News Report about YuGiOh! Duelist's Guild business or other YuGiOh! events/happenings whenever possible [Vice President] a. assists the President in his/her duties b. takes over the President's duties should the President become incapacitated in any way. c. oversees new membership. [Secretary] a. records important issues addressed and information gathered at meetings/events b. oversees membership roster c. is required to submit a quarterly(once every three months) report regarding local division status d. reports important division information and status weekly to the division membership e. submits local roster monthly to District leadership for update in District roster f. records outcomes of official challenges/division matches for ranking purposes, adds this information to monthly roster report [Treasurer] a. is responsible for membership dues b. is responsible for Lost and Found items c. is responsible for prizes given away at local division tournaments d. must give a weekly treasury report to rest of membership at meetings. e. must give a monthly treasury report to District leadership f. oversees card trading at official meetings - unfair trading is rampant so Treasurer can request a Trading/Price Guide if necessary ***Lost and Found items must be claimed within two weeks otherwise they become part of the local Treasury, subject to use at the discretion of current Local and District leadership NOTE: Meetings should begin with secretary's weekly Status Report; followed by weekly Treasury Report; followed by News Update from the President; followed by New Business; ending with Official Challenges. Local Divisions: Trades and Transactions 1. All trades and transactions of YuGiOh! merchandise by YuGiOh! Duelist's Guild members with other members will be regulated by the local Treasurer to ensure fairness. 2. Treasurer should provide information on price and rarity of items. Should said members still agree to make said trade or transaction, Treasurer should record said trade or transaction for monthly Treasury Report. 3. Trading Post*** - Treasurer will record requested trades or transactions(what people want to trade, buy or sell) and submit the list of requests in monthly Treasury Report to District Treasurer for posting at all local divisions. Should a Guild member make a trade request and no longer wants the request by the time of Treasury Report submission, please inform the Treasurer so that he/she can remove it from the list; just plain, old, good manners to do so. Official Challenge Matches: Local Divisions 1. Official Challenges are recorded by local Secretary for official YuGiOh! Duelist's Guild ranking. 2. YuGiOh! Duelist's Guild members have the right to refuse an Official Challenge at any time. 3. The challenger must set the parameters of the Match before receiving an answer.(ex. 3 out of 5 rounds with Upper Deck restrictions, sudden death with monsters under 1000 Atk, etc.) 4. Both the challenger and the challenged duelist must agree to the terms of the Match. 5. YuGiOh! Duelist's Guild members may request a challenge with any of the members of their division, including the leadership. Official Challenge Matches: District Divisions 1. YuGiOh! Duelist's Guild members may officially challenge a member of another local division at the permission of the local leadership. 2. The local Secretary will provide either a copy of the District Roster Report or another local division's roster to said challengers. 3. The Challenge Match must occur within an official local division meeting place. 4. At least 3 members from both divisions involved must be present for the Match. A local officer should attend to referee. Official Challenge Matches: Division Grudge Match 1. The 2 divisions involved must each send an equal, odd number of representatives to defend the honor of their respective local guilds. 2. The match must take place in a neutral location, preferably a third party local division's meeting place. 3. An officer from a third party neutral local division must attend the match. 4. Match conditions and restriction rules must be agreed upon by all Guild members involved in the match. 5. The Division Grudge Match will be decided on the division team with the greater half of individual match victories. 6. In the case of a tie(will rarely happen), both division teams must each send out a single representative to decide the outcome of the match. 7. The outcome of the Division Grudge Match will be submitted to Division Secretary for possible publishing in the District Newsletter. If possible, a written article from a witness would be considerate. District Divisions: Departments Note: District Leadership is chosen from among the Local Presidents annually at District Leadership meetings. [President] a. hosts and organizes District meetings and events b. oversees other departments [Vice President] a. assists President in his/her duties b. takes over the President's duties should the President become incapacitated in any way. c. reviews new Local Charters for approval [Secretary] a. oversees Quarterly Reports submitted from local divisions b. is responsible for District Newsletter c. is responsible for District Roster and Ranking Report [Treasurer] a. reviews monthly Treasury reports from local divisions b. provides a Trading/Price Guide to local Treasurers c. is responsible for prizes given away at District tournament events d. oversees funding for District tournament events Leadership: Roster and Reports 1. The Local Roster: A list of members' legal names including nickname, age, deck type(s), and responsiblities within the local division. Leadership must include contact numbers. Number of official division challenge matches won or lost per person should also be included. 2. The District Roster: A compilation of local rosters and rankings. 3. Secretary's Quarterly Report: should include location of meeting place, how many times met, any interesting happenings, important issues addressed, etc. 4. Treasury Report: should include report on membership dues, trades, transactions, and Lost and Found items 5. ***NEWSLETTER***All local division members are encouraged to submit interesting findings and/or written articles to District Secretary for District Newsletter. District Newsletter will be monthly if possible. Leadership: Local Charter Requirements 1. Charter Group name(ex. The Shadow Duelists) and location(ex. Flushing, Queens, New York, NY) 2. Name and Address of official meeting place. 3. A mission statement(doesn't have to be complicated, best keep it short and sweet) 4. Any extra rules and regulations for the local division 5. An initial group roster(minimum 12 members) 6. Signatures of the leadership officers 7. Please print the local charter from a computer or submit it via e-mail to the current District Vice President. Rules and Regulations 1. YuGiOh! Duelist's Guild members are required to conduct themselves in an honorly, respectable manner. Members must shake hands and introduce themselves before each Match. Members must not touch other members' decks without permission from the owner. 2. Cheating is not condoned by YuGiOh! Duelist's Guild. Cheaters will have their membership revoked at the discretion of current local leadership. 3. Use of foreign language YuGiOh! cards must be approved by local leadership and must be accompanied by appropriate documented translation. 4. YuGiOh! Duelist's Guild members are required to have clean hands before touching other members' cards for sanitary reasons. 5. Theft of cards is not condoned by YuGiOh! Duelist's Guild and is punishable by membership revoking and blacklisting. 6. Leadership duties must be carried out responsibly with adult supervision. 7. Leadership should be decided by anonymous ballot. 8. Use of treasury must be unanimously agreed upon by entire local membership. 9. Use of foul language in a group name or Duelist nickname is prohibited.(We're trying to run a clean club here)