FAQ
Q&A Contents
GGN Moderation/Reporting Things
Joining/Membership
Ownership/Advertising
Cost/Fees/Refunds
GGN Crew/Moderators
Upcoming Features
*TIP: To easily navigate to a particular section of the FAQ, use the 'find' feature in your browser window to search for that category name. (Cmd+F on Mac OS, ctrl+f in Firefox or IE for windows OS.)
A: Captains are responsible for content inside their guild. Moderators will not be responsible for removing TOS violations from your guild.
If you are not able to keep your guild free of TOS violations, YOUR GUILD WILL BE DEACTIVATED PERMANENTLY.
Q: I am a member of a guild and I am having a conflict with the guild crew or captain. Can I have a moderator help me out?
A: No, Gaia moderators are not responsible for your guild politics. It is up to the guild crew how they want to handle internal conflicts. The sole exception is if the guild crew or captain is violating Gaia's TOS.
Q: A guild banned me for no reason, I wanna report them! -OR- The captain/crew are abusing their power, what do I do? -OR- The guild is really close to breaking the TOS, can I report them?
A: Guild crew can do whatever they want as long as they don't break the TOS, including banning you for no reason. Do not report a guild unless there is a TOS violation that the Guild refuses to take care of themselves.
Q: Where do posts go when deleted?
A: Posts are removed from the view, but they still exist. Gaia moderators can review them for evidence. Guild users do not have access to deleted posts.
Q: Where do topics go when deleted?
A: They go to a hidden guild that Gaia moderators can review for evidence. Guild users do not have access to deleted topics.
Q: Can moderators restore a deleted post or topic?
A: No. Once a post or topic is deleted, it cannot be restored.
Joining/Membership
Q:How do I join a guild?
A: There are two ways to join a guild. If a guild accepts join requests, then you can simply find a guild you want to join and click on the Request to Join button. If you do this, you might want to read first the Guild's home page or take a look in their forum and see if they have membership requirements that you'd need to meet in order to be accepted. The other way to join a guild is to be invited by one of the Guild crew or the Captain. If you receive an invitation, just follow the instructions given in the PM.
Q: How many guilds can I be a member of?
A: As many as you want.
Q: How do I find a guild to join?
A: We suggest using the search feature in the GGN registry and searching by both category and keyword for best results. Check the FAQ section on
GGN Categories for a better understanding of what type of guilds you're likely to find in each category. You can also see what guilds other users are members of by clicking on the link in their profile, or click the links to related guild categories found near the top of the page in most main forums.
(Example: http://www.gaiaonline.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=17 look for the Explore Guilds box in light blue near the top right of the forum.)
Q: Why do guilds show up in the order they do on the search page?
A: There is a super secret algorithm that ranks guilds using total guild posts, total guild users, and guild account. Guilds that appear towards the top of the list are generally more active that those that appear at the end.
Q: How do I leave a guild?
A: To leave a guild you currently are a member of, simply navigate to the Guild home page and click the 'Quit Guild' button. It's in the same place where you'd otherwise find the 'Request to Join' button.
Q:How do I keep a guild from showing up on my guild list in my profile?
A: Visit the home page of the guild you want to keep hidden from your guild list and look near the bottom of the page for a link that says, "Click here to edit your personal guild settings". That will take you to an option that allows you to hide that particular guild from your guild list.
Q:What is guild auto-accept?
A: It means that you can join immediately without delay and without any sort of approval process from the guild owners. Boom! Instant membership!
Q:How will I know if a guild has auto-accept enabled?
A: When browsing or searching for guilds, you'll see a "Join Now" button next to certain guilds. This means you can join them without any approval necessary. There's currently no indication on the guild's homepage.
Q:How do I enable/disable the auto-accept feature?
A: Mosey into your guild settings and click the "Auto-Accept Join Requests" feature. You'll of course need to be a guild owner, captain, or vice captain to do this.
Ownership/Advertising
Q: How many guilds can I own?
A: As many as you want.
Q: What is the maximum number of users I can have in a guild?
A: As many as you want.
Q: How long will my guild stay active?
A: Your guild will remain active forever unless your guild is deactivated for TOS violations.
Q:How can I get more users to join my guild? Where can I advertise my guild?
A: Advertise your guild in the GGN Disccussion forum [coming soon]. Put a link in your sig. Send out invites to interesting people. Make sure you have an appropriate category and that you have relevant keywords in your title and description so users can find it easy during a search.
Q: How can I transfer ownership of my guild to another user?
A: The Captain or Vice-Captain of a guild can appoint a new guild Captain at any time through the captain moderation controls.
Q: The captain of my guild got banned/quit Gaia, but there is no Vice Captain. Can a moderator change ownership of the guild to a different user?
A: No. This was the reason Guild Captains are now able to create Vice Captains. If a guild captain wishes to ensure that their guild will continue to have a captain should something happen to them or their account, they will need to appoint a Vice Captain who can carry on in their stead should something happen.
Q:I don't want my guild to show up my guild member's profiles! Is there a way for me to do that?
A: Yes. There is an option in the Captain's guild controls under 'edit guild settings' to "Hide from Registry". If a Captain chooses to hide their guild from the registry, users will not be able to find it by doing a search in the guild registry, and it will also not show up in member's guild listings in their profiles.
Cost/Fees/Refunds
Q: Why do guilds cost 20,000 Gold?
A: Owning a guild is a big responsibility and a privilege. By requiring 20,000 Gold for your own guild we can assure that you have the experience and responsibility to own a guild. Also, by putting 20,000 Gold on the line, we can assure that you will be careful to follow the rules. No one wants to lose 20k!
Q: What is the fee to join a guild/Why is there a fee?
A: Guild Join fees are set by the guild Captain and vary for each individual guild. Joining fees contribute to guild funds and are non-refundable, even if you later leave the guild or are banned from it. Once gold is part of a guild fund, it remains there and cannot be taken back out to be given to any individual user. If you don't want to pay a join fee, just search for a guild that doesn't have one.
Q: Where does donated gold go?/I'm leaving/been banned and want my donation back!
A: Gold donated to guilds goes into the guild funds just like joining fees. Donations made to guilds are non-refundable, even if you leave the guild or are banned from it. There is no way to remove gold from guild funds and give it to any individual user, not even the guild Captain.
Q: How can I get rid of a guild?/Can I get a refund?
A: You can sell your guild to another user in the GGN Discussion forum if you don't want it anymore [n/a]. Another option if you don't want to sell it or can't find a buyer and don't want to look at it in your guild list anymore is give to a mule and ban yourself. There is no way to sell a guild 'back to Gaia' and get the 20k back that was paid to buy it the way that other items can be 'sold' back to the stores.
Q: I invited a user to join when I had my entry fee set to 100, but then I changed my entry fee to 0. When he joined, he was charged 100.
A: The entry fee that a user is charged is determined
at the time of the invite or join request. Whatever you have your entry fee set at when you invite the user, that is the entry fee they will be charged.
GGN Crew/Moderators
In a GGN guild, the Captain, Vice Captain, and Crew are the main moderators for that particular GGN forum. Gaia's official moderators should only be needed when Gaia's TOS is being violated and the GGN guild's Crew fails to enforce it.
Q: What can a Crew Member do?
A: Crew can delete posts, delete topics, post stickies, post announcements, edit posts, lock/unlock topics, invite users to the guild, accept join requests to the guild, and ban users from the guild.
Q: What can a Captain do?
A: The captain can do everything Crew can do in addition to being able to edit the guild settings, edit the front page of the guild, promote users, transfer guild ownership, and join the Captain's Guild.
Q: What can a Vice Captain do?
A: A Vice Captain can do everything a captain can do! A Vice Captain is like a co-owner. Make sure your Vice Captain is someone you can TRUST.
Q: Why can a Vice Captain transfer ownership?
A: There have been many cases where guilds lost their captains to bannings or because they quit. Having a Vice Captain that can change ownership ensures that the guild can live on. You don't
need to have a Vice Captain, but its a good way to ensure you'll never get stuck without a Captain.
Q: What is the difference between Crew Log and Captain Log?
A: Crew logging shows deleted posts, deleted threads, and permission changes. The Captain log shows Guild name changes, and guild ownership changes. The crew log is for guild crew members to monitor each other's moderation activity. The Captain log is for Gaia moderators to trace activity in case their involvement is required in resolving a guild conflict.
Guild banners
Q: What is a banner and how do I get one?
A: A banner is an image that you or your guild members create or buy, host somewhere online such as:
http://www.photobucket.com or xs.to, and then link to from your guild settings.
Be aware that like other images you use on Gaia, it's best to use something original that was created for this purpose, and never link to an image off of someone else's website. Make sure the image you use is one that you have hosted somewhere yourself.
If you don't know how to make an image yourself, you might want to try asking your guild members for help or try browsing in the
Minishops forum for a shop that sells them!
Q: What size does my banner need to be?
A: The GGN banner display size is 200 pixels wide by 40 pixels tall. You can make your banner larger than this, and it will still display, but the excess pixels will be cropped.
To set the url for your guild banner:
Go to your moderator panel in your guild, and click the link that says: 'Edit guild settings' then look for the field labeled: 'Banner:' and input the url to your image.
Note: Do not use the
http://www.bannerlocation.somethingorother/yourpicture.jpg
Captains and vice captains can check out a thread in the Captains' Guild that provides additional information on banners in guilds, as well as tutorials for several popular graphics programs and a chance to discuss how we use them and could use them better. Learn more >
Upcoming Features
200
200
200
