Codex

Table of Content

`Overview`




The Codex has grown with time as it's the fruit of our love for the project. To help you make the most of it and give a quick summary of what it says we present the following overview that skips on details while it covers the most basics aspects. For your reading pleasure we've linked every topic to it's full text version. If you like what you see, you should get acquainted with the rest.
Goals

To build a gang of friends and create a wider social network with contacts for all members. To create a platform that makes co-work between those who want to, independent of their allegiance, a possibility. 
Body

FTS is not a corp or a regular alliance. It's a social network that's non-political, non-territorial and truly neutral, composed of friendly individuals that aren't into piracy or exploitation.
Why join?

Corps & individuals can use the network to acquire new friendship and contacts that maybe wouldn't appear otherwise, making FTS a perfect hub for connections and a natural point to seek co-work outside your corp or alliance. Knowledge is power. Friendship is too.  
Democracy

We're strictly democratic: There are no CEO:s, Emperors or other hot shots. All members have one vote concerning everything that relates to the FTS as a whole. What people do when they hook up is on the other hand their own business. Participation is always yours to choose.
Co-work

Present yourself at the forum, check out the divisions, post any ideas about future projects or info about ones you already want to start or join. Make sure you feel like home both in channel and forum, and always feel like an equal.
War

Unprovoked attacks, piracy and similar actions are strictly forbidden. Members are allowed to participate in wars declared by their corps/alliances or brought to them. Self-defence is allowed, so is mercenary work. FTS, as a body, can’t be the source of a war and will never declare one.
Sharing info

Some general advice: Only trust people you get an experience of. You always decide who to work with or not. Never post sensitive info in public at forum or in the chat and always use your common sense.
Membership

You’re a member from the day your application has been approved and you’ve been welcomed by an admin. It's mandatory to live by the codex and stay in the channel Fair. Except for that, there are very few must-do:s.

That concludes the quick summary of our Codex. Does it feel like something you want to take part of? Then please take a couple of minutes of your time and read the full version of it below, which contains more specific details and additional interesting sections that reveal what FTS is all about.

goals

FTS strives to create a platform for co-work between the members, independent of their allegiance. See us as a community, cross-corporation alliance between persons instead of corps, a social project made up of individuals or your reserve corp.
Exchange of information, intelligence, products and services.
Co-work in projects initiated by member(s) and/or the body of FTS.

body

FTS is a social network.
There are no leaders and there can’t ever be any sole member that has more social status or any other power within the FTS than any other.
Roles within FTS are always open, flexible and non-exclusive unless the members state otherwise.
There is no permanent hiearchy or other structure: Divisions, persons, interests etc. may change.
The codex will be revised when the members find it suitable in ways they want.
FTS is truly neutral in corp and alliance politics and won’t get involved in any way.
FTS won’t ever make territorial claims on systems and/or regions.
The syndicate itself can’t be affiliated with any kind of structure or point it out as an enemy.
Members are allowed to do as they wish on the political arena but always explicitly represent themselves and act as individuals – not as spokespersons for the FTS or it’s interests unless appointed to.

conduct

Always be friendly and polite. Help people out when needed and they deserve it.
Build large social networks outside FTS, the key to success is to have plenty of friends everywhere and access to intel.
Share what you can spare. This includes isk, gear, contacts and your hands, eyers and ears
Never deal with pirates, illegal products or services if they can be avoided and there are other plausible options.
Make love, not war. Self-defence is of course mandatory for your survival.

Democracy

Each member is free to choose what he/she does within the FTS framework.
FTS as a whole is ran by the only form of legit democracy – the direct one.
No single member or group of members can represent FTS in any matter unless appointed to do so.
All members of FTS are allowed one vote in any poll and all also have the possibility to create one. Voting and creation is a right and should be used, but it isn’t required.
You’re allowed to create up to 3 polls within a week.
When a poll is created it should auto-shut itself after 7 days. This must be set as an option at the forum by the poll creator.
A poll can be laid out in any way but must have clear voting options. It can be a simple suggestion or a complex package of ideas (the latter will most likely be voted down if it hasn’t been discussed before). In any case it must be obvious what the voter accepts/rejects upon casting his/her vote.
Some polls are of confidence: If the poll is a question and the alternatives are only “Yes” and “No” then the poll will, if the one who created it wishes it after the result is shown, count as in favour of “Yes” if nobody votes, or if nobody voted “No” while x number voted “Yes”. If this situation arises the caster of the poll should revise the thread and enlight the others of his/her choice to use the confidence or not.
When the vote of confidence system isn’t used the poll option that got the highest percent of the votes and => 75% of them is declared as the winning result. That defines passing a majority vote.
When voting you must also make a post declaring what you voted for, to verify that it was you who casted the it if this is required by the poll creator and/or the Codex. If it is, there will be a notice in the vote saying so. Some polls, especially those concerning members being banned, moderators or administrators appointed etc, should have secret ballots only, while the rest have optional or a requirement for open ballots. Please notice: If a ballot for an open poll isn’t declared in the thread as a reply showing in what way you voted it will not be valid when the poll is closed and reviewed. In the same manner, open ballots in an incognito poll are not valid and they will get you a warning!
Anything that relates to EVE and FTS in any way except other members as persons, their conduct, private things etc, may be subject for a poll.
Admin and moderators of the board have the right to close down and/or remove polls/votes that break the rules. Members have the right to report such modifications if they see them as unjust.

To-do

There is almost nothing at all that’s mandatory in FTS except for the following simple things:

One timer: Once you have been approved at the forum you need to make a post in the Persona section. The name of the thread should be your main characters name. If you also use alts in FTS, then it should be your main characters name / alt name, and so on. The content of the thread should be a presentation of your characters ingame, and if you choose to, yourself in real life. See the rules for further details.
Stay in the Fair channel at all time while you’re online in EVE. Also do so with your alts if they’re online and if you’re fine with using them in FTS. This helps us a lot and is of essence.
Follow the Codex.
Understand that your free as a shuttle in space and that FTS is just like EVE – a sandbox project. It becomes what we make of it. Whatever happens, does so because of you and your fellow members.

Ownership

Everything that is paid for with FTS funds, is donated to FTS or somehow acquired in accordance with the Codex for the account of FTS as a network belongs to us all as a collective and can be handled in any way the majority wants to.
As a policy, we don’t refund donations.
That which doesn’t belong to FTS but is lend to us remains under the domain of the original owner. The loan can be cancelled at any time if there isn’t a specific formal and public agreement between the parties involved that says otherwise.

Projects

A project is some kind of activity within EVE that has a meaning and/or a goal. I.e. it could be mining, scouting, running of a trade route, protecting the same, building a POS, having a great race or whatever hundreds of other activities the members are interested in doing.

All activities are of free will and members don’t have to participate in anything if they don’t wish it. Whatever work is done and projects created, they’ll in most cases be the fruit of a fellow member or yourself. FTS is a meeting ground where friendship, trust and strength is grown.

You are welcome to participate in any number of projects with other members. Hop in where they need help or figure something out yourself and initiate it in the forum. Likewise you are free to turn down projects that don’t interest you.

From time to time there will be larger projects that are set out as goals within FTS. In these greater efforts will be needed in order to create a greater good for all of us, but even these large scale projects are not mandatory and you’d still get to choose if you want to participate or not.
>>

Membership

You’re a member from the day your application has been approved and you’ve been personally welcomed by an administrator. You’ll get to know when that happens either via chat or eveMail, and you’ll be asked to register at the forum and join our channel.
It’s mandatory to stay in our channel called Fair. Being on eveVocie or Ventrilo isn’t, even if we encourage people to buy a headset and use the FTS Ventrilo server.
In order to finance bigger projects FTS needs money, hence you’re welcome to donate ISK anytime you can spare it. Donating isn’t mandatory! It’s a guideline of how to help out FTS economically, which could might as well be done in several other ways: Being active, helping mates, arranging & participating in ops or co-work with other members is valued even more than pure ISK. It’s up to you how you want to help out. If you do decide you want to donate, please transfer the ISK to Miranda Wollstonecraft, and know that all donations are accounted for in our donation system/highscore.
All donations are made public to other members and should be paid to Miranda Wollstonecraft which is our accountant.
You can leave FTS any time you want. Post a message on the forum if you want out.
If you haven’t left any notice and you’re not seen in the FTS channel but are online, or not seen online for approximately 2 – 3 months, we will interpret as you’re resignation from FTS. In such case we will unregister you from the Fair channel, forum and ventrilo server. You are however welcome to re-apply at any time.
Breaking any regulations in the codex or exploiting anyone will get you a warning/reminder of the codex if it isn’t severe. A third warning will get you the kickban. Severe and clear breaches of the codex gets you banned directly.

Trade

Slaves (Slaves, Slavers, Elite Slaves) and Narcotics (Blue Pill, Crystal Egg, Exile, Mindflood, Sooth Sayer, X-instinct, Crash, Drop, Frentix, Nerve Sticks, Vitoc) are forbidden subjects in any form of trade.
An FTS member must always be Fair, Trustwhorthy and Stick to a closed deal.
A deal should always be fulfilled as long as it is possible to do so and in the self-proclaimed interest of the other client.
Always be honest with your trade partners. Treat friends, buyers and sellers with respect.
Never ever take advantage of another member.
Exploiting people (i.e. newcomers to eve) for very low wages is strictly forbidden – FTS supports the Intergalactic Union Federation.

Cells

For a social network like FTS to be able to function it is important that personal connections and trust is built up over time and experience with the other members. To ease this task and to preserve many other benefits of the structure it is important that FTS is divided in so-called cells. A cell is simply a bunch of FTS members, about 20 – 30 people that come along, are in similar timezones or enjoy playing together for any other reason. For them the cell primarily represents all the meaning and functions of FTS and the cell is FTS. At the same time all cells and their members are available to communicate with each other via the forums. Most of the time a cell will manage by itself, others it will seek to co-work with another to achieve something greater.

In the start we’ll be a few members and cells won’t fill any function. Once we become over 30 active players we will divide in a way which will satisfy all – there won’t ever be elite cells and all cells are equal in the matters which the codex suggest.

Divisions

If no FTS member has the possibility to help you with a specific task and you tried asking for help in the forum without getting the support then you have the right to request assistance from our various divisions.

A division is a group of nice players who make their services available for free to other FTS members that need them.

Divisions are often geared towards a specific task. The mining division is such an example – it should ideally consist of players that are good at mining. The guard division is another example, they are mainly pvp-players.

There are several other divisions and new can be founded by any member granted he/she isn’t voted down. If you mostly play EVE on a regular basis and want to become a part of a division just talk with the members of it or, preferably, show your interest in the forum and you’ll be contacted.

All divisions are cross-cell and available to all members of FTS no matter if they know the people in person or not.

Divisional Regulations

Divisions are not a part of the FTS administration.
One of the main purposes of having divisions is to allow players who want to do more for each other within FTS to help their fellow brothers and sisters in a more formalized manner by i.e. offering their services, knowledge and any other assistance they want.
Divisions must first and foremost work for free, non-profit towards other members if it is possible. They are however not expected to work on own expense, hence they’re allowed to take out self-costs like i.e. the production cost for the material and blueprints if it’s the building division.
The members of a division are allowed to sell anything but they are not allowed to use the divisional outlet to do so unless it is proved that they through their commerce act beneficial for FTS.
Every member may suggest that a new division is created by posting his/her suggestion as a vote which discloses the specific details of it’s scope, the core concept, purpose and how it’s supposed to be realized.
Once a division has passed and has one or more members they may request that the web admin updates the list or that he/she gives them a website account so they can do so if more frequent updates are needed.
If a division remains empty for a month it will be marked as dormant and placed at the bottom of the divisions page in the dormant section.
Reactivation of a dormant division just requires one or more members to join it.
The members of a division act under permanent confidence. They decide what they offer, how they do so and how they split their workload. Sometimes different members can make different offers within the same division. The members of a division don’t really have to agree on anything. The division is like a medevil street filed with various craftsmen: One blacksmith will do this for you, the other something else. Yet other craftsmen choose to co-work to offer other products.
Anyone can apply to join an already existing division by requesting a membership in the Divisions subforum. The members within the division have 14 days to vote about the matter from the day of the application. To get accepted into the division a majority vote must speak in favour of you.
An applicant that isn’t allowed to join must get an explanation to why that is. The explanation and the number of how many of the divisional members that voted for and/or against must be eveMailed to the applicant by one of the divisional members. When that is done, the same divisional member must reply in the application thread. The reply should only say that the eveMail has been sent – nothing else. Once the applicant reads the eveMail he/she can then make an official request at the forum that the divisional members post an exact and public copy of the eveMail in the very same thread.
You’re allowed to re-apply up to 4 times a year and/or start an alternative division by following usual procedure.
The ToC will not ever force people to co-work within a division. It has no jurisdiction when it comes to ruling in favour for or against a person’s entry into a division, while it can rule about how well the Codex has been followed in cases where there’s hard-core proof.
All FTS members have the power to disband all the members within a division and/or close down a division completely so it’s removed of the list. In order to do so the suggestions need to pass a 14-day poll with a majority vote.
Divisions closed down in either of those two ways may be re-created as usual. The same goes for the membership in them.
Applications to empty divisions are made by a regular poll. You get to be the first member of a division if you win with a majority or use the vote of confidence.

Co-work

Getting new friends through the FTS framework is easy. Here’s a small guideline if you lack social skills lvl 5

Type a brief but informative presentation of your ego at the forum. Feel free to write anything you think could be of interest. Examples are: Age, work/education, country, timezone in relation to eve-time, when you play or don’t play, what your character specializes in, what you think FTS should be able to give you, etc.
Check out the divisions. Any you want to join?
Any ideas about future projects or info about ones you already want to start or join? Tell us in the forum. Nothing is too big or small.
Chat in channel. If you have spare time just ask there if somebody needs help or want to do something together. Don’t feel ashame or like a newb – this is half the purpose of FTS.

Intel

When one has some kind of information about something that is very important or depend on the info not getting in the wrong hands or spread to too many precautions must be taken. Exactly how to go about it will be specific to each unique situation – trust can’t be regulated or artifical, hence the following is advice and not rules. You’ll live, you’ll learn

Only trust people you have an experience of.
You always decide who to let in or leave out when a project is initiated by you. Sometimes only x persons are needed and you’ll have to choose since all can’t be a part of everything. Pick people that have proven to be nice and have the FTS spirit.
Never ever post sensetive data public in the forum (pm is okey) or in the chat channel unless all the players are trustworthy. If you want to chat with just a few selected then gang up.
Trust is hard to build and easy to destroy. The more you share and show good will, the more likley you will be trusted and included by others. It’s all give and take.
If somebody violates your trust in a serious matter and the person is unwilling to restore it and it isn’t a simple dispute (as defined in the codex) write a report on the forum telling the others about it. Be precise and objective when describing the case. Don’t flame, insult or sound like an angry teen. The other person has the right to reply on your report and a discussion should take place. The goal is to solve the conflict in matters which are just and, if possible, make all participants happy. Those not involved in any way should not post in that thread.

Disputes

If a personal, private or otherwise restricted dispute between two FTS members arise it should be solved by them in an internal fashion – not public or by involving others if it can be avoided.

The dispute is also not allowed to affect the members judgement or any FTS operations. Be a pro – not a kid. Set differences aside. Every person gets to choose with whom (s)he works. All in FTS is of free will. If somebody acts like an idiot then just don’t co-work with him/her again. That way only the truly good people will have friends and be a part of FTS

War

All unprovoked attacks, piracy and similar actions are strictly forbidden unless they target pirates, macro miners or NPC:s.
Members are allowed to participate in wars declared by their corps/alliances or brought to them. Wars will be waged in the name of those structures and have nothing to do with FTS and it’s membership.
Self-defence is allowed, so is the defence of FTS projects or other FTS members when they become innocent victims.
Mercenary work is legit if it’s a consequence of a corp or alliance order and it doesn’t break the codex.
FTS, as a body, can’t be the source of a war and will never declare one.
If two corporations go to war and there are members in FTS from them both the members co-work within FTS should not be affected in any way if the project already existed before the war began. No corporate, alliance or other outside source may affect relations between members – they decide on an individual basis how they relate to each other.
Wars are to be seen as a sport and something driven by the leaders of each involved corp/alliance, not as an evil unleashed by the fellow FTS member.

Experience Points

FTS won’t ever require you to do anything at all except enjoy yourself and be friendly towards your fellow FTS comrades. How often you co-work with someone within FTS is up to you, and the same goes for participation in official operations that can be found via our forums.
We feel that we also want to promote and keep record of the work and effort people manage to pull off together within the FTS framework, and do so without threatening individual free will, flexible play or FTS as a truly alternative brotherhood.
It’s vital to understand that the introduction of experience points doesn’t affect the less active player or the sporadic player: The social networking, FTS:s goal to be a platform for communication between us all and to create personal ties and co-work is on solid ground. Your activity or inactivity won’t ever affect the main purpose of FTS and what it offers you: A free social network for friendly individuals within EVE, yours to make what you want of it. To be in FTS and reap the benefits you don’t have to care about xp or even read this section to the end. It’s totally up to you how you play it.
For the ones who actually do happen to interact more within the FTS structure or even prefer to work in it the introduction of xp can however offer two interesting effects:
- You’ll soon get to utilize premium versions of basic services offered to all members.
- They show how much you’ve done in FTS.
- Summarised: The system promotes more interaction, doesn’t punish non-participants, and tries to award those who work together in various ways.

There are many ways to do something good and various kinds of operations and tasks. If it isn’t listed here it doesn’t mean it isn’t worth any points. It just means you’re expected to contact us or make a post about it, and it will be worked out. New formulas are always welcome. The sky is the limit when it comes to what type of missions EVE allows us to do.
The experience points gained are always determined by the mission creator and they may be modified after the mission has been executed if the formula allows it.
If the experience points set by a mission creator are somehow questionable or miscalculated any member may post the critique in the corresponding thread.
If an xp issue isn’t solved by civil discussion any member may use his/her veto if it’s within 1 week from the date the mission was announced and before the mission is executed. The vetoing party then must announce an open vote where the creators original estimation of the experience points to be distributed can be voted on, and also whatever alternative changes the vetoing member suggests. The vote must be set to auto-close after 7 days, and the alternative with the highest number of votes will then reveal how the experience points should be set properly.

Formulas & guidelines

Below are some ways of how to calculate the amount of experience points that can be awarded. All participants get the same amount of experience unless the formula says otherwise. They’re certainly not the only ways to hand them out and the list is always open for additions. It’s both allowed and strongly encouraged that you work out own formulas and variables and suggest them in the forum if these aren’t satisfactory enough. Whatever is good – we’ll add here.

Field-ops
risk + time + participation + success + collectivenes + initiative

The only field-op:s that are eligible for experience points according to the above are the ones who meet the following criteria:

The op was announced in advance at the FTS forum by it’s creator.
It’s open for all FTS members that can meet the specific needs if any at all are stated.
Applications for participation are posted as a reply to that thread.
First to apply and that meet the needs, is the first to get the position in the op.
Number of minimum experience points given upon participation is declared in the original post.
Number of actual experience points given is announced in the same thread after the op is done, if and only if that number is different from the minimal that was previously announced.

Insta ops
risk + time + collectivenes

All spontaneous operations that haven’t been planned in the forum as suggest under the header field-ops. An example would be a member who comes up with an idea in the Fair channel and then gets to work with a gang, there and then.

Commerce
ISK Profit for FTS / 1 000 000 + initiative + time + 5

Intel
risk + potential + collectivenes + initiative

Hauling
Hauling that go through less than 0.5 uses insta-ops or field ops formula. Ops in 0.5 or above uses them with time / 2, rounded up.

These formulas should only be used for pure hauling jobs where the op is defined by the hauling itself. If the hauler is a part of another op or has non-haulers involved in any other way, i.e. mining or escort, he gets experience points according to that op:s formula.

Recruitment

1p per full hour of recruiting + 8p for everyone that joins
20p per corp that has 3 or more active and joined FTS members + additional 10p if it stays > 3 months

30p per corp that has 10 or more active and joined FTS members + additional 20p if it stays > 3 months

Legend

Risk

Low risk: 0 p
Normal risk: 1 p
High risk: 5 p

An example of low risk would be an OP that can’t, according reason, empirical fact and probability, be disturbed. One of normal risk would be mining in 0.5 or below. A high risk op would be in 0.0 without permission or involve a direct and very plausible threat.

If there are several systems involved and they all have different security status then the lowest system counts. The security status of the system where the OP takes room is however only relevant if there are no other factors and threats to consider.

Time
1 p is given per full hour of presence throughout the op with the exception for the first hour: A point is given even if the first hour hasn’t passed.

Travel time to or from the meeting place where the op starts doesn’t count unless it’s an courier, hauling or equivalent operation.

Potential
Used for evaluating information. What potential does the information have? Is or should it be in the interest of the members? Does it concern a big thing or smaller potatoes? How detailed is it, can it be used, etc.

Major: 20 p
High: 10 p
Normal: 6 p
Low: 3 p

Success
If it’s deemed to be a success and the goal is achieved etc, the participation is worth additional 2 p.

In order to award these points the goal has to be declared beforehand officially at the forums in conjunction with the announcement of the tasks. The objectives of an OP may change during the OP, but then these 2 p won’t be rewarded even if the new goals are reached.

Participation
If a member participates from start to finish in EVE time, then (s)he’s awarded an additional 2 p if and only if the total time for the op => 3h.

Collectivenes
An estimation of how large and positive effect the mission has on FTS as a collective.

> 50% of the members are affected: 10 p
30 – 50%: 7 p
6% – 29%: 5 p
0% – 5%: 0 p

To encourage the creation of projects we hand out more to the mission creator, who for him/herself, uses the following table:

> 50% of the members are affected: 30 p
30 – 50%: 15 p
6% – 29%: 10 p
0% – 5%: 1 p

Initiative
When an something is arranged by a person who has an official assignment for FTS and in relation to that persons assignment it’s worth additional 5 p.

Levels

xp	lvl

0 – 60	Level 1
61 – 130	Level 2
131 – 210	Level 3
211 – 300	Level 4
301 – 400	Level 5
401 – 510	Level 6
511 – 630	Level 7

..and so it goes ad infinitum

Bank

Whenever it is possible FTS will lend out money to it’s members free of charge and interest. The length and size of the loan will depend on the current and projected FTS resources.
Make a request in the forum. Be as detailed as possible.
New members won’t be able to take a loan until they have gained the other players trust and been in FTS a couple of months.
When dealing with larger sums the lender must make a security deposit which will be returned once the isk is paid back.
FTS is still in the process of being born and the bank is currently off-line. Once we have a fair share of members it will open.

Shell corp

FTS has a dummy / so called shell corp named Fairtrade Syndicate [FTS]. In order to avoid confusion and for the purposes of this text it will be referred to as FTC – the Fairtrade Syndicate Shell Corporation.

FTC is not a corporation in any real meaning. It will, as the name suggest, only be a shell who plays the following roles and them only:

Let those who for some reason currently don’t want to join a regular player or npc-corp to be in an alternative constellation that captures the FTS spirit.
Allowing FTS members who want to operate POS:es, have a common hangar and other similar functions that EVE doesn’t let us to accomplish unless we pretend to have a corp.

These are the guidelines:

FTC doesn’t recruit and only accepts FTS members who seek us out of free will and that have already tried to play in a normal player run corp.
Except for the apparent restrictions that EVE imposes on us from certain perspectives, there is nor will ever be any relevant difference between members of FTC and non-members. All are always equal and the same, what corp they play in doesn’t matter unless they breaks the codex.
A member of FTC is automatically a member of FTS, but not vice versa. Being in FTC isn’t expected, it’s optional and doesn’t suit all players. FTC is simply an alternative.
FTC is fully regulated by the codex: Same rules apply, which among other things means that FTC is “pacifist”, never will claim territory, that all in the corp are equals and all corp roles are open.
As long as EVE allows it, all operations by FTC members are the same thing as any other FTS operation, and open for any member of FTS.
The main channels for communication for all FTC members are the forum and the regular FTS ingame chat on channel Fair and the regular vent chat. FTC corp chat is not to be used unless it’s for a an operation in which EVE Online requires FTC membership.
Getting expelled from FTC equals a ban from FTS since it’s the same structure.
FTC has the right to use standings and in order to create pure non-aggression pacts to insure the survival of it’s members and structures.

In practice this all translates to FTC being a relaxed sandbox playground where you can become anyone you want and be as engaged as you feel like it however you want, just as with FTS itself. There are no power struggles, no wrong questions or ideas. We’re care bears by nature.

And once again, it’s important that you understand that FTC is a shell/empty/ghost corp and that it doesn’t function like any normal corp. You’re not encouraged to join unless you for some reason really don’t want to be in any other normal corp offered in the EVE universe and also don’t want to be in the NPC corps.

Tribunal of Conflict

The tribunals main task is to give a guideline in any matter which it’s entitled to deal with. Whenever there’s a conflict with FTS that for any reason hasn’t been solved or can’t be solved the tribunal gets the authority to solve it in any way it wants granted it’s within the framework of the Codex.
The ToC should be seen as a last resort and it’s use should never be taken lightly. It won’t ever deal with trivial matters or try a case if efforts to solve it haven’t preceeded it in the forum or elsewhere. The ToC does not judge who is right or wrong, it tries to solve conflicts one way or the other and to end a dispute. It’s the solved conflict that is the sole goal of the work. The ToC will never point out a villan or a hero – it will only speak about rulings and demand an implementation of them.
Sometimes it will seem as if the ruling of the ToC will favour a member, others it will look like it favours none. In reality the ToC must be neutral and reasonable, only looking to present what it believes is a viable solution to a locked down position.
The guidelines for the tribunal can be found in the FTS Codex.
A ToC member may not be involved in the handling of cases where reason states he/she is biased. A person requesting the assistance of the ToC may raise this question and point out the ToC member(s) that could be so, and the rest of ToC will get to select if they are to be included or not in the case to come.
The tribunal may only open up a case if it is requested to do so by a member.
Such a request may not be public and must be made via eveMail sent to the contact person of the tribunal.
Once a request is made it’s up to the ToC to, within 14 days, decide if the case is indeed a valid one for the ToC or if it shouldn’t be reviewed. The person filing the petition will be notified of the decision via eveMail as soon as it has been made.
If a request is rejected the petitioner has 7 days to ask the tribunal for a re-evaluation and complement the request with additional information regarding the case.
If a request is accepted an investigation and/or a discussion is made by the ToC.
The verdict that follows from the work of the ToC concludes a case and is binding for all members.
To reach a verdict 2 of 3, 3 of 5 and 5 of 7 tribunal members must agree upon it in an internal poll that is documented someway.
The parties involved are notified of the verdict via eveMail.
A re-trial may be requested within 7 days by any of the parties involved in the case.
The verdict takes immidate effect and the parties will be given a reasonable amount of time to adjust accordingly. This is true even in cases where a re-trial is requested.
If a re-trial takes place it will be done by different ToC members and a newly formed temporary ToC that is assembled for that purpose only and disbanded when the re-trial is over.
A temporary ToC only has authority in the case which it was formed for.
The members of a temporary ToC are selected via randomization. They should be, if possible, 7 chairmen. If that isn’t an option 5 and then 3 are the recomended numbers.
The members of the ToC are elected in polls that must be open for 2 weeks. The polls can’t utilize votes of confidence – at least 75% of those who voted must have said yes or equivalent for a person to be accepted as a member.
Any person may suggest him/herself as a member of the ToC if there are seats open.
The number of total seats are 7, 5 and 3, depending on the size of FTS. Recomended values are 7 seats for 60 or more members, 5 seats for around 30 members, and 3 seats if we have below 30 members.
A member of the tribunal can have the position for a year the most, then a new election must be held. The ex-member is allowed to participate in it as a candidate, and this procedure may be repeated any amount of times.
A member of the tribunal may resign any time he/she wants to.
Any FTS member has the power to disband the ToC as a whole and force a re-election of all seats through a 2 week open poll where 75% of those who vote do so in favour of the suggestion.
All work that is done within the tribunal or in relation to a case is confidential and must be dealt with utter most discretion. Verdicts, ongoing investigations, interviews etc are all to be kept private between the parties involved. No specifics are to be disclosed to the public or leaked elsewhere ni order to avoid additional drama, speculations and further conflicts.

Administration

All administrators and moderators are a part of the FTS administration.
As such they have a defined task and purpose within and for FTS. The primary and only two that should matter for their administrative work is the good of the FTS members and the upholding of the Codex.
The addition of any new tasks, changes of their nature, removing of them and anything else that concerns them can be suggested by any member, including the administration. For a suggestion concerning the tasks to pass it’s needed a => 75% majority of those who voted.
The number of administrators / moderators assigned to a specific body of tasks, i.e. the web admin, is decided through votes. Any member can call for a vote. Again, a => 75& majority is needed for a suggestion to pass.
Administrators / moderators don’t have to deal with tasks that weren’t defined when they got their positions. They can either quit their position, or announce that they need help by adding another admin / mod.
The structure of a brand new administrative body can be created by anyone if it passes a 14 day majority poll.
All positions in the administration are always open and can be contested by any member when elections are held for the seats in the specific body.
All members can suggest that an election for one or more seats to an administrative body should be held. It is done through normal 7-day voting where both the vote of confidence and the majority vote apply. If the suggestion passes anyone can post a thread to announce that the election will start at a specific date that is at least 14 days in the future. Within that time any member can post in that thread to announce that he/she wishes to become a candidate for the position announced.
When it’s time the election must be held within 3 days if there are => 1 candidates. If there are no candidates when that date passes the election is automatically cancelled.
To be valid the election thread should have the exact nickname of each candidate as a poll option, and a clearly formulated question that informs what the election is about. The thread must be properly written in understandable English and have a clear topic with the prefix [Election] in it, followed by the name of the position that is up for a vote.
The election poll must auto close itself after exactly 7 days from and including the day the thread is created..
To get the admin/mod position one must participate in the election that is held, and win by a majority vote, with the only exception as follows below.

If an election doesn’t lead to a person getting a majority vote the top strata of candidates that together got =>75% of the votes have qualified to a second unique and final round of the elections.
This second round of election should be outlined as the first but auto close after just 7 days. Obviously new candidates can’t participate.
Participation in the second and final round isn’t mandatory for a candidate that qualified to it from the first.
If a top candidates from the first round is among the top strata that together got =>75% of the votes doesn’t want to participate in the final round his/her place goes to the best candidate(s) in line that wasn’t included in the top strata.
Before the second round is held the previous procedure is repeated until there are enough candidates to represent 75% of the voters in the first round of elections or, as a last resort, until the procedure cant be repeated due to the number of candidates or lack of votes.
The person who gets a majority vote in the final election wins it.
If nobody gets a majority vote in the final election the top =>75% strata of the candidates in the second and final round are all declared winners and share the position on equal grounds.

An admin/mod can quit his position any time and for whatever reason. In such a case any other admin/mod that shows interest first can get the position temporarily until a proper election is initiated by anyone.
The maximum amount of time a person can be part of an administrative body without re-election is 1 year. After that he/she is auto-disbanded.
All the members of a specific administrative body can be disbanded through a 14 day open poll requesting it, if and only if it gets a majority vote.
All members of an administrative body are equals even if they’re tasks and services aren’t always the same. All admins / mods are equal to any other member and are expected to act accordingly and to be treated as such.
Admins & mods who seldom or never do what they’re supposed to are wrong for their job. Please make sure that it’s the case before you take action, as it’s a serious allegation: Talk with the person(s), check out what’s going on. If the problems remain after constructive criticism and dialogue, report the issues to their co-workers and hear what they have to say about it. As a last resort we also have the ToC.

Administrative Tasks

Please notice that these lists are preliminary and always a matter of debate and re-evaluation. They will and must change in the future, as we discover more about what we’re creating. Remember that anyone is allowed to suggest new ones, deletion of old or a revision of them. The current ones we do have:

News site admin

Adds & removes authors on the front page, also serving them with support.
Updates the codex whenever democracy says it’s time for a change.
Updates a handful of other documents that are restricted to that position because of technical reasons, as the “About”-section etc.
Reads, moderates and gets notified via e-mail about comments/spam.
Posts relevant FTS news from time to time or tries to involve other members in doing it,

Ventrilo admin

Adds new members, removes ex-mambers and also serving the current ones with Vent support.
Creates, moderates and closes down channels as requested by majority votes.
Upholds the order on the server by muting, re-arranging people so that they get to a proper channel etc.

Forum admin

Must check his/her e-mail at least every second day.
Approves new forum members who have been asked to sign up, removes old ones.
Helps people with the forum.
Creates, moderates and closes down subforums as requested by a poll.
Keeps the forum tidy by deleting, splitting, locking and moving threads.

Forum mod

Must check his/her specific forum category at least every second day either by logging in or via RSS.
Help people with the forum, especially within that category.
Keep the subforum tidy by deleting, splitting, locking and moving threads.

Killboard admin

Must check his/her mail at least twice a week.
Helps people with anything that has to do with the killboard.
Checks out the killboard once a week, correcting mistakes.

Donation admin

Checks for new entries in the donation system once a week.
Helps people with anything that has to do with the system.
Adds and deletes users per request from them. Approves, corrects or denies specific entries based on how correct the information is.
eveMails those who get denied or corrected entries with relevant info.

Xp admin

See the Donation body. This is the same except for the obvious fact that it’s for the experience point system instead.

Faq

If you have a question that you want answered feel free to post it in the public part of the forum. This faq will be revised when new questions tumble in. Currently the following are answered:

How much must I participate?
Except for following the codex, there is nothing that’s mandatory in FTS, so you aren’t expected to participate more than you want to yourself. FTS is a framework, not yet another instance that will tell you what to do. When you feel that you want to do something with fellow members, you are free to do so. When you don’t you just do nothing. All is fine either way and fully understandable.
>>

Number of members?
FTS began forming in mid 2006. We aim at expanding in a stable matter and prefer the slower pace to secure that individual relations can be forged. The whole concept is built on trust and we rather have a few nice members who feel comfortable with each other and what they’re doing than a large clump of people who are strangers and where anonymity will cause a problem.

Currently we’re a handful of active players and we’re recruiting mainly via the eve-o forum, contacting people who sound right and who we believe want to be contacted. We’re dedicated to this project and are not in a rush. The primary goal is to get a good group of people going, composed of about 15 – 25 active players. When we become larger than that we’ll branch into cells in order to secure the individual relations and overall personal feeling.
>>

What’s up with the donations?
Many corporations have a 3-5% or higher tax that in total in most cases would mean they take the least or even more than FTS does if you choose to donate. We only “ask” for a 10% share of the isk profit. This opens up a lot of doors that most corps don’t have since it gives the player a possibilty to spend the isk on assets instead. It also means that you won’t have to pay anything if you’ve had a bad month or don’t feel like it. This also can’t be said about most corporations.

Here’s an example:

It’s now the 1:st of a new month. Your wallet shows a sum that’s 10 million greater than the one in the previous month. In most cases this would mean that you have earned 10 million ISK. These 10 millions are what we call monthly ISK profit.
Now, if you decide you need to buy new gear for say 20 millions, you’d be free to do so. You would also have a negative profit since it would be the 10 millions you gained, subtracted with 20 millions that’s the cost for your gear, resulting in a wallet beeing – 10 million ISK compared to the previous month. If this is the scenario, you haven’t made a profit and shouldn’t feel guilty for not donating.
This applies not only to gear but to everything: All investments, except slaves & narcotics, are valid ones however good or bad they prove to be: Your ISK is yours to keep and handle however you want.
If you, in #1, make a 40 million isk profit, and in #2 buy something for 20 millions, you would still have an isk profit of 20 millions. Of these 20 a sum of 10% (2 000 000) isk is supposed to be donated according to our guidelines. If you do so or not, is up to you.

FTS isn’t designed for the lonewolf player that goes Han-Solo. People withing FTS should be glad that resources are transfered to the collective account, where it will enable us all to achieve greater good. The whole idea with FTS to gather resources and make them available for it’s members. One such resource is ISK. Another is the playerbase with it’s expertise and the efforts we choose to put in.

Look at it this way: The money aren’t gone. No emperor, CEO or other powerfull person will get it. It is still the members, and the members only. It’s kind of like saving together to be able to buy whatever we want once we want it. If you don’t understand the point with this we suggest you resign – there’s surley a better structure for you in the EVE universe. We’re confident we all can find our ways and the people we’d like to surround us with.
>>

How do we know that people donate as they should?
There are at least 4 good answers to that question. Here they are in short:

Some services within FTS will take notice on how much a member has donated. One such example is the FTS bank: The more a member has donated, the more he’ll be able to borrow for free, without any interest or fees. These kind of economical mechanics endorse investing if you’re interested in using, and also takes care of the problem with free riders and other cheaters.
The donations are made public for all members. There are a thousand of ways helping both other members and FTS as a whole other than donating ISK which might be as good or better, but if you never do any of it people will notice and you will be treated in a way that reflect their standing. A person never helping out FTS in any way will stand out and it will also affect the way other members percieve him/her. And yes, it would be way better if you helped out more active and donated less than the other way around, but we won’t ever push you in any direction – how you play is up to you and sometimes even it depends on factors beyond your control.
Since the suggested 10% is equal for all and it doesn’t hinder you from investing when you want to (see question above) there’s little or no incentive at all not to donate the sum.
The monthly donation is a guideline – nobody has to pay it if he/she doesn’t want to that current month or any other for that matter.

How can a project like FTS really work without there beeing conflicts?
How can you have good friends without the police pointing out the good ones from the bad? A social network isn’t a new concept. It works just like in real life – you choose with whom to co-work and who to trust or not. Nobody forces you to become superfriends with every person that’s around. The same goes for FTS. The difference is that we, despite that, are focused on creating a base for friendship by gathering team- and socialy orientated players. There’s no escape from stupidty, and the same goes for EVE. FTS works because idiots always show their true face sooner or later.

FTS doesn’t ever wish to intermediate between players and how they treat each other or choose to solve conflicts within the scope of the codex. If and only if someone is suspected to break the Codex and the situation remains unsolved a request could be made to the Tribunal of Conflict to deal with the case.

Will my corp accept this?
Our purpose is not to interfere or influence any of your corporations politics. The way our Codex is written is crystal clear proof of that, with everything from your total freedom to FTS neutrality and an a true objective standing in the verse. Anyone who can read would understand what is suggested in our rules.

You beeing in FTS should not affect your corp in any other way than a positive one since you’ll have more connections, resulting in the corp having a wider reach. That’s a good thing if you are not an eremit cult. If your corporation feels differently they’re of course allowed to do so, but we recomend you to demand a good explanation like any rational person with self respect would. They’ll either have one, or not. What you do is up to you. If they however do have one and we don’t raise the question on this site we’d love to hear their thoughts so we can incorporate them here.

Since the codex speaks for itself there isn’t much more to add. Instead of raving we’ll ask you to think about your corp and the following:

Is having friends outside the corp accepted?
Are you allowed to speak with whoever you want?
Do they forbid you to co-work with people?

Most corps in the verse are okey. Some or very good, and a couple are composed out of idiots. We won’t ever tell you which are what, and we also don’t see the above questions as some kind of test. We merley want to point out the fact that there are hell of a lot corporations that don’t want to use you like a slave and that don’t excercise braincontrol. In the end, it’s your choice: If you like your corp, and whatever it says, then stick to it and the rules you (or they) have set up. Stay loyal, stand proud.
>>

Isn’t there a conflict of interest between FTS members if they at the same time belong to different corp based alliances / corps?
a) In most cases a conflict of interest between two corp alliances does not necessarily equate to a conflict of interest between the individuals, especially if they already knew each other. Since FTS will keep each cell around 20 – 30 members large that shouldn’t be a problem – the social aspects of a relationship between thinking adults is not to be underestimated, and there are several examples already ingame of friends playing in different alliances.

b) If for example every corp alliance enforced a strict KOS and would punish it’s corp member & individual corp member for treason it would be up to the members to decide how to handle it. Once again the FTS members involved would understand the matter and decide on what to do and inform each other of their decision, which will show even if they don’t. If they decide to fight, it’s not more serious than one person challenging the other one in a game of chess or squash if you prefer: You can fight each other, win or lose, and then go on as friends or neutrals once it’s settled. And if you can’t, then we’d say you’re not mature enough ; )

c) Many wars are fought cold, and in others there are valid reasons why you shouldn’t get involved. In both cases there’s probably much room to do plenty of stuff with whoever you want. There’s also no way of knowing of all shell corps and alts in the game, meaning you could never hinder two players from co-working if they really set their mind to it and wanted to. We’re not saying do or don’t do this, just stating facts about the game, type of wars, and roles within them. If you listen to yourself, your corp or alliance when it comes to politics isn’t our concern as long as you can follow the codex, and the codex gives you a lot of options.

d) No projects, be they created by a single member or more general ones by the body, are mandatory. If two alliances go to war, you don’t have to co-work with people if you see them as the enemy. On the other hand, you also don’t have to see them that way unless you really want to. It’s all about freedom of choice, and FTS will always give you just that.

e) In cases where that freedom doesn’t exist, however imaginative most of them would be, this questions is answered by the restrictions: If you can only do one thing, there isn’t much to do about it or debate.

f) FTS itself is neutral, won’t and can’t ever get involved in politics between alliances and/or corps. Probably the best way to answer the question is to imagine a large family. Say they were 15 persons, brothers, sisters, cousins etc. They all began playing EVE, but they all wanted to be in different corporations, and half of those were in different alliances. Knowing all this and also about the mechanics of the game politics, they still could keep in touch and do whatever they wanted together when it suited them. Some also realized that while corp and alliance loyalty could come and go, friendship and family bonds stay.
>>

I’m a CEO. Why should I allow my members to join you?
1. Unless you are a dictator or have strict political rules you don’t have to “allow” anything to begin with: All members are free and have their own will.

2. The question is why you shouldn’t since it doesn’t hurt your interests. On the contrary, having players in your corporation that are well connected would most often be in your interest. The more power and knowledge every member in your corp has, the better you are off as a corporation.

As you can see on this page, we also encourage all players to stay loyal to corps they like. We’re not competing with the corporate or alliance structures – we’re offering something else. Something that doesn’t interfere with traditional organizing in EVE due to our non-political nature and true neutrality. If you fail to see this you must have discovered something we haven’t seen yet, and in that case you’re welcome to point out where we’re misstaken.

Feel free to contact us any time if you have questions of any nature – we’d love to hear from you and value all thoughts.
>>

What about corps who run an NBSI policy?
Corp/alliance wars, their territorial claims and politics are never a subject for the Codex due to our neutrality. Anyone is allowed to both defend and agress if the corp/alliance requires it or you want to as an individual. NBSI policies fall under corp/alliance politics if the policy is either announced somewhere where it’s accessible for the public so it could know what’s awaiting, or if it’s obvious in any other way, in example, seeing system sovereignty in the ingame map. Many alliances have more or less open or well known policies or official contact persons. If you enforce a NBSI policy in the sense where you defend a claimable system in 0.0 that’s marked as yours it, and everyhting else that falls in in the above, shouldn’t be a problem.

I nother words: The only thing the codex asks a member not to do is piracy & unwarranted aggression. The scale and organizing of it doesn’t matter.
>>

Does FTS own a POS? How can that be done?
Yes, we do. It is done by those who want to (the pos division) and a part of the profits is goes to all the members. Those who are in the division will however get more since they make a larger effort. Since POS:es must be owned by a corp in EVE a shell corporation has been created that’s under the rule of FTS membership and it’s codex.
>>

Which jobs & positions are open?
Plenty: Jobs and positions are in most cases available in various fields. Do you want to put down a lot of work building an empire or work on a lower scale doing small ops? Want to fight or produce? Socialize or scout? Camp, mine or haul? Speculate with stocks, build a POS or run a service? Whatever you’re interested in we’re confident we’ll find you a place that you can try out and that we can find a way to support you.

You’re also welcome to join a division or start one that doesn’t already exists: We need plenty of competent people for them. FTS suits both those who want to take orders and those who’d rather give them.
>>

This sounds like communism.
If you think so then we’re afraid we have to say something that’s impopular and hard to understand: You’re ill educated Let’s outline why this has nothing to do with communism or any other larger political system irl:

Private property: Those who want to can have it both within EVE and FTS. That isn’t the case with communism where collective ownerships is primary. For us, it’s secondary and an option we want to make available for those who are interested in it.
Freedom & Democracy: There is no central commitee & there are no leaders. In FTS you won’t ever be forced to do anything and can quit any time if you don’t like it. What you choose to do and engage in is up to you alone.
Goals: The collective goals are set by the FTS members. If this is “bad” and something you associate with communism you probably haven’t heard of the modern democracy. We’re proud that our members rule themselves and you’re welcome to try it out once you’re ready for it.
Structure: EVE has a built-in capitalist structure which we couldn’t change even if we wanted. We don’t break any rules, have the same clients as all other players – we only create a place where friendship can be established. What has that got to do with communism?
Virtual realm vs Real world: Needless to say the word “communist” has not much to do with EVE. We don’t take a real world political stance for or against any specific system since we’re here to play a sci-fi game and enjoy ourselvs – not debate real world politics. Players with all kinds of perspectives and backgrounds are welcome as long as they understand the principles outlined in the Codex. Together, and with our shared knowledge, we’re always better than uncriticized and with a single take on things. We’re from all over the world. Have an open mind and keep your prejudice to yourself. Let differences, if any that matter really exist, be a strength.

Forget about this…
Why should we? If it doesn’t sound good to you then just fuck off. We’re not here to brainwash you. If you didn’t have the interest before you’ll hardly have it now.

Maybe FTS isn’t for you. Maybe you think we’re {put something negative here} but it doesn’t matter much – just leave us alone and respect that there are plenty of ideas and projects in EVE.
>>

What about the Killboard?
Every FTS member is encouraged (but not forced) to post both ship/pod losses and wins. By doing so we get a better understanding of who needs help, the enemy of care bears and also about our top fighters.

To post a killmail you 1) simply copy all of the killmail in your evemail inbox 2) past it in the board 3) Change your alliance name to FTS and 4) press the button. Don’t worry about the password – it’s disabled.
>>

Is the site in game browser friendly?
The in game browser sucks. Although the site could have been made more compatible we chose to put that effort on developing a bunch of other things that we think are more important. With that said, we can also unveil the fact that you can post killmails from withing the game, and also use the forum – two core functions that both should work pretty well in the igb.

Try these IGB

Posting killmails >> http://chaosrealm.net/fts/kboard/
Using the forum >> http://chaosrealm.net/fts/forum/igb/

Why isn’t this faq on a page of its own?
Having it among the other links in the main menu would urge people to read the faq before reading the codex. Since most of the important topics are put down in the codex it would be a confusing thing to do. It could also be seen as a test: People who were scared away by the codex and never found the faq would in many cases be wrong for FTS.
>>

Can I RSS/RDF/syndicate the content?
Yes, both the news site and the forum can be syndicated using standard RSS readers.

The news site:

http://chaosrealm.net/fts/wp-rss2.php

The forum:
There are two ways to customize the forum RSS feed:

1. Show x of the latest threads from the whole forum:

http://chaosrealm.net/fts/forum/rdf.php?count=10

Where 10 can be set to any number not too high. It’s the number of news items shown in the feed, and is probably 10 at most.

2. Show x of the latest threads from forum category y:

http://chaosrealm.net/fts/forum/rdf.php?fid=1&count=10

Again the italic numbers, 1 & 10, should be customized to fit your needs. The 1 must be a forum number. Here are the current numbers:

1: Projects
2: Syndicate
5: Voting
4: General
8: Divisionas
3: Trade
7: Help
6: Chaos

So, if you want the feed to display only the 5 newst topics in the forum category called Projects, the RSS string would look like this:

http://chaosrealm.net/fts/forum/rdf.php?fid=1&count=5

Security notice
The RSS feed can be read by anyone, member and non-member, so the forum topics are pretty much official. The content can however only be viewed by members who have logged in at the forum.

Why the Fairtrade-name?
The Fairtrade concept is a well known in real life and it is also what inspired the birth of the project. By using Fairtrade in the name we, hopefully, get associated with the good that the real life organizations carry with them. As the copyright notice says, we’re not affiliated with the irl organizations.

Another way to explain the name would be that we’re Fair in the sense that’s explained in the codex and that we also share (Trade) our experience, knowledge and services.

back to toc > >

Tutorials

>>>