Rules and Regulations

The Hydra Corps Statement of Purpose (SOP) is the document which outlines the rules by which the linkshell is run. All members need to read and understand these rules; admission into the linkshell and attendance of events implies that you have done so.

Definitions

The following abbreviations and definitions are used through these rules:

• AF - Artifact Armor. Refers to the equipment that drops during Dynamis runs.
• HC - Hydra Corps
• SL - Squad Leader. These are the sackholders/leaders of the linkshell.

Membership

We require members to participate regularly in HydraCorps (HC) and not with any other Dynamis LS. Attending a run with another Dynamis LS or even equipping their pearl can result in removal from HC. The only exception to this is if we arrange for you to receive the win with another LS in advance.

All New members will start with the status of Trial Member. Trial Members must attend three (3) trial runs with no lotting rights. In the event that a piece of Artifact Armor (AF) drops and no one at all in the LS wants it, the SL in charge of AF lotting will announce that Trial Members may lot it. If the Trial Member wins the lot they will be required to repeat their trial run in exchange for the AF piece. At the end of your third trial run you will receive ten (10) points plus any bonus points earned during your last trial run. You will be required to pay the zone entry fee for each of your trial runs.

Members can lose their Roster status on the following grounds:

1. Gross misconduct unbecoming a HydraCorps member.
2. Disrespect to any member of the linkshell.
3. Missing 3 consecutive runs without notifying an SL or posting on the forum.
4. Going to another Dynamis LS run without permission from the Squad Leaders.
5. Violating the SOP.

Conduct, Etiquette and LS Chat

• HNM LS discussion and drama is not allowed. Members will be warned if any HNM discussion is spammed in the LS. Any SL maintains the right to put a gag-order (temporary /breaklinkshell) on any member for speaking about HNMLS activity or other drama.
• Members may socialize freely in LS chat before entering the zone, but please keep it to a minimum. The leadership needs to execute administrative tasks and questions in LS chat to make each run smooth. If a SL asks for silence please stop typing and listen to them.
• Please stop socializing on LS chat 15 minutes before entering the trail markings and have your comments set. During the run the use of LS chat should be for tactical messages, administrative tasks and team assignments.
• If a member dies and they do not have a WHM in their party or their WHM is out of MP we ask that one member announce “<member name> needs a raise please”. Also when you are raising someone announce in LS chat “Raising <member name>” so that other mages don’t waste their mp raising the same person. Do not ever raise1 someone unless they ask for it or a SL says to cast it.
• Members MAY NOT SKILL UP WEAPONS IN DYNAMIS. A member will be given a fair warning if caught in this event. If the member persists and ignores the warning, the member will lose lotting rights, and possibly /breaklinkshell.
• Profanity will be kept to a minimum in LS chat. If any member feels uneasy about the profanity level in LS chat they should tell an SL. We will give a warning and ask that the profanity stop.
• Members must pay attention to the tactical messages sent through LS chat. There is no excuse to ignore LS chat we need you to pay attention at all times.
• Being AFK in zone will result in a warning and possible removal from the LS. If a member needs to AFK for even 30 seconds they must tell their party/alliance. If the member will be AFK for 5 minutes or more they must log out in zone and log back in when they return. Members who go AFK for extended periods or in excessive amounts may be removed from LS. If you warp, drop your glass or home point without SL approval you will not be given credit for the run and will not receive any payout.

Fees and Funding

Entry Fees for each run will be declared by the SL selling bolts, arrows or cookies for the run. The price is determined by the 1 million gil cost of the Timeless Hourglass divided by the number of people attending the run. In order to get an accurate count we need members to be on the LS twenty minutes prior to the run. When the bolts are ready the SL will say “Bolts up” and every person attending the run must buy a bolt. If you do not buy a bolt your name will be announced in LS chat. There are no free rides, everyone must buy a bolt and failure to do so will result in removal from the LS.

Comments and Earning Points

Comments must be set 10 minutes prior to entering the zone. Each member attending the run sets one of five (5) comments as follows:

• Red – Artifact Armor [+2 points]
• Blue – Ancient Currency [+2 points]
• Green – Gil and Items [+2 points]
• White – Motivation Points [+4 points]
• Yellow – Trial Member [+0 points]

Once a trial member has completed three (3) runs, he or she will receive 10 points.

In addition to the point totals above, bonus points may be awarded based upon performance during a run as follows:

• Zone Clear [+2 points]
• 10+ AF drop [+1 point]
• 20+ AF drop [+3 points (not cumulative with 10+ AF bonus)]

"Max Points" will cap at 100 points..

Artifact Armor (AF2) Lotting

Point Costs

Each piece of artifact armor will be assigned a point value, determined by demand and historic availability. Current point costs for artifact armor are as follows:

• All level 71, 72, or 73 AF: 5 points (main & 2ndary, free lot 3 points)
• All level 74 AF: 20 points (main & 2ndary, free lot 10 points)
• All level 75 AF: 30 points (main & 2ndary, free lot 15 points)
• Back/Waist Pieces: 20 points (main & 2ndary, free lot 10 points)
• AF2 -1 (requires matching AF2 item): 10 points (main & 2ndary, free lot 5 points)

Occasionally members may go negative points with SL’s approval but must earn points back before lotting again.

Any member attending a run who wishes to lot on artifact armor must declare that he/she will be doing so by using a red search comment. The search comment must also include the job the member wishes to lot on along with the job status that user has toward that item. Status may be declared as “Primary”, “Secondary” or “AF Free Lot”. Each member may only specify one primary job, and that job must be the same job that member has registered with the linkshell as his/her primary job. To specify a job as a secondary job, the member must show prior proof to the linkshell leadership that he/she has attained at least level 50 in that job.

Jobs and Lotting

Members must also declare if he/she wishes to invoke Max Points Priority as described in section 3 below in his/her search comment. Max Points Priority may only be declared on a job that is registered as the member’s “primary” job. Rank Points are posted on the forum before every run.

Primary (Main) Job: A 65+ Job declared to the SL in charge of tracking Rank Points. This is the job you want to get priority on for AF in all zones. A member may change main jobs once their job is lvl 65, however they may not use max points priority on an AF until they can equip it. If someone else in your main job is going AF and can equip the item you must yield to them.

Secondary Job: Any job 50+ that has been declared to the SL in charge of tracking Rank Points. This must be done prior to the run you are wishing to secondary lot on. The only exception is if the SL has time to check the POL community page to verify your job level or you are currently on your secondary job. You may begin secondary lotting at lvl 50 however, we request that you pass the AF to a secondary lotter who can equip it.

Free Lot Jobs: Any Job you wish to lot if it goes Free Lot.

Due to the number of comments we have to process we do not have time to decode every persons search comment. So please keep this in mind.

Lotting Order

When a piece of AF drops during a run, the following priority order is to be followed:

1. Max Points Priority – if a member attending the run has declared Max Points Priority for the specified piece of AF that has dropped, he or she may cast lots for the piece of AF uncontested. In order to be eligible to declare Max Points Priority, he or she must:
   • have as his or her “primary” job the same job as the AF
   • have declared Max Points Priority in his or her search comment
   • accept a point deduction for the AF equal to 1.5 times its original cost
   • have more points than any other such members specified in (a) or (B)
   • Be able to equip the AF on their primary job.
   In the event more than one person with the same point total has declared Max Points Priority and the point total is the maximum as per (d) above, then all members who have declared Max Points Priority with that point total may cast lots.
2. The AF may be lotted on by any member in attendance with a “primary” AF comment for the AF’s job who can equip it. Primary lotters who can not equip the AF must yield to other primary lotters who can equip the AF.
3. The AF may be lotted on by any member in attendance with a “secondary” AF comment for the AF’s job. We ask that those who can not equip the AF yield to those secondary lotters who can equip it.
4. The AF may be lotted on by any member in attendance who has declared AF for the run. At this point, the AF is considered “AF Lot”. If someone casts lots on the AF under this priority, the point cost for the AF is halved.
5. The AF may be lotted on by a trial member in attendance who has declared a main job matching the AF they wish to lot. If the trial member wins the lot then the run does not count toward their required total of trial runs for full membership.
6. The AF may be lotted on by any member in attendance on the run. At this point, the AF is considered “Free Lot”. If a regular member casts the winning lot, he or she will lose points equal to the full AF’s point value but still receive other items or gil as directed by the comment the member had declared before the run.
7. In the event no member casts lots on the AF and it is “auto-lotted’ to someone, no points are lost.

This is a linear sequence of events; nobody may cast lots on priority 2 until it is determined nobody is casting lots on priority 1, and so on.

Lotting when you were not given permission to lot or deliberate violation of any of the rules above counts as disrespect to the LS and results in immediate dismissal.

Job Changes

A member may request a job change at any time. Job changes are at the discretion of the Squad Leaders. If approved the member's point total will be halved. The member is then required to complete three (3) "Job Change Runs" where they may not lot on AF and do not earn any points.

Shadow Items

Currently the Shadow Mantle and Shadow Ring may be lotted on by any member who has the item listed in their comment starting with max points people. You may go Money, Artifact, Motovation or Currency and list the shadow item at the bottom of your comment. The points cost for a Shadow Mantle/Ring will be 30 points.

We ask that if you wish to lot on these items that you register your intent to do so before-hand via the appropriate thread in the forum.

We may move back to the origional plan of having a SL approved list for lotting, but for now we are going by points.

Attendance

Good attendance is very important to the LS as a whole. We depend on members to be at every run possible.

Gather Together

It is the member’s responsibility to know what zone we will be attending and to arrive there on time. We gather together at 7:00 P.M. eastern time and enter at 8:00 P.M. Eastern time. The zone we are attending will be listed in /lsmes and also on the Dynamis Calendar hosted by DynamisBums.

Absence

If a member is unable to attend a run they must notify the attendance SL or post on the forum that they will be unable to attend. If a member is not able to give prior notice of their absence and they log on during the run, they must /tell an SL immediately that they were unable to attend. Members who choose a different activity ingame, over attending a run may be subject to suspension of lotting rights, lose -5 points or removed from the linkshell.

Failure to Notify

Any member who misses three (3) consecutive runs without notifying a leader in advance will be subject to completing at least one run as trial before being eligible to lot on items or AF again.

Any member who misses five (5) consecutive runs without notifying a leader in advance will be removed from the roster and must apply for membership as if he or she was never a member of the linkshell.

Frozen Points

Members who need a break from LS due to real life concerns may request that his or her points be frozen. If the request is approved the member’s points will be frozen at half their value. Depending on how long the member will be gone they may be subject to completing at least one run as trial before being eligible to lot on items or AF again.

Currency

HC maintains a “closed” currency environment. As such, currency may not be sold or distributed to members outside the linkshell. Any member caught selling currency to someone outside the linkshell will be removed from upgrader status and dismissed from the linkshell.

Membership

In order to be eligible to receive currency in HC, a member must first be accepted by the leadership and receive upgrader status. Only members who have approved upgrader status may be eligible to set their comment to “currency” on runs and receive a payout. Upgrader members must abide by the following regulations:

1. In order to be eligible to be considered for upgrader status, the member must complete stage 1 of a weapon independent of the linkshell. Applicants must be able to show proof of possession of a stage 2 relic weapon (thus it is important the applicant be able to equip the weapon he or she is upgrading!).
2. Upgraders may not sell any of their currency received from HC to any other person except other approved upgraders or linkshell leaders (for the purpose of reselling the currency to approved upgraders). The resale price of this currency is not to exceed the current maximum currency price per single as determined by the linkshell leaders.
3. Upgraders may be asked to show their current currency collection as proof of continued effort at completing a relic weapon. This will be announced at least thirty (30) minutes prior to the start of a run to allow time for upgraders to retrieve their currency from storage.
4. If an upgrader decides he or she no longer willing or able to continue the upgrading process, he or she is required to sell back any currency (up to the amount of currency received from the linkshell). The amount sold back may be less if the currency is no longer available as a result of being traded in to complete an upgrade stage.
5. Upon completion of a relic weapon, an upgrader will be removed from the roster and is no longer eligible to receive currency. Any currency returned to the upgrader as a result of the final upgrade is the property of the upgrader, though it is strongly recommended the upgrader sell the currency back to the linkshell. If the member wishes to upgrade a subsequent weapon, he or she must wait three (3) months, at which time they may apply for upgrader status again as outlined above.

HC will maintain a hard limit of 8 approved upgraders at any time. New upgraders will be added to the roster as existing upgraders are removed from the roster. Since being added to the upgrader roster is competitive, selection of the next upgrader will be determined by the leaders based on independent progress and overall contribution of each member to the linkshell.

Collection

Currency drops during a run will be collected by one or more designated currency collectors as selected by the leaders of the linkshell. Any member who has currency dropped to them during the run will be required to return it to the designated currency collector(s). The only exception to this rule is in the case of the “Steal” job ability; any currency received through use of this ability is kept by the member.

Stages

Approved upgraders shall be divided into 3 categories based upon his or her current progress in upgrading:

• Stage 2: This is the initial stage that upgraders are when they are accepted. The upgrader must be able to present a relic weapon that has been upgraded once.
• Stage 3: To qualify for stage 3, an upgrader must be able to present a relic weapon that has been upgraded twice.
• Stage 4: To qualify for stage 4, an upgrader must be able to present one of two proofs of upgrade: 1) a relic weapon that has been upgraded three times, or 2) a relic weapon that has been upgraded two times and sufficient currency to upgrade the weapon a third time upon the receipt of an appropriate attestation.

A list of relic weapons, along with their stages and associated costs will be made available by the linkshell so that members can determine which stage they are eligible for.

When an upgrader performs an upgrade to his or her weapon, he or she needs to present the weapon to the linkshell leaders before promotion to the next stage. In the case of stage 4 eligibility, he or she may present an amount of currency equivalent to the amount required to upgrade his or her weapon a third time.

Distribution

Only members who have registered a currency comment (blue search comment with the word “currency” in the comment) and are on the approved upgrader roster for HC may receive currency at the end of a run. Currency distribution in HC shall be handled in tiers, with payouts differing for each member based upon his or her progress in upgrading.

The current tiers for HC are as follows:

• Stage 2: 1 share
• Stage 3: 3 shares
• Stage 4: 5 shares

The payout will be determined to be the total currency drops for a run divided by the total number of shares among the members eligible to receive a payout. In the event that this payout is not even (there are leftover singles), the remaining singles will first be divided evenly among the currency count; any singles that sill remain will then be distributed as the designated currency collector chooses.

For example, if 400 total pieces of currency drop on a given run and 5 members (2 stage 2, 1 stage 3, and 2 stage 4) are eligible to receive currency, the total shares will be 15 (2 + 3 + 10). The total of 400 is then divided by 15, leaving 26 singles per share with 10 singles left over. The remaining 10 singles are divided by 5 (the number of upgraders in attendance), so each upgrader will also receive 2 singles.

Thus, each stage 2 upgrader will receive 28 singles, the stage 3 upgrader will receive 80 singles, and each stage 4 upgrader will receive 132 singles.

In the event that the currency distribution cannot be divided evenly (for example, if the 400 pieces above consisted of 100 singles and 3 100 pieces), upgraders may be asked to “break” a 100 into singles for distribution, or to pay singles back in exchange for a 100 (in the example above, the stage 3 upgrader would need to give 20 singles back in exchange for a 100 piece). If the currency still cannot be divided cleanly, it will be held by the currency collector until such time that it can be.

In the event a member cannot afford the total of his or her payout for the run, any leftover currency will be distributed among the remaining members evenly as if they were leftover singles.

“AF2 +1” Upgrading

Due to the small amount of currency required to upgrade “AF2 +1” items, members wishing to do so must acquire such currency through open markets.

Cost

The price per single unit of currency will vary, depending upon current market value and the total currency count that drops on a particular run. The linkshell leaders will be responsible for periodically reviewing and adjusting the price.

Sponsorship

Upgraders are entitled to request that he or she sponsor a Dynamis run. When an upgrader sponsors a run, he or she must purchase the Timeless Hourglass for that run. All other members will be allowed to attend that run free of charge. In exchange, the sponsor will receive all 100 pieces that drop as well as half of the singles. The remaining singles will be divided among the remaining eligible upgraders as per section 4 above. Gil collected from the sale of this remaining currency will also be divided as directed by these rules among eligible members excluding the sponsor.

An upgrader may only sponsor a limited number of runs within a calendar year. Stage 2 upgraders may sponsor one (1) run per year, stage 3 upgraders may sponsor two (2) runs per year, and stage 4 upgraders may sponsor three (3) runs per year.

Attestations and Fragments

Priority lotting on attestations and fragments will go to the attending member who has demonstrated the most progress in upgrading the weapon associated with the attestation or fragment that dropped, regardless of if he or she is on the upgrader roster. It is the responsibility of the interested upgrader to show his or her progress to the linkshell leaders. Any attestation or fragment that does not have an assigned priority will be considered "Free Lot" to any member attending the run.

Attestations and fragments do not cost any points to lot.

At any time an upgrader is present in the linkshell who is on stage 3 or 4 of a weapon and has 3,000 or more currency applied toward the next upgrade, that member may request an attestation or fragment run (as appropriate to his or her stage). In the event the attestation or fragment is not received during the run, future runs will continue to be scheduled until such time as the attestation or fragment is received.

These rules stated in this SOP are all subject to the discretion of the squad leaders. These rules may change in the future in the case the game shifts, or in this case we find a more beneficial policy for all members in the LS.