After a year of surviving in our original formation as the East India Company in the game known as City Empires (Feb 1^st 2008 – 09), it became apparent that the inactivity was slowing down the pace of our community and group activities.
With the firm desire to remain committed to the cause of the East India Company (VOC) to promote the virtual spread of the spice trade, it was the belief of some important members that our community could live on outside of the game where our original community was formed and explore other avenues of game-play and virtual freedoms of expression, therefore developing a larger and much broader community.
Thus the Concord was formed with the intention of combining various trading posts of the VOC in other games and uniting our players across the internet into one cohesive band and community. Our desire is that the VOC Concord provides a fun and entertaining place for people to spend their free time and will be a large community where people can interact and discuss online gaming and other areas appropriately.

This official document, authorized by the original creator of the East India Company concept, Franklin who was greatly assisted and counseled by the founding members of this community, Xsysstar and CallofKtulu, will outline the structure for this community along with its internet gaming colonies to be established in the future.

Article One: Membership

Anyone who is interested in joining the community may do so. Members who wish to join the VOC Concord will post a topic with their membership contract that lets the Administrators and Moderators know that he fully understands the responsibilities of the community.The administration of this community reserves the full right to deny anyone membership to this community as they see fit.

Upon registration and acceptance into the community, Concord members will be assigned to one of the six chambers that originated in the governing system of the Dutch East India Company. By default, members are randomly assigned to a chamber. If a specific chamber placement request is made, administration can handle the situation as desired, however this should be reserved for special reasons as deemed so by the Concord administration and/or chamber placement officer. If a Concord member decides to join a colony that uses the chamber system as a form of governance, their Concord and colony chambers will always coincide.

The Chamber System is meant to create closeness among the community members here at the East India Company. These chambers represented the six main port cities that the original Dutch company used in trade, some played more important roles than others. Here in the VOC Concord all are equal and are led by an Opperhoofd (Leader). Opperhoofden are the moderators of their chamber forums and in charge of keeping the regular members of the chamber active and in good behavior. Most Chambers in Concord have charters, carefully crafted by members of the past. In times of high activity, an Opperhoofd may be selected as per a chamber's charter. In times of low activity, the Administrative staff may by a majority decision appoint a member to the position.


Concord members are not required to join a colony of the VOC and are more than welcome to simply be members of the community as active contributors. However, it is highly recommended that members join some colony as there will be much more community involvement.

Article Two: Community Forum Governance

The Concord Community will have main governance consisting of two positions, c.q. Administrators and Moderators. This system is separate from the colony governments.

Administrators

An Administrator is the head of the governing system for the Concord community. These people will be responsible for keeping the forums intact, making sure that the site is functioning at its proper levels, and setting up community and forum structure that encourages current members to return to the forums and new ones to join.

New administrators shall be added as selected by a majority vote from the current administrators; the candidate must be well qualified, trusted by the community and staff, and have knowledge about forum administration.

Moderators

A Moderator is in charge of essentially keeping the membership in line and from flaming or disrespecting other members of the community. Moderators are in charge of keeping the forums organized in a sensible manner and making sure that members of the community are adhering to forum rules. Moderators may issue out a warning to a member if they feel that they are not behaving appropriately.

Opperhoofden are automatically moderators of their chambers which gives the ability to moderate effectively over their chamber members. Likewise, colony leaders can moderate the forums of their colony.

Article Three: Official and Unofficial Colonies

Colonies of the community are the result of multiple members starting an East India Company (VOC) group in other games. There are two types of colonies that the Concord Community will support; these are official and unofficial colonies:

Official Colonies

Official colonies of the Concord Community are those that have been approved by a majority of the administrators and global moderators. Extra privileges for these colonies include their own subforums and a topic icon of the game logo for threads. Members who wish to have an official colony sanctioned by Concord, must meet the following requirements and submit their request to the Administrators:

• A starting player base of at least five active people;
• A Colony Charter that outlines the government and structure of the colony and specifies the use of VOC Concord as its base of operations;
• The colony must have the name East India Company (or another variant) and be themed according to the community role-play of 1700s sea trading;
• If the six-chamber system is to be used in colony government, colony founders must specify so in their charter and in their application.

Applications submitted without these basic requirements met will not be accepted and the applicant may submit the application again if desired at a later date. An accepted application will grant the colony official status with the same luxuries as previously approved colonies. If a colony grows exceptionally large, the current administrators may invite a member of the official colony to join "The Team" (the Administration and Moderation team) so that their colony can be properly maintained and attended to.

Unofficial Colonies

Unofficial colonies are often an excellent step to being a colony that may quickly achieve official colony status. Anyone apart of the Concord community is allowed to start an East India Company themed outpost in any game to attempt to see if it has the capabilities and potential to become a successful official colony. Unofficial Colonies are often tiny methods of experimenting and exploring and as such to not receive the special privileges of approved colonies. These colonies will collectively have their discussion forums centrally located in a general forum.

Article Four: Removal From the Community

The administration of the Concord community reserves the right to remove any member of the community that it so wishes. Removal from the community is due to one of the following infractions:

• Posting of illegal and/or distasteful images not suitable for viewing by minors
• Continual forum infractions/warnings after repeated opportunities to repent and change
• Partaking in illegal activities online (i.e. hacking, website vandalizing/abuse)

Community removal is considered a last resort and is a serious event. In these cases the member is not allowed to debate the removal and will be permanently banned from the community and its activities.

Article Five: Founding Document Amendments

The administration of the Concord community may add to this document as they see nessecary for security and protection. Additions must be approved with a majority administrator consent.