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Scope
This document is to govern how information is shared within the structure of the 9th Age project, and when it may be released (or not).
The procedure about gathering info from the community is outside the scope of this task.
This document is public.


Principles
What is “information”?
Information is:
- All unreleased artwork and background material;
- All the unreleased rules;
- All management decisions;
- All associated drafts and discussions;
- Some information closed by nature, such as being private, provided in confidence, or conveying legal risk…

This information is protected and defined as “closed” information, until it is released and becomes “open” information.

This information may be associated by a tag: Releaseable (under x condition), to Release (under x condition) or T9A-only …
The presence of a tag helps to indicate the nature and importance of the information,
but the lack of tag does not mean that the information it not to be considered as above.


What is not “information”?
- statements about other issues than defined above;
- menial statements around issues defined above, but not providing “information” as defined above;
example: issues the production team is discussing, presented in a controlled and vague manner;
- processes: what is going on behind the scenes;
- analysis made from open sources;
- information which is already open.

This “non-information” is not protected.
When in doubt, ask.


Principle about information release:
1 - We want to share as much as possible with the community;
2 - We want to do it in a controlled and coordinated manner.

Consequence:
What the community wishes to know should usually be provided with little to no delay, unless otherwise prescribed.

If it is not "information", it may be shared, without spending too much resource on it.
Example: the daily interaction done by army community support teams (ACS).

If it is information, it usually should be shared, but only through the process described below.


Processes
Process for releasing “non-information” statements to the community:
ACS task is to observe and relate.
For all but the most menial statements, they should use predesignated internal threads to write a draft of what they think could be shared.
The team in charge may veto what is not releasable.
PR may require a specific coordination for some issues.
Otherwise ACS is free to share their views.
See also "Discipline" below.

Process for releasing information to the community:
All the information (as defined above) identified to be shared with the external community must be approved formally for release. The relevant team leader determines whether it is ready for release. E.g. : see ExB.
Following that, ExB decides on the timing, in consultation with PR. E.g. : Background Compendium.
Following that, PR is in charge of the release strategy. This strategy specifies in particular who should make the release: it could be ExB (especially information to be considered “official”), PR team members, ACS, content team, RT, bloggers or members of the relevant team (in particular information which importance does not justify a whole campaign, but which is still interesting for the community).
PR also specifies the media on which the information is to be released first, and where it should be releayed (news, FB/twt, other websites…).
See also "Discipline" below.

Process for the internal circulation of information:
All staff privy to the above mentioned information can freely discuss it within the confines of the sub-forums or conversation thread where this information is held, or in sub-forums or conversations of further reduced access level (i.e. “PRO” forums are more closed than THH forums; upper management forums are more closed than team forums).

No information may be shared, even internally, to a wider audience, prior to the team leader or the author being made aware of this new audience and agreeing at minimum tacitly (i.e. statement: "let me inform XYZ", followed by reasonable delay or formal clearance).
See also "Discipline" below.

Process for the private circulation of information:
Staff may discuss information with their confidants in person. The trust given to staff members is extended to their confidants.
See also "Discipline" below.

Discipline:
Discipline is necessary to avoid situations when information leaked on the forums is poorly presented to the community, or at a bad time, or without sufficient staff support. This could lead to missing an opportunity to get the best from the information release, or worse, to tarnish T9A image.

Discussing and sharing information in violation of any of the provisions above will be sanctioned. A confidant sharing the information on a public media platform or to undesired third party will also lead to a sanction.

The adequate sanction has to be adapted to the gravity of the breach of trust.
It may lead to exclusion from the relevant team or even from the project.

Assimilation to team members… [Read More]

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This post is targeted at professionals who wonder if there is a possibility to establish some kind of partnership with T9A.

Although T9A project is not making any profit itself, we fully understand the usefulness of having profitable companies providing players with everything they need!
In particular, since the beginning, we looked for miniature companies who were able to provide the necessary models.

In the very interest of the community of players, we are keen to establish some deeper cooperation with companies willing to support T9A.
There is a caveat: we cannot become contracted partners; and we cannot be exclusive. T9A will not be affiliated with, associated with, or take part in any joint venture with any of the cooperating companies.
We want no money from that cooperation, because the risk of altering the game in order to favor some partnership would be too high and would not be in the interest of the community of players,
This said, it seems natural and mutually beneficial to help somehow those companies who decide to embrace T9A and make special efforts to support our game.

Any company can join, not limited to miniature companies, as long as they propose a product or service useful to play Fantasy Battles, directly or indirectly. Any company can join, regardless whether there are already other companies offering similar products.

If you would like to consider having your company providing support to T9A, here is what you need to read: T9A and Company Support

We look forwards to reading your presentation mail!

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You have been enjoying all the T9A goodies for free.
Well, we may have very low costs, there are still some modest expenses to cover.
We have some constant running costs, if only to be able to provide this webpage to you.

To be precise:

The domain: 12.87€ for 12 month
Server/webspace: ~103€ per month
DNS/CND-Service: 0€ per month
+------------------------------------
1248.87€ every year



Since the project has grown much faster than anticipated, we need to keep up with the ever increasing demand if we want to keep the quality of the product.

We decided that we do not want to run any advertisement on this board.
We used to have a donation page for the server, however, the money given to that donation so far is strictly used to keep the servers going and for the forum to be free of advertisements. Since we respect our donors, we do not intend to use money given for one purpose on something else.

For that reason, we have now updated the donation process, so that it may cover all other expenses. These may be, but not limited to, the following:
Test prints of army books, rule book and magic cards along with marketing material in general. It may also include promotion Material and expenses (including book at local games stores - and their preparation).

We pledge to never use your donation for any personal enrichment, and we intend to report regularly about our expenses, for the sake of transparency and for your own information.

We estimate that we need roughly 2000€/year.
It would be nice if you could help us to cover those costs.

EDIT: "donate button", look in the right column.
Thank you for your Support!

P.S. More about what we, as project, think of money can be found here:
What do we think about money?

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You are enjoying the Hobby as aninated by T9A.
Don't you feel that you could give back some of what you have received, and help new players to join the same Hobby?
Or do you wish to be part of the team designing such nice stuff, and have fun with them?
Do you have plenty of creativity and the urge to become useful?


There are many ways to support the project!
You are good at painting or web design? Great, we need it!
You are good with languages? Great, we need that too!
You are good at playing fantasy table top war games! Brilliant, we need a lot of play testing.
Besides these talents in the direst demand, there are plenty of other teams specialized in various tasks.

See a description of the so many ways to participate here:
New Process for Army Design and Balancing!
T9A internal organization for The Hobby Hub (TM)

If you wish to join a team, the procedure is simple:
Click on your avatar, top left of your screen.
Then click on "User Groups".
Find the group which represents best your talents. Apply for membership, detailing what you think you could bring to the team. Done!


In the unlikely case you did not receive any reply within two weeks, that would mean that there is no hurry to fill positions in that particular group. In order to avoid such inconvenience, you are encouraged to apply for several groups. Note also that team leaders will naturally have a tendency to favor those individuals already known for good-spirited contributions in the forums.

Beware, it can become quickly pretty addictive: most of our teams love so much what they do that they have a tendency to spend an unreasonable time with us!
Once you will have joined a team, our Human Resources division will value your potential and your team spirit, and may determine if there would be other positions which would fit you better. Several of our team members started modestly, to see themselves propelled to decision boards!

But first and foremost we need a strong community contributing to the 9th Age and playing the game we all love.
So we are also thankful if you just spread the rules and convince your friends to give them a try. They are free to download!

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Here are some useful information members can find across the forum.
Please if you know other interesting places, post them as a reply. Thanks!

How to behave:
Terms of use: Forum guidelines - Legal terms for 9th Age Licensing
Forum Infractions Announcement

Legal stuff:
Privacy Policy about how little information is collected on you
Legal Notice about licence to reproduce and other similar issues.

Elsewhere than the main forum:
Map to see where players are near you, and gaming places such as clubs or shops
Wiki with lots of practical information, and YOU can also update it! - it is a wiki, after all...
Members is useful to search Staff Members


What else did you find useful, that you wished to share with other users?

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There are various ways to contact the team or remain in touch.

-=-=-
If you are registered as a member of T9A, you may start directly a conversation with any other member.

Sometimes, you know which team you wish to contact, but you do not know who is the relevant person.
There is a trick:
Top right of your screen, click on "Members", then look in the middle top and click on "Staff Members".
You will see the list of each group. Most often, there is a different tag for the team leader. Click on the name, and start a conversation.

-=-=-
Alternatively, you can send us e-mails:
admin@the-ninth-age.com and team@the-ninth-age.com - to be used for anything official; the last one will be read by someone from the Executive Board.


-=-=-
Also, you will find us on various Social Media.
The 9th Age has a thriving community, with people from all over the world interacting with each other.
You can follow 9th Age on Twitter and Facebook, and soon also on Instagram and YouTube, to further enrich your hobby experience.

Stay up-to-date with the latest news from #T9A, be it community contests or crowdfunding campaigns by supporting companies.
News can also be found on popular blogs like Bell of Lost Souls and Faeit 212.
Or get in touch with the wide network of bloggers and podcasters that 9th Age is growing.

We want the wargaming community closer together and social media allows us to do just that.
Join 9th Age on social media and spread the word, because this a community-driven project and you can make a difference.

Note: our enthusiastic supporters have opened T9A accounts in various languages, in particular on facebook.
If you are more comfortable with one of these languages, you can of course use these accounts as an intermediate for a first contact. We will then figure out how to establish a better link.
Even if they do not represent T9A officially, they provide a wonderful help.

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Stay in touch!

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When the game "Fantasy Battles: The 9th Age" (T9A) initially appeared, some potential players hesitated to give it a try, because they were not sure how "official" the rules could be, or if the rules would be sustained in the long run.
Well, here is the answer.

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Rules.
The organization which makes the rules "official" is the project T9A itself.

Inside the project, the rules are designed by a large team of experimented players, counting over a hundred of persons, each specialized in one particular aspect of the rules.
They are all unpaid volunteers recruited among website members. When they join the team, their skills are evaluated in auxiliary positions until they gain the trust of the team and get assigned to various positions of greater responsibility. The process is designed so that not a single person may force any decision.
The resulting rules belong intellectually to the project T9A, represented by its Executive Board.
The whole process is descibed in detail here: New Process for Army Design and Balancing!

Once getting ready to be published, the rules must be formally approved by T9A's Executive Board. This is the step which makes them "official".
The official rules are the ones to be downloaded from The Rules.

-=-=-
Rules used in independant events.
Once released by T9A project, the rules may be adopted by tournaments. This makes them "official" for that tournament.
ETC, the world's largest tournament for Fantasy Battles, adopted in 2016 our rules of the game Fantasy Battles: The 9th Age, without a single amendment.
A very large number of tournaments in the whole world have adopted the very same rules for their main event, showing the great popularity of Fantasy Battles: The 9th Age.

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Background.
The same goes for the background, prepared by a smaller group of persons, recruited in a similar way.
They are the ones who define, create and develop the "official" background of the game; we call that the "canon" background.
This canon background belongs intellectually to the project T9A, represented by its Executive Board.
The principles are approved by the Executive Board, which is also the body giving the final approval.
The background becomes "official" as it is published.
Once released, the background remains canon forever: History may move forwards, but decision has been taken that there will be no retcon.

The background is to be found inside the Full Basic Rule Book - first edition before the end of 2016.
Other sets of rules such as army books may contain various pieces of background. It is canon from the fact that it comes from official rules.

Various comments on the website are not considered canon, even if made by one of the designers. Only the published background is canon.

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Sustainability.
The project itself was created to be self-sustainable without limit.
It depends on no particular individual, 100% of the team could change, and T9A would remain.
Likewise, no need to earn a profit might ever justify the abandonment of the project or part of it.
The strongest guarantee for the project to be sustained is the interest of all the team members: they all need the game to be sustained for as long as they play themselves.

As long as there will be a Hobby community, T9A project will support it.

-=-=-
Here is a longer argumentation about T9A being official and sustainable.
The 9th Age: Project and Sustainability

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Are you convinced, now? Yes? Let's play!

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In this post, I would like to highlight our value of tolerance and our wish to be equally welcoming to women and men, majority and minorities.


It is not that we have any particular political agenda: we only create games and serve a community.
But we want our creations and our community to be adopted by all potential Hobbyists, no matter who they are or how "different" they may be perceived.

It is not necessarily so easy. When you think about it, games of Fantasy Battles are about war.
The setting is a world inspired by our collective past, from the Dawn of Civilisation to the Age of Exploration.
An epic past if any, often violent and reckless, very far from our present days and modern values.
Many authors in the Fantasy genre have accentuated in their descriptions the excesses of History and legends to a caricatural point. We are no exception.

But the worst values displayed in battles, in fantasy or in history must not result into some unwelcome demeanor in our website.
We must be clear that we make the distinction with real life.
This is what the post is about.

In the T9A team, we want everyone to feel welcome.
We do not want intolerant people to spoil the rest of the community. We will never accept any offense towards anyone because of what she or he is,


No matter who you are, enjoy The Ninth Age, and the community which makes it live!

You are welcome here.

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