AGC REAPER CA

What does it mean to be "toxic"?

Generally speaking, toxicity is a mindset that is not helpful in progressing toward the current goals of a group. Toxic individuals can be generally classified into three groups although its possible others exist.
1) Naysayers - These individuals typically will come up with all kinds of reasons why something can't be done, but offer no alternatives and ultimately contribute little if anything to progress toward the community's goals. (example of a naysayer might be someone in game who wants to surrender at 20 minutes when the game could still reasonably go either way.)
2) Dominators - These individuals have to have it their way or no way. (example someone who insists on playing a lane even though another player already locked in a champion of that role.)
3) Hijackers - These individuals will tend to do all kinds of things, but none of them contribute to the goal being sought. (example someone who threatens to leave the game because he can't get the kills he wants or the position he wants this person is not a team player. This person is the most toxic because this is about playing as a team and getting kills not how many kills one person gets but the whole team.)
There are other examples of toxic players such as players who belittle their teammates, those who rage in a game, those who string out racial slurs and other offensive comments, etc.
As a general rule, i believe common sense prevails here. If in doubt, ask someone if a member is behaving in a toxic way.

What do you do if you encounter a toxic player within the community.

1) The first thing you want to do is ask yourself " Is this player consistently or deliberately being toxic toward me or another community member?" Often times people can have bad days and end up saying things they didn't mean or regret.
2) If you notice a toxicity being a common occurance , or were deeply offended by someone, talk to them privately. We want you to resolve you issues privately since often times bringing things up in public just creates drama and witch hunts that aren't productive for either party. We strongly believe that we should be a place people come for positive experiences, not drama and infighting.
If after talking with the individual in private, they are still toxic to you or others, please bring it to the attention of your general , section, or council privately so we can resolve the situation.

What is a community?

As a community-based orginazation, we want our community members interacting with each other to pursue common goals and interests.
One subset of these interaction is often the formation of community teams. A community team is a group of community member that come together to form a team to have fun, learn together, and inspire others in the community. An aspire team is either a group of dedicated amateur or semi-professional gamers who come together to learn skills necessary to succeed in the pro scene, or a group of competitive gamers who seek to improve their skill level in a chosen game. Neither type of team is sponsored or receives financial or other benefits from the community, they are strictly voluntary and for the benefit of the players. Neither the gaming community/ Aspire teams are obligated to support each other.

What does it mean to donate?

Donating to the community is a completely optional method of adding value to the community. No one should feel as though they are forced or pressured into donating. If you do decide to donate to the community, you should consider this donation a gift with no strings attached. While we will honor requests to use the money for certain uses that align with our communities goals. If in doubt about whether or not you feel your donation would go toward something you support, please contact any council member before making the donation so that we can discuss the intended use of the donation.

What is adding value and why or why shouldn't you do it?

Adding value is you way of working with the Gaming Community to follow your passion and contribute to it. A lot of people interpret this as doing "work for the gaming community" but there are two problems with this mindset:

1) The work people do typically doesn't significantly affect the Communities bottom line. We aren't having people add value to make us money, we have people add value because this is the type of thing they'd be doing anyway and the Community can help them pursue their goals and passion.
2) As a part of the Gaming Community, it doesn't make sense to refer to the community in the third person. It's a bit like saying, "Oh man, my body makes me work so hard just to feed it, stupid body, I don't want to take a break to eat food!".
3) Lastly if you aren't passionate about meeting new people, playing as a team and having fun then you're probably not in the right place. We don't want people who look at adding value as a chore or some requirement to be a member. We want this to be something you'd be doing even if the community didn't exist. Passion is about having a strong belief about something, and working to support that belief. Live it, own it, love it.