The Provincial Requirements for Order Sanctioning
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TO MAIN ORDERS PAGE
The following regulations are from an Out of Character
Perspective.
SECTION 0: GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT ORDERS
SECTION 0.1 Orders in DragonRealms are a privilege, not a right.
Simutronics reserves the right to dissolve/disband any non-sanctioned
Order at any time without explanation.
SECTION 0.2 There is no ownership of property in an Order. "Buying"
is an in character term used to reference the exchange of in game
credits to have the GameMasters set something up. The Order owns
nothing.
SECTION 0.3 The weekly "lease fees" associated with all
property, is an in character term for the exchange of in-game credits
to justify the resources associated with maintaining the Order's
property in the game for one week.
SECTION 0.4 The in game administration of Orders will be handled
by the "Orders GM". That same GM has an in character personality
called "The Provincial Administrator of Orders". The two
are the same individual as referenced in this document. When referred
to as the Orders GM, that will typically be referring to interaction
that will take place Out Of Character (OOC). When referring to the
Administrator of Orders that will typically be referring to interaction
that will take place In Character (IC), or in-game.
SECTION 1: WHAT IS A SANCTIONED ORDER?
SECTION 1.0 Orders are player run organizations that come together
for a given purpose in the game. Orders specifically exist to provide
a role-playing vehicle to the players, to enhance the quality of
the game and to provide assistance to other players both members
of the Order and non-members alike.
SECTION 2: SANCTIONING AN OFFICIAL ORDER
SECTION 2.0 An Order will be considered "official" only
when it is "sanctioned" by the provincial government.
SECTION 2.1 Any Order not sanctioned by the provincial government
or an Order who has lost their sanctioning shall not have any of
the rights or privileges afforded a sanctioned Order.
SECTION 2.2 No Order's sanctioned status is permanent. Orders are
required, as set forth below, to maintain their sanctioned status
within the province. Any order that does not maintain their status
is in jeopardy of losing their sanctioning and any property, privileges
or rights they may have.
SECTION 2.3 The GameMaster Staff and Simutronics reserve the right
to dissolve any sanctioning of any Order, as it deems necessary.
This right is immediate, and absolute.
SECTION 2.4 Sanctioned Orders fall under the direction of the "Order
GameMaster" who has final say on all matters concerning all
Orders or their operation and organization.
SECTION 2.5 The "Provincial Administrator of Orders"
in an in character persona in the game that the Orders deal with.
The Order GM, or someone on his or her staff, may play this NPC.
All dealings with the Provincial Administrator of Orders are to
be in character, whereas dealing with the Orders GM will typically
be Out Of Character.
SECTION 3: REQUIREMENTS FOR ORDER SANCTIONING
SECTION 3.0 For an Order to become sanctioned it must have selected
a proper name for the order.
SECTION 3.1 Naming an Order
SECTION 3.2 Proper names for Orders shall not include the terms/words:
"Clan", "House",
"Guild", "Society", "Secret", "Royal",
"His Highness'", "Her Majesty's" or "Evil".
Further restrictions on words in an Order's name may be imposed
by the Order GM as needed. All names for Orders will include the
word "Order" somewhere in their name.
SECTION 3.3 No Order name may reference "real life" organizations,
or copyrighted names in the real world. Any Order that chooses a
copyrighted name or the name of a real world organization, and that
relationship is not discovered in the beginning, will be required
to change the Order name upon discovery.
SECTION 3.4 The Order GM has the right at anytime to reject an
Order's name, or to require the Order to change their name.
SECTION 3.5 A detailed explanation of what the Order's Crest (if
any) looks like will be supplied with each application.
SECTION 3.6 A detailed explanation of the insignia, or badge of
membership, worn by the members of the Order will be supplied with
each application.
SECTION 4: ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE
SECTION 4.1 Officers
SECTION 4.2 The Order must have appointed a Speaker, a Vice Speaker
and a Treasurer at the time they apply for sanctioning.
SECTION 4.3 The Order must have appointed a Council of at least
ten (10) when they apply for sanctioning. No Officer may hold a
seat on the Council.
SECTION 5: THE ORDER'S CHARTER
SECTION 5.1 An Order must provide the Charter for the Order at the
time they apply for sanctioning. The Charter must explain in detail:
1. The reason the Order was founded
2. The Order's purpose
3. The Order's insignia
4. The item worn by members acknowledging their membership
5. The Order's goals
6. Official sub-offices in the Order (optional) |
SECTION 5.2 It is to be understood that the Order's Charter is
to be its guideline "in general" for all members founding,
old and new.
SECTION 5.3 The Charter will be posted for public viewing, accessible
to both members and non-members. In that vein, the Order GM will
expect Charters to be colorful, detailed, and well written (this
is one of many role-playing challenges for Orders) and reserves
the right to require a Charter to be re-written.
SECTION 6: BY LAWS
SECTION 6.1 An Order must have its by-laws clearly defined and written
in fashion that appears official, as they are the official rules
for the Order. Included in the by-laws must be the following at
minimum but not limited to:
1. The laws of the Order itself applied to all members
2. A definition of the authority, responsibility and limitations
for each officer (Speaker, Vice Speaker, Treasurer)
3. The complete set of requirements for membership
4. A definition of whether new members must be sponsored or
not
5. The rules and guidelines that will be used for determining
when a member can or should lose membership
6. How much a general member is authorized to borrow from the
loan fund (if any)
7. How much an officer is authorized to borrow from the loan
fund (if any)
8. Any other sub office the order might decide is necessary.
(NOTE: Sub Offices are not recognized by the Order GM or the
Order Game Mechanics. It is purely an office of honor/role playing) |
SECTION 6.2 The Order GM shall have final say over any by-laws
adopted by the Order.
SECTION 6.3 No Order's by-laws may circumvent the basic responsibilities
or authorities of the officers or council set forth below.
SECTION 7: MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION FEES
SECTION 7.0 Once an Order has fulfilled the above requirements,
the Speaker for that Order may submit their application to the Order
GM. Each office for The Administrator of Orders will display the
valid email address of the current Order GM.
SECTION 7.1 The person sending in the application (the Speaker)
will have 10 platinum coins deducted from his or her bank account
in the currency of the province the application was submitted in.
SECTION 8: APPLICATION APPROVAL OR REJECTION
SECTION 8.0 The Order GM will review the application and make a
decision to accept or reject the application.
SECTION 8.1 The Order GM may at his or her discretion not reject
an application in total but request that one or more of the instruments
submitted be changed or rewritten. In this case, no additional filing
fees will be charged, but the Order will not be considered sanctioned
until the application meets all requirements and the Order GM states
such.
SECTION 8.2 When the Order GM requests that an instrument should
be changed or rewritten, the Order will have two real world weeks
to complete the request. If they do not supply the changed or rewritten
instrument within the two-week period, the application as a whole
will be rejected and filing fees will apply to any future applications.
SECTION 8.3 The Order GM shall not be held to a time frame on deciding
to accept or deny an application. Further, the order GM is under
no obligation to accept or deny applications in the order they are
submitted.
SECTION 8.4 Upon acceptance of an application, the Speaker for
that Order will be contacted, and informed. A meeting with the Administrator
of Orders will be arranged so a recruiting office in the Administrator's
Building can be designed. (See below)
SECTION 9 AFTER SANCTIONING
SECTION 9.1 Upon acceptance of an Order's Application, it will be
declared by the Order GM that the Order is Sanctioned, and the Administrator
of Orders will recognize that Order.
SECTION 9.2.0 The Recruitment Office
SECTION 9.2.1 To provide for recruiting needs, a recruitment office
for the newly sanctioned Order will be established in the building
that houses The Administrator of Orders. This office is not optional.
All Orders must have an office in the building, at least until they
have a house.
SECTION 9.2.2 The recruitment office, in the Administrator's building,
will cost the Order 1 platinum per REAL LIFE week. This fee will
be deducted from the Order's Trust Fund (see below).
SECTION 9.3 If the Order's Trust Fund cannot pay the weekly fee,
the Order will be found in default and have one (1) real-life week
to correct the situation. After one real-life week, if the Order
cannot cover the financial costs they will lose their sanctioning
and no longer be recognized as an Order.
SECTION 9.4 The recruitment office for an Order will contain the
following:
1. A posted copy of the Order's Charter
2. A posted copy of the Order's by-laws
3. A membership application sheet
4. A banner with the name of the Order
5. The Order's Crest displayed
6. A plaque naming the Officers and Council members
7. A trust fund deposit box
8. A building fund deposit box
9. A loan fund deposit box
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SECTION 9.5 The membership application sheet will exist in one
of two forms: 1) A sheet that does not provide existing member sponsorship;
and 2) A sheet that provides for existing member sponsorship
SECTION 9.6 The deposit boxes for the funds will allow deposits
only. No money may be removed once it is deposited.
SECTION 9.7 The building of the Administrator of Orders will offer,
for a fee, several chambers for an Order to use as Council Chambers
to conduct Council meetings in. These Chambers are offered on a
first come, first served basis and may be rented for two (2) hours
at a time. Chambers cannot be reserved.
SECTION 9.8 The building of the Administrator of Orders will offer,
for a fee, several meeting halls for an Order to use as a Meeting
Hall for general meetings. These Halls are offered on a first come,
first served basis and may be rented for a period of two (2) hours
at a time. Halls cannot be reserved.
SECTION 10 POST SANCTIONING REQUIREMENTS
SECTION 10.0 After the recruitment office for an Order has been
officially opened; the Order has 60 real world days to increase
their membership to 25 members.
SECTION 10.1 If an Order has not met the 25 member minimum at the
end of the 60 day period, the Administrator of Orders will meet
with the Speaker of the Order to asses the problem. If sufficient
reason is given for having not met the requirements, the Administrator
may decide to give the Order an extension. The amount of time extended
is at the discretion of the Administrator.
SECTION 10.2 If the Administrator is not convinced the Order will
be able to meet the minimum requirements of membership, the Order
will lose their sanctioning and their recruitment office will be
closed. The Administrator's decision is final.
SECTION 11 POST MEMBERSHIP REQUIREMENTS
SECTION 11.1 Once an Order has met its membership requirements,
the Speaker of the Order, and the Vice Speaker of the Order will
be presented their Order's Scepter. This is a magical device that
allows these officers access to certain areas, meetings, and creates
items that apply to the Order. At this point, the Order is not only
sanctioned, but also considered and recognized as an official Order
of the Province.
SECTION 11.2 Only the Speaker and Vice Speaker may hold their scepter.
If they lose it, it will be replaced for a very expensive fee deducted
from the Order's Trust Fund.
SECTION 11.3 The council will hold its first official meeting and
pass a resolution to accept the charter and by-laws or to reject
it.
SECTION 11.4 If the council rejects the charter or the by-laws,
the Order will have two real world weeks to amend the charter to
a point where the Council adopts it.
SECTION 11.5 If at the end of two weeks, the Order has not been
able to resolve its differences regarding the Charter and by-laws,
the Order GM, at his or her option, may grant an extension or step
in and take matters into his or her own hands.
SECTION 12 ORDER STATUS
SECTION 12.0 At the time of sanctioning, the Order's status in the
Province will be set to "Average."
SECTION 12.1 There are three differing levels of status an order
may hold. Outstanding" is the best rating an Order can have,
"Disdain" is the worst, with "Average" in the
middle.
SECTION 12.2 An Order's status may be raised or lowered by any
GameMaster on staff as the result of actions by the Order in general
or by actions of any of its members.
SECTION 12.3 The Order's Officers and Council will have the means
to review the Order's current standing at any time. No explanation
will be given for an Order's current standing, or change in standing,
by the Order GM. All Orders must simply deal with this factor.
THE DUTIES OF OFFICE
SECTION 13 THE SPEAKER
SECTION 13.1 An Order must have a "Speaker". The speaker
of the Order is the person who deals one on one with the Administrator
of Orders (the Order GM).
SECTION 13.2 The authority and responsibilities of the Speaker
is to be laid out in the Order's Charter and by-laws. At no time
shall the by-laws of any Order subvert the structure of authority
and responsibilities entrusted to the Council (see below).
SECTION 13.3 The position of Speaker shall be seen by the Order
GM as the "Head" of the Order, regardless of the authority
and responsibilities and privileges laid out in the Order's Charter
and by-laws. With this recognition, it is assumed the Speaker speaks
for the Order and has the authority to make decisions on behalf
of the Order when dealing with the Administrator of Orders.
SECTION 13.4 When a Council of the Orders is held with the Provincial
Administrator of Orders, or other government officials, the Speaker
of the Order will be the individual who attends, representing his
or her Order.
SECTION 13.5 Any imposed term limits on the Speaker's office are
to be determined by the Order's by-laws. Any such limits are to
be tracked by the Order, and will not involve the Order GM or the
Administrator of Orders.
SECTION 13.6 If the Order so chooses in its charter and/or by-laws,
the Speaker is the officer of the Order that presides over official
swearing in ceremonies of new members, officers, and Council members.
SECTION 13.7 In the event a Council cannot convene enough of a
majority to fill its seats, the Speaker of the Order will appoint
members until a majority of the seats have been filled.
SECTION 14 THE VICE SPEAKER
SECTION 14.1 An Order must have a Vice Speaker. The office of Vice
Speaker will be considered the second point of contact for the Order
GM or Provincial Administrator of Orders in the event the Speaker
cannot be contacted.
SECTION 14.2 The Vice Speaker will be the "backup" individual
who attends provincial Councils of the Orders when the Speaker is
not available.
SECTION 14.3 Is it the Vice Speaker's responsibility to understand
this document, as well as the Order's Charter and by-laws and any
changes made to them, so they may clarify for any member the nature
of these documents.
SECTION 14.4 Any questions the Vice Speaker might have concerning
this document, the Order's Charter, or the Order's by-laws may be
presented to the Order GM for clarification. The Order GM's decision
on such clarifications is final.
SECTION 14.5 Any imposed term limits on the Vice Speaker's office
are to be determined by the Order's by-laws. Any such limits are
to be tracked by the Order, and will not involve the Order GM or
the Administrator of Orders.
SECTION 15 THE TREASURER
SECTION 15.1 An Order must have a Treasurer. The office of Treasurer
will have total access to certain financial information concerning
the Order.
SECTION 15.2 It is the responsibility of the Treasurer to keep
the Speaker, Vice Speaker, and the Council, informed on the Order's
financial status.
SECTION 15.3 Only the Order's Treasurer will have the authority
(ability) to transfer monies between funds (see Funds below).
SECTION 15.4 At no time shall the Treasurer of any Order have the
ability to withdraw monies into hard currency from any of the Order's
Funds.
SECTION 15.5 Only the Treasurer will be entrusted with the Order's
books pertaining to dues owed (if any), and outstanding with any
member loans (if any).
SECTION 15.6 Any imposed term limits on the Treasurer's office
are to be determined by the Order's by-laws. Any such limits are
to be tracked by the Order, and will not involve the Order GM or
the Administrator of Orders.
SECTION 16 THE COUNCIL
SECTION 16.0 An Order must have a standing "Council of Ten."
The Council of Ten shall be considered the governing body of the
Order.
SECTION 16.1 All Council seats must be filled at all times. Any
seat left open for a period of more than two real world weeks, will
place the Order in jeopardy of losing their sanctioning.
SECTION 16.2 After the initial appointment of the Council, seats
on the Council are "appointed" by the Council member vacating
that seat. The right of the vacating member to appoint his or her
successor shall not be abridged by the Order's Charter or by-laws.
SECTION 16.3 In the event a Council member cannot be contacted,
and has missed four consecutive Council meetings, the remaining
Council may vote that Council member's seat vacant, and vote in
a replacement member.
SECTION 16.4 No officer of the Order may sit on the Council while
they hold office. Any Council member voted into office will immediately
vacate his or her seat, without the option of being able to appoint
his or her replacement (through game mechanics).
SECTION 16.5.0 A Council seat left vacant because the member was
voted into office will be filled by a vote of the remaining Council
body.
SECTION 16.5.1 If the Council cannot present a body of members
large enough to satisfy an official vote (see below) then SECTION
16.5.0 will be invoked by the Orders GM.
SECTION 16.6 Order Councils may meet officially as many times as
they wish, however, it is required that the Order's Council hold
an official Council meeting every two real world weeks. Failure
to meet this requirement will put the Order in jeopardy of losing
its sanction.
SECTION 16.7 A Council Meeting will be declared official when convened
in the Council Chambers with at least a majority of Council members
present.
SECTION 16.8 Council meetings will be held in private. Not even
the Officers of the Order will be permitted in the Council Chambers
when an official meeting is convened.
SECTION 16.9 Council votes will be secret. Not even the members
of the voting Council will no how the others voted. A Council member
may respond to a motion with VOTE YES, VOTE NO, or VOTE ABSTAIN.
SECTION 16.10 The Council attendant (an NPC) will tally the votes.
If the majority vote is YES, the motion is carried. If the majority
vote is NO, the motion fails. If there is no majority vote there
is a declared NO VOTE situation.
SECTION 16.11 All motions put forward on the Floor of the Council
Chamber will be announced in the room directly outside the door
of the Council Chamber. All voting results will be announced in
the same manner.
SECTION 16.12 Councils will have the authority and responsibility
of voting in the Officers of the Order.
SECTION 16.13 Councils will have the authority to hold a vote of
"confidence" or "no confidence" regarding the
Officers of the Order.
SECTION 16.14 Once the Council has held a successful vote of no
confidence, the Council will have the authority to vote an Officer
out of office. That Officer does not lose his or her membership
in the Order, only his or her position of Office.
SECTION 16.15 The Council will have the authority and responsibility
of setting the weekly dues members are required to pay (if any).
SECTION 16.16 The Council will have the authority and responsibility
of voting in new members or voting out existing members.
SECTION 16.17 The Council will have the authority and responsibility
for setting the interest rate charged to those members who take
out new loans. Existing loan rates are not effected by this change.
SECTION 16.18 The Council will have the authority to raise or lower
the loan limit of any Order member. Current outstanding loans are
not effected and a member may only have one outstanding loan at
any given time.
SECTION 16.19 Any imposed term limits on the Council Seats are
to be determined by the Order's by-laws. Any such limits are to
be tracked by the Order, and will not involved the Order GM or the
Administrator of Orders.
SECTION 16.20 Any Council seat vacated as the result of term limits
shall be passed on to an appointee of the departing Council member's
choosing. The Order's by-laws or Charter shall not abridge this
right.
SECTION 17 FUNDS FOR THE ORDER
SECTION 17.0.0 An Order will maintain a Trust Fund, a Building Fund,
and a Loan Fund.
SECTION 17.0.1 Unless otherwise stipulated by the Charter and by-laws,
an Order is not required to maintain any specific balance in any
of its funds. However, the Provincial Government once a week withdraws
the expenses of the Order, and should the Trust Fund not be able
to cover the expenses, the Order will be found in default.
SECTION 17.1 The Trust Fund shall be that fund which all expenses
are extracted from by the Provincial Government weekly.
SECTION 17.2 It is the responsibility of the Order to keep track
of any balances of the funds. Neither the Order GM nor the Administrator
of Orders has any obligation to consult the Order on their financial
status.
SECTION 17.3 The Treasurer may transfer funds between the Trust
Fund and the Loan Fund at his or her discretion.
SECTION 17.4 The Treasurer may transfer funds from the Trust Fund
or the Loan Fund into the Building Fund at his or her discretion.
SECTION 17.5 At no time may funds be transferred out of the Building
Fund or the Loan Fund to the Trust Fund.
SECTION 17.6 The interest charged on a member's outstanding loan
will be applied to the outstanding total on a weekly basis.
SECTION 17.7 If a member of the Order walks the starry path or
rerolls, the Order is simply out that money (such is the risks of
being in the loan business). At no time will the Administrator of
Orders or the Orders GM be recruited to get monies back from any
player. Further, any effort by any Order to satisfy past debts from
a new character will be severely frowned on and place the Order's
sanctioning in jeopardy.
SECTION 17.8 All repayments of loans go directly back into the
Loan Fund, thus the interest earned on loans goes to the Order.
SECTION 17.9 All Officers and Council Members will have access
to the information reporting the current balance of all funds.
SECTION 17.10 Only the Treasurer of the Order will have access
to the loan records of members. It is the Treasurer's responsibility
to track the outstanding loan balances of the members of the Order,
and to notify the Officers or Council when there is fear the member
may be getting over his or her head.
SECTION 17.12 No purchase of land, buildings, or furnishings may
take place unless there is sufficient funds in the Building Fund.
SECTION 17.13 Any purchase of land, buildings, or furnishings,
be it for initial building or for expansion, will require that the
Order's Trust Fund has a balance sufficient to cover the new lease
rate for at least one month (four (4) weekly payments).
SECTION 18 LAND LEASES
SECTION 18.1 Once an Order has met their minimum membership requirements,
they may begin looking for a lot on which they will build their
House.
SECTION 18.2 Any lot selected must be in the province the application
was filed in.
SECTION 18.3 The Order GM has the right to decline any request
for any lot.
SECTION 18.4 The Order's Speaker may submit a selection list of
up to 5 lots at a time, each submission will cost 2 platinum in
the currency of the Order's home province.
SECTION 18.5 No existing building in the game will be torn down
to make room for a house.
SECTION 18.6 Lots outside of towns may be submitted. However, the
Order must realize the risk they take when building in the wilds.
Invasions, thieves, and general uncivilized problems will be something
that must be dealt with in the wilds, whereas this would not be
so much a problem in the cities.
SECTION 18.7 No lot is ever owned by the Order. All lots are leased
to the Order on a (real world) weekly basis and costs are deducted
from the Order's Trust Fund. The amount of the lease is relative
to the value of the land and the going rate will be quoted by the
Order GM when he or she approves or disapproves your site selection.
SECTION 18.8 Simutronics reserves the right to relocate any House
at any time within the same province if it deems necessary. While
extremely rare, there might arise a time when a House simply cannot
remain where it is any longer. In the event this should happen,
the Order GM will work with the Order to find a mutually agreeable
location, and move the house free of charge.
SECTION 19 HOUSES
SECTION 19.1 Houses will be offered in standard models, or the Order
can option to have a house custom built by the Order GM. While houses
are extremely expensive to begin with, they will be overwhelmingly
expensive custom designed.
SECTION 19.2 The value of a House determines the additional cost
of the weekly lease rate on top of weekly land lease. NOTE: This
is a serious factor to consider when choosing the house you will
have, as you become married to that lease forever.
SECTION 19.3 Certain landscaping and furnishing adds to the value
of the house which effects the weekly lease rates.
SECTION 19.4 Once an Order has a house, they may choose to maintain
the recruiting office in the Administrator of Orders building, or
they may move it to their House. Recruitment offices in Houses must
be open to the public.
SECTION 20 FINANCIAL DEFAULT
SECTION 20.1 Once an Order is established and has a House, if they
default on their weekly lease payment, they will be notified by
the Order GM. They will then have one week to get back into the
"black." Their lease charges will continue to accrue.
SECTION 20.2 If a House cannot get themselves back into "the
black", after one week, the Administrator will close the House.
The recruitment office will be moved back into the Administrator's
Building. Lease charges on the house will continue to accrue, and
the weekly charge for the recruitment office will be added on. The
house will then have one (1) real life month to resolve their financial
crisis.
SECTION 20.3 If after one (1) month the House still has not resolved
their financial problems, possession of the House will revert back
to the provincial government and is lost to the Order. The Order
will still owe the money and have one additional month to pay. If
at the end of that month they still cannot meet their obligations,
the Order will lose its sanctioning and cease to be recognized.
SECTION 21 MEMBERSHIP MINIMUMS
SECTION 21.1 No Order may allow its membership to drop below 25
members, regardless of being able to meet its financial commitments
with or without the minimum. The Provincial Administrator of Orders
will put any Order that allows its membership to drop below 25 members
on notice and they will have one real world (1) month to correct
the situation.
SECTION 21.2 If after one (1) month the order has not been able
to raise its membership numbers, the Order's House will be closed
by the Order GM and the recruitment office set up in the Administrator's
Building. The Order will then have one (1) additional month to correct
the situation.
SECTION 21.3 If the additional month passes, and the Order has
not been able to raise its membership to the minimum 25 members,
the Order will lose its sanctioning and the House will revert back
to ownership of the Provincial Government.
SECTION 22 CHANGES TO THIS DOCUMENT
SECTION 22.1 This document may be changed at any time by Simutronics
without warning.
SECTION 22.2 Changes to this document will be announced in the
method found most reliable by the Order GM.
SECTION 22.3 Changes in this document shall be dated with real
world dates to distinguish them from the original draft.
SECTION 22.4 All parts of this document are subject to the Order
GM's interpretation and his or her decision is final.
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