Guidelines for Handling Metagame Situations Contents 1. Introduction 2. General Guidelines 3. Player-killing 4. Channel Offenses 5. Suspected Cheating 6. Harassment 7. Theft 8. Miscellaneous 1. Introduction This is a set of guidelines constructed from the experiences and subsequent actions of many past and present Sentinels. These precedents have been set in situations that may be very similar to the ones which will arise, and may indeed be perfectly appropriate. However, each situation has the potential to be completely unique, and the BEST first step is ALWAYS to discuss the situation with other Sentinels and/or Wizzes on the guild channel. These guidelines are only suggestions, and are by no means set in stone. If the situation demands immediate attention, simply discussing the matter with whomever is on the Sentinel channel can be sufficient in deciding what actions to take. If there isn't anyone on the channel, this is to be consulted as to what actions are generally recommended for most situations. Simply joining the guild as a tertiary or secondary guild does not release you from the responsibilities of the guild! All Sentinels must work together to keep law and order in the realm. Remember, respect is borne of BOTH consistency and appropriateness, and respect is the most powerful tool you can ever wield. Just because you are a sentinel does not entitle you to respect from other players, as you must earn it by demonstrating competency, courtesy and fairness in how you handle matters. 2. General Guidelines (a.k.a. Sentinel 101) First, remember that as a new sentinel your primary duty is to learn the rules of the game (help rules, help legal), and to refer any rule-breaking to a fully ranking sentinel, such as the guild leader/champion/mentor. If you're the only available or highest- ranking sentinel on at the time, try to remember these tips: DO's: * Log the conversation or events if possible. This is important, as it's nice to be able to refer back to conversations. Memory isn't perfect either, and a log helps to preserve what happened. Ask the players involved for logs. Be familiar with the mail command (help mail), in case you have to explain how they can send a log. It's important to ask if they have a log pretty quickly, as events tend to get scrolled out of a mud client's backscroll after a short amount of time. Find out how to get your client to log things; they help. * Talk to people in tells. Trying to discuss what happened via retro or chat can make things worse, as people bicker about who was right or wrong, etc. It's probably none of the public's business, either. Of course, asking both players what happened in the same tell is probably a bad idea as well, as they can start fighting over what happened. * If possible get all sides of the story. Ask what happened. Who did what to whom? Was anyone else in the room when it happened? This helps to find out what was going on, as well as giving names of other people to ask about it. Getting both sides of the story will help in making a fair decision, but if the accused isn't interested in talking then you might have to make a decision without hearing their side. It might be helpful to talk to other people who were there, especially if it's unclear what happened, or nobody else was able to provide a log. In a PK, for instance, try to ask the PK er why they attacked. Ask others who also saw what happened, if available. * Always be in control of yourself. If a rule-breaker insults you, don't let yourself be brought down to their level. Just make a note or log of their abuse. * Once you're almost finished talking with them, ask if there's anything they'd like to add, or if they had any particular concern. Sometimes they don't, but sometimes it's useful information that they hadn't mentioned beforehand. * Once you're done, tell them that it may take a few days for a conclusion to be reached. This gives you time to get opinions from other sentinels on what should be done. Don't give out a preliminary ruling, or make a snap decision, since it is irritating for sentinels and players alike if the decision is changed later. * Write a summary of what happened (to put any logs/conversations in context), and mail it along with your logs and conversations to other sentinels (try asking a more senior officer for the mailing list members), but make sure you send at least send it to the sentinel leader/mentor/champion. Also discuss what actions you think should be taken with other sentinels on the guild channel, but making a judgment alone should be avoided. It's better to wait a couple days to talk with other sentinels about a case than it is to make a snap decision that will be overturned once other sentinels hear about it. * If there's a player-killer who continues to attack other players and isn't interested in talking, or something of the sort that requires immediate action, try asking for help from other sentinels on the guild channel. You can also try asking for a wizard on the guild channel; just because you don't see one on sentinel who doesn't mean there aren t any on. Sentinel deputies can freeze another player temporarily (help sentfreeze, help deputy), as can the guild leader, mentor and champion (help sentsummon). If there are none available, try to find out where the PK is. You might consider using the alert channel to ask people to avoid the area, and it usually isn't advisable for you to try to stop the PKer yourself. If there is nobody else on the guild channel, consider asking a more powerful player for help in stopping the PK. DO NOT's: * This has probably been stressed elsewhere, but bears repeating: DO NOT give out warrants or arrests without the consent of the sentinel leader, mentor or champion. If they aren't available, make sure it's approved by at least a wizard, or several full sentinels who are known to have experience with these matters. Warrant & arrest aren't to be used lightly, and their abuse can result in your being removed from the sentinel guild. * DO NOT use your position to bully or intimidate other players. As sentinels are the law keepers of retro, when they break the laws punishments are *much* more immediate and severe. (help sentinel abuse) * DO NOT hold your friends to one standard of behavior and your enemies to another. Favoritism leads to disrespect towards the sentinel guild and makes retro a worse place to be. Cronyism or revenge can lead to a removal from the guild. On the other hand, recognizing who repeat offenders are is common sense, and increased punishment for problem-causers is allowable. * Being a sentinel does NOT mean that you can play Dirty Harry. The proper role of a sentinel is much more of a paper-pusher and diplomat then that of a Wild West sheriff. 3. Player-killing (help player-killing) * Accidental (walked into an area, didn t read the rules [grr], etc.) Usually we just issue a warning for this kind of PK, and if they didn't know it was against the rules, point out the appropriate help file (help player-killing). This is regardless of newbie status. * Intentional (first time) Warning to PK'er and *possible* 1-week warrant on 1 planet, no- pardon. This should probably be regardless of newbie status. * Intentional (repeat or mass) Warning and multiple warrants for longer duration, no-pardon. If it's really out of hand, then ask for admin/wiz on sent channel (see General Guidelines, above). This applies to players of all levels. 4. Channel Offenses (help retro channels) * Off-topic (wrong channel) Ask to move to appropriate channel if topic continues for several minutes--if the topic seems to have died off, just let it be. If they get hostile or refuse, point them to help retro channels and warn them that they may be channel banned if they persist. At worst, a brief channel ban (1-5 min) *might* be in order--ask on the guild channel first if possible. * Extremely foul language (more than one instance of it, usually) What is profanity? 'Milder' forms of cursing, like 'oh crap', 'oh hell' are pretty much acceptable; anything harsher may be pressing your luck. Also, cursing in another language (if it is pointed out) is not a way to get around the profanity restriction. Otherwise, ask to tone down the language. If it persists, give warning of sentcurse (help sentcurse), if there is a sentinel on with that ability. If no sentinel with sentcurse ability is on, ask on guild channel for a wiz, and if there's no response there, get a log of the conversation and mail to the mailing list. If this is a repeat instance, a warning may be given to that player that they may lose channel privileges. If it s a new player on mentor, just get a log and mail to the mailing list. In most cases, they won't return/aren't really here to play the game, and will probably get purged by an admin. * Trolling/flaming Ask to stop, and if it persists, follow the steps outlined in the "Extremely foul language" section. 5. Suspected Cheating (help cheating) Multi-playing (help multi-playing, help multiple characters) * If they're still in character creation (level 0) and are very idle, just let them be unless they enter the game. * Several players suddenly going LD all at once Take names and just watch out for if they return later. * Players with very obvious related names in a party (like Titana, Titanb, Titanc, or Larry, Moe, Curly, etc.) and *generally* the same or similar levels/creation dates Send a tell to all suspected multi-players asking if they have read the appropriate help files (help multi-playing, help multiple characters). If no response, take names and alert others on the guild channel (mail to full sentinels/admin if there's no one else on). If there's a wiz on, sometimes they can check IPs. * There have also been more subtle multi-players in the past, which are harder to catch. There aren't really any rules to determine if someone is multi-playing in this manner, but watching inform log-on/ log-off channel, general channel behavior, and other observations have helped in the past. Botting (help bot) * If a player reports a suspected bot to you, or you think you are seeing someone botting, try sending a tell to the suspected bot to see if there is any response. If not, make a note of the name and alert the other sentinels/admin through the channel and/or mail. 6. Harassment (help harassment) * Summoning into dangerous situation/Unwanted summoning Give a warning to the summoner--if it's a repeat offense a warrant *might* be in order. * On Channels Ask the harasser(s) to stop, and issue a warning. Channel ban (if possible) if it persists. If they take it to tells, see next section. * In tells and/or mail Ask for a log from all parties involved, if possible. Ask the person(s) who is/are harassing to stop, and issue a warning. Have the person(s) being harassed use ignore if needed. If the harasser continues to harass in mails, bring it to the attention of full sentinels/admin. 7. Theft (help theft, help thieving) * Kill-stealing Send a tell to both parties involved to try to negotiate a resolution (usually ask the person who stole the kill to compensate the other person with the gold and items from the kill). If they're disputing killing territory, suggest that they work out an arrangement (party up, find another area so they don t run into each other, etc.). If they still refuse to play nice, log it and send to the mailing list for more senior officers/admin to deal with. * Picking up other people's stuff that's on the ground for service work, party loot for dicing, etc. Send a tell to the player asking if they've read the appropriate help files (help theft, help thieving) and ask them to return the items to the owner(s). If they refuse or go LD/quit, take names and try to get assistance from other sentinels/admin on channel, or send a mail if there isn't anyone on. 8. Miscellaneous * Sentcurse - help sentcurse, help deputy (deputy ban) Chatcursing, sentcursing, or channel cursing is available to guild officers and deputies. It removes the ability of a player to talk on any public channel for a variable amount of time. Chatcurse may be justified in the case of: prolonged off-topic discussions on retro, mentor, or sales channel, use of offensive language, extended unwanted language on chat, etc. In the case of most minor abuses, a sentinel should both ask the players to stop their behavior, and then explicitly warn them on channel that their behavior will lead to a chatcurse. If their behavior does not stop, then a short sentcurse may be warranted. In cases of obvious abuse, such as line-spamming, excessive cursing, etc., a warning may not be necessary. A first sentcurse shouldn't be more than 10 minutes, but if their behavior continues, an extended sentcurse (30+ minutes) can be justified. If an extended sentcurse is necessary, additional action should be taken in coordination with the wizstaff. * Sentfreeze - help sentfreeze, help deputy (deputy freeze) Sentfreezing should not be used as a punishment. However, it can be used in order to stop activities like a fleeing thief, mass PK'ing, and other ongoing situations in which you do not have the capability to stop such behavior safely otherwise. Constantly repeating a sentfreeze on a player in order to 'punish' them is not allowed. * Sentsummon/Interrogation Room - Sentsummon is only usable in the sentinel guild's interrogation room, which can be used to summon recalcitrant offenders who are trying to avoid the sent staff. This command is available only to the guild officers. Those summoned to the interrogation room are not allowed to leave the room while being talked to, and it is more difficult to quit the game while trapped here. This room should only be used as a tool for finding out information, and not as a punishment. It should also absolutely not be used for any other use other than its original purpose. Abusing the interrogation room can be grounds for removal from the sentinel guild! Sentinels should never trap a player in the interrogation room to punish them, although it may sometimes be necessary (for instance, a mass-PK'er) to contain them in that room until a sentinel can contact a wizard for reinforcement. As a rule, remember that the interrogation room is a tool, not a punishment! * Warranting - help skill warrant As mentioned previously, warrants should only be used with the common knowledge of the guild. Warrants are usually assigned to the player's prime guild planet, or the planet where the incident occurred, usually depending upon which one will have more of an effect. Note that warranting is typically used as a punishment for *behavior*. In other words, players should not usually be warranted for speech on channels. Attempted PK or theft, etc., are usually given one warrant, while worse crimes can be given 2 or more. The standard time for a warrant is 2 weeks unpardonable, but that is again flexible depending upon the severity of the crime and the reciprocity of the offender. A list of issued warrants, their times, and the reasons for them can be viewed in the filing room (accessible to guild officers & deputies). * Pardoning (help skill pardon) Pardoning a player is not required (that is, you are not obligated to pardon anyone). There are no rules forbidding a sentinel from requesting a fee for this service, but in most cases, you probably won't have much success with it (although some players will tip if particularly grateful). Make sure the player requesting a pardon is not under a nopardon restriction, and try to find out why the player has a warrant in the first place (if it s from killing a city mob, that s generally okay to pardon). * Arresting (help skill arrest) This skill is very rarely used, and like warrant, requires that you consult more senior sentinel officers first. However, it must be emphasized that this skill is *rarely* used, as players who cause trouble to that much of an extreme to deserve arresting generally get dealt with by the wizstaff. The skill generally doesn't have enough of an impact on players to get much use. * Wizard-Dealt Punishments It may become necessary in outstanding cases to bring in wizards to apply punishments for certain situations. These types of requests should usually be undertaken by the most senior sentinel officers. Some possible punishments have been being banned from newsgroups for a set time, being banned from retro for a set time, deleting an offender's character (nuking), and blocking an offender's machine from accessing the retroserver (site ban). Remember that even if the sentinel leadership chooses to ask or suggest the nuking, etc. of a character, the decision lies with the wizstaff, who may or may not choose to follow the request. The wizstaff of course always reserves the right to use additional punishments without the request of the sentinel guild. * Appealing a sentinel punishment As has been stated many times, the proper way for an accused law- breaker to request a reconsideration of their case is to contact a wiz, including as much information as is available (help sentinel abuse). However, please note that just because a sent broke some minor step in a case where it was obvious what was going on does not mean that their punishment is invalid. Nitpicking about minor details is *not* a valid defense against common sense. ~ Compiled by Meiris with help from Foil, Kana, & Rothelez | |