Rules/Code of Conduct for Volunteers

[Chaotrance13]

Recently I've seen the more public figures of the forums who willingly give their time up to help the game basically become downright aggressive or rude to other players for no good reason. It should go without saying, but volunteering to help this game should not give anyone a get-out-of-jail-free card to behave like an asshat.

The base issue is that these people are the public face of the forums - I believe there is something Tom wrote somewhere about these forums being around for a long time and probably being judged at some time or other. If a new player comes to look at the community and sees (for example) a Dev Team member responding to a question in a rude manner, they might not want to play this game. And we need more members at a time like this for various reasons.

What I'm wondering is whether there are any written rules for people who volunteer and get a position of power either on the forums, in game or on IRC, or whether one should be drawn up. And yes, I'm aware that if you want to complain about such issues you need to email Tom. But I'll be frank - I'm 99.9% sure any complaint against the Dev Team, Moderators or Magistrates would go unheard either because he has better things to do, or doesn't want to lose coders or the like. I also think it'd be passed around IRC for a good laugh at the complainant's expense (hence why I don't use IRC - I think it's worse than these forums).

So, anyway, at the risk of attracting posts telling me to !@#$ off, I open the floor.

[De-Legro]

Recently I've seen the more public figures of the forums who willingly give their time up to help the game basically become downright aggressive or rude to other players for no good reason. It should go without saying, but volunteering to help this game should not give anyone a get-out-of-jail-free card to behave like an asshat.

The base issue is that these people are the public face of the forums - I believe there is something Tom wrote somewhere about these forums being around for a long time and probably being judged at some time or other. If a new player comes to look at the community and sees (for example) a Dev Team member responding to a question in a rude manner, they might not want to play this game. And we need more members at a time like this for various reasons.

What I'm wondering is whether there are any written rules for people who volunteer and get a position of power either on the forums, in game or on IRC, or whether one should be drawn up. And yes, I'm aware that if you want to complain about such issues you need to email Tom. But I'll be frank - I'm 99.9% sure any complaint against the Dev Team, Moderators or Magistrates would go unheard either because he has better things to do, or doesn't want to lose coders or the like. I also think it'd be passed around IRC for a good laugh at the complainant's expense (hence why I don't use IRC - I think it's worse than these forums).

So, anyway, at the risk of attracting posts telling me to !@#$ off, I open the floor.

No matter their position they are expected to act with the same level of respect that is expected from any member of the forums. If you are offended by something or think they have stepped over the line on the forums, report it as you would any other forum post.

[Foundation]

The best way to resolve it would be privately if possible.  A good and well mannered private message can go a long way. :)

If it doesn't work, then proceed to more general sources of resolution depending on the severity.

[Tom]

There are no special dispensations for anyone, including me. Well, except that you can't ban me or anything. :-)

So feel free to use the "report to moderator" link for those messages. We have a few people on the watchlist already, and a small number where we've said "final warning". It does, however, take more than one message.