The Rules of Engagement for Admins/Staff

[Cryptite]

It's a bit of a oversight on our part that we haven't posted in a very long time the expectations and abilities that our admins (namely Guardians and above) have in terms of conflict on Loka. In order to address concerns about that, below is a list of guidelines that our admin team is held to in terms of how they behave and can act in the Wilds:

• Admins can participate in any TGen fights that they'd like; attacking, defending, etc.
• Admins can defend themselves at any time but must do so legitimately. Admins are not allowed to use their powers for combat in any way unless you're trying to jump them while they are performing admin duties (inspecting possible griefs, assisting with town functions like setting up town portals, etc).
• Admins are not allowed to use their powers to defend their towns from invaders. They are allowed to use /tphere in their towns on their own town members in times of peace or if nothing's really going on.
• Admins don't raid and don't specifically target towns to steal from. If we're running around in the wild and find unprotected huts, those are considered fair game as they would be for any player. Admins in towns at war with people or that are enemies are fine to run you down like any player could/would. Again, though, they're not allowed to use their powers in combat.

All of this really boils down to coming across as fair players. Admins have extra powers in order to help keep the server running smoothly and to catch illegal activities. These powers are not meant to be used in combat.

We made the decision when we launched Conquest that admins would be able to participate in battles, etc with the caveat that they not use their powers. In the past, admins had the ability to use their powers to defend their towns, but as you can imagine this made for some extremely imbalanced situations since their towns were effectively invulnerable.

In order for the admins to still be able to have fun and "play on Loka", we decided that they could act like regular players so long as they behaved as regular players.

We realize there are probably a lot of "what if" scenarios and gray areas. We still have to use our judgement in scenarios, but the expectation is that they will act very much like regular players except for doing the sort of "nasty things" like raiding towns and trying to demolish towns (theft, murder, etc).

Hopefully this clears up some things for people. Please feel free to ask questions if you have any.

 

[Lover]

I'm glad you've taken the time to clarify this issue. I'd like to see more about the powers of admins outside the context of conflict however.

How do you intend to ensure these guidelines are followed? Would, in an instance of conflict, would you be willing to listen to the testimony of a player over a member of your staff? I assume you're using prism to log chat and commands and the like, so that could be referred to. What action will be taken if the staff do break these guidelines? If there are not strict consequences, bending and breaking the rules is much less dangerous, and thus much more likely to occur.

My other concern is of advantages that staff members will gain from their duties. This may not be something which can be rectified. For example, I know that staff members have and are able to use member lists of other towns and factions. This could be a significant advantage in identifying possible enemies. Obviously, the staff need this in order to do their job, but with players not having access to this information, they are left at a disadvantage. Another thing is the location of points of interest. Staff need to be able to teleport around, if a player needs assistance, but in doing so they gain information about the bases of other players, including locations of ones which may be secret. This extends beyond towns, which are for the most part common knowledge, but to other random points of interest around the world as well. Do you have any ideas for preventing the abuse of this type of advantage?

 

[Wolfegger]

I have been in alliances with MasterTargaryen, MagpieMan and Shilo_Moonflair, and they absolutely refuse to divulge that sort of information to their town members and allies. At some point, you have to trust them.

Cryptite, on the other hand . . . you have to wonder about him. For some time now, I've had the notion that he coded it so that I get one fewer carrot for every 100 I farm. I'm watching you Cryptite.

 

[Cryptite]

We always listen to both parties of any conflict whenever one between players arises. Yes, with server logs and Prism and the like I can easily tell when any commands are used, so there're no instances where an admin could teleport, vanish, etc without it being in the logs.

As for breaking these guidelines, a number of admins in the history of Loka have been straight up demoted due to their actions. Breaking one isn't a guarantee of demotion as, of course, each instance is unique, but that's the distance that we have gone in the past. In reverse, however, even some of our banned players have come back from their bans and become Guardians, so we're not without a sense of second chances as well.

As far as the knowledge that admins have over others, well that's just part of the game I suppose. One thing I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt; Loka has some of the most skilled thieves and raiders of any Minecraft server I've ever played on. There is no town founded that isn't found within about 24 hours by some of our members. In fact, in more cases, I would say the general public finds out about new towns and where they are sooner than admins do (excluding myself, but I'm a true neutral party, the same with MasterTargaryen). This area really just boils down to trust. If you don't trust us to keep knowledge to ourselves (which is one of our own laws), then we have a bigger problem at hand.

As for ideas against, I'm not sure I have any. I'd say any lesser powers for the admins would effectively hamstring their ability to perform their duties. That said, the number of admins that I'd say are really participating in conflict are fewer than you think. Most of us are pretty peaceful anyway, the number who are out for blood are fewer.