Staff Positions

As of currently, April 23, 2013, this page is a work in progress, and does not reflect current policy. Anything written here is subject to change for the time being. This message will be removed when this is no longer the case.

Staff Positions

There are a variety of positions and duties attached to those positions to govern and operate BDI on an ongoing basis. Some will bear visible status in the channel or on the forums, for better recognition by players for support questions, help, or setting expertise.

Volunteer

Volunteers are BDI's weekend warriors; these are players that are generous with their time, and commit to short term projects as is needed. All of their work is done on an at will basis, meaning that a volunteer has no real requirement for continued contribution, or any real responsibilities outside of their current projects. Volunteers are welcomed to come and go with impunity, and can work on their projects when they have time available. If deadlines are required to be met, Operators will make this clear at the outset of a project, and will keep volunteers on whatever schedule was predetermined.

All volunteers are considered equal, unless a leader is needed for a given project.

Story Teller

Story Tellers are lime game masters for the BDI world. They run plots, organize story lines, and schedule events... etc etc something like that.

Setting Nerd

Setting Nerds are considered the "experts" of the BDI setting. They are folks who have been around for a long time and know the setting very well, and they can be consulted for their opinions and contributions to both historical and new setting elements. Setting Nerds are usually noted by a +voice in the channel, and are expected to contribute their knowledge to the setting by answering questions from veterans and newbies alike... yadda yadda.

Operator

Operators are Margo's bitch-er minions.

Administrator

An Administrator is an Operator who has administrator rights to the various areas of the channel, site, semi-defunct mailing list, and bots. Administrators will be few and far between, and given access to various "back end" areas of the site and channel with the intention of maintenance and ensuring the smooth operation of all parts of BDI. As some of the admin passwords are shared, you must be trusted by the other Administrators and Director, and will need to spend a good deal of time as an Operator before becoming an Administrator. Due to the risk of unintentional corruption or damage by someone unskilled or uneducated in web design coding languages, etc, an Administrator must be knowledgeable in the following:

• Content Management Software we use on the site:
  • MediaWiki
  • Wordpress
  • phpBB
• Basic IRC commands & channel modes
• DarkMyst's services
• Eggdrop commands

Some understanding of web design principles and code will go a long way in tweaking the CSS, PHP, HTML and Javascript used on the site. Administrators should be comfortable working in these environments, or willing to learn and educate themselves. Scripting in Eggdrop TCL is always a massive plus.

Administrators should be able to work autonomously to fix minor or technical problems on the site or channel. Major changes to templates, site design, colour schemes, skins, etc must be decided on as a group, and should not be carried out without a consensus. All custom changes made to the hard code of the site must be documented in the case of an update breaking them. There is a thread on the administrator forums for this, and Administrators are expected to use it.

Director

This position is basically the same as an administrator, and holds all of the same access to all areas of the channel and site as an administrator. However, the Director will be responsible for guiding the growth of the channel, and the organization and delegation of other staff members. Subject to all of the same rules as a regular player and other members of staff, the Director should have leadership and communication skills, and a staunch dedication to the channel and its continuation as a whole. There should ultimately only be one person holding the position of Director at a time, to avoid conflict. It is the Director's responsibility to mediate staff disputes or problems as they arise, and to enforce staff rules when needed.

Common Goals

Being a BDI Operator means you will improve on and uphold the common goals of the channel:

• We will protect the channel and its patrons from attack, be it spammer, troll or malicious player.
• We will strive to provide an environment that is welcoming to everyone who seeks it out, both in the IC and OOC channels, and we will ensure that this environment allows for everyone to have fun while gaming.
• We will strive for a channel where the newbie may feel welcome, comfortable and assisted when learning to be a better roleplayer and we will provide resources for them to learn from.
• We will foster a sense of community within our channel by treating each member with respect.
• We will put our channel's future above pettiness and personal issues, and work together to see the channel and the art of FFRP flourish.
• We will not stymie the setting's growth with over protection, allowing some change to occur and will seek to encourage the development of our evolving world.

Operators who cannot uphold these guiding principles should not bear an @, and will be removed.

Operator Authority and Voting

All operators in BDI have equal say in how the channel is administered. All Ops get an equal channel vote, and no one operator should control the entire channel. All Ops will be accorded due respect by their peers. Disagreement is expected in many areas, but insults, flames, and personal likes/dislikes need to remain out of BDI Opness. We are all on the same team; we don't have to love each other, but we do have to ensure the channel's success. Taking personal offense to others not agreeing with your idea(s) in each and every way is unacceptable and cannot be a part of the Op process. In short, use common sense to realize that even good friends will not always agree on everything.

Operator Objectivity

Operators are expected to approach each situation brought before them with the utmost courtesy and objectivity. This means placing the good of players and the channel above personal feelings and the opinions you may have towards the parties involved.

If an Operator cannot deal with an individual objectively, they need to politely pass them off to another operator, and/or refer them to the [email protected] address. Repeated conflicts like this may be something for an Op to consider within themselves, and decide if resignation is best for themselves and the Inn.

Operator Presence

Operators are expected to be available when online to handle issues that may arise in the channel, be it spammers, GodPCs, or a general complaint. That said, all Ops should join #BDI*OOC while online and present so that they are easily found.

Idle Operators are a standard dish on IRC, however to prevent people from feeling ignored, Operators should de-op themselves in BDI channels when they are going afk for any serious amount of time. Placing an informative away msg with email address is always a good idea as well.

Process For Removal

Real life happens, and sometimes, this causes unexpected absences. This is entirely understandable, however, repeated failure to report a long, impending absence will result in removal from staff.

Disappearance

Operators who fail to notify their colleagues about upcoming hiatuses, vacations, or simply chose to stop being present for any other reason for longer than two weeks will be removed, stripped of all responsibility, privileges and access to staff only areas. While some staff members may be given a chance to return to their position, this will be handled by a case by case basis.

Operator Only Areas

The Grand Council mailing list is for Operator eyes ONLY. What transpires on that list remains on that list and between the Channel Ops. Intentional dissemination of any discussion on that list to third party channels or individuals will result in the -immediate- and permanent removal of the offender's @, and quite possibly will earn them a channel ban.

The Fireside is an operator-only channel we have established to allow us a private place to talk in the event that an emergency arises, or a discussion among all present Ops needs to take place. This channel is very private, and its name is given only to the Ops. It is expected to be treated like the Grand Council list in that any discussion taking place within it remains in the confidence of the Channel Ops. No /invite or channel key is to be offered to any non-op.

Operator Unity

It is expected and desired that Operators have differing opinions on the matters that come before them. Deliberation, discussion, and compromise are the keys to resolving issues that come before the Ops. Once a decision has been made, voted on, and accepted, it is expected that all the Operators support it, enforce it, and work as a unit to see it through. Operators who selectively enforce the rules based on their approval of the rule or who the enforcement will affect, or do not enforce any rules will be removed.

Operator Opinion

Being a channel op in a forum as large as BDI unfortunately places the demand on us to mind what we say, how we say it, where we say it, and who we say it to. Operators shit-talking other Ops or players in BDI's channels will be deopped. This is not meant as a censoring mechanism, but it is expected that those running the channel will have the courtesy to mind what they say to and about others playing in there. Furthermore, Operators are expected to use their heads when making comments; if it would not be said to someone to their face, then it might be better to leave it unsaid from the start.

Official Channels

BDI's 'official' channels are:

• #BlkDragon*Inn - The main Inn
• #BlkDragon*Inn2 - The 'extension' channel (op presence not required)
• #BlkDragon*Arena - The battle arena, used for dice fights
• #BDI*Outside - The Innyard in front of the Inn, with the stables.
• #BDI*OOC - OOC Channel and Help area
• #BDI*Volunteers - Op & volunteer coordination channel, open
• The Fireside channel (BDI Ops only) - Name withheld

By Official, we mean that one or all of BDI's bots are present and monitoring those channels. In official channels, all policies apply. We are not responsible for the goings-on in channels that we take no credit for supporting. Subsequently, issues between Ops or between Ops and players occurring in other channels should be taken to that channel's administrivia, and not affect accessibility to BDI (in other words, if someone is being a jerk to you in #wearejerks, you cannot ban them in BDI). Additionally, many patrons go to offshoots of the Inn like "#bdi*room," "#bdi*pantry," etc. This is perfectly fine, but we do not monitor or enforce rules in these rooms. If there's a complaint, it is not in our jurisdiction to get involved.

Catch-All

Operators are expected to follow the rules that govern the Inn and the 'normal' players in addition to all of these rules. Failure to do so will result in removal of one's @.