Enforcement FAQ/Sandbox

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Welcome to our community! In game issues are handled by the @Alleg staff. Enforcement is a separate Zone within our community lead by BlackViper.

The @Alleg staff is responsible for "keeping the peace and promoting fair play" in game. The game is constantly evolving and so is our community. The community has players that span a wide spectrum of demographics. Young, old, different continents, politics and social backgrounds. The @Alleg staff do have a set of written rules. But in reality they can not anticipate in writing all potential situations.

Their goal is to create an atmosphere where a player can enjoy the game free of harassment and play on a equal setting no matter how long they have been playing.

What's new

• Mutiny and booting of the old commander - November 24th, 2008
• Vet's with new computers - new accounts - July 4th, 2008
• Newbie Whoring added - December 28th, 2007
• Mutiny Abuse added - March 13th, 2008

Pook's Rules of Conduct for Dummies

The best overall post was made several years ago by Pook. If you follow these guidelines you will never violate any of our rules or guidelines.

[quote]Act like an adult. Even if you aren't one. This is a mature community based around a game. G-A-M-E - it's not a lifestyle, it's not your fan club, it's not your escape from reality where you're the playground bully. Being good at a video game doesn't mean anything except that you have too much time on your hands and can't find a productive way to spend it.

Be Civil. Everyone wants to play, nobody wants to be hassled. When in doubt, see the rule above.

Everyone gets to play. You don't get to decide who gets to play and who doesn't. I don't care if they have a !@#$&% (-3) tag, let them play... so long as they follow the rules.

Don't be stupid. When you're doing something you know you shouldn't do, you're being stupid. I don't care if you're trying to make a point, push a political agenda, or just like annoying other people. Don't do that. When in doubt, see the above rules.

There you have it. If you follow these four simple rules you won't violate the official RoC and everyone will be happy. If you don't follow these simple rules, then you don't get to play.[/quote]

You can also read the full, official Rules of Conduct and Terms of Service.

Players' FAQ

Boots

Q.	What is the difference between a "boot" and an "Admistrative Ban"?
A.	A boot comes from the team commander for that game. You can go around boots with hider nicks. A ban prevents you from logging in to the servers. You are not allowed to work around bans.

Q.	I have a rank of 4 or less. Do I have some boot protection?
A.	Yes, a limited protection. See below for further details.

Q.	Do Cadets without newbie ranks have the newbie boot-protection?
A.	No, they can be booted for the same reasons vets can.

Bans

Q.	What happens if I violate a rule?
A.	An appropriate ban will be applied by the @Alleg staff.

Q.	What is an "appropriate ban" time?
A.	The @Allegs use a tool that automatically decides the ban length based upon the infringement, how many times you have repeated that offense and how many bans you have accumulated in recent history. The system is completely automated for the @Alleg staff.

Q.	Is that system available for viewing?
A.	No. Our old Senate determined that might create potential issues of people purposely violating rules knowing the ban time in advance. "People going out of town for a period of time," etc.

Q.	Where can I view the most recent bans?
A.	Here.

Q.	My callsign was banned as inappropriate. Why?
A.	The Enforcement Zone Leader uses the DMV standards on whether or not callsigns are acceptable as a starting point. Callsigns that are based on certain languages with hidden meanings, racist material, sexual, etc. are all subject to BlackViper's personal judgement.

Q.

What is "newbie whoring" and will it get me banned?

A.

We do not allow our veterans to create games with titles like "newbie training" to attract new players where they can be whored upon. We do not allow Veteran commanders to command or create games where the obvious intent is to have a few vets bash newbies. We do watch for players who consistently join/create these games where their actions are detrimental to a new player. We do monitor this and will step in. Consistent actions by veteran players in these type of games will be dealt with by applying ban times equal to the persistence of the player's actions. Veteran players will not consistently play games against new players where the whole point of the game is to whore newbies.

Q.	Is joining a small game in progress and booting the commander acceptable?
A.	R4 allows a majority of a team to overthrow a commander. What has happened is a few players are joining small games and immediately proposing a mutiny vote and then booting the commander. This will not be tolerated at all. This will fall under SR #10, Retaliatory Booting. Logs will be pulled and bans may be manually overridden to a longer time by me.

Issues management

Q.	I have an issue with a player/commander and no @Alleg staff was present. What do I do?
A.	PM BlackViper directly with the game ID, server, date and time if possible. Give a brief description of the problem. Do not make a post in the forums ranting about how you were mistreated -- PM BlackViper directly. Do not stir up crap, or your accident will be likely ignored.

Q.	How can you (BV) review a situation after the fact?
A.	All of the chat and certain game events are logged for later retrieval by BlackViper or Tigereye by the TAG system.

Commanders' FAQ

Boot On Sight

Q.

The ROC says I can't have Boot-On-Sight lists, but there are a few players who constantly ruin the game for my entire team by bombing our own bases, or causing other shenanigans. Can I still disallow them? Or is that a list?

A.

The "Boot On Sight" rule was intended for situations where a commander refuses all @XXX players from joining their team, or refusing all Chinese players, or all homosexuals. Commanders can boot whomever they please at their discretion, provided they're not violating the NewbieBoot rule, and they're not blanket-booting everyone in a particular group. Go ahead, deny "pain the butt" entry on your team in case he bombs your bases.

Acceptance of Players

Q.

What are the rules regarding accepting players, and what's the meaning behind them?

A.

Pickup games are that, they are a loosely organized event. They are not squad games where the gloves come off and skill combined with team play is of the utmost importance. Pickup games have always been defined in any sport or game as a mending of multiple levels of talent for a fun game. The commander is just that, the one in charge of the team. By agreeing to fly for him you are agreeing to obey his commands in game. The commander also has the responsibility to try to maintain a team that can be competitive. Everyone is guaranteed the right to play here. So we grant some leeway to the commander to balance teams. This is why we are strongly suggesting you have auto-accept turned off. If you are the Voob commander who doesn't, well that is your fault. You will get stacked against. A "stacked team" is a matter of a subjective opinion. It is too difficult to enforce from an Administrative side. Pook a long time ago made that decision with the @Alleg that it could not be enforced on a consistent basis. So we grant some leeway to you the commander. But remember the Supplemental Rule #7: You may not be hostile towards newbies. Open hostility towards newbies, both individual and towards newbies in general, is prohibited. They have a hard enough time learning this game without being badgered by irritated veterans. You will attempt to maintain balanced teams at your discretion. Any Veteran here can usually tell in a glance if the team is stacked or not. So can BlackViper. But once you feel, in your opinion, that the teams are relatively balanced, you are OBLIGATED to accept a "Newbie" player. 99% of the time either the lobby or team players will tell Newbie(1) to join "yellow" to balance the teams. If it doesn't happen, you are responsible to do it. This is where it comes down to honesty, integrity, and fair play. BlackViper is going to give you the latitude to handle this on your own for now. But if he see a consistent track record in the logs of you abusing this, then he will step in. If/when the auto-balance feature is implemented, this will become a moot point. If there are a large number of players sitting in the lobby, go start another game if it becomes difficult to join the one in progress. We do need more people willing to command. Hence I am always going to lean a little towards the commander's side. In summation, I will give some latitude and power to the commander until he wantonly misuses it. You know what is right and wrong. I see a consistent history of abuse and I will deal with it in an immediate and harsh fashion. One final comment. Just like some players do not like to fly for certain commanders, commanders have the same right not to have certain VET players not fly for them. Same thing applies here. If BlackViper sees a consistent pattern of abuse he will deal with it. Everyone makes their own reputations here. Live with yours.

Newbie boot protection

Q.

When are newbie boots allowed?

A.

You can boot a Newbie if and only if... They are afk and unresponsive and have been given a reasonable amount of time for them to read and act on the instructions. No warning is needed by the comm. They are spamming the chat, spewing obscenities, or otherwise disrupting the chat channel. No warning is needed by the comm. They are bombing your base, or are otherwise actively harming your team. The commander needs to quickly announce why the newbie was booted on TEAM chat. They repeatedly disobey the commander's orders, hindering the team, have been warned, given time to heed the warning. The commander needs to give a warning on TEAM chat before booting them. They are doing anything that hurts an entire team, and they've been instructed, warned, and given a chance to comply. The commander needs to give a warning on TEAM chat before booting them. The spirit of the rule is - don't boot them because they don't know something. Boot them because they're trying to be a dick or they're jeopardizing a team and ignoring warnings for a reasonable amount of time. "Reasonable amount of time" means about a minute - pity-warnings issued 2s before the commander boots the guy don't count. Admins should teach that commander how to do it right - give them some time to review the RoC ;) Note The requirement to use ALL chat and to PM me have been suspended. Admins should tag the game for review by the Enforcement Zone Leader if there is a question on the boot.

Q.

How can Commanders avoid getting banned for booting newbies?

A.

The RoC is very clear about booting newbies. We all know what it says. The issue lately is "what do I, as the commander, have to do so I am not in trouble for booting a disruptive newbie?" First use common sense. You must warn the player via a PM. Give him a waypoint to get out of the sector as an example. Use freely the ~yy (Read the chat voicechat) message. If they do not comply with any of the private messages, boot em. They tell you to %$#@! off!, boot 'em. The Enforcement Zone Leader does not have any problem with that. However, if you "don't have time to deal with it", that is your fault. You 'will attempt to comply with it. If you have the time to hit F6 and boot, you have the few seconds it takes to send a PM to the player, ~yy, etc. But the Enforcement ZL is also realistic that on very rare occasions where time is of the essence (The newbie going to the hidden HTT, the SB hidden, the middle aleph, etc.). What the Enforcement ZL expects you to do is immediately after that game to post a message to that player explaining why you did what you had to do; either via a PM on the forums or in the general forum. If they are in the lobby, explain it to them then. Basically, explain your actions as soon as possible. If the Admins see a consistent pattern emerging in a commander's booting the Enforcement ZL will deal with it harshly. There is a thread going in the @Alleg forums to track such events. Warning! The Enforcement ZL monitors Newbie Booting very closely. Use common sense. He will be looking at the game chat logs.

Lobby booting

Q.	When is it acceptable to lobby ban? Can I do it for the laughs?
A.	{{{2}}}

Commanders' rights

You will not boot rampage. You will not boot resign. If your frustration with your team is such, resign or drop the comm. Poor skill is not an excuse for booting in a pickup game. You accepted him, you play with him.

Mutiny and booting of the old commander It is allowable for the new commander after a successful mutiny has passed, to remove the old commander from the game. Players who mutiny, just so they can boot the commander and have no intent of commanding the game will be dealt with on a case by case basis.

You tell your team, "Everyone, and I mean everyone in base and on this run" and you have an idiot out cruising around aimlessly, who did not check in with you, who has ignored your PM or chat message ~yy, send him on his way. We all know what it is like and been there. BlackViper refer back to my opening comments. By joining the team, you the pilot have agreed to obey the commander. You, the commander, are obligated to try to get the pilot to understand. But with a veteran, he should know by now to obey the commander's orders.

A player commented:

Would it be better for the team if the person who caused the "disruption" was off the team?

Yes (my opinion-Freeza), because it would increase team morale and make the team members try that much harder to overcome the "disruption" by the booted player; they wouldn't have to worry about the person making the same mistake again. The situation would be considered "handled."

Would it be better for the player that was booted to sit out a game and think about why he was booted?

Yes if he was told the reason (my opinion-Freeza), because he would then, HOPEFULLY, learn that he shouldn't do that specific "disruptive" action ever again. Some people just don't try to learn, is that the commander's fault?

I agree with the above statements completely. Notice my bold on "told the reason". I agree with the above with one major caveat, you must explain why to the player. Same as above, in game, in the lobby, on the forums.

We have an obligation to help improve a player. We have an obligation to increase this community's size. We have an obligation to make the gaming environment as enjoyable as possible.

So to sum it up and I quote a good lawyer, "Are you sure you had no other recourse to follow before you had to boot?"

Veteran Conduct

Newbie Servers

We strongly suggest if you are over rank (currently capped at "(4) Novice 4") for the newbie server, you do NOT sit in the lobby. Too many previous vets have spoiled it by giving wrong information on purpose to spoil the game play for new players. You will be asked to leave.

Veteran Players & New Accounts

Veteran Players* who consistently create new accounts on new computers to hide their true rank/identity. We spend way too much time linking up new accounts. Henceforth they will be banned according to the following:

1st offense: 3 days 2nd offense: 7 days 3rd offense: 30 days 4th offense: 6 months

• Veteran players are determined by MY judgment - BV

Directives to @Alleg

The following are directives to the @Alleg staff for certain situations. You are welcome to read them. These are current guidelines and suggestions for specific incidents. They are ALL subject to change. Yes some posts are lengthy, but we need to go in to a bit of detail.

Q.	I was told of an incident in game on another server, but did not witness it. What do I do?
A.	Unless you are present when an incident occurs, do not process a ban without checking with me for now. If you are getting it second hand, even if it is from someone you completely trust. Do not ban. Gather up the info and pass it to me. Not that I do not trust you, I just want to make sure the "lawyers" (sorry raindog :P ) aren't going "WTF? He wasn't even there!"

Q.

What role do we play during major events (zone games, etc.)?

A.

@Allegs are available to help calm the crowds. What are standard event procedures? Everyone should be told to NOT type chat or issue voicechats unless they are spoken to directly by event organizers/@Allegs The definition of "spamming" becomes a lot more strict. Instead of about 5 messages, it's about 2. Voicechats are even worse. Since "spamming" is more strict, enforcement is more frequent but less severe... Anyone "spamming" should be given a 0min boot if their Enforcer icon is blue/normal Anyone "spamming" should be given a 15 or Auto(spamming) if their icon is yellow or red at your discression. (How bad were they spamming?) The "do NOT type unless necessary" warning should be given at least once every 60s by someone via @HQ. New joiners need to hear it too. Work with your fellow @Allegs (possibly co-ordinating on TS) when dropping people. This will help reduce multiple bans on a single person and generally make it a lot less painful. General chatter should be kept to the team channels and All should be used only by the admins and organizers.

Balanced teams and accepting newbies

{{FAQ|Do @Allegs enforce balanced teams?|No. (FAZ R5 will have a better working version of autobalance - two weeks.)}

Q.	Do @Allegs enforce newbie acceptance?
A.	Yes, if there is a very apparent attempt by the commander to take vets only.

Q.	Are comms allowed to have newbies in their not-allowed-on-sight lists?
A.	Yes. Very grey area. Most of us already know on sight the "pain in the butt" newbies.

Q.	Do @Allegs enforce newbie acceptance even if the newbie will have to be accepted into the stacked-against team (which is, let's say, down five -- so there won't be a chance the newbie will be able to get into the stacked team soon)?
A.	No. This is a very common sense item concerning newbie acceptance. Why make the stack worse when the team with lesser players/rank is the only team he can go on? Make sure someone (cough, you if possible) try to explain in the lobby why he won't get accepted. The whole concept of this area is that the commander is not blatantly taking vets over newbs to create a stack on his team.

---

Misc

Q.	A player is purposely probing the entrance and exit to his own teams doors. Do I as an @Alleg get involved?
A.	No, at this time we leave it to the team's commander to deal with it. I want to keep the commander empowered with a few things. Second, too much gray area for @Alleg to deal with. K.I.S.S.

Q.

Player A told off in no uncertain terms Player B on TS/IRC/other voice comm system. He used foul and brutal language. Is this a violation of the ToS or RoC?

A.

No. All voice comm systems are a "no man's land". That is, as long as the actions are not tied to other relevant actions or posts occuring in our community areas in the same time frame. I have used TS recordings in the past to deal with other infractions of a serious nature that have occurred at the same time, i.e. ingame actions or comments or posts in the forums. TS is not officially monitored by @Alleg. There has been some question in the past about whether the Enforcement Zone needs to get involved as the community recommends the use of and provides the downloads for it. Eventually we probably will.

The Enforcement Zone	Intro: Frequently Asked Questions Rules: Rules of Conduct · Terms of Service Officials: Game Controllers · @Alleg · Zone Leads Measures: Boot · Lobby boot · Ban · Perma-ban