GM written proposal! feedback please!!!
Posted: 14 Jan 2010, 23:58
Hi, I have been working on this for some time. It is a rough draft, I was wondering if you could look it over and tell me what you thought of it.
Proposal for Gm's.
The propose of a Game Master in The Mana World (TMW) is simple, to enforce the rules of the game. There are currently only 5 major rules to enforce when you are game master. There is quite a bit of controversy over the extent of power and abuses of that power.
They seem to fall into three major categories.
1.) Personal Attacks, from both the player and Game Master.
2.) Using the ability of GM for other tasks, besides the enforcement of the rules of the game.
3.) Using the positions to impose and enforce a status state on other individuals.
These 3 major issues can be address by the following.
1.) GM's need to broken into to major 3 class systems. The first class is of Game Moderator[1] (GM), then Junior Game Moderator (JGM), and lastly is of Game Event Manager (GEM). As GM/JGM the person is allowed to enforce rules and see to the safe functioning of the mana world. GEM's would be a temporary position for specific a specific event. It would allow, if necessary, global announcements and even spawning monsters. This position would naturally expire after a set period. The rest of this document will focus only the role of GM. Game Moderator should be used because the title game master implies creating, developing, and changing the game play. That is not the job of the current game masters, they function only to enforce rules and keep civil order. This is required in order to define jobs. A game master should be a developer and a game moderator should enforce rule.
2.) GM's are no longer allowed to use there playing characters for the position of game moderator. A user account needs to be created that is specify for GM's. The GM's needs to log into the account that will simply have the name as “Game Moderator.†All of the Game Moderators chat logs and whispers will be recorded for public display. The Game Moderators is not allowed to directly or indirectly reveal the person behind the character. The Game Moderator is only allowed to enforce the rules and to enforce public peace in cases of protests and civil disobedience. A system to check identification of the Game Moderator needs to be created even if it is a sign in sheet. The Game Moderators check out the character. This log is private and only available to developers. It is preferable if the name Game Moderator only appears to the client side, but a ID tag tying the gm to the person is recorded on the server side, this is not revealed to the public. This is required in order to remove person attacks and problem with specific players. Most of the time, trouble arises with not how the problem is dealt with but who dealt with it. This would return respect and order back the GM's. This would also make it harder for a gm to help or aid friends into punishing enemies. When all in-game messaging is recorded you can only use outside messaging to talk to other members which can limit problems, but not eliminate them.
3.) GM's other playable characters can not be online at the same time as they are GM's. The playable characters of the GM's do not have any power above the normal player level. All chat logs and whispers of these characters will be recorded and saved to place where only developers can retrieve them. They are not for public display, but recorded to makes sure all evidence is protected and to add a level of transparency to the process. This is required because personal whisper and chats has in the past led the personal attacks and abuses. This has been turned into a “he said, she said†event. The only way to make sure that no one is receiving unfair treatment is to record all chats and whispers. If a problem arises with a specific characters, developers have the chat log and can review them. By not allowing the GM to have a playable character online you make sure there is no bait and trap. There is several cases with GM's and players bold face lying about what was said and how it was said. A server side log is the only way to be fair and equal about each side. The server log needs to be both the GM's and the GM's playable characters.
4.) A NPC will need to be created that can record chat files. The Soul Menhir can server as this npc or another one. The NPC will simply record anything that is sent to him, with no possibility of edit. The GM's and developers will be allow to review. Not edit, these files. This will allow for abuses and problems to be reported to the server directly. It will protect people that reveal or complain about other players. These logs should not be viewable from the public. We have police and guards already in the game, let us use them.
5.) Violations of trust. Many people in this game see it is a game, others see it as a extension of themselves. It is clear that some GM's refer to the former and not the latter. This is a major problem in the community. There need to be a trust between the GM's and players. The players need to know that they GM's are only looking out for the function of the game. But the current system has a tyrant system by default. No matter the issue or crime a gm is never punished and the community is always guilty. Full transparency of the GM's needs to happen. This includes: All normal playable characters need to be known, except one, to the public. All whispers, icons, and chat logs need to be recorded, GM's recorded for the public display and playable characters, none gm, private (only for developers and administrators.) A full log needs to be maintained, that includes why they did each action. This way a gm can have full gm powers and still be transparent.
6.) Along with the violation of trust is treatment of players. Phrases like “why do you question?†or “SPEAK ENGLISH IN PUBLIC!!!!!!!!!!!!â€ÂÂ. Is not how player should speak to players nor is it how a GM should speak to players. There needs to be a standardized list of comments. For example “Please remember to respect your fellow players by speaking English in public. If you wish to continue your conversation please use the whisper function. That is “/w “player name†messageâ€ÂÂ, thank you.†Other examples include. “This a bot-check, if each member of the stack response in the next two minutes you will not have to de-stack. Thank you for your cooperation.†“I understand that you maybe upset and wish to talk about what just happened. Please collect your thoughts, if you wish; you, a friend of your choice, and I will moved to a place where we can talk about what happened.†It is called manners and they are currently lacking both in players and in GM's. For the members that insist on speaking or acting in some way, the moderator should be allow to force the character to read the rules page that was first given to him/her when they started the character. All, other treatment of player is on a innocent until proven guilty. GM can not accuse people of being bots, but only prove they where bots.
7.) All abuses of the GM's are to be reported to the above bots. It should not be encouraged to post them on the forums. All abuses are to be treated seriously. If there is a betrayal of trust between the GM and the community, the anonymous nature of this system will make removing that person as painless as possible. The removal of gm is and should be the last resort. But the current system it is impossible to remove the GM because it would set a nasty precedent and make the removal of the next easier. But the betrayal of trust is something that will not go away. Once a GM has been labeled the enemy, that GM is doomed or the system that supports them is.
8.) Civil Disobedience is human nature and to complain or protest in the game is beneficial to the game. But, that also need to be balanced with the playability of the game. All protest should be taken seriously. Each protest should be logged into the gm log as an civil disobedience. The GM should ask for the protest to be moved outside of mandatory areas. There also needs to be a third party set up for negotiations between the gm and the protesters. The GM should be given the right to move the protesters if they do not move out of a mandatory area. This includes banning of accounts for up to 1 day, if the protester does not follow order of the gm. The Mandatory Areas need to be clearly selected and mark. This is required because in the past people would stand or sit one required npc in order to make them impossible to use and disrupt the game.
They will include,
The city of Tulimshar, Hurnscald, and Snow Town near spawn points. A buffer of 100 tiles between required NPC and protesters.
The Selection of the Game Moderator.
A full Game Moderator can be enforced by two different method.
1.) By selection by the Administrators, Developers, and Game Moderators (ADG). This is with voting by the population.
Section to be filled in by the above people.
2.) Election and Selection of A Junior Game Moderator.
The election and selection of a JGM will happen by a quorum vote by the people of TMW. The following vote will be required
to vote in this type of selection. All parts of election and selection have to be done in order to be gm.
Election
Preliminary Election
1.) The candidate will need to receive at least 60 votes in the forums. With the majority of them, 50% or more, in
the affirmative vote.
A.) The candidate can elect her/himself.
B.) Any player can vote for him.
C.) Only after Forum Selection with 60 votes, and the majority of votes, greater then 50%, can the person
actually be selected for final vote.
Secondary Election
1.) The player is allowed 1 vote per account.
2.) The player is required to have an active account of 6 months or more on the current server.
3.) The player is required to have more then 80 levels at the time.
4.) The player is required to go to an NPC for voting in game.
A.) The NPC will simply create a list of Candiates. Each option would have a yes/no vote.
5.) The players name and account is record. The player how just voted will not be able to vote again under that
account.
6.) The candidate must gave a quorum of no less then 75% positive votes and no more then 25%.
Selection
1.) After the player has been selected by a the secondary vote, with no less then 75% of positive votes the ADG will then
vet the candidate for the position of JGM.
A) Process to vet the candidate here.
Terms:
Civil Disobedience is any attempt to crash the server, hack or scam another player, or create an environment that is detrimental to the enjoyment of the game in mandatory areas.
Examples of the above are:
1. Moving monster to block gateways in mandatory areas.
2. Using lighting, arrows, or rain to create lag in the server, this only includes mandatory places like towns and character spawn
points.
3. Insulting, harassing, and embarrassing other players in mandatory areas.
4. Drop parties in areas that are mandatory areas.
5. Creating an environment in which players are encouraged to become disobedient in mandatory areas.
Mandatory Area is anywhere the player is required to be, shops, quest points, and spawn points are examples.
Protester is a person being civilly disobedient.
Examples acceptable GM behavior:
Revive character: character claimed he got stuck and died in wall.
Recalled character: to bot check him
Warp: to check on a character that says he had a problem with an item.
Invisible: responding to possible harassment/bot check/game bug abuse of a character.
Examples of abuse:
Revive character: because he is my friend
Recall: position player for death or to help other players.
Warp: because walking is soo hard.
Invisible: Should only be used to catch specific people, doing specific activities.
Looking up ip address to reveal who is playing what characters to friends, non GM's, and non-developers.
Accusing a person of being a bot, in the gm log or in public. GM's are to enforce laws, not predict outcomes.
Proposal for Gm's.
The propose of a Game Master in The Mana World (TMW) is simple, to enforce the rules of the game. There are currently only 5 major rules to enforce when you are game master. There is quite a bit of controversy over the extent of power and abuses of that power.
They seem to fall into three major categories.
1.) Personal Attacks, from both the player and Game Master.
2.) Using the ability of GM for other tasks, besides the enforcement of the rules of the game.
3.) Using the positions to impose and enforce a status state on other individuals.
These 3 major issues can be address by the following.
1.) GM's need to broken into to major 3 class systems. The first class is of Game Moderator[1] (GM), then Junior Game Moderator (JGM), and lastly is of Game Event Manager (GEM). As GM/JGM the person is allowed to enforce rules and see to the safe functioning of the mana world. GEM's would be a temporary position for specific a specific event. It would allow, if necessary, global announcements and even spawning monsters. This position would naturally expire after a set period. The rest of this document will focus only the role of GM. Game Moderator should be used because the title game master implies creating, developing, and changing the game play. That is not the job of the current game masters, they function only to enforce rules and keep civil order. This is required in order to define jobs. A game master should be a developer and a game moderator should enforce rule.
2.) GM's are no longer allowed to use there playing characters for the position of game moderator. A user account needs to be created that is specify for GM's. The GM's needs to log into the account that will simply have the name as “Game Moderator.†All of the Game Moderators chat logs and whispers will be recorded for public display. The Game Moderators is not allowed to directly or indirectly reveal the person behind the character. The Game Moderator is only allowed to enforce the rules and to enforce public peace in cases of protests and civil disobedience. A system to check identification of the Game Moderator needs to be created even if it is a sign in sheet. The Game Moderators check out the character. This log is private and only available to developers. It is preferable if the name Game Moderator only appears to the client side, but a ID tag tying the gm to the person is recorded on the server side, this is not revealed to the public. This is required in order to remove person attacks and problem with specific players. Most of the time, trouble arises with not how the problem is dealt with but who dealt with it. This would return respect and order back the GM's. This would also make it harder for a gm to help or aid friends into punishing enemies. When all in-game messaging is recorded you can only use outside messaging to talk to other members which can limit problems, but not eliminate them.
3.) GM's other playable characters can not be online at the same time as they are GM's. The playable characters of the GM's do not have any power above the normal player level. All chat logs and whispers of these characters will be recorded and saved to place where only developers can retrieve them. They are not for public display, but recorded to makes sure all evidence is protected and to add a level of transparency to the process. This is required because personal whisper and chats has in the past led the personal attacks and abuses. This has been turned into a “he said, she said†event. The only way to make sure that no one is receiving unfair treatment is to record all chats and whispers. If a problem arises with a specific characters, developers have the chat log and can review them. By not allowing the GM to have a playable character online you make sure there is no bait and trap. There is several cases with GM's and players bold face lying about what was said and how it was said. A server side log is the only way to be fair and equal about each side. The server log needs to be both the GM's and the GM's playable characters.
4.) A NPC will need to be created that can record chat files. The Soul Menhir can server as this npc or another one. The NPC will simply record anything that is sent to him, with no possibility of edit. The GM's and developers will be allow to review. Not edit, these files. This will allow for abuses and problems to be reported to the server directly. It will protect people that reveal or complain about other players. These logs should not be viewable from the public. We have police and guards already in the game, let us use them.
5.) Violations of trust. Many people in this game see it is a game, others see it as a extension of themselves. It is clear that some GM's refer to the former and not the latter. This is a major problem in the community. There need to be a trust between the GM's and players. The players need to know that they GM's are only looking out for the function of the game. But the current system has a tyrant system by default. No matter the issue or crime a gm is never punished and the community is always guilty. Full transparency of the GM's needs to happen. This includes: All normal playable characters need to be known, except one, to the public. All whispers, icons, and chat logs need to be recorded, GM's recorded for the public display and playable characters, none gm, private (only for developers and administrators.) A full log needs to be maintained, that includes why they did each action. This way a gm can have full gm powers and still be transparent.
6.) Along with the violation of trust is treatment of players. Phrases like “why do you question?†or “SPEAK ENGLISH IN PUBLIC!!!!!!!!!!!!â€ÂÂ. Is not how player should speak to players nor is it how a GM should speak to players. There needs to be a standardized list of comments. For example “Please remember to respect your fellow players by speaking English in public. If you wish to continue your conversation please use the whisper function. That is “/w “player name†messageâ€ÂÂ, thank you.†Other examples include. “This a bot-check, if each member of the stack response in the next two minutes you will not have to de-stack. Thank you for your cooperation.†“I understand that you maybe upset and wish to talk about what just happened. Please collect your thoughts, if you wish; you, a friend of your choice, and I will moved to a place where we can talk about what happened.†It is called manners and they are currently lacking both in players and in GM's. For the members that insist on speaking or acting in some way, the moderator should be allow to force the character to read the rules page that was first given to him/her when they started the character. All, other treatment of player is on a innocent until proven guilty. GM can not accuse people of being bots, but only prove they where bots.
7.) All abuses of the GM's are to be reported to the above bots. It should not be encouraged to post them on the forums. All abuses are to be treated seriously. If there is a betrayal of trust between the GM and the community, the anonymous nature of this system will make removing that person as painless as possible. The removal of gm is and should be the last resort. But the current system it is impossible to remove the GM because it would set a nasty precedent and make the removal of the next easier. But the betrayal of trust is something that will not go away. Once a GM has been labeled the enemy, that GM is doomed or the system that supports them is.
8.) Civil Disobedience is human nature and to complain or protest in the game is beneficial to the game. But, that also need to be balanced with the playability of the game. All protest should be taken seriously. Each protest should be logged into the gm log as an civil disobedience. The GM should ask for the protest to be moved outside of mandatory areas. There also needs to be a third party set up for negotiations between the gm and the protesters. The GM should be given the right to move the protesters if they do not move out of a mandatory area. This includes banning of accounts for up to 1 day, if the protester does not follow order of the gm. The Mandatory Areas need to be clearly selected and mark. This is required because in the past people would stand or sit one required npc in order to make them impossible to use and disrupt the game.
They will include,
The city of Tulimshar, Hurnscald, and Snow Town near spawn points. A buffer of 100 tiles between required NPC and protesters.
The Selection of the Game Moderator.
A full Game Moderator can be enforced by two different method.
1.) By selection by the Administrators, Developers, and Game Moderators (ADG). This is with voting by the population.
Section to be filled in by the above people.
2.) Election and Selection of A Junior Game Moderator.
The election and selection of a JGM will happen by a quorum vote by the people of TMW. The following vote will be required
to vote in this type of selection. All parts of election and selection have to be done in order to be gm.
Election
Preliminary Election
1.) The candidate will need to receive at least 60 votes in the forums. With the majority of them, 50% or more, in
the affirmative vote.
A.) The candidate can elect her/himself.
B.) Any player can vote for him.
C.) Only after Forum Selection with 60 votes, and the majority of votes, greater then 50%, can the person
actually be selected for final vote.
Secondary Election
1.) The player is allowed 1 vote per account.
2.) The player is required to have an active account of 6 months or more on the current server.
3.) The player is required to have more then 80 levels at the time.
4.) The player is required to go to an NPC for voting in game.
A.) The NPC will simply create a list of Candiates. Each option would have a yes/no vote.
5.) The players name and account is record. The player how just voted will not be able to vote again under that
account.
6.) The candidate must gave a quorum of no less then 75% positive votes and no more then 25%.
Selection
1.) After the player has been selected by a the secondary vote, with no less then 75% of positive votes the ADG will then
vet the candidate for the position of JGM.
A) Process to vet the candidate here.
Terms:
Civil Disobedience is any attempt to crash the server, hack or scam another player, or create an environment that is detrimental to the enjoyment of the game in mandatory areas.
Examples of the above are:
1. Moving monster to block gateways in mandatory areas.
2. Using lighting, arrows, or rain to create lag in the server, this only includes mandatory places like towns and character spawn
points.
3. Insulting, harassing, and embarrassing other players in mandatory areas.
4. Drop parties in areas that are mandatory areas.
5. Creating an environment in which players are encouraged to become disobedient in mandatory areas.
Mandatory Area is anywhere the player is required to be, shops, quest points, and spawn points are examples.
Protester is a person being civilly disobedient.
Examples acceptable GM behavior:
Revive character: character claimed he got stuck and died in wall.
Recalled character: to bot check him
Warp: to check on a character that says he had a problem with an item.
Invisible: responding to possible harassment/bot check/game bug abuse of a character.
Examples of abuse:
Revive character: because he is my friend
Recall: position player for death or to help other players.
Warp: because walking is soo hard.
Invisible: Should only be used to catch specific people, doing specific activities.
Looking up ip address to reveal who is playing what characters to friends, non GM's, and non-developers.
Accusing a person of being a bot, in the gm log or in public. GM's are to enforce laws, not predict outcomes.