#Madlib Op Guidelines

What follows is the complete #madlib channel operator guidelines, to help ops in their responsibilities as an op, as well as provide transparent guidelines for players. Your comments and suggestions for addition, clarification, or changes to these guidelines are welcome.

Channel operators

Channel operators ("ops") have an important responsibility to maintain the integrity of the channel, through a combination IRC technical skills and "people skills". Ops serve as an example that players closely watch, and often follow. For this reason, op behavior should always be beyond reproach, and always well within the guidelines asked of the players.

Most channels are judged by how fun they are, and how courteous the ops and people are onchannel. Ops should be courteous at all times, even when someone onchannel may not be worthy of courtesy -- always "keep your cool". Ops should be alert, and ready to help anyone who asks for it, even if it might sidetrack you from (and maybe even cost you) the game. Be ready to explain how to play, what the channel guidelines are, and be proactive in helping (for example, /whois or /ping a player complaining about persistent lag, and suggest a different server if they are not on the bot's server, or give them their ping time.)

Language

"Some mildly adult humor is expected, please keep language to PG-13," is the main guideline for language. The use of profane language is discouraged. In addition to language, some content should be considered objectionable, including explicitly graphical (crude) sexual content, slandering other players ("nick slams"), racism, homophobia, "psycho" content, and other crude humor based on pointedly degrading other individuals. It may offend some players, and usually shows a lack of humor and creativity.

An occasional "slip" should be let go if it's not serious, but someone persistently using explicit language or content should be politely suggested in private /msg to go easy on the language. Always /msg the player with a polite suggestion or warning; don't embarrass them on the open channel. Open channel comments on language should only be used if much of the channel is trending towards profane language. If they persist despite suggestions, a stronger warning along with a kick or a ban, may be necessary. While we don't want the channel to have a "censored" feel to it, neither should we allow the channel to degrade into a "smut channel" or a "flame channel". Importantly, be a good example as an op.

Foreign language is permitted on the channel, so long as the translated content is within the language and channel chatter guidelines, and there's no cross-voting. If it appears that two or more players are carrying on a private conversation on the open channel, or there is excessive chattering (see below), politely ask them to take it to /msg chat. We have an international crowd on #madlib, and everyone should feel welcome.

Courtesy

Players should always be courteous with each other onchannel. If a tense situation develops between two or more players, use your "people skills" to defuse the situation. Don't pick sides in a dispute. If it appears one person is the instigator, then politely /msg them to desist in their actions. In cases, where someone is getting rude /msg's from someone else, advise them to set the offender on /ignore (and if necessary, how to do an /ignore). Again, if the offender persists despite suggestions, give a stronger warning, followed by a kick or ban if necessary.
In instances you might have a "compatibility" problem with a player, or even another op, keep your differences off the channel. Nothing shakes the confidence of the people in the channel more, than to see an op abusing their op ability, or seeing two ops taking their disagreements out on the open channel. If necessary, settle any disputes offchannel or even set /ignore with each other.

Idling or not playing

Occasionally, people need to leave the keyboard for a short while (for a multitude of valid reasons). Also, there are cases some new people enter into channel just to watch for a while to see what the channel is about ("lurking"). And, finally, some people get too busy "multi-tasking" game play, /msg chat, and even participation in other channels.
The guideline for idle time is 10 minutes before op action may be taken. Always politely /msg the person in advance of any action. If they ask for a reasonable period of extra time, allow it. If there is no response after a few minutes, and idle continues, you may kick them, politely stating something like "sorry... idling, no /msg response" as the reason. In rare cases, if the same person repeatedly "parks" onchannel, a short-term ban may be necessary to get the message across.
If it's a newcomer, allow them a little extra time to watch, but encourage them to play; however, if the channel is full and they don't want to play, ask them to return at a less busy time, since it deprives others of the opportunity to play.
People who aren't idling (a /whois shows little or no idle time), but are also not playing, are often busy on some other channel or in /msg chat. Treat them in the same way you would an idler -- /msg them first and take action later if appropriate.
There is one specific exception to idling and no-playing. Anyone who is an IRCOp (visisble in a /whois) or a Cservice personnel (visible by /msg W verify ) is exempted. In any case, feel free to /msg with them -- generally, they are good allies (especially Cservice people) to have in case of future trouble. If they remain for a long time, you may take the liberty of increasing the channel limit +l up by one.
A technical note to keep in mind is this: If they are not on the same server you are on, a /whois will not show idle time. A /whois will query their server and give you the idle time.

Flooding and Excessive Channel Chatter/Graphics

Any intentional flooder should be /msg'ed with a clear warning, and be prepared to kick. If the flooding is too severe, a warning is not necessary and an immediate kick and possible ban is justified. The bot has flood detection built-in, and it will ignore any flooder for a span of 60 seconds. Another note is that you might need to remind a player that the madlib bot always get the answers first time (although it might be lagged getting it and replying, depending on the server and connection), unlike some other bots which might need a repeated entry.

Anyone doing repeated text and/or graphics, exceeding two lines, should be sent a /msg to ease up on filling up the channel screen. It is often difficult to play the game and vote on answers, after many lines of repeated text or a huge graphic is displayed. A kick is usually not justified, unless it appears that the person has run a macro/script/alias "gone wild" and you need to get them off the channel immediately to prevent flooding off people on the channel. You should /msg them and tell them to test their graphics in another channel.

Kicks and Bans

Within these guidelines, all kicks and bans are at your discretion. Be sure they are justified, and that you indicate a reason with each one, for the benefit of the other ops, and the players onchannel. All kicks and bans should be preceeded with a warning and reason to the offender, if warranted (serious cases may call for an immediate kick or ban).
It is best for ops to support each other in actions taken. If you as an op disagree with another op on the action taken, discuss it in /msg, not on the open channel. If disagreement remains, the original op action stands, and report it to the channel manager for resolution on what the appropriate course of action should be.
Bans may only be removed by the op who set it, or the channel manager. Also, bans should not be re-instated, unless the person previously banned causes a new problem situation than before. The channel manager may remove bans set by the ops, possibly without prior notification if the op is not online, after review of the logs and/or expired duration of the ban. Generally, a short-term ban causes the person in question to either change their behavior, or lose interest in the channel. Long-term bans should be reserved for the most serious offenders.
Ops should not make statements or "joke" about their ability to /kick or /ban -- it creates a negative impression upon the players.

Difficult Situations

Once in a great while, a very difficult situation may arise. Some scenarios include channel take over attempts, "nuking", impostering ops, unusual calls for help by players (e.g. "stalking"), and so on. Bring these situations to the immediate attention of the channel manager and one or more of the experienced ops. In channel situations (like channel takeover), visit #cservice and get their help (this is what they are there for). If you suspect "nuking" or hacking, visit #zt (stands for "zero tolerance") and ask for their help. In all cases, inform the channel manager immediately, either online or by e-mail if absent.
One thing to remember is to never op someone yourself. All too often, a channel take over happens because of a "spoofed" nick (an impostor) who is opped, and then kicks the other ops (and the bot) off the channel.

Complaints

Any players having a complaint about an op should be asked to send an e-mail or /msg the channel manager (cahaya). Players have the right to voice a complaint, and each complaint will be kept confidential, carefully reviewed, and discussed with the op(s) involved. All activity on the channel is logged and archived.

Channel Settings

The channel settings have been very carefully chosen after much playtesting. The current settings are +stnl 16. +s keeps the channel secret, and off of the /list channel lists that are used by troublesome people and by channel "crawlerbots" (bot which use a channel list to hop into every channel on that list, and snoop the channel). +t keeps the topic under control of ops, and the channel topic is free for the ops to make up. +n prevents off-channel messages, often a nuisance. +l 16 limits the channel to 16 (or about 12-14 active players) for gameplay purposes. Although the bot can handle 18, 20, or even more players, the "human factor" of trying to read and vote for more than 12-14 answers comes into play. Thus, the limit at 16 is to make the game playable. In the instance that there are authorized idlers or no-players on channel, the +l limit may be increased by one. Also, you may increase the +l limit temporarily to get another op on channel for help (but not just for play; this is unfair to waiting players). We may later increase the +l limit to a higher permanent limit, perhaps between 16 and 18 (15 active players) if the channel is too often full.

New Ops and De-Ops

It is much better to have a smaller, well-cooperating team of effective ops, than a large uncoordinated group of ineffective ones. We're a team, there to help each other and serve the players on the channel.
All new op assignments will be at the discretion of the channel manager. If three active ops have a recommendation for a player assignment as a new op, it will be considered. Generally speaking, players repeatedly asking for ops are not good candidates for ops. Better are those concerned and friendly players who are often on channel, provide a positive atmosphere for the channel, help out other players, and also may alert the ops about a problem situation. These kind of players don't usually ask for ops, but might be interested if you ask them.
Ops will be de-opped if they specifically request it, they are inactive on channel for a long period of time (one month or more, but may be reactivated later upon return to the channel), or they consistently fail to adhere to channel op guidelines.