As some of you might have noticed, the fun and pleasant atmosphere in our IRC Channel, hosted on EsperNet, has been lately vitiated by endless arguments that have degenerated into flame-fests, OP wars and people getting tired of it. As a result of that, the current Administration of the channel has decided to try and put a stop to all that by enforcing a new policy and adjusting the number of Channel Operators to these special needs. We hope you understand that this is an attempt at regaining the fun in the channel while enjoying it in a civil and friendly manner. For any questions and/or inquiries, the Mod Team will be available in the #TaijituAdmin channel or at ircadmin@taijitu.org
Not knowing or ignoring the rules to follow does not excuse any member of our IRC channel.
IRC RULES AND PROCEDURES
The administrators and moderators of #taijitu will enforce the rules and guide-lines of the host server regarding chatrooms (
www.esper.net/policy.html).
Additionally, the Administrators and Moderators of #taijitu will be enforcing the Rules of the House:
Introduction:1. Have fun. That's what the room's made for.
2. All races, genders, creeds, species, sexual orientation and preferences must be treated with utmost respect. Racist, sexist, homophobic, anti-human, etc. statements are not tolerated.
3. The moderators and IRC Administrator at #Taijitu retain the right to change, add, update or modify these guidelines as they see fit with approval of Administrator.
4. The following
ORDER OF DISCIPLINARY ACTION may be enforced by the channel’s Administrators and Moderators:
- First/Second offense: Warning
- Third offense: Kick
- Fourth offense: Kick/Ban for specified length of time and referral to OP staff
- Fifth offense (if not permanently banned): Permanent Ban
* Extreme violations: Extreme situations may require the mod to go beyond normal procedures, such as to give an immediate ban without prior warning. Such might include:
Committing multiple violations of the above rules at once, when the result is serious disruption of the channel
The sharing of sensitive information (such as personal info belonging to another user)
Any attempt to hack a user or the channel, or to gain information for that purpose
General1) The operators of the channel are defined by the symbol @. Any member who displays one of these symbols is dedicated an official operator or OP. These members are to be given respect by everyone participating in the Taijitu chat room.
2) Any member that is appointed OP on #Taijitu should not be questioned or argued with publicly over disciplinary issues. If you have any issues, you may resolve it in a private query or a PM. If you feel that the issue was not resolved with the operator in question feel free to discuss the issue either by e-mail (ircadmin@taijitu.org) or by joining #TaijituAdmin to speak with the Mod Team. Operators are there to do their best to protect the other members and make sure the channel is fun for all members, not get harassed for doing their job.
3) Members are to be treated with respect at all times. We in Taijitu are host to many different people of many different backgrounds. It is imperative that we remain open minded and non-confrontational. If you are subjected to any act that you feel is harassment of any kind, please seek the aid of a designated channel operator.
SpecificThe Rules of the House
* Spamming: Repeating the same line many times in quick succession may be considered spam.
Use common sense. Sending multiple lines of things (such as song lyrics, poems, quotes, off-topic IM conversations, nonsense words and/or symbols, ascii art) might be acceptable if things are relatively quiet in the channel. If it annoys several others in the room or disrupts other peoples' ability to have a normal conversation, such as when it spams things off the screen, the moderator in the room may ask for it to cease.
* Swearing: Some swearing is acceptable, but excessive swearing that becomes a disturbance to others in the channel, or swearing at a person in an angry or malicious manner, can get you kicked and/or banned.
* No trolling: Debates and disagreements happen on occasion, even angry ones, and are acceptable. But when it crosses the line into harassment, begins to annoy others in the channel, or interferes with others' ability to hold a conversation, then either stop it or take it private. Repeated, pointed attempts to anger a person and/or bait them into an argument in the channel is trolling and therefore subject to modding action.
* No harassment: Maliciously and repeatedly insulting another person with the apparent intent to harm their reputation and/or anger them will not be tolerated.
Repeatedly and insistently nagging a person to respond to a question, a hug, a hello, or other such things will not be tolerated. Repeating something to make sure the person saw it is fine. But if a person has responded with something that implies that they saw it, then further nagging in an attempt to force them to respond to your satisfaction becomes harassment. Take it private if you honestly feel that you need to continue it.
* Racist comments, joking or otherwise, will not be tolerated.
* Sexual comments: Light sexual innuendo is acceptable, but blatant sexual acts are not. Others sharing the channel may not be comfortable with the level of sexual-based jokes or remarks that you are.
No disagreements sex will be allowed in the channel. Take it private, nobody wants to see it no matter how talented you think you are.
* Identify yourself when asked to: If you aren't using a recognizable nick to identify yourself, you must identify yourself when asked to (provide a NationStates-based identity to your persona). People entering the channel will be given 60 seconds to comply after being asked, if they haven't identified themselves by nick. Those who ignore a channel moderator's request to identify themselves may be kicked after 60 seconds have expired.
* Using someone else's nick or nation name: Kidding around when others in the channel know you aren't really that person is okay, provided that it doesn't reach the point where it is annoying others in the channel. When asked by a channel-moderator, resume your established nick.
Impersonating someone that you are not is generally forbidden.
Impersonating a channel administrator or moderator is considered a serious offense and is also forbidden.
OP use* Using OPs irresponsibly may result in either temporary or permanent removal of OPs, such as when using them for purposes other than for enforcing the rules. Extreme abuse of OPs may have more serious consequences, up to a permanent ban from the channel.
* Only AOPs and SOPs are allowed to change the channel's topic, and only then are they allowed to add/or remove relevant information in regards to the region.
* All users with registered nicks are to be granted operator (@, +o) status upon entry by another op. Users without registered nicks will be given a voiced (+, +v) status upon entry.
* Any decisions or actions by a moderator with temporary OPs may be overridden by the AOPs at their discretion.
The Mod Team @ #taijitu
