Staff Responsibilities

The primary rules and guidelines that any staffer of Heroes Assembled must adhere to can be boiled down as follows, in order of least to most importance:
* Communicate with your fellow staffers.
* Have fun.
* Follow Wheaton's Law: Don't be a dick.
Really, all the rest of these rules and policies are just details.
==Positions and Responsibilities==
Owners: Responsible for--
* Paying for the game on an annual basis
* Being the final call on theme, policy, plots, and player or staff issues
* Keeping the helpfiles and wiki files up to date with the help of head staff
* Any back end work that needs to be done
* Running the game fairly, maturely, and rationally
* Reviewing and approving Character applications and CGs
* Reviewing and approving or denying +jobs put in by Head Staff PCs
* Following the three staff laws
Head Staff: Responsible for--
* Making sure +jobs get handled in a timely manner
* Assigning +jobs to appropriate staffers
* Running grid-wide metaplots and small group tinyplots
* Reviewing and approving Character applications and CGs
* Keeping the wiki up to date
* Building any buildings or street rooms needed for the grid.
* Reviewing and approving or denying +jobs put in by regular Staff PCs
* Following the three staff laws
Regular Staff: Responsible for--
* Reviewing and approving concept applications
* Posting logs to the wiki as players submit them and updating appropriate character pages
* Reviewing and approving or denying +jobs put in by Junior Staff PCs
* Following the three staff laws
Junior Staff: Responsible for--
* Assisting players with navigating CG and concept apps
* Answering questions about how to find information on the game or wiki
* Following the three staff laws
Individual staffers have specific spheres of responsibility and influence; so this is a general list.
==Staff Nexus==
StaffBits are required to stay in the Staff Nexus (The Soda Fountain) at all times when not in use elsewhere on the grid for staff purposes.
The only exception to this rule is CodeBit, who lives in the Master Room, and BuilderWizard, who lives in the Vending Machine when not in use; however, both of these bits are not StaffBits as in bits staffers are logged into to do staff business, they are for coding and building respectively only.
==Handling of +jobs==
All +jobs will have a Due Date assigned to them. Barring unforeseen circumstances, the due date range will be as follows:
* Concept Applications: Two days
* CGs/Applications: Three days
* Log Postings/Updates: Two days
* Character Wiki Page Updates: Two days
* Approvals for /sheet Updates: Three days
* Building Requests: One week or seven days (with descs provided)/Two weeks or fourteen days (without descs provided)
* Code Bugs: depending on the bug
* Help File updates/fixes/typos: Two days
* All Other +jobs: Seven days as a default
As always, staff will try and get these sorts of +jobs handled as quickly as possible, so prior to the date due is more the norm. These timeframes may lengthen around major holidays (as staff may be less available due to family obligations) or for other reasons not listed. If this is the case, staff will send an update to the +job letting the player know what is going on and what the updated due date will be.
If any +job requires a player response; or it is not approveable in its current format, staff will update the +job querying for additional information or changes (in the case of CGs or concept apps). Waiting on player response may lengthen the timeframe it takes to complete a +job. Staff is not responsible for the length of time it takes for a player to reply. Any 'hanging +jobs' (where information or updates were requested from a player) will sit for one week from the time of staff's information request waiting for reply/update (the same as a +query from staff); at that time, the job will be denied based on 'not enough information'. The player would be free to put the +job in again with all the requested information and updates then.
If a denial is required, the staffer issuing the denial will give the player requesting the job the courtesy of an explanation as to why the job was denied.
==Absences or Time Off==
If a staff member is going to need to take an extended absence (one week or longer), where that they will not be available to assist with staff duties, it is their responsibility to put in an ADMIN +job with the due date set of the date of return to the game, and within the text of the +job letting their fellow staffers know when their absence will start.
If a staffer is just wanting time off from staff duties (to step back temporarily), they should also put in an ADMIN +job to let the owners know; staff vacations of up to three months (in one month increments) are always available for staffers who need to take the time. During this time their staff bit will move to the Vending Machine, be unset Royalty/Wizard and their position updated to 'On Vacation'. Then they will effectively be just a player for that period of time, and welcomed back at the end.
However, if a staffer needs longer than a three-month break from staff duties, it is suggested that they retire instead. :) That will keep things easier for everyone as the active staffers will be able to move forward and refill roles if needed.
And, as always, Real Life Comes First.
==On and Off Duty==
When a staffer is on and willing to take pages, do +jobs, or work on the wiki, they should be set as On Duty.
If they are unable or unwilling to do staff duties during a period of time they are logged into their staff alt, they should be set as Off Duty. A staffer that is marked as off duty should not be paged regarding staff issues, unless there are no other staffers online.
Constantly being set Off Duty is an issue. --flesh this out--
A staffer's current state can be seen by typing +staff.
==Disclosure of Staff Alts==
Every staffer, including Junior Staff (or Player Helpers), has a StaffBit named after some variety of Soda. They have been attribute-set to staff and also either Wizard or Royalty, and have the ability (for the most part) to do most anything needed by a player, including +summon, build rooms, set attributes as needed on PlayerBits, etc.
However, as StaffBits are (see Staff Nexus) required to stay in the Staff Nexus at all times unless actively repairing or working with something on-grid, it is, by necessity, a requirement for each StaffBit to disclose a single Player Character alt on their +finger. This is the alt they will use, when needed, to @emit any NPCs or set any scenes (when not using the NPCBit). This does not mean the staff PlayerBit alt is necessarily the best one to page for staff issues. As always, for an on-duty staffer, please check +staff.
It is up to the individual staffers as to whether they disclose any additional alts, up to all of their alts. Disclosed alts should be listed on the StaffBit’s +finger.
If a staffer declines to disclose any or all of their alts (outside the one required one), this decision will be respected by the other staffers and the remainder of the alts will be private. Purposefully disclosing a staffer’s alts to one or more players is not cool, so don’t do it. Accidents happen, and if one occurs, the staffer who made the slip-up should:
* @mail the Staffer and let them know that the identity behind that PlayerBit has been disclosed, and to whom (and an apology probably wouldn’t go amiss either)
* +job an ADMIN job to let the other staffers know as well
* Seriously, apologize. :)
* Annnd probably would be good if possibly to get the PlayerBit it was disclosed to, to agree to keep it quiet.
==Staff PCs==
No special treatment is given to any Staff Alt. If you need an update, you +job it from the alt needing the update. Even if if a staffer gave an overview of what they were planning to update while in the staff room, that information will still need to be on the +job. Staff alts are not exempt from any of the rules regarding updates, alts limits, OC rules, etc. They are held to the same policies as any PlayerBit.
Any +job put in by a Staff PlayerBit can only be approved by a higher ‘ranking’ StaffBit. OwnerBits must approve each others +jobs. This is to assure that there’s no ‘I outrank you so give me what I want’ going on. Which there shouldn’t be, as we chose all our staffers because they act like rational adults.
==Staff NPCs==
To try and keep the style, personality, and aims of many of our major NPCs consistant, certain staffers will be the primary (though not necessarily the only) players of certain NPCs.
This does not mean that these characters are Staff PCs. They are not treated like PCs, and they are not there for a staffer to play in lieu of playing a regular character. They playing of these NPCs are limited to:
* Scenes where their presence is required for a current TP or metaplot
* In social scenes where their presence makes sense and will add to the players' enjoyment of the scene
* As villainous punching bags in combat scenes
* As combatant or comedic foils
* As support assistance to help further a plotline
* Because their presence was requested by a PC
Use of these NPCs needs to be somewhat sparing and limited.
Exceptions to this are only made for long-term plotlines that may require consistant use of one or two NPCs for the plotline itself; or if an NPC-only log needs to be generated for the timeline.
Category:Policy
Category:Page that Needs Work