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== Introduction ==
 
Welcome to Tel’Laerad Staff. As a member of staff, you were selected from your peers by the Owners to supplement the Tel'Laerad workforce, and have chosen to assist us. For this, we thank you. But keep in mind that being an a member of staff is not glamorous, and many chosen later choose to resign due to stress and demands. While the job, at times, can be fun, if you are not equipped to handle some extra stress, then this job is not for you. Tel'Laerad staff is not a country club, and membership genuinely requires a desire to help.

You were chosen based upon numerous personality factors, none of which can be specifically detailed in a list. A good member of staff has an amalgam of traits, which interact together to produce a unique, individual approach to things.
 
== What We Expect Of You As A Member Of Staff ==

First and foremost, as a member of staff, you should take an active interest in Tel'Laerad. Be involved in the things that occur, and not just for the purpose of punishing the miscreants who show up on occasion.

This does not mean that you have to slavishly be online a certain number of hours a day, every day, without fail, or be a part of every project that comes up. We do, however, expect that you will participate as an integral part of network staff when you are able and are requested.

A part of this includes paying attention to the network staff channel as much as possible. Attending staff meetings is highly encouraged if possible. In general, you should aim to be on IRC and available at least an hour a day, on average. While you are online, try to pay attention to the help and staff channels, and generally be involved with the community. If you’re going to be missing for a while, it would be best if you posted in the staff forums to show you haven’t simply disappeared. If nothing else, it helps us plan around.

If you’re not available for this amount of time, you may want to reconsider taking this position – it won’t help either us or you if you’re already overworked, too busy with other parts of life, and so on.

Additional, more specific expectations are based on the position you have been given on the network. It is not necessary to reiterate the details of each role; this is described on our Staff page. Additional notes on expectations are below.

=== For IRC Operators ===

IRC Operators are, generally, expected to be monitoring for issues on the network on a regular basis, watching for network issues, rule violations, and any other operational problems. They are expected to contribute to the network by doing so for an average of at least several hours a night. It should be noted that constant activity throughout this time is not expected; merely presence on the IRC network with enough attention paid as to be able to respond as necessary. Being within the official help channel within this time is mandatory, and handling or passing on of reported rule violations is expected. For those who have committed to this via core membership in IRC Operations, this is considered as sufficient contribution on their part to the network for activity purposes.

IRC Operators are expected to both be well-versed in IRCd and Services commands as well as resourceful enough that they can train themselves further with operator commands. While other operators can help aid a newcomer with tips and explanations, independent learning is highly encouraged. It is not discouraged to ask for help once in a while understanding a command, but the first commandment to follow is "RTFM". If after researching for yourself a bit, you still need some help, you will at least have a general idea of what the person who is helping you is talking about.

It is also helpful, although not required, if you're willing to help users who request assistance in #help, or prod someone else to. Being helpful elsewhere is good, too. If what the user needs is beyond what you are able to do reliably, then discussing what the user needs with another member of staff may be necessary.

== Staff Conduct ==
 
Primarily, an operator should conduct themselves as any other user would, within the network rules and acceptable use policy. This is of the utmost importance. While when an operator is chosen to supplant the network's work force, they are not expected to become angelic, or perfect role models, this does not excuse detrimental conduct.

What it implies, though, is that when an operator is chosen, it is assumed that the individual picked is one with enough self-discipline and behavioural awareness to act and react in a fashion which is appropriate and reasonable within the informal community that exists on Tel'Laerad. They should be capable of handling their emotions and any personal issues, and able to prevent them from causing problems. It should not be necessary to babysit staff.

It should be noted that the privileges and abilities awarded with staff status are not means for entertainment. Staff powers are to be used first and foremost for your work on Tel'Laerad. While a little bit of truly harmless screwing off, such as IRC Operators using OperServ to kick service bots, isn’t harmful, the majority of your power use should be for constructive purposes. Additionally, any messing around that affects users must only be performed if you are certain the users do not mind, and must be stopped on request.

As regards rule enforcement, events outside of Tel'Laerad are to be considered as outside our jurisdiction and ignored entirely, EXCEPT where they directly relate to Tel'Laerad, such as users being harassed over being Tel'Laerad users, or people attacking/slandering the organisation itself. Additionally, in all but the most extreme cases, rules should be enforced separately in different areas of Tel'Laerad; those unable to behave on IRC may be be able to compose themselves in the slower medium of a forum, and similar.

Using staff powers to punish users, threaten to punish users, or authoritatively instruct users to do something, for anything other than enforcement of a Tel'Laerad rule, such as IRC channel-level infractions or personal dislike, is entirely unacceptable. The power to threaten users or instruct users as a member of staff is as much a power as the granted commands. It is perfectly fine to request whatever you like personally, but you should make it very clear that it is a personal request, not a staff-based one, to ensure there is no confusion.

To build on the above for the particular case of our IRC network, while IRC channels are allowed to run themselves as they wish, instituting their own rules, including the ability to be as fair or unfair as the channel owners see fit, their rules are not part of Tel'Laerad global or IRC network rules, and as such should not be enforced with Tel'Laerad staff powers. The only permissible action against a violation of a channel rule is action by a channel operator using their granted powers in that channel, whether the operator is also Tel'Laerad staff or not. Where an action may violate both channel and network rules, the network rules should be enforced entirely independently to the channel rules, including when judging the severity of the offence and whether it is worth a punitive response. The distinction between punishing users for evading bans set for a channel offence, and punishing users for channel offences, should be noted.

The above applies equally to the official channels; while the official channels have defined channel rules, which are also controlled by the Tel'Laerad staff, these rules are distinct from global and IRC network rules, and should only be enforced using channel-level powers in that particular channel alone, with the exception that, as they are official channels, any IRC operator may add themselves as channel staff at any time in order to perform channel-level action. The one exception is #help, which is viewed as part of the network infrastructure, and in which channel-level rules are given the same weight as network rules, and may be enforced using Tel'Laerad staff powers.

As an additional clarification, threats of action should only be used truthfully. We have substantial resources at our disposal and have no need for deception, and it does a disservice to the users.

== Information Disclosure ==

All information inside staff channels, in the topics therein, in staff mailing lists, staff forums, or other staff-only means of communication or information storage, including other IRC channels in which only staff are present and/or are used exclusively for staff business, is to be considered confidential.

Confidential information and logs are not to be spread outside staff-only mediums except where approved by an owner, or everyone they are being sent to already saw the full, exactly identical information/logs being sent. Even logs unrelated to staff matters which simply happened to occur in a staff-only area require approval, which will usually be granted if the owner agrees they are entirely unrelated.

Particularly notable as private are IP addresses, exact logs/evidence of offences committed, any other logs reported in private to the staff, and the identity of people reporting logs or offences to the network. People do not have the right to know on whose evidence they are being accused, although they have the right to counter it.

== Staff Access ==

All staff will have access to the staff forums and write access to the staff-controlled pages on the wiki, along with global moderator status on our forums and sysop status on our wiki. Additionally, all staff will have operator blocks on all IRC servers, and access level 10 granted in #Staff, #Help, and #TelLaerad on IRC.

On IRC, all staff have at a minimum the first two sections of powers under /helpop coper (that being fsay/faction, and everything from check to globops). They have no services access beyond what the +o usermode gives you (approving announcements, for example).

Access to other areas, such as games or bots, or other official IRC channels, will be granted by request as needed by an IRC Operator.

Other permissions, including more powers in the oline and access to portions of the server, are given based on team membership for those areas managed by teams, or by trust of the owners. The Staff page details the additional permissions of each team.

If you ever have a problem with your staff access, (for oper blocks, this can be caused by a change of IP), join the staff channel (use '/cs sajoin #Staff' if you cannot oper), and inform the soonest available member of staff working on the specific area of the update you need; for IRC, this is any member of the IRC M&D team. Memos via MemoServ or mail to the staff mailing list are advised if you are unable to reach someone directly.

== Conclusion ==
 
Now that you have been mentally prepared for the task at hand, we conclude this document with a wish of luck. If you are equipped for a bit of regular extra stress and additional demands in relation to handling tasks and projects assigned by your superiors, then you are better prepared to enjoy success on Tel'Laerad.

Keep in mind that there will not always be action, and there will likely be a lot of time where the need for your own duties just isn't there. You would be wise to ask around and see if there is a need for any additional hands in projects.

With these thoughts and the aforementioned 'RTFM' in mind, we have given you the necessary "do"s and "don't"s. We hope you are able to provide the rest. Working to build a roleplaying, gaming, and chat community to rival and exceed the best is a challenging, but immensely rewarding task. We end as we began... Welcome to Tel'Laerad Staff.

~ Tel'Laerad Owners