Ticket Guidelines

Below is a step-by-step flow for any ticket: rule break, bug, report, complaint, etc. that our team of staff are expected to follow. We have publicly shared our process for our community to have access to at any point if they wonder how our staff handles tickets and the process.

All player reports must contain supporting evidence and a clear description of a rule break. Player reports that lack evidence or do not clearly demonstrate a rule break will be discarded without consideration, so please ensure all relevant information is included in your player report.

Intake & Triage

Goal: Understand what the ticket is about and how urgent it is.

Staff steps:

1. Read the entire ticket first.

   Don’t answer after just the first line. Make sure you see:

   • What happened,

   • Who was involved,

   • Where/when it happened.

2. Classify the ticket type:

   • Rule break / player behavior

   • Technical bug / script issue

   • Lost items / economy

   • Staff complaint

   • Other (specify)

3. Assess the severity level:

   • 🔴 High – harassment, hate speech, cheating, exploiting, major grief, staff abuse.

   • 🟠 Medium – repeated rule breaks, borderline behavior, serious IC/OOC confusion.

   • 🟢 Low – misunderstandings, minor annoyance, questions, small issues.

4. Claim the ticket

   • Claim the ticket so other staff know someone is handling it.

Evidence Collection

Goal: Get facts before you judge anything.

Staff steps:

1. Ask for evidence (if not already provided):

   • Video/clip (preferred),

   • Screenshots,

   • Chat logs (if available),

   • Rough timeframe + location (e.g. “Valentine, ~21:30 server time”).

2. Check internal logs if needed:

   • Chat logs,

   • Combat logs / kills,

   • Teleport / item logs,

   • Admin actions

3. Identify everyone involved:

   • Reporting player(s),

   • Reported player(s),

   • Any witnesses.

4. Save links/notes in the ticket:

   • Drop links to clips,

   • Short summary of what each piece of evidence shows.

RULE FOR STAFF:

If there is no evidence and no logs, the default is usually “educate & monitor”, not “hard punish based on one person’s word,” unless it is something extremely serious and corroborated by multiple sources. If there are severe accusations/rulebreaks in a report, they will be taken seriously and investigated by staff and Management.

Clarify Perspectives

Goal: Hear both sides before deciding, unless the evidence is crystal clear.

Staff steps:

1. Talk to the reporter first in the ticket:

• Ask short, focused questions (preferably filling in the gap from what may need clarification from the original report):

  • “What rule do you believe was broken?”

  • “What did you expect to happen instead?”

• Keep them on track; don’t let it become a vent fest.

1. Talk to the reported player:

   • Approach neutral:

     “Hey, a situation was reported involving you. We’re just trying to understand what happened.”

   • Ask questions such as:

     • “Can you explain what happened from your side?”

     • “Do you have any clips or screenshots of your perspective?”

2. Optional: talk to witnesses:

   • Brief:

     “You were present during X. Can you tell me what you saw/heard?”

3. Keep it calm & non-accusatory.

   • Staff are not there to argue; they’re there to gather information and protect roleplayers.

Compare Against Rules

Goal: Decide what rule(s), if any, were broken.

Staff steps:

1. Identify relevant rules:

   • Note down: “Possible rules involved: Metagaming, Powergaming,” etc.

   • Reference actual rule text.

2. Check intent & context:

   • Was this:

     • New player confusion?

     • Honest mistake?

     • Repeated pattern?

     • Obvious bad faith / trolling?

3. Use a consistent standard:

   • If you punished Player A for X last week, be as close as possible for Player B for X now.

Decide Outcome

Goal: Apply a fair, consistent response.

Create an internal “ladder” like:

🟢 Level 0 – No Violation / Misunderstanding

• Action:

  • Explain the situation if needed,

  • Mark ticket as “Resolved – No Rule Break.” in the report before closing ticket.

🟡 Level 1 – Verbal/Written Warning

• For:

  • First offenses,

  • Minor issues,

  • Obvious confusion or accidents.

• Action:

  • Send a clear written warning in ticket:

    • What happened,

    • What rule applies,

    • What to do differently next time.

🟠 Level 2 – De-Whitelist / 24-72 Hour / 1 Week Ban

• For:

  • Repeated minor issues,

  • More serious single issues (clear rule break, but not extreme).

• Action examples:

  • Short temp-ban,

  • Temporary whitelist removal,

  • Always:

    • Note duration,

    • Note reason,

    • Log clearly in moderation logs.

🔴 Level 3 – 1 Month — Permanent Ban

• For:

  • Harassment, hate speech,

  • Cheating/exploiting,

  • Serious OOC toxicity,

  • Ignoring multiple past warnings.

• Action examples:

  • Longer timed ban,

  • Permanent ban,

• Must:

  • Be documented clearly,

  • Be visible to the Admin team + Management

Communicating the Decision

Goal: Be clear, calm, and short. No essays, no debates.

Staff steps:

1. Explain briefly to the reporter:

   • “We reviewed your report about [name].”

   • “Based on the evidence, we found [rule break / no rule break].”

   • Action taken:

     • “We issued a warning.”

     • “We applied a [X-day ban].”

     • Or: “We did not find enough to punish, but we will keep an eye on things.”

   Don’t share internal logs or protected information; just the gist.

2. Explain to the reported player (if punished):

   • What the decision is,

   • Which rule(s) were broken,

   • How long the punishment lasts (if any),

   • What behavior needs to change.

3. Stay out of arguments:

   • Allow one short clarification question.

   • If they keep arguing:

     “This decision is final. If you have concerns, you may open a staff feedback ticket, but we will not debate this further here.”

Documentation & Logging

Goal: Build a history so future decisions stay consistent.

Staff steps:

1. Log every resolved ticket in the report log system, including:

   • Date/time,

   • Reporter & reported,

   • Summary of issue,

   • Evidence links,

   • Rules referenced,

   • Final action taken,

   • Staff member who handled it.

2. Tag edge cases:

   • If something felt particularly tricky or controversial, flag it for:

     • Staff meeting review,

     • Policy update (if needed). You can flag by pinging Management to a specific report.

3. Use prior logs when judging repeat offenses.

   • Before punishing, check:

     • “Has this person been warned for similar behavior before?”

   • That should influence the level (warning vs temp ban vs long ban).

     
     

Internal Staff Behavior Rules

To keep everything consistent and professional:

• Be neutral, not emotional.

  • Don’t take sides because you like/dislike a player. If you feel emotional, it’s ok to step away from the ticket and have someone else claim it.

• No handling if you’re directly involved!

  • If you’re directly involved in the conflict, another staff member should take the ticket.

• No leaking internal information

  • Don’t share logs, staff chat, or internal arguments with players.

• Respect privacy.

  • Don’t publicly shame players; punishments and tickets stay between staff and involved parties.