'Souls RPG Staff

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  1.   1.  General
  2.   2.  Moderators
    1.   2.1  Information
    2.   2.2  Duties
  3.   3.  Administrators
    1.   3.1  Information
    2.   3.2  Duties
  4.   4.  See Also

1.  General

  • Pack leaders are not a part of the staff at 'Souls. While pack leaders may serve as moderators and vice versa, the groups are two very different, separate entities. Pack leaders are given moderation powers only over their own pack's forum, and pack leaders do not enforce rules, deal with infractions, etc.
  • Moderators are part of the board staff, yes. However, a Moderator and a 'Souls Assemblage member are not the same thing. Moderators are not a part of the punitive authority (people who can punish you!) of 'Souls. This isn't to say you don't have to listen when a Moderator asks you to tone it down in the chat, but Moderators do not participate in discussions relevant to member infractions and rule-breaking, nor are they privy to information in the administrative forum.
  • Moderators and Administrators both have separate private forums and subforums. Administrators can, of course, see into and participate in discussions within the Moderators' forum, but Moderators cannot see into the Administrator's forum.


2.  Moderators

2.1  Information

Moderators first serve as a Moderator Intern before being made a full-fledged Moderator. Interns have limited access (no Moderator forum access and fewer forums to moderate) and are given an indefinite period of trial.

While the moderators operate as a team, their system of participation is somewhat less formalized than the SA's operation -- if only because Moderators are rarely given things to approve or disapprove. However, Moderators may run contests and plots of their own choosing, with administrative permission.

2.2  Duties

  • Essential maintenance -- archiving old threads, cleaning things up, doing lots of little junky things that would drive the 'SA crazy forever ;_;
  • Project assistance -- e.g., a member suggests a new page addition to the RP Guide. The 'SA then discusses in their private forum and approves of the idea, and then posts the approved idea for the moderators for collaborative work between administrator and moderator.
  • Clearing away OOC drama -- while the moderators are able to shut down public conflicts (by locking the topic, kicking a user from chat, etc.), the punishment of offending individuals is always handled by the 'SA. Moderators do not have punitive powers and cannot act beyond the confines of their duties. E.g., it's okay for a moderator to temporarily kick a user from the chat, but a moderator cannot enact a permanent ban from the chat; moderators can lock and move a drama-filled thread, but they cannot enact a warning or ban on the offending members.
  • Member assistance -- Moderators are the first line of defense! They're meant to aid members with questions and help them along with game procedures, etiquette, guidelines, etc. whereever possible.

3.  Administrators

3.1  Information

Administrators, also known as the 'Souls Assemblage, are the "owners" of the game. We're a highly organized bunch of awesome people, of course! ;)

The 'SA operates in a loosely democratic fashion. The majority vote typically determines our course of action, though a single individual with strong objections to a particular change may influence the decision. Almost everything we do is decided thus; the only time an administrator acts solo are for minor and uninvolved issues; for example, a member may ask a simple question answerable by linking to the procedures. Even for things such as the Tumblr answers, if the question requires any kind of drafting, we work together with at least two administrators approving a drafted question.

For heavily involved things -- such as a severe member infraction, changes to the board rules, etc. -- we prefer as many administrators to participate as possible, and rarely act without the input of at least three individual administrators. This can explain our delay sometimes in responding to hefty subject matter, as we allow as many 'SA as possible to respond to the issue.

3.2  Duties

  • Requests evaluations and joining application evaluation
  • Rule infractions -- the 'SA has a "generalized guideline" for various infractions, the typical punishment for the infraction, and the steps administrators should take to rectify the problem. However, as each situation is unique and each member is unique, we don't adhere to these guidelines with absolute rigidity. Some situations call for firmer actions, while others may be best controlled with a light hand.
    We strive to avoid embarassing members, and therefore keep discussions within the administrator forum private. We don't publicize and share warning or ban information with anyone except where absolutely necessary: e.g., if a member is banned from the board and they are a pack member, we tell the leader that the pack-member was banned from the board for some time, but we do not tell them the reason for the ban, the length of the ban, etc.
  • New board skins, board security, board modifications and upgrades, and various other technical aspects of the game are also the responsibility of the SA, including securing regular funding for domain registration and hosting, troubleshooting bugs, and minimizing downtime.
  • The SA maintains all 'Souls-related off-board accounts on websites like deviantART, Livejournal, Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr.
  • Oversight of the moderators
  • Everything that isn't listed here O_O

4.  See Also