Player Helper Duties

From FiranMUX

Overview of PHing

Player Helpers are players who the staff feels have been helpful in assisting other players and having game knowledge. Game knowledge would be correct attitudes about the society of the Firan realm as well as knowledge of the different code that is used on this game.

Normally player helpers are chosen because they have demonstrated their game knowledge and perform a few of the duties that are listed within this file. If you are interested in becoming a player helper @mail the wizards in charge of the player helpers. To find out who is in charge of the player helpers ask a current player helper and they will be happy to let you know. Keep in mind that the staff does look at the time you can devote to the game.

Overall, PHers help the wiz staff keep in touch with the player base. They represent the staff of the game and should keep that in mind when in any type of situation.

Player helpers are special staffers on our game whose purpose is to greet guests and see to it that they find a character. They are also the main resource for newbies to the game. When a new player logs into a character, player helpers should literally go to the new player's location (if they can), help show them how to use essential commands that they may need like @sheet, lock, and the channels. They should also use their characters to immediately pull newbies into roleplaying.

FiranMUX can be intimidating to new players and statistics show that if we can get a new player roleplaying in their first day, we will likely keep them. If we don't, they are very likely to never come back. Player helpers should always '@toggle newbie-message on'. This will alert them to the fact that a newbie has logged in and that they should page the newbie and make sure that he or she is into the swing of things. Player helpers might also want to coordinate their efforts so that a newbie doesn't get ten different overwhelming pages. The PlayerHelper channel can help. They should also point new players to the web pages (www.legendary.org/firan), and to Alastor's newbie friendly Firan Survival Guide located at http://firan.legendary.org/index.php/Firan_Survival_Guide

In short, a player helper has more to do than just say "Please feel free to ask us any questions." A player helper should be proactively drawing new players onto the game, giving them tours, using their characters to roleplay with new people and get them accustomed to the game. When trying to find a character for a guest to play, player helpers should ask relevant questions like what kind of roleplay the person enjoys most, if they're looking for good/evil/roguish, and what age range they are. Player helpers should also try to teach the guests how to use @roster/filter to their advantage. We will often reward player helpers for their good work with XP and other benefits. Player helpers are always among the first people we consider for promotion to wizards.

People You Should Know

Ladonna, Taleo, Achillus, Kendra, Ania, and Adan are your PHer Leads.
Celeste, Jessica, Shelly and Pippa are your PHWizards.

The PHer Leads are your first line of defense. When you need something, speak to your PHLs FIRST. If they can't help, go up the chain of command to wizards. Remember: PH mentors first, then PH wizards.

From the PHer Leads come your policies, especially Player Helper Limits for @helpreqs.

Commands

Player helpers do have access to commands that normal players do not due to them being part of the staff. These commands can be found in 'help player helper index'. Using these commands requires using judgment on the situation. Some are more straight foreward than others, however here is a general rule of thumb for each command:

@junk/one -- allows a pher to remove an item from the garbage heap. Please make sure they abide by the 'help @junk' policy.
@helpreq -- lets a pher look at the tasks they can perform
@roster/notes -- allows a pher to add ooc notes to a character on the roster
@sethome -- sets the ic-home of a player
@title -- sets the ic title of a person
@vacation -- sets the time a person will be gone from Firan and the reason why
@hiatus -- allows a pher to set a character on an ic hiatus from their job, or remove them from ic haitus.
@birthday -- allows the pher to grant an allowed birthday bonus or blah for a character.
@phaward -- allows XP to be awarded for logs
@tally/add -- allows a pher to award players for helping with character updates and obituary updates
@social/process -- allows a pher to award social points
@ph/update -- send an update @mail to all non-rostered, non-retired and alive relationships of a character
@ph/noupdates -- set a character chooseable from the roster because no updates were sent in
@lostpassword -- send a new password when a player can't remember theirs
@rostermails -- resend the emails sent when a character is chosen from the roster
@fix/resource -- For level IV's bitten by the 'whups, I have a dead animal's dbref' resource bug, fixes their resource allocations.
@phreport -- allows a pher to record their activities for the week, which reports to Area Seniors.
@ph/toddlook -- allows a PHer to look at toddler descriptions
@ph/toddname -- allows a PHer to update a toddler's name
@ph/change to child -- allows a PHer to change a toddler to a child
@ph/look -- allows a PHer to view a player's written description
@ph/desc -- allows a PHer to change a written description.
@ph/wall -- allows a PHer to make global emits.
@ph/features -- allows a PHer to change a player's feature

Manning the Help and Guest Channels

There are two channels that are important for player helpers to be on to help ease some of the work for wizards. These channels are the guest and help channels. The reason why staying on these channels help the wizards is that many of the questions that are asked by guests or by players on the help channel, can be answered by someone who has knowledge of the game.

For example, on the guest channel the duties of a player helper would be helping the guest to learn about the game itself, such as the theme and the view points of the society, or helping the guest to find a character from the roster if they have need of it. It is encouraged that player helpers use the player helper channel so that a guest is not overwhelmed by five people each stating the same information.

We are often very enthusiastic in helping guests. But please, in your excitment to help someone, don't overdo it, as some guests will feel bothered by it. Offer your help, but let them ask their own questions.

For the help channel, the wizards would like the player helpers to be on the channel as much as possible to answer questions. Mainly when answering questions it is best to state what file, help or news, that the information can be found so that the player can learn to familarize themself with the help and news files. Also, player helpers should guide players in the proper way to get help from staff. Again, please try to not over help the player by having six people all answer at the same time.

Don't be afraid to point talkative people away from the help channel if they have no questions but a need to talk. The help channel is for help with the game, problems, theme, etc.. Anything that is not a question or an answer is best found on another channel. Point them to go to public, or any other channel you find more appropriate.

If you provide answers to questions, always give the help files or news files so they learn to be self sufficient. You can give them the answer to a question, but still tell them the help file. (I'm lost help! See help lost, if you still have trouble, page me.) There is also a combat channel for general/specific questions about combat and you can direct them there.

Often people will straight off ask to speak with wizards. Ask them if a PHer will suffice. This is often the case if an issue isn't secrets-related. If they absolutely need a wizard and no one jumps in, suggest that they might also @request, possible with 'Attn: KATH' (or whoever) in the title to get the appropriate wizard's attention. If they wish to talk with a PHer, ask them if it's something that can be discussed on channel. Addressing questions publicly on channel can help if it's a common question that others might have been wondering about anyway.

Help Channel Commands and Duties

Shortcut Use

An important duty a player helper has is allowing a player to use the shortcut exit. This is important as again it calls for the player helper to use a judgment call. Remember to make sure that the player 'stuck' in the room is not locked in the room icly. Do this by asking the player and asking on the player helper channel. Let the player know that if they are not stating the truth about the situation a wizard will contact them about breaking one of the game policies.

Check to make sure that there are no active character on the grid to let the player out as they should be let out by another character if possible. Make sure the player has waited to see if the other person they were rping with will reconnect due to lag and other server problems.

Once the player is given the ok to use the shortcut command, please make a posting to the player helper board so that others know the player was given the ok.

The @home

If people want their @home reset, you need to ask them if the change is permanent and appropriate. Next, make sure they are in the actual room they want set, and that they are not camped somewhere. Finally, use the @sethome command to change the @home (help @sethome). This will post to the PHer board.

A permanent @home is where someone lives full-time. It is not where a person is visiting, even for an extended stay. If someone is recently evicted for whatever reason, and not certain where they will be living, they should not yet have a permanent @home set. Permanent @homes should be both thematically appropriate, and appropriate living areas (i.e., no living in the barn, the kitchen, etc.). For thematic considerations, keep in mind that families should generally live together under one roof, unless there are extenuating circumstances like someone being ostracized or cast out of their family. If in doubt, ask for a second opinion on the PHer channel.

The 'camp' command is used to set a temporary @home. Soldiers may camp in the barracks, and anyone can camp in tents. This is different from a permanent @home.

The @delivery

Most items that can't be @delivered are prohibited in the code. This includes water (which can be delivered if placed in a container, such as a barrel), corpses (which can be butchered if animals, and will need wizard attention otherwise), livestock, and extremely heavy things (which can be broken into multiple deliveries via the separate command). The weight limit of the @delivery command is 5,000 pounds, so check if the object is over the limit and have said player use the 'separate' command'.

As mentioned above, certain items can't be @delivered. Also, you might need to be awake and IC to use the command. Oh, and it's '@delivery', not '@deliver'.

Wizards need to deliver wagons, animals, and carts for those who are traveling between cities, so the appropriate tolls can be charged.

The @hiatus

You can only put a PC on hiatus when they are officially and icly away from the city, or imprisoned (Republic jail does it's own @hiatusing) or officially removed from active duty but not fired. It is not for player vacations.

The @title

The ONLY official titles:

Military rank: Sentry, Centurion etc.

Religious rank: High Priest, High Priestess, Priest, Priestess, Shaman, Father, Mother

Bestowed: Sir, Dame (Sharanir), Proxy*

Elected: Viceroy, Delegate

Royal: Ranivor, Clan Leader, Queen, Prince, Princess

Class: Lord, Lady, Mer, Mes

PROXY is only a title if the Proxy is currently holding the clan medallion (such as when Fidelia held it).

MINISTER and JUDGE are not titles you should set. If in doubt, ask.

The Garbage Heap

This is where you @junk/one stuff to zappify it!

Whenever a player uses @junk on an item, it gets sent to the Garbage Heap. To enter, use the 'gh' exit from the staff lounge. You'll need to be tagged with permission to do so. The help file '@junk for player helpers' explains what to do once there.

Remember, don't take anything from the Garbage Heap room. If a player asks about an item inadvertently lost, use the @junk/review command so that a wizard can return the item.

Also note - Do not @junk/review keys. Wizards will go through and handle those.

@vacations

A vacation @helpreq usually includes the date the player will last connect and ideally should include the return date. Use the command once they have left. Logging back in will remove the vacation tag from the character, so they will have to re-@request. Never set @vacation for longer than 14 days, anything beyond that frame of time needs to be approved and set by a wizard.

The helpreq itself and the help file 'help @vacation' can explain any more information that you may need.

Please make sure you put the date in the month-day-year (5-5-1905) format in order to ensure that the dates do not get cut off in the person's @finger. Approximations should be made into the month/day/year format as well; if they say 'the beginning of January', use 1-1-2008.

Slashes do not work with the code. Do not use them!

Newbies

Take a peek at PHer Guide for Newbie Help.

Have them read help newbie and news newbie. If you are available for rp, seek out a newbie and rp with them. If you have the time, give them a tour of the places they should know: bath house, bank, how to get back to their @home. Encourage them to jump right in after reading their sheets. Let them know if they know you or if any important past incidents have happened, they would be aware of too. Have them post on @bb 22, asking for updates, letting people know the character is off the roster now. FacHeads often jump in and help the newbie settle in as well. You can page their fachead and see if they can help the newbie as well. A list of FacHeads can be found via the @fachead command.

Tours

Once a guest has chosen a character and joined the FiranMUX game as a player, There was a time when a wizard could show the new player around the IC world. However as the player base has increased this duty has fallen to player helpers to perform. It is encouraged that new players are not orientated by just being paged the directions. Instead go to where the player is and show them around to the important spots on the game such as the forum (0.0.0), the bank, and the messenger service.

When orientating a player I normally go to where that player is at and direct them to files that will help them move about the grid. (Such files would be indicated in help lost.) From there I follow the new player and have them go to various places on the grid. I have the player complete various tasks that also benefit the player's character. (ex: opening a bank account, buying a keyring from the market, sending a message to someone on their relationships.) By doing this it teaches the new player how to use the commands and also makes them learn how to use the @coords command as well as help files.

On top of helping the new player to learn commands and become orientated upon the grid, player helpers should help encourage role play for new players as well as old players.

Assisting Players with Difficulties

Once roleplaying on FiranMUX, there can be difficulties that arise between player personalities that clash, confusion between the real world society and beliefs with Firan's society and beliefs, or problems that exist between a player not connecting with their character. The list could go on, but these are common ones.

Player helpers are asked to try and help players in these circumstances by mediating cases where they can, helping the player to understand the difference between Firan beliefs and real world beliefs, and helping other players with feasible role playing ideas for the character to make it entertaining for that player. However at times player helpers cannot conduct miracles. It is understood that on occasion a player helper will not be able to mediate a situation. It is encouraged that the player helper does alert the wizards in charge when there are possible problems so that the wizards can have a heads up on the situation and be able to take over in mediating the situation, or helping as it is needed. If the situation is over a player helper's head, contact a wizard as soon as possible.

@social/process use

Please view Social Requests for Player Helpers for more detailed information.

@social/process types will list the types of social adjustments that Player Helpers are authorized to do.

The command has prompts which must be followed. If there is any concern over the social award, please use the @helpreq/transfer command to send it to the wizard @request board.

Festival: All run-of-the-mill Festival speeches and announcements are denied because they get SP at the end. This DOES NOT include opening/closing prayers -- those are processed as duty EVEN IF the priest/ess is a coordinator. It falls outside their job as Festival Coordinator and should thusly garner them additional SP. If a speech comes in about Shamibelians crashing our shindigs or kids burning tents or somesuch, we'll handle those as any other nom.

Important Note: While we have a social/process for several things (births, betrothals, weddings, etc.), these are NOT applicable to ROYAL FAMILIES. The following houses are royal: Elianik (Republic), Firgalik (GD), Ista Aldrik (Bear), Istaneysani (Eagle), Corinala (Griffon), IstaNydiam (Cockatrice), Oshta (Ticanee), Elikista (Chimera), Istabelik (Hydra).

Glory Points

PHers award glory points to players based on acts of glory they see (no nom necessary) or nominated glory points. If the nomination warrants a small or medium glory points award, use @glory/award to hand out the appropriate amount. If you feel as if this nomination warrants a large award, five Player Helpers must agree that a large award is appropriate before @glory/award may be used.

Note: Glory Points are awarded using a "blind" system. All associated nominations should be finished out with a simple "processed" note in order to maintain anonymity.

If a glory nomination comes in from a PHer, the processing PHers should automatically examine it for a 'large' award and follow the proper procedure from there -- UNLESS the nom is overtly because awarding would create a conflict. (IE, Ladonna nominates Ladonna). To that note, the nominating PHer should make it clear that he or she is nominating for a LARGE award.

Community Points Approval

When awarding community points, it's important to give people credit for what they're doing. People do a lot of different things to help the game, in many ways small and large. We want to give people a chance to be recognized for these things. If a player does three things that are all military related, and is nominated for all three of those things, we want to give him recognition for each of those things, even though they are all military related. If he is nominated twice for running an event on "How to capture a flag" and twice for helping to clean out the barracks and once for helping a new player learn combat code, this counts as three nominations, and two can be denied for being repeats, but the others should still be awarded.

The point of awarding community points isn't to be stingy with them, it is to encourage a sense of community and community building by giving them to encourage players to keep contributing where they can. Keeping this in mind when awarding will help - giving people two community points for a job well done is a good idea, although like with logs, as long as the person is making a contribution, giving them 1 CP as long as they're contributing to Firan is the job of the player helpers when using the @cpoints/approve.

If you're unsure what to do, ask your PHLs and other PHers for opinions. If you can't decide what to do after asking other player helpers, and are still in doubt about whether to approve for more points or send up to the wizzes for a large adjustment, like with social processing, a poll can be started on Ikonboard to help. Always a good idea, but be generous.

Having said that, what follows is a list of guidelines to keep in mind when processing community points requests:

1) CPs can only be given out for OOC effort for the game. CPs are awarded for things like helping a player get situated on the game, showing people around, being particularly helpful, or anything that helps to foster a sense of community for Firan. We're going to ask you to use common sense when awarding CPs, about whether or not it benefited the game in an OOC community fashion.

2) CP nominations must be detailed. They should be a brief paragraph about why a person deserves to earn some CPs, much in the way we have people explain why they should have birthday bonuses. We want to know why people are standing out to earn community points, because essentially, if they are not already, these people might also be potential future PHers themselves. Or, they just like giving back to the community.

3) PHers may give up to 1-3 CPs per nomination. You should only award 3 CPs if you feel a player went above and beyond the call of duty from the description of the nomination, otherwise 1 CP is just fine.

4) No PHer should have more than 3 CP requests claimed at a time, to start out, as we go through this list. This should give everyone an opportunity to start processing CP requests.

5) If a character is rostered, the community points request should be escalated as an @request to the wizard staff so they can confirm if the player has alts and award the appropriate community points.

Tinyplots

One of the jobs staff has entrusted player helpers and faction heads with is stirring up RP for others on the game. To help them with this task, staff has enabled them to take a level IV with the special role of helping a tinyplot along. In order to take one of these special level IV's, player helpers and faction heads must follow a certain set of guidelines. These guidelines are as follows:

1) The player helper or faction head is first required to submit an @request Attn: Jessica, detailing their proposed plot. The plot should have a -specific- goal in mind. It should detail the following:

what they are trying to accomplish
how the plot begins
what happens in the middle of the plot
what are three possible outcomes of the plot (favourable, unfavourable, and so-so)
what staff resources are needed (objects, rooms built/added on to cities, etc)
who is involved
where it takes place
plot character's name, clan, and any other relevant info

These @requests will be reviewed by staff, and accepted, or denied with a request for more information as necessary. Staff will also periodically hold workshops in tinyplotting, and player helpers and faction heads are strongly encouraged, but not required, to

2) The cost of running a tinyplot with a player helper or faction head level IV is 5 CP per level IV character created for that purpose. This is to ensure that level IV's are not taken willy nilly, and then abandoned without seeing a plot through. There will be a CP compensation at the end of a completed TP. (see #4)

3) Logs must be submitted of TP roleplay, so that staff can monitor the progress of the tinyplots. These logs must be sent to firan-logs@yahoogroups.com, with the following heading: <Level IV character name: PH or FH PLOT - title>. These logs -can- be submitted for XP, but if they are of a very sensitive nature, please indicate wiz-only so we don't send them down to the Ph'ers for review.

4) Once the plot is completed, the leader will need to @request that the plot is done, and any cleanup staff may need to do (ie. burning bodies, stuff to @junk, characters to retire, etc). At that time, each person who bought a level IV will be paid 5 CP for completion of the tinyplot.

5) Take a peek at some past Player Helper Tinyplots.

6) Read, review, and love Player Helper TP Expectations.

RP Logs

PHers are in charge of reviewing RP logs and grading them. Generally, PHers process for either 1 or 2, but they are permitted to deny the logs. They need to be neat and easy to read in order to get XP. If a PHer gets a log that is 0, they will explain the denial thoroughly. Decent logs are worth 1. Logs that are both well-RP'd and display an aspect of theme earn 2 and then PHers post that log to the wiki at the log page. If, for whatever reason, you can't edit the wiki (or don't want to), the PHer should let his or her mentor know and he/she will deal with it for you or reassign it to someone who can. The PHers are instructed not to be stingy with logs.

Your basic rule of thumb for awarding XP is 2 or more poses by the player. If the character just enters/exits, there's no need to award XP for that. Use your judgement.

http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/firan-ph/

Building

You may claim one building @helpreq at a time. Finish it within 10 days or less. Do not hang on to a building request past 15 days, just unclaim the job if you get too busy or don't feel like writing descs. If there are multiple old @helpreqs out there, then you can claim a second once you've finished the first. Remember that the general rule is to allow others to build as well, but don't let building @helpreqs sit on the queue for too many weeks.

After a PHer describes a room, and marks it as done, it goes onto a queue for a second PHer to doublecheck. You can see this queue by typing '@descs'. If there is a @desc to review, you can use the @descs commands (see 'help @descs') to claim it, and then either approve or deny it. @mail will get sent to the submitting PHer. Every now and then a reminder of pending @requests is submitted to the PHer channel.

You should not take a building @helpreq for any building that an alt has commissioned, or that they will be residing in. Otherwise, they're fair game.

In the finished helpreq, put down who reviewed the @desc, and that it's been done and is ready to go.

Descing Guidelines

The following are tips and suggestions to keep in mind when taking on the job of describing a room, another duty that PHers take on.

1. A thesaurus, when not over-used, is your friend. It gives you word substitute suggestions and helps to avoid being overly repetitive.

2. Theme is very important! Remember, there are not rockers, coffee tables, books, lamps, love seats, or the like on Firan. Review 'help construction multipliers2', it does give an idea of what can be expected in a room/house of the different social classes.

3. Watch the length of the descriptions. They should never take up more than a full screen and even that is too verbose. Half a screen is perfect as the description can be seen and not be lost or cut off as items are added <at least to a point>. Half a screen is approx. 15 lines.

4. Remember room sizes! An average room is 10x10 and that is not very big. Sizes are important when desc'ing what is placed in the rooms.

5. Do not color your descriptions. People use different backgrounds and words can be lost or faded.

6. Avoid words like 'sunlight' or 'moonlight' in room descriptions. There are weather emits and sunlight isn't there if it's raining, snowing, or cloudy. The same goes for bright daylight, or words like 'streams in', 'pours in', etc.

7. Avoid describing the condition of the furniture. Furniture like couches, beds, tables, wardrobes, chests, etc. are all able to be made. The same goes for desc'ing rooms as having tapestries or paintings, again these can be made and hung by the players. Keep it relatively simple such as 'a bed with a wool blanket, coverlet, etc.' or 'a chair with gold and blue upholstery', 'white cotton curtains'.

8. Please avoid words like 'plush' 'feminine' 'masculine' as it might not fit in with the character that will be living there.

9. Inside rooms, not including stables or chicken coops, should use the formats like 'inside' or 'inside-general'. Stables and coops could have the formats that require seasonal descriptions as well.

10. Old City -- The OC is a unique place and the buildings can be made of recycled materials. If recycled materials are used, it will be stated in the job. As such, while rooms can be sturdily made, the materials are not top-notch. Floor plankings won't match, stone <if made of stone> will be chipped or scuffed, etc. Think recycled materials from a slum area. This doesn't mean the room itself is slummy though.

11. Windows don't open in Firan. Glass panes aren't crystal clear and only the temples have colored glass. Avoid describing window views, especially in the Old City. The glass panes aren't that clear and in the case of the OC, areas are constantly changing as renovations take place.

12. Remember! If four people are each doing a room in a four room house, it should not be apparent that they have been described by four different people. Get together with each other, teamwork is the key.

13. We would like for the rooms on the grid to have the same basic paragraph formatting, so please avoid using %T at the beginning of your descs, as though it may be proper to indent the first line of a paragraph in literature, on the game it tends to look untidy.

Your Shovel and You

The following is a check list and examples for the shovel commands used by the playerhelpers.

To begin, go to the staff lounge and check out a shovel:

      tool/checkout shovel=<reason>

You must then teleport to the room you will be working on.

      @shovel teleport #<room number>

Going by the information found in the helpreq, you are now ready to begin working on the room. You must first set an appropriate format on the room depending on if it is an outside room or an inside room.

OUTSIDE:

standard - a general, day, night... winter, fall, spring, summer desc

combined - a day-winter, day-summer, day-spring, day-fall, night-fall, night-summer, night-winter, night-spring, night-fall desc

combined-general - a general, day-fall, day-spring, day-summer, day-winter, night-summer, night-winter, night-fall, night-winter desc

INSIDE:

inside - a day, night desc

inside-general - a general, day, night desc

Once you have decided what format you are going to use for the room it is time to set it:

      @shovel format <appropriate format>

Now it is time for the descriptions. Which ever format you have chosen will need all the aspects that are listed. If you are desc'ing an inside room and have chosen 'inside-general', you will have 3 aspects to write: general, day, and night.

      @shovel dig <aspect>=<description>

Once you are finished with one aspect, you will again use the '@shovel dig' command to continue with the next aspect until all the descriptions are in. You can review your descriptions by using:

      @shovel inspect - which will give you the current date/time 
                        setting for the room
      @shovel next - will let you cycle through all the descriptions, 
                        showing you each one in turn.

The descriptions are in, it's time to look at the exit(s) from the room. The exit(s) need descriptions as well and there are four to set.

      @shovel exit message depart <exitname> = <message>
                 This is the message people in the room are going to 
                 see when a person leaves the room.
                      Ex:  leaves the kitchen.

      @shovel exit message player <exitname> = <message>
                 This is the message the player will see when leaving 
                 a room.       
                      Ex: You leave the kitchen.

      @shovel exit message arrive <exitname> = <message>
                 This is the message people in the other room will see
                 when someone comes from 'your' room to another.
                      Ex:  arrives from the kitchen.

      @shovel exit message desc <exitname> = <message>
                 The description of the exit.  
                      Examples:  A wooden door. An archway.

      @shovel exit inspect <exit> - will display the messages set on
                 the exit.

The room is almost finished. What is needed is for other PHers to be able to review your work for spelling errors, theme, or just to offer some constructive criticism. Key word here is constructive.

      @shovel finish -- this will post the room description to the PHer
                        board.

      @shovel done -- this will return you to the staff lounge.

      tool/checkin shovel -- returns the shovel to the locker.

Once your room is completely finished and has been reviewed by your fellow PHers, you are now ready to check off the job. This will send @mail to the wizard that added the helpreq so that they are aware it is finished.

      @helpreq/finished <# of req>

@phreport

The @phreport command keeps track of all the work the PHers do. It is fairly simple to use and very important; having a blank report for three weeks in a row is grounds for wizards to gently ask you to give up your bit. If you want to stay a PHer, you need to remember to put at least one item in your report every three weeks.

To see how to use it, visit 'help @phreport index' on the game and ask on channel for your PHLs to assist you.

PHreport Headings are used to organize your entries in your PHreport.

Birthday Bonuses and Blahs

PLAYED CHARACTERS

Bonuses:

@mail. Wait 7 days.
@mail. Wait 4 days.
@mail. Wait 3 days
If no reply, randomly pick something to raise using the '@birthday/rand-bonus' command.
If a Level IV has been idle for more than two weeks when the Birthday Bonus is posted, use @birthday/rand-bonus immediately.
If you use the @birthday/rand-bonus command, please note the helpreq number in the finished request. Players may wish to appeal.

Blahs:

@mail. Wait 7 days.
@mail. Wait 4 days.
@mail. Wait 3 days
Randomly pick something to lower using the '@birthday/rand-blah' command.
If you use the @birthday/rand-blah command, please note the helpreq number in the finished request. Players may wish to appeal.

Cancelling a Bonus and a Blah:

If a played character gets a bonus and a blah, and there is a common attribute on both the bonus and blah lists, they may choose to cancel out their bonus and blah using that attribute. They do not have to provide an IC justification for this. Just run the @birthday/bonus and @birthday/blah commands on the same attribute.

If a played character has a bonus and a blah and does not respond to @mails, cancel them out using this procedure.

Bonuses to 5:

If the player is spending CP for a birthday bonus to five, use the '@birthday/cp' command. If the player is using skills or logs, @request with the details and their reasoning, and instruct them to send their logs to firan-logs@yahoogroups.com. A wizard will approve or deny the raise.

Blahs to 1:

@request to double check that it's okay.

Favor raises:

@request with the details and the player's reasoning, and the diety involved will approve or deny the raise. Make sure the @request is to the attention of the diety involved. Example: ATN: Zutiv - Shelly's Bonus.

ROSTERED CHARACTERS

Review the character's sheet and stats, and choose an attribute from the list that makes sense to raise or lower. Do so, and finish the @helpreq, mentioning that the character was rostered, the stat that was changed and what it was changed to, and your reasoning for what you did.

(use @birthday/attr <name> to see his or her stats)

You may use the @birthday/rand-bonus or @birthday/rand-blah commands if you wish, but it's generally nicer to take the time and read through the sheet ...especially because you might accidently raise a 2!

-- Please Note: If you can help it, DO NOT raise 2s. NEVER raise 1s. These are sheeted weaknesses and every PC needs a weakness in order to be a balanced, interesting character. You are looking for 3s to 4s (4->5 is right out since you would need IC reasoning that you the PHer cannot provide).

2. If a rostered character receives a Bonus and a Blah, cancel them out.

RETIRED AND IDLE CHARACTERS

Bonuses:

Use @birthday/rand-bonus. Explain why and how to appeal if/when the PC returns. No need to worry about tags.

Blahs:

Use @birthday/rand-blah. Explain why and how to appeal if/when the PC returns. No need to worry about tags.

VACATIONED PEOPLE

Please hold onto the bonus until their return date and then send the 3 @mails as normal over the course of two weeks. If there is still no reply, you may use the randomizers.

@ph/wall

This is to be used for purposes of announcing events and publicizing RP opportunities for other players. This is not for making NPC opinions or 'official' thematic statements that would require a GM emit.

-PH'ers are allowed to @ph/wall emits for players that do not create NPC reactions.
-PH'ers are to use the player's wall request verbatim (unless there is a thematic issue with their wording, then the PHer will adjust it with the player to both's satisfaction)
-With the change of most player requested @walls going through PH'ers, we have decided to eliminate the cost. If you notice a pattern of abuse, please mention it to your PHL who will bring it to an issues meetings.
-If you feel that an emit hinges on NPC reactions, please let the player know. He or she can either ask for a wiz or work with you to reword it. There's nothing wrong and it's not a reprimand!

You should use @ph/wall only:

When heralds are offline

When an event is spontaneous or unscheduled -- and use this sparingly. Encourage posts to 19 /first/. If people still aren't showing up, then an @ph/wall is acceptable.
When the heralds have been used and the event organizer and make a good claim that they need some help driving attendance (i.e. the heralds have run and no one has shown up.)
The event is sufficiently big/noteworthy that people 'should' be there (say a major gladiator title belt, or a huge royal wedding). Use your discretion. This may run into wiz-emit turf, so be careful.

The thought behind this is that we shouldn't be @ph/walling every event -- that will lead to people just ignoring @ph/walls, which isn't what we want!

If someone is very annoyed that we won't do a @ph/wall for them, they can always pay 5 CP for a wiz-emit. But in general, encourage @bb 19 even more.

PHers need a 'phwaller' tag to use this command.

@ph/features

The syntax is @ph/features <name>. This allows you to change the features of any character on the grid with a CP cost and wizard oversight. You may only change the features of a character if there's an @helpreq on it. @ph/look shows the feature as well.

Processing Relationship Updates

See How to Process a Relationship Update