GM Code of Conduct
GMs are representatives of Midnight City Chronicles. The reputation of the game is built upon its staff, and therefore the staff are held to a high standard. The following set of rules govern the behaviour of all GMs in the game, but ultimately it can all be summed up as: be fair, be professional, and do your job. GMs must abide by this code and the player’s code, and if they are found violating either they will be punished - harshly. There is no room in this game for staff who will not abide by the rules they are supposed to uphold.
All GMs will conduct themselves in a professional manner when in GM nick and performing GM duties.
This means no petty arguments with players, no obnoxious behaviour, and nothing that violates the GM Code of Conduct. Any GMs found violating the code of conduct will be stripped of their GM authority and may suffer further punishment, such as a ban.
All GMs in GM nick are on duty, no exceptions.
If a GM does not intend to monitor the room(s), answer questions, run quests or duels, or do any other GM duties, they should not be in their GM nick and must select the "off duty" role on the server.
GMs will be welcoming to all players and will answer player questions respectfully.
They will refrain from using crude and offensive language. If a GM is in a bad mood and cannot conduct themselves in a respectful manner, then they should not be in their GM nick.
GMs will remain impartial in all disputes.
Regardless of who is involved in a dispute, a GM must remain a neutral and objective third party. Any GM found showing blatant and intentional favouritism to a friend in a dispute will be stripped of their authority. If a GM is unable to remain objective, they should step aside and let another GM handle the issue.
GMs will enforce the rules at all times.
Any GM observing disruptive behaviour and/or rule breaking activity in the IC or OOC rooms has an obligation to end that behaviour as soon as possible. Implement the three strikes policy - Strike 1 is a warning. Strike 2 is a kick from the server. Strike 3 is a ban. The length of the ban will vary from 24 hours to permanent depending on the severity of offense. Extremely severe offenses (ex. threatening the safety of others or posting illegal material) may bypass 3 strikes and go straight to a ban.
GMs will not use their status as staff to gain an unfair advantage for their own characters.
Including but not limited to:
- Adding extra items, money, or experience to their sheets
- Using staff knowledge of upcoming plots to metagame
- Purposefully setting obstacles for rival characters
- Modifying rules in any way that intentionally favours their characters
- Falsifying logs
Any GM found to be abusing their authority to grant their character (or a friend’s character) an advantage will not only lose their authority but will be banned from the game.
GMs will not play against the players.
A GM’s duty is to design scenarios that are fun, challenging, and fair. A GM will not design quests solely to kill characters. They will not fudge rolls and difficulty levels such that the players cannot be successful no matter what they try. Any poor outcomes, lost limbs, deaths, etc. should come about only as a result of the player’s decision making.
GMs will not use quests solely as venues to show off their NPCs.
NPCs are not the focus of the story, they exist to further the story of the PCs. Likewise, GMs will not build quest storylines around their own PCs.
GMs will show up on time for designated events.
If a GM says they will be running a quest at a certain time on a certain day, it is up to them to be there. If a real life event prevents them from honouring that time, they must inform the players or get another staff member to relay the message and/or cover for them as soon as possible. It is understandable that an emergency might arise and a GM is unable to inform someone in a timely manner. They should inform fellow staff at their earliest convenience. However, if this becomes a pattern, then it is clear the GM cannot uphold their duties and they will be stripped of their title until such a time as they can meet their obligations.
A GM must be around to run at least one event once a week.
Whether that be a quest or a duel, this is the minimum level of activity acceptable for a staff member. If there are not enough participating players for that event, it will not count against the GM as long as they showed up to run it. However, if there consistently aren’t players for a particular event then the GM needs to re-schedule to a time better suited for the players.
GMs will conduct themselves in a respectful manner in public venues outside of the game
This means that any GM representing Midnight City Chronicles in any capacity, official or unofficial, on other websites in the RP community will honour the rules of those sites and:
- will not advertise Midnight City Chronicles except in designated ad forums
- will not send unsolicited messages to attempt to ‘poach’ players from other games
- will not spam, flame, or otherwise harass others
- will not steal content from other sites for use in Midnight City