Livestream Chat Guidelines

Mission Statement
We want an open, friendly community where people can come together and discuss their favorite games and other interests in a real-time chat that isn't infested with trolls and assholes. At the same time, we recognize that we're dealing with people, not machines, and therefore rules have to be flexible and gentle, if possible.

Rules
There is only one numbered rule:


 * 1) Don't be a tard!. Included in this:
 * 2) * don't talk back to moderators. I'm sure I don't need to emphasize how stupid that is.
 * 3) * don't be a backseat moderator -- you're not a chat mod, you don't know how the rules are normally interpreted (though this guide should help). Somehow, we grew a "don't post links without asking" "rule", which was never a rule. It irritated some of us to have to keep saying "yes, you can post the link".
 * 4) * don't use unnecessary text formatting (bold, italic, underline ; as a hint: text formatting is never necessary).
 * 5) * don't spam. If we've never seen you before, and the first and only thing you post is a link to something, you're getting banned forever. No second chances for spammers.
 * 6) * don't repeat yourself uselessly -- if you didn't get a reply the first time, you won't get one the second time. You may get a ban, though.
 * 7) * don't act stupid -- if you're not sure about something, google is usually your friend.
 * 8) * don't ask streamers to stream -- asking is irritating and we'd be doing it if we felt like it, anyway.
 * 9) * relatedly, don't tell a streamer how to play -- do you like it when someone's watching over your shoulder and telling you what you're supposed to do? Neither do we.
 * 10) * don't say useless things, e.g. "first" after a chat clear.
 * 11) * don't be a jerk. We're trying to have a nice conversation here.
 * 12) * don't ask for server addresses. If we're in a public server, we'll be actively inviting you to join us. If we're not, we don't need to repeat "it's private" every five minutes.
 * 13) * think!!! I'm putting this last, but it's the most important. There's no way to codify all the signs of tardness in one place, and I'm not going to try to do so -- you're supposed to use your own common sense to figure out how to appear intelligent, polite, and nice to the chatters around you.

Other Considerations
As has been stated above, the point items are not an exhaustive list -- they're just things to watch out for and to try not to do. Also bear in mind the moderation team is only human, and everyone's interpretation of the rule is slightly different. If you think you might be doing something out of line, ask -- we appreciate when people consider the impact of what they're doing.

One other important point: if you don't like a moderation call, ask privately about it. We have a contact form that will get your message to interested parties in email form, and if you leave your email address, we may reply to you, if needed.

Mission Statement
Our purpose, as moderators, is to insure civil conversation takes place, which is a two-edged sword: on the one hand, we must crack down on unwanted behaviour; on the other hand, we can't be too aggressive, or we won't have any chatters. I'd personally like to suggest assuming good faith until proven otherwise, rather than the opposite.

Rules

 * 1) You are a moderator, and therefore also a streamer. Your statements are always backed by the threat of force, whether you intend them that way or not. Therefore, be nice. "Please read the FAQ at http://go.narc.ro/faq" is much more appropriate than "read the faq, you tard".
 * 2) When making a moderation decision, be in the loop. A few times in the past, we've had moderators applying bans without being easily contactable, and this has led to some unfortunate incidents. Most of the time, the current active moderators are all in one place and tend to discuss what to do before doing it -- if you're not around for those discussions, then please don't hit the "ban" links.
 * 3) The current streamer says what goes. As we know, the rule for chatters can be interpreted with varying amounts of force. If you're not the current streamer, defer to them on moderation decisions.
 * 4) Some off-topicness is to be expected. Some trolling is also to be expected. This is normal, especially when performing boring activities (all games have them, really). As long as the on-topic, interesting comments (assuming there are any) aren't being drowned out in such, don't worry about it.
 * 5) Arguments are bad. Whether they're between chatters or between chatters and moderators, public argument weakens our position. Arguments should therefore be taken to private media as soon as possible.
 * 6) Don't order people around. This comes back to rule #1, but from a different angle -- it's been noted that we sometimes simply say "don't do that" instead of saying why it's a bad thing. The chatters won't stand for that, and will either argue or just leave, neither of which is a desirable outcome.
 * 7) Finally, be respectful. Again, I'm restating something already mentioned, but this is even more important for moderators to keep in mind than it is for the chatters. Because we're assuming good faith, we can assume that chatters want to do the right thing -- but they won't do it if we're being rude about it.

Other Considerations
As moderators, we have some power (namely, the power to remove chatters temporarily or permanently from the discussion). We are also accorded some respect, but we will only keep this respect for as long as we're seen as being fair -- so be fair! The new people don't know the rules -- guide them here. The older chatters sometimes don't realize they're doing things wrong -- help them realize this. Assume good faith until it's not possible to do so anymore.

Remember that every situation is different -- what worked once, for a different moderator and different chatter, may not work another time. More than most, you need to think about what you're doing.

Contact
Comments? Suggestions? Contact Narc.