1. Please join the Guests and Help channel. Staff should have set your comtitle on both to read 'Player Helper'. Please do not change this unless staff asks you to. If you've joined after applying and find you do not have this comtitle, please set it on yourself. We want to make sure guests and players are clear on who is helping them.
2. Please make sure that you are familiar with our help files and the contents on the bulletin board, especially the Announcements. You should also take the time to go into the Guest Starting Room and look over the objects found in there, as these answer a lot of the most common questions. If guests are asking for information that is answered in one of these places, you can then point them in the right direction.
3. Please take the time to look over your text for proper spelling, grammar and punctuation. We don't demand perfection, but remember that this is our chance to make a good first impression and show prospective players that we care enough to make the effort.
4. If you don't know the answer to something you are asked, be honest with the asker. Please do not guess or make up answers and present them as fact. If they are eager for an answer and there are no staffers online, you can suggest they submit a +request or email us at gro.obbed|ffatsrmx#gro.obbed|ffatsrmx. One of us will then reply as soon as we're able.
5. Do not air personal grievances on the guest channel. If you have a problem with how staff has handled something, please speak to us directly, via page, +request or email.
6. When helping on the guest chan, follow the guest's lead on how talkative to be. If the guest is chatty and you're busy, you're not obligated to entertain them beyond answering their questions. If they're bored while waiting for their application to be processed, you may want to direct them to the forum, wiki, or LJs where they can pass the time, or you can point them to the Public channel for conversation. On the flip side, if the guest is quiet, respect that they may be working on an application or doing something in another window. Let the guest know you're around to answer questions and leave it at that.
7. a) If the guest or player is wanting to run a concept by you to see if it will work, make sure they are aware that you do not have any say on applications, and that your opinion is just that: the opinion of a more experienced player. It is up to your own discretion whether you want to give your personal opinion on whether the concept would work, but app-staff have their own criteria which must be met for an application to be considered feasible. If they want a more official opinion, they must talk to staff.
b) Concepts on the 'news characters banned' list are strictly off-limits. Those on 'news characters restricted' MUST be discussed with staff PRIOR to submitting an application.
8. If a member of staff is online and trying to help a guest, please defer to them for answers. While we appreciate your help and enthusiasm, we don't want to confuse our guests by inundating them with varying answers. Once the staffer has finished dealing with the guest's direct questions, then you're welcome to give the guest your own opinions or chat with them about your experiences on the game.
9. When running social scenes or +events in your capacity as a PH, please try to be as inclusive as possible. While you're welcome to do personal scenes with just your friends, part of the idea of the PHs is to help keep RP going everywhere on the grid. If there are people scattered about and idling, suggest an open scene in a public place, for instance.
10. One of the biggest things we would love to see PHs doing is helping other characters bring out their hooks. The character page template on the wiki has a 'watch for' section. When in a scene, you may want to check the characters' wiki pages and see if there are any neat or fun hooks that you can help those players bring out in the scene.
