Effective December 17th, 2003, modified September 30, 2004:
WatchKeepers who display severe antagonistic or disruptive behavior (such as continual disruption of other worlds or continual harassment of other citizens) may be removed from WatchKeepers. WKs represent WatchKeepers in all areas of ActiveWorlds, and such behavior does not reflect well upon the WK organization. Any WK may be removed if they violate AWI's conduct guidelines (http://activeworlds.com/community/conduct.asp) in any world. All complaints will be handled on a case-by-case basis directly by Ryan.
Last updated January 14th, 2006. Colored guidelines are new or recently changed. If you have any questions or suggestions about these guidelines, please notify me (Ryan) and I will be glad to hear what you have to say.
Procedures (duty times, privilege passwords, etc.)
Preparation (knowledge that needs to be known for WatchKeeping)
Behavior / Professionalism (standards of behavior that should be followed at all times)
WatchKeeping Tips (it would be a good idea to follow these as best you can)
Ejecting / Responding to Trouble (guidelines for dealing appropriately with those who like to disrupt)
Cleaning (guidelines for regulating objects in AWNewbie)
Responding to Deleting (without the assistance of a bot)
Read these guidelines thoroughly and keep up-to-date on them. We will find the need to change and add new guidelines.
Any Watchkeeper who has been found to sharing any AWNewbie PPW with anyone will be immediately removed from WatchKeepers. If you are a WK and need the PPW, please contact me and do not ask anyone else. If you have given me prior record of an instant messager screenname, then I will be glad to give you the PPW by IM.
Please contact me in any form to notify me of any citizen name, e-mail, or status changes. We would also appreciate it if you told us about any possible citizenship expiration so we don't have to hunt you down and find out what happened :)
Chat logs are to be kept by all Watchkeepers while in AWNewbie, and in case of an eject you must use the Eject Log form. It is expected that if you eject someone due to a building infraction that you have the appropriate reports enabled with GuardBot to back up any ejection.
A maximum of two Watchkeepers should be on duty (perhaps three if there is a really large crowd) at any one time. Off-duty Watchkeepers can assist tourists, but the on-duty Watchkeepers are the ones who should handle problems. I suggest showing courtesy to your fellow WKs by letting them go on duty if they have not yet completed their weekly hour requirement and you already have.
Please telegram the WatchKeeper account if you plan to go on leave or if you plan to take the week off. You do not need to include a reason why, however please let us know how long you expect to have to be on leave. This is so I don't remove you for inactivity. Trainees must inform Ferruccio as well. The maximum amount of time you can be on leave before being removed from WKs is two months.
All WKs are responsible for doing only 2 hours of duty time per week. Additional duty time is helpful but not required. A duty time must be sent in this format to the Watchkeeper account: Logging on while going on duty: on duty; Logging off after duting: Off duty after x hours (x stands for the number of hours done.)
WKs who have not done two hours in a given week will have their sign changed to orange in Liaisons, unless they let us know about taking the week off or going on leave. If after one week of orange, there is still no duty time done, their sign will be changed to red. If after one week of red status the WK has not met the minimum 2 hour requirement, he or she will be removed from the Watchkeeper listings and marked as AWOL (absent without leave). All WKs will receive a telegram if they do not do any duty time for a particular week. WKs who do some duty time but not the full two hours will not receive credit towards the citizenship extension and will be telegrammed. This is much better, however, than not doing any duty time at all.
WKs will be removed after 26 weeks of being on leave.
WKs are subject to removal for breaking the WK guidelines. Except for extreme cases, WKs will usually have a few chances to correct the problem in question. All WKs who are removed will have an opportunity to tell their side of the story first. Usually all opportunities to correct the problem will be tried as it is not a pleasant experience to have to ask someone to leave :( WK removals will be handled by me, unless it is an emergency, in which case Elyk is authorized to handle the situation.
Watchkeepers are expected to visit the WK portion of Liaisons world. Any WK may enter this world by putting on their privilege pass. This world contains information to assist you in WKing that is not covered here.
Watchkeepers may not share their citizen accounts with others. It is expected that applicants notify us if they are sharing their cit account with someone else. Any WK found to be sharing their cit account will be asked to change their password and stop sharing his or her account. If that is not possible the WK will be retired.
Watchkeepers may not build in AWNewbie or any other world under Watchkeeper privileges. Objects found by me or reported by others in other worlds will be deleted. I may or may not be able to make a backup copy, depending on whether or not I have the time to and whether or not I have bot rights in the world.
WKs may build under the WK PPW in AWNewbie while under their shifts - but please do not get distracted. Your first priority is to assist visitors! Also, please clean up your builds before you go off leave. Do not abuse this privilege :)
You should have a good knowledge of interesting worlds and places for tourists to visit. There are advertisements on the edges of the world that tourists may go and look at. Also you should know the e-mail address and web addresses where visitors can go for information and help.
Make sure you are acquainted with the world's layout. You need to know where the object yard and other major areas of AWNewbie are.
Know the basics about AW. You need to know how to explain moving, flying, and perhaps a little bit about building.
Please be aware that Senior Teachers and Teachers or even AWI staff have PS and other rights in AWNewbie. Please keep up-to-date on who is who and be polite to anyone you meet. If someone unknown to you does have PS, most likely it won't be a hacker but someone who legitimately has rights in AWNewbie. Senior Teachers and Teachers from AWSchool can help out in AWNewbie if they wish but Teacher's Aides will need to apply to be a Watchkeeper so that they have the necessary information and passwords. Anyone can help out of course, but ejects and deletes will need a pass.
WKs are expected to keep up with AW news especially when it is pertinent to tourists (price changes, etc.)
All WKs are expected to be familiar with GuardBot commands and functions. Click this link to find out more information about GuardBot. If you have any questions about it you can ask Ryan, Elyk, or Andras.
Your behavior really matters! Try to be friendly, helpful, assisting, and caring when talking, and keep on top of things so you know what is going on and can be of best assistance.
Watchkeepers should not advertise events for other AW community groups, worlds, or events on Public Speaker rights.
Watchkeepers are expected to retain what they learned during training and to set a good example for trainees. WKs may receive requests to come help during an emergency situation from anyone in the world.
WKs need to focus on their duties. Do not get into conversations and lose track of what is going on in the world. You are expected to make an effort to assist tourists who need help or information. Keep in mind that Watchkeepers are AWNewbie's hosts and it would not look well at all for a WK to ignore a tourist requesting assistance.
Never flaunt your eject privileges, it is not fun to eject someone nor are we proud of ejects. Do not say something like "I ejected bob" or "Stop, or I will eject you!", etc. The only exception to this rule is after a deleter has been ejected so that you can reassure tourists in the area, i.e. "I have ejected the deleter, it's ok now." Do not mention names even though they will ask for who did it.
WKs are expected to maintain a decent level of professionalism in chat; It is strongly recommended not abbreviating words words such as "are" to "r" and "you" to "u". WKs need to be role models in chat and not discuss topics that would be questionable for visitors.
WatchKeepers are expected to remain respectful and cooperative with each other both in AWNewbie and out of AWNewbie, if possible. We have to be able to work as a team :)
Keep watch on names when people enter, and of citizens whose names change to tourist, and especially when tourists like to change their names often. These may well be signs of a potential troublemaker. If GuardBot is running and you have report:namechanger enabled the bot will tell you when someone has changed names. GuardBot goes by IP addresses so you can be 100% positive that the person did in fact change names. GuardBot will also report possible name changes, so be sure to look carefully at the message.
AWNewbie is not intended for one-on-one teaching, rather it is a world where tourists can explore building and have fun in building projects together. If they ask for a teacher, send them to AWSchool. However, if they would like to build you may recommend using the building tutorials provided here (keyboard method) and here (mouse method). Also the signs in AWNewbie itself are a useful resource for tourists who are starting out in building. If you can provide building help to a tourist, however, and you are not busy - please do so :)
While in AWNewbie, watch over things. Move from place to place (we aren't called Watchkeepers for nothing!). See how things are going. There may be several groups working on a build together or just a bunch of spread out builders. Offer suggestions, encouragement, or help when needed.
Even though typing in all caps can be annoying, it may be just that the visitor doesn't know that it is considered "wrong". A simple whisper letting them know it can be annoying to others is all that is needed.
If GuardBot is running and you use the ipname:"name" command you can find the IP address of any person even if they have left the world.
If GuardBot is running and someone is repeatedly attempting to delete, please ask them to stop. "Attempted deleting" is an acceptable rationale for ejecting after a few warnings. This is also true of anyone who is attempting to flood or crash GuardBot.
Please report any bugs with GuardBot to Ryan and Andras.
If there aren't too many people in the world you are encouraged to chat with any tourists or citizens in the world. Make them feel comfortable. Chat about the cool features of AW. If you are really getting bored, take the time to go around the world and clean up any old objects, check for vandalism, etc. If you're still bored after that, feel free to invite people to come to AWNewbie and talk.
Ejecting / Responding to Trouble
All complaints about ejections or other things MUST be referred to Elyk through our Contact Us form. Give this url (http://awcommunity.org/aws/awnewbie/unfaireject.htm) to anyone who has a complaint about anything related to AWNewbie or the WKs. Watchkeepers are not to confront each other regarding ejections. All complaints regarding ejections must go to the Contact Us form only.
Chat logs are to be kept by all Watchkeepers while in AWNewbie. In case of an eject please use the eject log form. There are to be no exceptions - all ejects must have an eject log sent in.
Generally, it is best to give the benefit of a few warnings in whisper. If GuardBot is running then deleting and vandalism are not problems however attempted deleting is grounds for eject. If GuardBot is not running please see this section of the guidelines.
While on the PPW do not announce anyone's name before they speak. Everyone has the right to announce themselves when they choose to do so.
Always try talking people out of bad behavior instead of threatening to eject, it is more of a challenge but it is the mark of a good diplomat, and Watchkeepers are good diplomats, aren't we?
Keep watch on people's names when they enter, and of citizens whose names change to tourist, and especially when tourists like to change their names often. These may well be the signs of a possible troublemaker. GuardBot will notify you when someone changes names. It is based on IP addresses and is 100% accurate. It will also report possible name changes so look carefully at the message.
Always try to avoid ejecting. It is not fun or enjoyable to have to boot someone out for doing something wrong. Usually there are other ways of calming things down, and you will have to explore all avenues of stopping the troublemaking before making the decision to eject.
Although swearing and spamming is handled by the Customs Aide bot, you need to read the AWNewbie Building and Conduct Rules. If you are applying for WK, you should mention on your application that you read this guideline. Mention it as guideline 8 under the ejecting section.
While filling out an eject log, please try to be as detailed as possible. I understand that it may be difficult to fill out an eject log in the middle of a duty shift, but you must remember to send in the eject log during or just after your shift. If you feel that an ejection needs special attention, please mark the appropriate box on the eject log form.
Please delete vandalism as you find it. Large insert/ctrl made builds and laggy builds, such as those with many overlaps, coronas, jpgs with updates, or just plain scattered litter, can be deleted as soon as they are abandoned. If the build is not abandoned, point out to the builder what parts of their build are violating AWNewbie rules and offer advice (if they don't know how to build - refer them to AWSchool). If the builder doesn't respond positively, then you know it is malicious vandalism and you can warn.
If you see a cute little house, castle, or whatever that's not offensive in any way you can leave it for others to look at and appreciate if you wish. Please leave builds that have been built for three days as the tourist may come back to it.
Tourists rebuilding using the cache trick should be discouraged, as it takes up a lot of room and doesn't allow tourists to build anything new. Signs have been posted in AWNewbie asking tourists to not do this.
Coronas are not to exceed size 50. Coronas above size 50 should be deleted and the builder informed.
Builds older than 3 days should be deleted to make room for new builds. I do have access to a wipe mechanism however I expect WKs to clear out builds that are laggy, extremely large, offensive, etc.
Any objects with questionable content (pornography, harassment, etc) should be deleted immediately. If GuardBot is running you can use the report:clickowner command to left-click the object and ascertain the owner.
Responding to Deleting without Bot Assistance
If a big group of tourists are working on a build and someone starts to delete, try to find out who is the one doing the deleting. Ask the tourists themselves (they will probably figure out who is doing it) and look around to see who is facing what direction and where the objects are disappearing.
If you are not sure who is deleting in an area, ask everyone but the builder to disperse. Anyone who sticks around or refuses to listen to you can be warned and ejected when appropriate.
Always watch where tourists are going and what is going on. Don't fall asleep while on duty.
Eject only when you are sure you know who is deleting or if someone refused to cooperate with your efforts to find the deleter.
Ryan, WK Leader
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