Hello Showdown! As many of you know, all public rooms in the server have their own specific ranks for users. Just like from the PS staff, these ranks grant a variety of commands that are used for moderating the server. These ranks appear on the room's user list, in order of level of authority (Room Owner, Room Moderator, Room Driver, and Room Voice), and are given to exemplary users that are trusted to run the respective room. This guideline will clarify the philosophy and use of each rank to help ensure your success as a room auth on the server!
Here are a number of remarks and guidelines to consider:
While the Room Owners may have their own set of rules to go by for their room, the Pokémon Showdown! standard rules still apply.
Pokémon Showdown! Staff are assigned to moderate all of the public rooms in the server. As a result, we ask that you do not alter their status in any way that hinders their ability to moderate the room. The only exception to altering a global staff's rank is if you're willing to promote a Global Driver to Room Moderator.
Please only use your moderating powers when it is required, and don't deliberately abuse them by any means. Your level of authority is given based on trust, and if you prove that you're not mature or trustworthy enough, you will lose said position. All legitimate claims of abuse will be taken seriously, so please show that you are able to use your position responsibly.
If there is a situation that's more suited for a global staff member to handle, then don't hesitate to report it to us and we'll handle it accordingly. This includes dealing with users with inappropriate names, serious offenders that have left the room (as room commands only affect users in the room), users evading punishments, or PM harassment of any sort. We're also happy to accommodate you if there's a need for more staff to watch the chat.
It's not a good idea to interfere with another Room Mod's decision without consulting them about it first. It's also important not to publicly argue with other room staff members, so if there is a situation that you think requires it, take it to PM or contact a higher up.
You can use the /roomauth command to display a box that lists every ranked user in the room the command is used in. The best way to use this is to not promote alts of room staff so that you don't lose track of who moderates the room.
As room staff, your role is to improve the chat; a standard warning is not always needed. A verbal warning can sometimes be more effective than a physical warn. For a situation such as light caps, a verbal warning may be suitable.
One of the most important traits to becoming a competent room staff member is the ability to work with the rest of the staff. You are trusted to discuss important issues with, and ensuring that everyone is on board when it comes to handling promotions, discipline appeals, and major changes pertaining to the direction of the room.
Note: If you're a Room Owner and are currently reading this, please keep in mind that these ideas are based on the opinions provided amongst the Pokémon Showdown! Staff. Whether or not you decide to practice all of these for your rooms is up to you, of course. This is to help users become more adept in having authority within their rooms. We'd like to ensure that we can provide a healthy decision-making process for all rooms.
Much like the standard global rank on the server, Room Voice is awarded to users who display a positive presence in the room. This means that they are the ones who actively contribute to the chat, able to help out others when needed, and can get along with the room authority and the rest of the users. When promoted to this rank, it is important that you do not overestimate the influence or power that you have in the room. This means that mini-modding or questioning higher ups are not acceptable. You are expected to be a model user and should set good examples for other users on the chat.
As the next status level, Room Driver is given to users who are trusted to keep room discussions on topic and handle users who are breaking rules on the chat. In order to show that you are able to handle the chat with such commands, you must be able to lead discussion in the chat, help users when necessary, and show that you are mature and capable of handling troublesome situations that may arise on the room. These powers include:
Warn (/warn, /kick, or /k) - An authority command used to remind an unpleasant user to not break a rule.
Mute (/mute or /m) - An action that is used to prevent a troublesome user from talking in the room for 7 minutes. This should only be reserved for minor offenses such as a mild amount of spamming or a single line of harassing or insulting someone.
Hourmute (/hourmute or /hm) - A command that prevents a user from talking in the room for 60 minutes. This should be only be applicable for situations where the user breaks a rule to the point where a 7 minute mute won't alleviate the problem.
Unmute (/unmute or /um) - Lifts a mute from a user. Only undo moderator actions of your own.
Modchat Autoconfirmed (/modchat autoconfirmed or /modchat ac) - Sets the chat to where only users who are registered for one week and have won a rated battle can talk. This should be used in situations where there are repeated spammers or rule breakers and is helpful in discouraging them away from the room. If it is the same user repeatedly spamming or breaking rules and evading punishments, contact a global staff member.
Modchat + (/modchat +) - Sets the chat to where only Voices or higher can talk in the room. This should only be used in situations where you may need to tone the chat down from bad topics or situations, or for when you need to mute multiple offenders at a given time.
Modchat trusted (/modchat trusted) - Sets the chat to where only global voices, staff in any public room or users trusted by upperstaff can talk in the room.
Announce (/announce or /wall) - This command alters your text to make it appear as white text on a blue background in order to make a noticeable announcement on the chat. This can be used for situations where a user needs to announce an important message to the chat.
Modlog (/modlog [info]) - This command brings up a log of all of the mod actions taken on a user. To search one room's modlog, do /modlog [username].
Modnote (/modnote [message]) - This command is generally used to communicate with your staff in the room, or to list reasons in your room bans/hourmutes if you haven't mentioned them already. Note that this is a text note, whereas modlog intends to search for text.
Hide Text (/hidetext [username]) - Removes every message sent from a specific user in the room. This should only be used if a user was breaking many rules or disrupting the chat. /hidetext username,X can be used to only remove their last X messages from the chat instead.
Hide Alts Text (/hidealtstext [username]) - This works the same way as /hidetext but also removes a users's alternate account's messages from the chat . This can be useful when someone is using multiple alts to break the rules in chat
Once you are promoted to a Room Moderator, you have access to a position of great influence within the room. Members with this position have access to tools that enable a user to deal with a wide variety of situations that they didn't have as a Driver, which means that Room Owners have to be very careful when considering someone to this rank. Because of that, this position requires a potentially-promoted Room Driver to be trustworthy and mature, as well as having the judgment and responsibility required to handle any situation that may arise from the room. These members are considered leaders of the room, and are able to appoint Room Voices as well. Including the commands from above, Room Moderators are also equipped with:
Room Ban (/roomban or /rb) - This command bans the user from the room up until a server restart. This command should only be considered in serious situations where a user is being a highly negative presence to the point where a mute won't suffice. Situations may include harassing several users, spamming, or constant repeat offending.
Room Unban (/roomunban) - Unbans the user from the room.
Modchat % (/modchat %) - Sets the chat to where only Room Drivers and above can talk in the room. Like Modchat + this should only be used when you want to temporarily stop chat to deal with issues or make an important announcement
Modchat @ (/modchat @) - Sets the chat to where only Room Mods and above can talk in the room. This should only be used for important announcements or when you want to deal with a problematic topic that even a driver is having difficulty handling.
Slowchat (/Slowchat [Time in seconds]) -Forces non-staff to wait for a minimum amount of time before sending consecutive messages. This should be used when the chat is moving too quickly to be properly moderated or for a proper conversation to take place
Room Voice (/roomvoice) - Promotes a user to a Voice in the room. This command should be used wisely, and you must keep in mind that this is a position of status and Voices are considered to be exemplary users that regular users would admire. As a Moderator, you are encouraged to discuss with the other room authority about who you feel may be worthy of Voice. It's always recommended that you check with the rest of the staff on whether they approve or not before promoting someone to Voice.
Room Devoice (/roomdevoice) - Removes Voice from a user in the room. This is similar to the process with promoting someone to Voice. Much like how promoting a user to voice is handled, it's recommended that a candidate has approval from the majority of the staff before taking action with this command. This is typically considered for Voices who prove to be poor users.
As the most powerful position within the room staff, Room Owners are considered the heads of the room and thus have the final say of everything that goes on in them. This ranges from the direction of the rooms to bans, promotions, and demotions. They are appointed, with approval of a Pokémon Showdown! Administrator and support from all of the other Room Owners. While Room Owners are typically not as active in their rooms as the rest of the room staff, their roles are based on leadership potential/experience, the ability to compromise, level of judgement, and the ability to work with the rest of the staff. In order to adapt to this position, one must keep in mind of the following:
You are most responsible to what goes on within the room staff, regarding the users that you choose to work with/promote, the additional guidelines and topics that take place in the room, and situations that may require your assistance within the room staff and userbase.
Communication among the staff is the key. It's a good idea to hold regular staff meetings and owner meetings using a communication service such as IRC, Chatzy, Skype, Smogon (PM Conversations), PiratePad, or a third party server. In these meetings, make plans to improve the room and keep it on the right track! Some things to talk about might be promotions, demotions, or room suggestions. Give the chance for all staff to voice their view, as their views shouldn't be considered inferior because of a lower rank.
Try to think of things that your room can offer users (getting the Pokémon Showdown! staff involved in some way can really work wonders!). Give users a reason for them to come to your room and keep coming back. As a room owner, your job is to provide users with a place to discuss the room topic freely.
When dealing with disputes between two of more of your room staff members, one of the most important steps to take is to try to avoid taking sides in arguments. As a Room Owner, your job is to hear from each side and work towards a solution that will compromise any issues that may arise within the room staff.
While you are entrusted to run the room, remember that no one is always right and that you should take into consideration others' thoughts on room decisions. However, remember that you always have the final word.
Including everything mentioned above, Room Owners have access to the following commands:
Roomintro (/roomintro) - Sets the room introduction to the room, and the message will appear as you join the room. This command is an important feature that allows you to describe aspects of the room, as well as any specific guidelines for users to go by. This message should make clear what the room is for in order to attract interested users.
Room Rules (/rules ) - Sets the link to the room rules. This will be shown along with the global rules when the command is broadcast.
Roomsettings (/roomsettings) - Displays an interface that allows easy modification of various room settings mentioned in this guide. Additionally it can be used to prevent excessive caps or stretching, ban emojis and enable/disable various chat games. It can also be used to change the language certain commands appear in. Room Mods and Drivers can also access this but the changes they can make is limited to what their rank allows.
Room Driver (/roomdriver) - Promotes a user to Room Driver.
Room De-Driver (/roomdedriver) - Demotes an existing Room Driver.
Room Moderator (/roommod) - Promotes a user to Room Moderator.
Room De-Mod (/roomdemod) - Demotes an existing Room Moderator.
Room De-auth (/roomdeauth) - Demotes an existing room staff member from the room staff list.
Declare (/declare message) - Makes a declaration more prominent than one from the /wall command, and removes your name from the message. This allows links/images to be broadcast responsibly.
Modchat # (/modchat #) - Sets the chat to where only Room Owners can talk. Technically, Room Owners can also set the modchat up to '~' as well, but modchat # is important to mention in case there's an important announcement for the Room Owners to make for the room.
Enable/Disable Tournaments (/tour on %, /tour on @, /tour off) - Determines the minimum rank needed to start a tournament or prevents tournaments from being created in the room.
Room staff members are given access to many new commands that may help in running the room or promoting discussion. They are:
Staffintro (/staffintro) - Displays a room introduction that only staff memebers can see. This is useful for conveying information to staff members unable to access Smogon or Discord, and are generally used to provide information on potential promotions or blacklists. Room Moderators and above can change the staffintro by using the command /staffintro [text].
Tournaments - Depending on the permission given by the Room Owner, Room Mods or Drivers can start tournamnets.Some rooms use a Room Bot to easily start and manage tournaments. These commands can be accessed by typing /tour help on PS:
/tour create/new [format], [type] - Creates a new tournament in the current room. For single-elimination tournaments, "type" should be listed as "elimination." Can only be used by Room Moderators and above.
/tour end/stop/delete - Forcibly ends the tournament in the current room.
/tour begin/start - Starts the tournament in the current room.
/tour dq - This command disqualifies a user from a tournament. This should only be used in cases where a participant exhibits an unsportsmanlike behavior in the form of activity or poor conduct when dealing with their opponents in a scripted tournament.
/tour autodq [minutes|off] - Sets the automatic disqualification timeout. This is preferable for the beginning rounds, ensuring that the beginning portions of a scripted tournament can run in a smooth and timely manner.
/tour autostart [minutes] - Causes the tournament to automatically start in [minutes].
/tour getusers - Lists the users in the current tournament. As rounds progress, users will be removed from this list. This can be used by regular users and broadcasted by starting the command with !.
/tour scout [on, off] - Allows or disallows scouting in the current tournament. You may use /tour scout to check if the current tournament enables scouting or not.
Polls - Room Drivers and above may create polls. They are useful for gathering opinions relating to the current discussion. Only one poll may be run in a room at a time. These commands may be accessed by typing /poll on PS:
/poll create [question], [option1], [option2], [...] - Creates a poll in the current room.
/poll timer [minutes] - Sets the poll to automatically end after [minutes].
/poll end - Ends a poll and displays the results.
Hangman - PS now supports hangman through the server instead of forcing rooms to use bots in order to start a game.
/hangman new/create [word], [hint] - Starts a hangman game in the current room. Note that adding a hint is completely optional.
/hangman end - Ends the current game of hangman.
Room Events -Room Mods and above may add events to the room. Events are useful in displaying information about community events planned for the room.These commands may be accessed by typing /roomevent help on PS
/roomevents add [event name] | [event date/time] | [event description] - Adds a room event. A timestamp in event date/time field like YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM±hh:mm will be displayed in user's timezone. Requires: @ # & ~
/roomevents start - Declares to the room that the event has started. Requires: @ # & ~
/roomevents sortby [column name] | [asc/desc (optional)] - Sorts events table by column name and an optional argument to ascending or descending order. Ascending order is default. Requires: @ # & ~
The Showdown community is always willing to provide users to contribute and provide an entertaining experience for everyone involved, and this guide will certainly be of help here! If you have any further questions, feel free to contact a global staff member.
