# World Intervention

This omniously titled document documents the general protocols staff have for engaging with and interfering with the round, IC, world, and canon. This replaces the old 'event manager policy' which was honestly silly and turned into a nightmare / something no one read.

- Things will be kept relatively short (for the breadth of information and precedents we have) as no one is going to read this if it isn't.
- Individual factions and the precedents / guidelines for them will generally be in the faction's lore pages and inferred by the staff team collectively. We are here to tell a story, after all.
- The only exception is Nanotrasen, as the primary faction. Nanotrasen is given special mention because it is given **special protections** as the main-station faction, as one of the server's guidelines is that we don't get too bleak with main station's setting.
- As an example, the antagonist factions having their command / leads come in to summarily punish people for failing their missions (even if it isn't their fault) is entirely fine if it somehow made sense IC; NT would not under any circumstances do that, even with lore considerations aside.

## WARNING - The section of 'if's'.

**This document is only public access for transparency reasons.**

If you are going to argue about admin actions that go against this, you may quote this page and **politely** ask why there's a deviation.

If your sole argument against an admin action / defense for being ICly sanctioned is "the head admin said in this page this shouldn't be done", without any other reason whatsoever, **you are probably in the wrong**, and are misunderstanding why this page exists.

If you think an action is too harsh or that it was fair for something to happen that didn't / whatnot, it **is** fair to refer to this page and point out the rationale.

If you are quoting this page and expect to overturn an action, we expect it to either be in an admin ticket or a thread in `#staff-forum` on the Discord if you want it to be public, not the general chat.

## Who can interfere with the round?

Anyone with on-server staff rank can, with sufficient reason. We do not usually distinguish between game admins, maintainers, event managers, lore team, etc. There's an expectation to understand how the `thing` you're intervening in works at a high level if you are doing IC things.

- `Thing` does not mean 'Nanotrasen' specifically, as we'll cover.

## Round Interference

Round interference is any action taken to manipulate the game world with mechanics not accessible to the player. This includes messing with variables, calling procs, doing funny gimmicks, sending pirates after telescientists, and more.

- Generally, there is no limit on how much staff can mess with the round, because staff are expected to know when too much is too much.
- Staff are allowed and *encouraged* to do things that the code cannot if it 1. makes sense 2. is fun 3. is not overly forced.
- Adding (and removing) conflict to/from the round is allowed and encouraged, whether be it with in-code tools for doing so like upcoming panels for roles / storyteller controls / whatnot, or with direct VV/SDQL/character/shuttle spawning.

There are three major caveats to this.

### On breaking immersion

Visible maptext, many kinds of icon varedits, many kinds of sound varedits, etc, are various levels of immersion breaking.

- You are expected to maintain immersion for players, but some degree of leeway is allowable, especially if done in good taste, in isolation, post/pre-round, away from the main station, etc.
- There is a general expectation to not do overly immersion-breaking things like var-editing the singularity to a clown or something, though. This is still a serious environment to many extents.

### On forced engagement

Interference can generally be classified into 1. things you can walk away from and 2. things you cannot.

If you are doing something that a player cannot reasonably back away / retreat from, **or** doing something that someone is generally forced to engage with by having to do their job, you should have some level of understanding of how disruptive you are being to their round, and if they actually earned it by acting IC.

- **Avoid overruling game systems and design in extremely punishing manners without warning.**
- 'Warning' is telegraphing. If you are going to do this, give them a reasonable IC telegraph that they should back away if they don't want the wrath of a very bored EM. We do not want to spring unwinnable situations on people, and staff are **not** here to balance the game.
- This includes 'nerfing' players via var-edit, spawning large amounts of additional mobs to deal with someone rampaging, etc. A level narration / even a LOOC message is enough to satisfy 'warning' criteria; any actions past that are fair game.
- The guideline is written this way to give broad leeway to EMs to response to frankly ridiculous abuses of otherwise fun game mechanics, while giving players who are used to abusing said mechanics an out.
- Players willingly not walking away from something that will clearly kill them / is clearly dangerous is considered 1, and if scientists bring home an artifact that's telegraphed to cause a cataclysm (major event section pertains to this if example is taken literally) that's not on the EM.
- **Major events are exempt from forced engagement guidelines.**

This section should not be taken as a 'do not do dangerous things', only that you should give adequate warning if you are overruling game mechanics that are known by players and that you should consider the fun of the player when reacting realistically to their actions.

### On ERP / private scene interruption

This section is pretty needless but is here anyways for when people want to get antsy about it.

The server's OOC rules states our general stance on ERP protections. Events are expected to not intentionally mess with private scenes, **but there are no protections for anyone performing 'private scenes' that end up getting interrupted by having to reasonably engage with the game when they are opting into being part of the game.**

There should still be some consideration for when you're starting / doing something. If you *know* the entire security department is doing private scenes because they've been bored with nothing to do for 4 hours, and the round is about to end, it's a little rude to spawn armed fugitives in maint. That's about it for 'ERP protections' (where 'ERP' actually means **any** private roleplay or scenario going on). Clock out if you don't want to be interrupted by your job.

- Do not mess with people who are off-duty, **or plan interference around them clocking back on.**
- This doesn't mean you can't run events that they will probably clock on for - just that you shouldn't balance an event around 3 off-duty officers popping on to fight simplemobs.

## Major Events

A major event is defined as interference that drastically alters round flow from what the 'game design' intends, **or** forces roles to act far out of their norm.

Examples:

- Deploying exploration on a strike mission where there's an expectation of engaging with an enemy that exploration is generally discouraged from going after.
- **Disabling parts of the game on a non-local basis**. As an example, disabling telescience for a new level you spawn in is not considered major. Disabling telescience for the automatically loaded game world is.
- Sending the ship into a threatening sector where the crew is expected to not withdraw, exposing the crew to dangerous circumstances far beyond normal parameters.
- The ship is not a safe zone, but usually, the captain would *probably* withdraw the ship if it were being boarded repeatedly. If you are ordering the ship to remain as Nanotrasen high command or similar, you are altering the normal parameters.

Here's two very important notes to be made.

- **Events (interference) that is, in good faith, designed to not be extremely disruptive to normal round flow are not considered major events, regardless of player actions.**
- What this means is that, hypothetically, if you were to spawn a few fugitives on a planet and the captain for whatever reason decides to fly there and deploy half the station to fight them and science blows the station up trying to powergame toxins that's an IC issue, not an EM spamming major events.
- **Whether or not an event is announced has no impact on if it is considered a major event.**
- Major events that intentionally impart major danger onto the station are *strongly recommended* to be announced.
- In a statement to the contrary, *staff are not required to announce major events all the time*. This is to enable reasonably stealthy things and *natural conflict*.
- As an example, **sending a changeling onboard would be very obvious if we pinged the whole Discord about it.**

We're not going to stringently define what a major event is because then there will be endless litigation over if something counts. Instead, we're simply going to say,

- Try to keep in mind the comfort of the players here to enjoy the relative safety-net of the station as per server design. The station is **not** a protected safe-zone, but the reason people are on Citadel RP is to not get assassinated by their coworker at random every round. Don't make those people miserable.
- **Said people sign away their protections by going off-ship**. Generally, as long as an event is not meant to reach the station (there's a lot of gray area here!), *and* the station is not expected by Central Command to send a mission, it does not qualify as needing 'major event cooldowns'.

## 'Central Command'

This section pertains to acting as the 'high command' of **any** faction, not just Nanotrasen.

- Portray the leaders of a faction, as per that faction.
- **RTFL** (`read the fucking lore`)
- This doesn't mean you can't be silly. Pretending all 'faction leaders' are \[x] stereotype individuals all the way down to the lowest traffic control officers is, ironically, immersion breaking and overly sterile. **Play your character.**
- **Faction leaders are generally not allowed to have inherent IC biases towards specific players.**
- This is enforced to the letter (see: admin policy on CCOs) for NT-likes.

### Investigations

- **Respect IC knowledge where it makes sense to.**
- We as staff have perfect logs, far more perfect than the faction itself.
- Anything reasonably recorded IC can be used, with how much can be used dependent on the faction, how much they record, and *how justified it is to use it.*
- Claiming every camera is recording everyone 24/7 over a minor dispute is unnecessary.
- Try to be engaging, this isn't an admin ticket, *arguing is somewhat expected.*
- Much like an admin ticket as high command you obviously can say 'because I said so'. Use some tact when doing so.
- **Do not portray Central Command investigations as a trial.** Most of the factions in the game are *not* emulating legal systems; Nanotrasen doesn't need to take you to court to fire you for misconduct!

### Punishment

IC punishments are expected for people greatly exercising their constitutional right to be quirky and imperfect characters, should they break too many IC regulations.

- If you are planning to threaten or enforce tangible sanctions (e.g. removal of the character from a role / location), call an admin if you are not one.
- This doesn't just mean showing up as high command to punish someone, this includes 'punishment' from someone losing to a faction when it's usually not a big deal.
- PKing people for raiding merc bases is a very extreme but good example here.
- 'slapping on the wrist' is a valid punishment. Sometimes just marching in as a CCO and giving someone a warning is the right thing to do.
- **Removals of characters should always be telegraphed first, outside of extreme circumstances.**
- Demotions (IC job-bans) are similar, but 'extreme circumstances' are given more leeway.
- Ditto for temporary removals.
- Follow up with admin PMs if needed.

### NT / NT-like specific things

This is always in effect for NT, and mostly in effect for NT-likes.

- Central command **must be portrayed as generally stable and fair.** As stated in the introduction, the main station is considered a protected environment for the purposes of `grimdark flavor of the month`.
- Please **parse** the NT lore before doing very major actions with it. You don't need to know all the history; ICly, even many CCOs wouldn't know all of it. You *do* need to portray NT right, as we already have enough trouble doing that!
- **Spawning in as CCO or CC Visitor now and then is allowed and encouraged.**
- Don't be a hardass unless you're actually there to grill someone.
- Don't spam it, as your presence makes everyone pucker up because ICly their boss is visiting.
- Use Visitor more than Officer if you're not here for a routine check.
- Adhere to lore. You can have multiple CC characters and often should.
- As an example, radio / ATC operators showing up to just check up on things is generally fine.
- Use the right outfit. You don't need to be in a CCO danger-pay RIG with a pulse rifle to casually say hello, c'mon now.
- **Do not allow IC framing / conflict that result in tangible punishments being doled out to the wrong person.**
- Someone getting yelled at because the actual troublemaker was good at evading IC evidence / investigation is fine.
- Someone getting ICly demoted / job-banned / removed is not. **Check OOC logs.**
- **Do not allow characters to make others unnecessarily miserable, regardless of how well they are at 'dodging investigation'.**
- The DM throwing 'rocks fall, you die' is valid ('we caught you on a hidden camera sorry') if someone is just making everyone miserable on factions that are meant to not be abusive to their player characters.

## Emergency Responders

Emergency responders are defined as staff sending in additional teams to assist in a conflict.

- **This doesn't mean literal ERT.** As an example, sending in additional pirates / a changeling to help a hostile offmap is, essentially, sending a hostile ERT to assist with fighting the station!
- Use a measured response. Not every ERT needs to be best-in-class.
- Example: NT ERT can have pulse weapons, but NT ERT does not always carry pulse weapons.
- If you have trouble measuring a response, ping the devs and demand them add more coded in outfits as suggested presets.

This document will not continue to dwell on the importance of keeping the game like a game and not bailing people out unnecessarily, as enough of that is in the above sections on 'interfering with the round'.

### NT specific

NT has specific guidelines for 'danger normalization' of the main station environment.

- Mostly, shipmaps are '5 hours of FTL away from their command ships'.
- Mostly, stationmaps have a nearby command outpost, but that command outpost is not considered to well in responders.
- It's expected that if a lot of dangerous things are happening, NT would place responders near to the places they were happening in, incase they happen again. This is an easy way to explain away sending ERT in greater numbers and with faster response times if we are running a dangerous storyline.
- For minor situations, send 2-3 people in with station-tier or slightly-above-tier to help. Not every situation needs a full ERT packing pulse weapons.
- **Deny frivilous calls for strike teams and validate round state.** It's genuinely horrifying to play as an offmap and have the admins just spawn in pulse-rifle wielders to kill you when you *just* manage to win.

While this is technically NT specific, it would be a good idea to follow this for other factions as well.

## Backstory Enforcement

Lastly, this gets a section, despite technically being OOC rules.

The official staff stance on 'unapproved / headcanon lore' is that representatives of IC factions (as well as staff actions themselves) should err on the side of caution of both not unnecessarily invalidating people's headcanons **and** not accidentally confirming them.

As an example, if someone has a 'character gimmick' that they are emoting out, and it makes IC sense, it's often more fun to try to play into it than to entirely ignore it. If they are clearly doing it to impact round flow, however, there can be steps taken to mitigate their impact.

- Custom species not reviewed by the lore team should not be acknowledged by CCOs/similar. A simple "I haven't heard of it" suffices. Do not unnecessarily confirm their existence by acknowledging them, and also do not unnecessarily antagonize players for having creative freedom.
- Godmodding and similar line-crossing antics are dealt with by admin tickets.
- If you know someone's always written a character one way, probably err on the side of caution of intentionally shattering their narrative, and check in before you do unless they're disrupting storytelling/events.
- This is a very rare case but has happened before.

## tl;dr in very crass terms

`grimdark faction` means 'intentionally breaking the citrp chill norm on a dangerous / highly antagonistic offmap'

- **don't punish players for playing the game**
- do punish players for powergaming in ways that make sense to be punished IC like cheesing mob AI
- do warn before doing so because doing mechanics to not stare at the screen and getting killed for it by an angry EM is bad for the soul
- don't spam high-danger events, people need their bar-rp after committing war crimes
- do mess around on the overmap to make people entertained
- do lightly mess around on the station to make people entertained
- spawning ~~antags~~ offmaps is fine, actually (don't turn the station into Among Us please)
- anyone who leaves the station is fair game for dangerous events (see 'don't punish people for playing the game' for required telegraphs)
- don't punish people for ERPing, but ERPing doesn't give you protections against EMs
- don't be shitcurity when playing CCOs
- players deal with shit bosses IRL don't make them RP dealing with one in game
- they can play offmaps for grimdark factions if they want that
- be fun when doing IC investigations
- try to use ic information for smaller cases, getting away with something is natural if someone covered their tracks
- main station / non-grimdark factions: **do not allow players to make other players unnecessarily miserable, even if they covered their tracks.**
- main station / non-grimdark factions: **do not enforce sanctions against players if OOC logs clear them of wrongdoing even if they were framed by another crewmember.**
- feel free to show up as CCO/equivalents to engage
- don't hound the station as CCO for no reason
- don't erp as CCO (your soulmate does NOT exist in your chain of command!)
- don't spawn ERTs to dick over antags when they win, spawn ERTs if it's interesting for the game.
- **use measured responses when spawning ERTs**.
- don't dick with people's lore for no reason but don't acknowledge unapproved headcanons as there will be a lot of it and it can be troublesome.