Crew protocol
Introduction
Crew Protocol is a set of rules designed to provide the desired approach that we would like crew to use for a range of important situations. There is a lot to learn as a member of PD crew - but this protocol covers some of the most important general principles.
Protocol
Do not guess
There will often be situations where you are asked a question that you do not know the answer to by players or another member of crew. In these situations it is really important not to guess the answer. Many crew are keen to be as helpful as possible - and there is an assumption that making a best guess will help the questioner.
The problem is that wrong answers can cause havoc - last year we had an instance where a disabled player was told there was no disabled toilet on site, because the person they asked wasn't aware there was one. Almost invariably a wrong answer in these circumstances is worse than no answer at all. So please, if you are not certain of the answers you are giving then do not guess.
What you should do
The ideal approach to handle a question you don't have the answer is to ask your head of department. They should be available on a radio and they should hopefully be able to tell you the answer - or help you find someone who can. If you are working alongside fellow members of crew, then it is worthwhile asking if any of them know the answer. If someone nearby knows the answer - then that is great - but otherwise do not consult a group of people who don't know the answer to produce the team's best guess. That is no more helpful than guessing yourself.
If you can't find your team leader and you can't locate any member of the crew who can definitively answer the question, then please apologize to the person who asked and explain that you simply do not know the answer. Then try to help them find a member of crew who can answer their questions.
Do not send a problem to another member of crew
You will often be asked to resolve a problem or question that you assume are best dealt with by another member of crew. For instance, you may be asked a question that sounds like a referee issue - a question best answered by an Empire ref. What you should not do is tell the questioner to go and find another member of the team to help them.
There are two problems here. The first is that the questioner may be unable to find the team you are sending them to. New players in particular can find this kind of redirection very intimidating. Second, if you have sent the questioner to the wrong team - they will get redirected again when they arrive. This reflects badly on all of us and annoys the hell out of players. Worse, you can have a situation where the player is being sent back and forth. Last year we had several cases where NPCs playing Imperial civil servants were sending players to GOD to get answers to questions - where they were met by GOD crew who told them to get answers from the Imperial civil servants in the field.
Obviously if you know from direct experience that a problem is definitely being resolved at GOD, then you can give a questioner direction on how to get to GOD to get help. But in other cases, it is better to follow the advice below.
What you should do
The ideal approach is to get on a radio and locate a member of crew who confirms that he can answer the question or help the questioner. You are looking for another member of crew who is saying "Yes, I can sort that, send them to me". Once you have that, you can give the questioner instructions on how to locate that member of crew. If you are not near a radio, then ideally you should go with the player and help them find a member of crew who can help or who has a radio and can find someone who can help.
Do not pass on a complaint
Players will often bring complaints to members of crew - or sometimes crew will report a problem or reffing issue to another member of crew. For instance, a player may wish to complain that another player is harassing them or you may let Nicholas Taylor (the head referee) know that you saw a player cheating with his ribbons. What you should not do is pass the issue on.
There are two problems here. The first is that with the best will in the world, complaints take time to pass up the chain of command and in the pressure of an event it is all too easy for them to be forgotten. The more people who have to pass a complaint from one person to the next - the more chance there is for the issue to get dropped. The second problem is that eye-witness testimony is overwhelmingly the best way to get a complaint dealt with correctly. Second-hand accounts are always less convincing, less trust-worthy, and less impactful than first-person testimony. The more people who pass a complaint on - the less impact the complaint will have by the time it is looked at.
Obviously if a player has a problem and you are in a position to solve their problem - then you should do that where possible. Equally, if a player is raising an issue with you - and you have the time to look into it and are able to confirm the problem is real based on your own experience - then you can now make a first-hand report of the problem. Provided that you have the same ability to give a first-hand account of your experience of the problem that is as relevant as that of the player then this is fine. This protocol is primarily about how we deal with complaints, and issues like cheating - which are not something that crew can ordinarily deal with.
What you should do
A complaint will normally need to be dealt with by a member of the PD management team - either Matt or Alison Pennington. If you have a player who has a complaint or a serious issue that needs their attention then you should do everything possible to persuade the player to bring the issue directly to our attention. A lot of players will not want to do this - some don't feel they should be taking up our time and some don't feel comfortable approaching us. The worst reason is that many players mistakenly believe that if they report their problem to their mate who is on crew then their mate's report of it will carry more weight because they are on crew (the opposite is true for the reasons outlined above - first-hand account from any participant >> second-hand account from crew).
Please try and persuade the player to bring the complaint to us - encourage them that we want to hear the issue and will sort it if we are able to do so, but stress that it will have the most impact if it comes directly from the player. If the player really does not want to bring the complaint to us, then ask them if you can take their name to us - so that we can come to them to talk about the issue. Only take an anonymous complaint to us if there is no alternative.
Cheating needs to be brought to the attention of Graeme Jamieson, using the reporting tools and reporting to him first-hand where possible. Please do not agregrate reports of cheating - the first-hand account of a single referee who saw the cheating happen is more credible and easier to act on than a generic aggregated report that "loads of people saw Bob cheating".