Grif [882958] —
Original article
The specifics of some staff roles are surrounded by mystery and intrigue, but do you really know what they do? And are you cut out to work behind the scenes in Torn City?
Surely it can't be so hard. All they have to do is enforce the rules!
All staff do is ban people, they are no fun!
OMG that's clearly a multi why isn't it banned!
These are just some of the statements aimed at Torn staff on a regular basis. Yet despite the abuse and suspicion which comes their way, many people covet staff status due to their dedication to the game - and in some cases, their lust for power. A recent announcement by our Community Manager Bogie indicates that applications for volunteer helpers are now being accepted once more. But what does this role involve? And are you cut out for the job?
As a staff member myself, I feel I can offer insight into the role and explain exactly what you can expect if you take the job. There are three main roles for volunteer staff members, those being Helper, Moderator and Officer. Each has its own duties, tools and tasks, with different staff members employed to focus on different forms of player interaction.
Moderators and Helpers are more public-facing, and Officers do a lot more of behind-the-scenes stuff. Some Moderators, such as myself, do a little bit of both. For those of you who are considering an application, here is a rundown of what Helpers actually do.
Helpers are helpful at helping people helpfully!
Helpers primarily answer player questions via mails, forums, chats, etc, while also and moderating the forums and chats to ensure people are following the rules. Their duties also include moderating classified and personal ads, checking support chat to help people get back into the game, looking out for inappropriate names, and to a lesser extent, keeping an eye on the discord.
Essentially, if someone needs some help, helpers are there to provide it. This service begins the moment a new player signs up to the game, as they all receive an automated mail from Moderators and Helpers who have been active within the last few minutes, encouraging players to contact them if they have any issues. This means you can find yourself getting a lot of replies, but since there's about a 50:50 chance of players reading them, it's also possible you won't ever receive a reply - as I experienced with the very first Helper message I sent out to a player now 665 days inactive.
In your role, you'll primarily have to help players understand aspects of the game and resolve any issues they may have. You may receive many lengthy questions and replies once you start interacting with players, and before long, you'll start to notice the same questions cropping up over and over again. This is a good thing, as it allows you to refine your response over time and ensure you can help guide players in the best way possible.
Being active on New Player Chat (sometimes called "NPC" by players) is also critical, as by definition, most players in there are brand new, and typically will ask questions to the whole room. NPC requires a lot of attention, as new players don't always know the rules, or how to go about doing something. Your presence here is important, as by answering their questions, you will prevent the blind leading the blind as other new players may spread misinformation by mistake.
It's also important for you to check the Questions and Answers forum to make sure people are getting the answers and information they need. However, trying to race Harley to that sweet Q&A karma is tough, so good luck with that.
Moderating? I thought they were just helpers?????
A common misconception about Helpers is that they are there to only do that, help. While answering questions and helping, in general, is indeed a big part of the Helper's role, much of your time will be spent moderating chats and forums.
Helpers are equipped with the necessary tools and know-how to issue warnings and bans in response to forum and chat offences. Some players believe that they can get away with murder when interacting with new Helpers, even though they have the same amount of power as mods do. But before a player is punished, Helpers are instructed to guide them away from activities before penalties become necessary.
Ever wonder why Staff try and redirect your conversation away from certain topics? Do you moan and whine when someone tells you to stop using that one particular word? It's for your own good. It's to stop you getting yourself banned. Helpers talk to players and aim to keep them on the right side of the rules with gentle nudges, but if needs be, they have verbal and official warning tools, as well as a ban hammer for those who refuse to comply.
To assist them with this task, Helpers are given complete access to forum reports. It is a Helper's job to ensure nothing too crazy happens on the message boards, and if a rule-breaking post does crop up, they have the tools and responsibility to edit or remove posts as needed.
Pictured: The real Torn City Dump
In addition to New Player Chat, Helpers have access to as the standard chats, and your job in both will be to keep the spambots and trolls at bay to prevent them from ruining everyone's experience. This is one of the most rewarding parts about Torn moderation. It's not always glamorous, though, as punishing people isn't a pleasant experience. You absolutely don't want to ban people, but sometimes, they just won't learn their lesson.
Support Chat
Support chat is a live chat outside of Torn which staff have access to from their accounts and is used by players who are having trouble accessing their accounts. Despite what some may think, staff aren't there to support you financially, so please don't use this feature to beg for cash and items. And if you have a bug report, please post it on the Bugs and Issues forum instead of messaging staff here.
This chat room is mostly public but comes with a private direct message function for staff members to use. Players can find support chat at https://www.torn.com/contact/, and upon entering, they will receive a ticket number which determines when they'll be dealt with.
Issues which crop up here range from the obvious, such as a returning player not using their email to log in or a player needing to clear their browser cache, to more complex problems such as advising a returning player to use their account recovery tool if they have lost access to their email. In this chat room, players get to choose a name to represent them. Clicking on their name opens a private chat, in case you need the personal details for their account to help get them sorted - it isn't a good idea to make these public.
Newspaper Personal Ads
It is another of a Helper's minor duties to read through personal ads to ensure they do not break the rules. Some players include sexually explicit content in their advertisements, and others have been known to try and sell their own nudes via this service. It's your job to stop these things - we can't have people getting too saucy now!
Classified Ads
Helpers also have the ability to remove classified ads from the newspaper.Players pay a fee in order to place classified ads in the newspaper, so because of this, Helpers aren't overly harsh in terms of rule enforcement. As long as they do not violate social guidelines or game rules, we do not micro manage the Classified Ads too much.
If a classified ad does violate one of our rules, they can be removed instantly. The main issues are typically spam or explicit/flaming content, and Helpers keep tabs on these ads regularly so they can act accordingly when an offending item is posted.
Inappropriate Names
At one point or another, we've all tried to bypass a game's censorship systems to try and get away with naming our character something funny, like ****fondler400, Big****Guy, or *******puppy***cream. A helper's job is to track these names down, working with moderators to remove inappropriate playernames if they violate the social guidelines - this task is fairly straight forward, and sometimes quite fun.
Discord
With the new Torn Discord server, staff are in a position to keep a lookout for people needing help, or people needing to be removed from the Discord for violation of the rules. The good ol' Duke-bot does a lot of moderation, but Helpers also keep tabs there.
Bugs and Issues
Finally, some Helpers will get the opportunity to work on the Bugs and Issues forum, helping to squash bugs as quickly as possible to prevent an infestation. It is vitally important that Helpers come to learn the difference between a real bug and a misunderstanding. The latter must be investigated and explained to the player, whereas if a genuine bug is detected, it will need to be passed on to a developer.
Bugs and Issues will employ some Helpers if they have an interest in the area and whenever the team requires some assistance. Not all staff work on bugs, though, as too many cooks in the kitchen can seriously overcomplicate things. If you are interested in this area, it is best to familiarise yourself with the forums for a short while first, before expressing your interest.
Team Work
Helpers should understand that they will never be working alone, regardless of the task at hand. On a day-to-day basis, you will be part of a team which supports one another. If you are unsure of your duties, what action to take or you have any questions, the staff team is there to help and guide you as well as the players.
We staff communicate using the team-based chat software Slack to give each other live feedback. This also allows group training, and it also grants us the ability to request other staff to complete tasks, in order to support your role as a Helper.
Final Words
If you are considering whether to apply for a role as a Helper, hopefully, this article has given you some idea of what the job is actually like. You may have decided that being a staff member isn't right for you after all, and that's good, as only those who are dedicated and sure of their ability to commit should consider applying.
We staffers know it's not all glamorous. Some days, it can be tough, but other days it can be great fun and a highly rewarding way to give something back to Torn.If you want to join a fantastic team and work under the almighty Bogie, then please consider applying for a helper position today. Whilst it won't necessarily disqualify you from applying, people will be more likely to be accepted if they are level 15+, are more than a year old and have 100+ forum posts.
Players can apply by reading the announcement for the questions asked and sending their application to cm@torn.com
This has been Grif's Insight into the workings of being a Staff Helper. Now please give me the article merit, Sugarvalves.
All staff do is ban people, they are no fun!
OMG that's clearly a multi why isn't it banned!
These are just some of the statements aimed at Torn staff on a regular basis. Yet despite the abuse and suspicion which comes their way, many people covet staff status due to their dedication to the game - and in some cases, their lust for power. A recent announcement by our Community Manager Bogie indicates that applications for volunteer helpers are now being accepted once more. But what does this role involve? And are you cut out for the job?
As a staff member myself, I feel I can offer insight into the role and explain exactly what you can expect if you take the job. There are three main roles for volunteer staff members, those being Helper, Moderator and Officer. Each has its own duties, tools and tasks, with different staff members employed to focus on different forms of player interaction.
Moderators and Helpers are more public-facing, and Officers do a lot more of behind-the-scenes stuff. Some Moderators, such as myself, do a little bit of both. For those of you who are considering an application, here is a rundown of what Helpers actually do.
Helpers are helpful at helping people helpfully!
Helpers primarily answer player questions via mails, forums, chats, etc, while also and moderating the forums and chats to ensure people are following the rules. Their duties also include moderating classified and personal ads, checking support chat to help people get back into the game, looking out for inappropriate names, and to a lesser extent, keeping an eye on the discord.
Essentially, if someone needs some help, helpers are there to provide it. This service begins the moment a new player signs up to the game, as they all receive an automated mail from Moderators and Helpers who have been active within the last few minutes, encouraging players to contact them if they have any issues. This means you can find yourself getting a lot of replies, but since there's about a 50:50 chance of players reading them, it's also possible you won't ever receive a reply - as I experienced with the very first Helper message I sent out to a player now 665 days inactive.
In your role, you'll primarily have to help players understand aspects of the game and resolve any issues they may have. You may receive many lengthy questions and replies once you start interacting with players, and before long, you'll start to notice the same questions cropping up over and over again. This is a good thing, as it allows you to refine your response over time and ensure you can help guide players in the best way possible.
Being active on New Player Chat (sometimes called "NPC" by players) is also critical, as by definition, most players in there are brand new, and typically will ask questions to the whole room. NPC requires a lot of attention, as new players don't always know the rules, or how to go about doing something. Your presence here is important, as by answering their questions, you will prevent the blind leading the blind as other new players may spread misinformation by mistake.
It's also important for you to check the Questions and Answers forum to make sure people are getting the answers and information they need. However, trying to race Harley to that sweet Q&A karma is tough, so good luck with that.
Moderating? I thought they were just helpers?????
A common misconception about Helpers is that they are there to only do that, help. While answering questions and helping, in general, is indeed a big part of the Helper's role, much of your time will be spent moderating chats and forums.
Helpers are equipped with the necessary tools and know-how to issue warnings and bans in response to forum and chat offences. Some players believe that they can get away with murder when interacting with new Helpers, even though they have the same amount of power as mods do. But before a player is punished, Helpers are instructed to guide them away from activities before penalties become necessary.
Ever wonder why Staff try and redirect your conversation away from certain topics? Do you moan and whine when someone tells you to stop using that one particular word? It's for your own good. It's to stop you getting yourself banned. Helpers talk to players and aim to keep them on the right side of the rules with gentle nudges, but if needs be, they have verbal and official warning tools, as well as a ban hammer for those who refuse to comply.
To assist them with this task, Helpers are given complete access to forum reports. It is a Helper's job to ensure nothing too crazy happens on the message boards, and if a rule-breaking post does crop up, they have the tools and responsibility to edit or remove posts as needed.
Pictured: The real Torn City Dump
In addition to New Player Chat, Helpers have access to as the standard chats, and your job in both will be to keep the spambots and trolls at bay to prevent them from ruining everyone's experience. This is one of the most rewarding parts about Torn moderation. It's not always glamorous, though, as punishing people isn't a pleasant experience. You absolutely don't want to ban people, but sometimes, they just won't learn their lesson.
Support Chat
Support chat is a live chat outside of Torn which staff have access to from their accounts and is used by players who are having trouble accessing their accounts. Despite what some may think, staff aren't there to support you financially, so please don't use this feature to beg for cash and items. And if you have a bug report, please post it on the Bugs and Issues forum instead of messaging staff here.
This chat room is mostly public but comes with a private direct message function for staff members to use. Players can find support chat at https://www.torn.com/contact/, and upon entering, they will receive a ticket number which determines when they'll be dealt with.
Issues which crop up here range from the obvious, such as a returning player not using their email to log in or a player needing to clear their browser cache, to more complex problems such as advising a returning player to use their account recovery tool if they have lost access to their email. In this chat room, players get to choose a name to represent them. Clicking on their name opens a private chat, in case you need the personal details for their account to help get them sorted - it isn't a good idea to make these public.
Newspaper Personal Ads
It is another of a Helper's minor duties to read through personal ads to ensure they do not break the rules. Some players include sexually explicit content in their advertisements, and others have been known to try and sell their own nudes via this service. It's your job to stop these things - we can't have people getting too saucy now!
Classified Ads
Helpers also have the ability to remove classified ads from the newspaper.Players pay a fee in order to place classified ads in the newspaper, so because of this, Helpers aren't overly harsh in terms of rule enforcement. As long as they do not violate social guidelines or game rules, we do not micro manage the Classified Ads too much.
If a classified ad does violate one of our rules, they can be removed instantly. The main issues are typically spam or explicit/flaming content, and Helpers keep tabs on these ads regularly so they can act accordingly when an offending item is posted.
Inappropriate Names
At one point or another, we've all tried to bypass a game's censorship systems to try and get away with naming our character something funny, like ****fondler400, Big****Guy, or *******puppy***cream. A helper's job is to track these names down, working with moderators to remove inappropriate playernames if they violate the social guidelines - this task is fairly straight forward, and sometimes quite fun.
Discord
With the new Torn Discord server, staff are in a position to keep a lookout for people needing help, or people needing to be removed from the Discord for violation of the rules. The good ol' Duke-bot does a lot of moderation, but Helpers also keep tabs there.
Bugs and Issues
Finally, some Helpers will get the opportunity to work on the Bugs and Issues forum, helping to squash bugs as quickly as possible to prevent an infestation. It is vitally important that Helpers come to learn the difference between a real bug and a misunderstanding. The latter must be investigated and explained to the player, whereas if a genuine bug is detected, it will need to be passed on to a developer.
Bugs and Issues will employ some Helpers if they have an interest in the area and whenever the team requires some assistance. Not all staff work on bugs, though, as too many cooks in the kitchen can seriously overcomplicate things. If you are interested in this area, it is best to familiarise yourself with the forums for a short while first, before expressing your interest.
Team Work
Helpers should understand that they will never be working alone, regardless of the task at hand. On a day-to-day basis, you will be part of a team which supports one another. If you are unsure of your duties, what action to take or you have any questions, the staff team is there to help and guide you as well as the players.
We staff communicate using the team-based chat software Slack to give each other live feedback. This also allows group training, and it also grants us the ability to request other staff to complete tasks, in order to support your role as a Helper.
Final Words
If you are considering whether to apply for a role as a Helper, hopefully, this article has given you some idea of what the job is actually like. You may have decided that being a staff member isn't right for you after all, and that's good, as only those who are dedicated and sure of their ability to commit should consider applying.
We staffers know it's not all glamorous. Some days, it can be tough, but other days it can be great fun and a highly rewarding way to give something back to Torn.If you want to join a fantastic team and work under the almighty Bogie, then please consider applying for a helper position today. Whilst it won't necessarily disqualify you from applying, people will be more likely to be accepted if they are level 15+, are more than a year old and have 100+ forum posts.
Players can apply by reading the announcement for the questions asked and sending their application to cm@torn.com
This has been Grif's Insight into the workings of being a Staff Helper. Now please give me the article merit, Sugarvalves.
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