Basic Guidelines

The sections that follow offer not only a set of rules to follow; they present a set of positive goals.

1. MassiveCraft has a progressive and inclusive mission statement that extends itself beyond positivity, or corporate virtue signaling. MassiveCraft has a large LGBT+ community component, with aspirations for progressive developments. Ideological differences on these grounds, are incompatible with Staff membership.
2. The Codex, while stated to be a strict set of rules, does not expect or assume perfection on the part of the reader, or the Staff in question. Mistakes will be made, and the Codex cannot account for all possible scenarios in which it should or should not apply. Understanding, good faith, and compromise are necessary for the Codex to work.
3. MassiveCraft aims to be a learning experience, both for the playing side of things, and the Staff membership side of things. As Staff we will aim to encourage positive attitudes and skill contributions, and on the playing side of things, we encourage grappling with complex social topics to explore real-life problems and realities.

The Foundation of Respect

Due to the size of the community, not everyone has to like each other, and that is okay. Dislike on personal grounds however, should never slide into denial of basic human decency and respect. MassiveCraft asks that players respect the time and effort Staff put in when it is presented, but to not put Staff on an social pedestal, or to play Staff off against each other by vocalizing preference or superiority. To this effect, rude and inconsiderate treatment of Staff are more strictly moderated than towards players because of the free time dedicated by Staff towards the benefit of everyone, but Staff are not immune to the Rules, and must face the same discipline for breaking them. In fact, Staff members are held to a higher social and moral standard than players, and have some of their public rights revoked for the sake of the team.

Staff members additionally have a duty of care and service, but only insofar they are given basic decency and respect. If a Staff member feels disrespected by a player for whatever reason, they may cease service or work provided towards them. This does not mean that the Staff member may go out of their way to sabotage a player’s opportunities on MassiveCraft. The provision that allows a Staff member to halt all communication and service, is predicated on other Staff members being able to support and work with said player in the future instead. For the sake of cohesion, Staff members are expected to stand up to unfair and unwarranted derision of fellow team members, even if it happens in their own (private) social circles away from the server’s official communication channels. To summarize the points extracted from this section:

• Staff members are allowed to ignore players who make their work harder, or restrain their motivation to work for MassiveCraft.
• Staff members are allowed to refuse to answer a ticket or question from a player who makes their work harder.
• Staff members are expected to stand up for each other, even if this occurs in their own (private) social circles.

There is one small caveat, in that many Staff members struggle with anxiety or social isolation. If a situation presented itself where a Staff member is being derided, but the Staff member who is witness to this act is unwilling to intervene due to the social dynamics of the situation, they should at the very least inform a higher up.

Voice Communication & Requirements

Using Voice communication is in essence essential. One cannot join Staff without having a functional microphone, and being fluent in English. Furthermore, language tone is also strongly policed, especially in Staff meetings. There is no place for passive aggression or outwardly aggressive statements. Though, as with most problems on the internet, context and intent is key. Because we are all talking to a computer, Staff members are expected to assume positive intentions, even if verbal expressions come across as hostile. If however challenged these notions escalate or continue, then other Staff are expected to put the passive aggressive or actively aggressive Staff on time-out. Staff meetings are held at least once per week. Attendance is not required, but strongly recommended. If you are unable to, please discuss the situation with your Director. Some summarized details:

• Staff members must be 18 years of age at least, preferably even 21. No age verification is required, we act on good faith.
• Staff members must possess and be able to use a microphone, and speak fluent English. Language usage to players is expected to be cordial and correct.
• Staff members must make themselves aware of department announcements and projects in reasonable times, or notify their absence to their Departments.

Staff Social & Private Duties

Staff disunity and chaos, tends to trickle down to the Players, and cause drama and strife. Staff members are not permitted to express negative feelings towards other Staff projects in public, and must restrain themselves to constructive criticism internally. Staff members lose a certain amount of freedom of speech, because their statements are seen as authoritative for the whole of the team, when they are not. Additionally such authoritative statements can be seen as damaging for the reputation of the Staff member in question, and thus the whole team. Staff members are not meant to discuss internal projects or planning, until the all-clear has been given. If a Staff member is exposed to indirect criticism of a system or the work of other Staff, Staff members are required to redirect that negative energy to positive constructive criticism in tickets. Complaining about MassiveCraft at people who are powerless to make changes, is wasted energy, and creates a needlessly negative environment that usually festers. In summary:

• Staff members should ensure cohesion and a united front among Staff. Internal Staff drama, can be resolved internally without including players.
• Staff members lose some freedom of speech, in terms of being able to express negative opinions freely.
• Staff members must redirect negative review or energy towards other Staff or MassiveCraft’s systems, to a constructive ticket discussion.

Due to the social nature of Staff members being part of the wider community, it sometimes cannot be avoided that pockets or larger groups of Staff members end up making a up a large part of a sub community, for example a Discord for a Roleplay Group. While there is a general expectation to be strategic in what to say and not to say in such circles, it is never the intention of MassiveCraft to isolate such Staff members and have them be treated as a less trustworthy member of their own community, because of potential conflicting interests or loyalties. To this effect, there are some general concepts that we maintain in good faith, so long as the other above rules are followed:

• Staff members are free to discuss ongoing plans or projects so long as they do not reveal information that Direction or project doers have indicated should not be made public. Staff members are also free to speculate about projects, or hypothesize about future work to bounce ideas off players without much issue.
• Staff members can make their own evaluation, whether a negative expression of the Server, Staff, other players or projects, is necessarily toxic, or just venting frustration. There is always a fine line between venting frustration and actively toxifying the discourse. Staff members must evaluate whether a Staff member or player is venting to feel better and commiserate, or griefing to actively make someone’s public review worse, or to encourage others to also start disliking someone. If the latter, they must act. If the former, it is acceptable for Staff to compartmentalize such discussions, because complete repression of emotional catharsis, leads to more secrecy.
• Staff members are encouraged to do what feels morally right, and what they would have happen to them. Nobody likes hearing that someone expressed hostile opinions about them, only to be told that a fellow team member sat by and did nothing, in the same sense it is also unpleasant to hear from the grapevine this happened at all.

Staff Friends & Motivations

MassiveCraft aims to recruit Staff from wide social groups. For example, for Roleplay, it always pays off to have a Staff member who is in-touch with the “Vampire” Roleplayers, the “Guard” Roleplayers, and the “Knight” Roleplayers, and so forth. MassiveCraft always aims to have a plural choir of many different opinions and views, so that healthy and progressive discourse can take place on changes and improvements. It is inevitable that friendships are created while being among Staff, as working together is a great cohesion building tool. Players will observe, as such, Staff members gravitating towards each other in social activities and social circles, and are encouraged not to internalize this. Remember, that in most cases, friendships were formed after joining staff, not before, though some internal recruitment within social circles does happen.

MassiveCraft expects a certain level of self-interested motivation to being Staff. Nobody comes and joins Staff purely out of their own altruistic charity. Staff represents a unique possibility to join at the table where decisions get made, and thus to argue for one’s own social circle or sub-community. This is actively encouraged, because if every (aforementioned example Roleplay) group argues for their own side, the discussion is vibrant, and has plurality among the player base. Note however, that Staff are expected to balance this with equal assistance. For each selfish thing implemented, other Staff/Players must also benefit. For each lore rewrite that a Staff intends to use themselves, at least 10 other players must also benefit, for example. Pretending complete selflessness on the part of Staff, is deeply harmful to Staff morale and unrealistic.

Staff Encouragements

Staff membership is ultimately a voluntary organization, and Direction/Management cannot force Staff members to engage in any particular activity. Everything will always be on a request basis. That being said, we must also acknowledge that being Staff (while losing some rights), does bring certain privileges. Even with a strong corruption minimalism policy in place, Players will always treat Staff with certain preferential expectations. Thus, in order to “pay back” for the better treatment offered, Staff are expected to sometimes go out of their way to do things they do not like doing or want to do, just because someone in Management has asked them to do so. Not all Staff work is equally fun and rewarding:

• Staff members should not leave Managers and Directors hanging when a task is being asked to do. If nobody is doing the task, you should.
• You can still make a boring and repetitive task fun and engaging. Hang out with other Staff in social channels, or just stream your work.
• If you have not been doing work for a while, someone in Direction/Management has noticed. Please be pro-active and ask them for work.
• You should always be on the lookout for something that is not working or working as intended, and offer solutions or to work on it.
• Implementing a half-completed project is still better than no project at all. You can adjust project expectations to your skill comfort level.
• The word “People” is forbidden among Staff. You must be precise, provide context, numbers, names if possible. Secrecy is toxic to staff unity.
• Staff members are strongly discouraged from picking fights with other servers. You will be disciplined for enflaming cross-server drama.
• Staff members cannot maintain staff membership on multiple servers. MassiveCraft will always insist focus on MassiveCraft itself.
• Staff members who break server rules are punished more severely than players. You have no excuse for not knowing the rules.

Hierarchy and Direction

MassiveCraft has a pyramid shaped hierarchy that is only applied sometimes, but generally should be considered a flat hierarchy. In most cases, “rank” will not be invoked to settle disputes or disagreements unless they become cyclical. Rank1, Rank2, Rank3 are ostensible even except for projects specifically helmed by their respective project leaders. While the server is owned by MonMarty, and he has exclusive access to the financial backend, each department is given a great deal of social and managerial autonomy, so that they can pursue their own vision. MonMarty works with Direction, which gathers all the department members into a form of executive group that determines the rough trajectory of the server and future planning. Rank3 manage larger projects, while Rank2 members create projects for smaller groupings or just themselves. Rank1’s maintain the basic functioning of the server, but everyone is expected to chip in with their work and nobody is above any particular task. Seniority has little value on MassiveCraft unless this translates to strong foundational arguments and expertise, so Staff members of any rank should feel comfortable to contest points that are being made, and provoke discussion on future implementations and plans. Only in rare cases, will Direction invoke rank to ensure the proper functioning of the Staff team. Direction in many ways can also be compared to a company’s HR, and should primarily be contacted when there are inter-personal issues among the Staff.

Demotions and Staff Removal

The following list are examples of things which can result in a staff member being demoted or losing their rank. In extreme cases, these can result in complete staff removal.

• Inactivity, involving doing nothing that helps the community or Staff widely speaking, and not showing up at any meetings for weeks/months without notice.
• Sowing internal chaos or disunity, picking fights with other Staff, or otherwise creating a hostile or toxic working environment within departments.
• Engaging in abuse of social and staff privileges, for example leaking internal communication, private information, for private or perceived community gain.
• Violations of the Codex, unprofessional or ironic conduct, or general disrespect of management and the structure of MassiveCraft as a whole.