Judge Class 2025 - RPLOG

Participants

• Greyson
• Junes
• Kaguya
• Kira
• Kuricha
• Mal
• Rosemint
• Syntax

Date

18/5/2025

Log

(Syntax) Syntax chitters "HELLOOO! And welcome to the first recorded judge class since 2016! This is entirely OOC and non-canon, but I will be handing out cookies and shit once we're done."

(Syntax) Syntax chitters "While this is non-canon and technically OOC, we're using the IC chats so that the logger can pick things up. HI FUTURE PEOPLE ON THE WIKI!"

(Syntax) Syntax chitters "You are welcome to ask questions ICly, but know you are a dork and you will be judged. <3"

(Syntax) Syntax chitters "BUT I ask that you don't flood chat with nonsense or unrelated stuff. People are going to be reading this for later usage, after all. Any questions before we get started?"

(Syntax) Syntax chitters "Excellent! Let's begin then."

(Junes) Junes decided to raise a hand and a few fluffy tails "can we ask questions in the middle or wait till after your done talking?"

(Syntax) Syntax chitters "You can ask in the middle if it's important, but it's better to wait until I ask if people have questions."

(Syntax) Syntax chitters "Awesome timing by the way. XD"

(Junes) Junes snickers!

(Syntax) Syntax chitters "Alright, first thing's first. What is a judge?...I'm writing the answer, don't go cutting me off now."

(Syntax) Syntax chitters "People crave events and the staff recognizes that a static world in which nothing changes is prone to become stagnant as far as the RP community is concerned. If people's actions have no impact on the world or the world never changes, it can really drag things down. But staff have their own lives as well not to mention tasks they have to do for the game. That's where judges come in!"

(Syntax) Syntax chitters "Judges are player volunteers who have been determined by staff to be trustworthy enough to run canon events for the community! That's right! Unlike other MMORPG's, it is entirely possible for the players to have an impact on the overall world's story! Wow!"

(Syntax) Syntax chitters "But that comes with a lot of responsibility. Judges aren't just running whatever they want. They are representatives of the game and its setting and are expected to not just run solid events and ensure everyone plays nice but also ensure their events respect the world they are running it in."

(Syntax) Syntax chitters "Think of yourself as a guest dungeon master in a D&D game you are temporarily taking over half way through the campaign. There are certain expectations that once the real DM comes back, things aren't totally haywire."

(Syntax) Syntax chitters "Anyone can request to be a judge, but you should only request to become one if you don't just want to run canon events but run them for other people. Running events isn't just for YOUR benefit. This is most definitely a public service and there will be times where judged events need to be run that might be entirely removed from whatever pet project you have cooking in your skull. Remember: You can always ASK a judge to host an event based on your idea. If you're only interested in becoming a judge so you can run events for yourself and your small group of friends? Probably don't."

(Syntax) Syntax chitters "Staff expects judges to be as inclusive as possible and we'd be a little miffed if you just became a judge so your private events could come with special rewards."

(Syntax) Syntax chitters "Any questions about what a judge is and when you should consider becoming one?"

(Greyson) Greyson raises a hand, "For those curious about becoming a judge, what would you recommend as practice or preparation beforehand? Aside from just reading up on commands or a few bits and pieces from logs like this one?"

(Syntax) Syntax chitters "Do you mean in the lead up to your event?"

(Syntax) Syntax chitters "Or in preparation to become a judge?"

(Greyson) Greyson shifts his hand in a so-so motion, "Lead up to your first event or before becoming one in the first place, yeah! Both of those work!"

(Junes) Junes raises a hand and offers "maybe like a practice run of your first judged event?"

(Syntax) Syntax chitters "To become a judge, you mainly need to show staff that you are a good RPer, a decent person, and have your heart int he right place. Becoming a judge, theoretically, is easy. That's actually one of the reasons why we have judge "levels"."

(Syntax) Syntax chitters "I'll elaborate on levels after this round of questions."

(Syntax) Syntax chitters "I can also go into more detail on how a judge prepares for events in the next section."

(Syntax) Syntax chitters "What I will say is that judges don't need to be an expert on ALL of the game's lore. Knowing as much as possible is important, but what matters most is that you know everything you need to know specifically for the scene you want to run."

(Syntax) Syntax chitters "So, for the purposes of just becoming a judge, the main prep work you should do if you ask me are two things. Make yourself known in the community and psudo-run a scene or two based around your character"

(Mal) Mal taps the microphone, before leaning in. "A good way to judge whether you, yourself, are ready to be a Judge is by participating in other Judges' events. It ties in with showing Staff that you are a good RPer, and decent person. Other Judged events, and even public RPs that aren't judged at all. I know there's a great Taco Tuesday just about every Tuesday in the Zephyr Lobby, for starters."

(Syntax) Syntax chitters "Excellent point, actually! Yeah, actually ATTENDING events is also a great strategy to prepare!"

(Syntax) Syntax chitters "Just note that, just like RP styles, all judges have their own styles. The best example of this is actually the recent three out of bubble events that were run"

(Syntax) Syntax chitters "Part of the difference came down to learning from the events that came before, but each person had their own ideas as to what was possible, what wasn't, and what they'd prevent."

(Syntax) Syntax chitters "This is one of the reasons I encourage judges to post rules and expectations for an event at the start of it and provide potential warnings (be they dangers or content warnings) in the event description."

(Greyson) Greyson nods, raising a finger "Might be a question for later, but related to the more recent events on the FOB. How would you recommend judges deal with plot conflicts or inconsistencies if something unexpected comes up?"

(Syntax) Syntax chitters "GREAT question and I will go into that later."

(Junes) Junes shifts a bit and adds with a quick tailwave "any words of encouragement or advice for starting as one? even as a player thats been perusing the lore for a while, engaged in plenty and part of many scenes in and out of judged ones...it can be somewhat nerve wracking knowing whether or not you are ready. however i do know that notes and having options outside of the main goal if things go akew is important and same rules similar for GM'ing in other games help but nerves can be rough!"

(Syntax) Syntax chitters "and as a solid reminder: If you ever are unsure of the lore or if you could run something, staff ACTIVELY encourage you to not just talk to your fellow judges but file a general support request! Heck, you can ping me (screwbucket) personally! Also, for future readers, I am a member of staff as well as a judge. XP"

(Syntax) Syntax chitters "So if the general uncertainty is what's got you holding off, trust me. You'll have plenty of support."

(Syntax) Syntax chitters "Anything else before we continue on"

(Junes) Junes smiles with a nod hearing syntax's response!

(Mal) Mal is one such Judge that's willing to help; he sits around with a lot of dusty knowledge and tidbits. "All you have to do is ask, really - it's that simple! Most people are happy to answer any questions."

(Syntax) Syntax chitters "Alright, next, let's cover what many likely came here for: What are a judge's responsibilities and what can they do?"

(Syntax) Syntax chitters "Let's start with a judge's responsibilities since this is the part of being a judge where you are actively being restricted and can't just do whatever."

(Syntax) Syntax chitters "Not being an asshole is kind of at the top of the list, but I would hope that's obvious."

(Syntax) Syntax chitters "Just behind that is keeping your events in line with the overall world. While that obviously means not contradicting all of the lore that already exists, that ALSO means not creating new lore that could be extremely intrusive on future content."

(Syntax) Syntax chitters "For example, while there isn't any lore that states that Zephyr can remotely mind control the entire city by hijacking the bubble, one could imagine a world in which they are capable of doing that. However, if that were to be done, it would kind of throw the entire world into kind of a worst case scenario and be kind of an end game."

(Syntax) Syntax chitters "A judge needs to consider the potential scope of what they want to do both for the sake of not burning themselves out but also to not accidentally cause a ripple across the entire world so massive that it ruins everyone's day."

(Syntax) Syntax chitters "I'm sure you're wondering how the fak a judge is supposed to figure out scope!

I'm glad you asked!"

(Syntax) -Why has no one heard of this before or might not immediately have heard about it after the event concludes?

-What would happen if this became wide spread or more widely known?

-Can the event occur more than once? Why or why not?

-Who would be most interested in the outcome of this event? Why?

-What aspects of the world will this change the most?

-How confident would you feel suggesting your idea to a member of staff if not Nuku himself? Why?

(Syntax) Syntax chitters "Keeping a story's scope in mind is VERY useful for planning as well. Understanding the ramifications of what you want to do can help figure out potential future threats and how to avoid starting something that has consequences you don't want for the story or players."

(Syntax) Syntax chitters "This list is actually super useful for NON judges as well!"

(Syntax) Syntax chitters "While this is important for non-judges to consider what to make canon, players obviously don't have the same rights as far as enacting canon as judges do and this can help you prevent implementing story elements that wouldn't be acceptable as canon should it come up in a judged event."

(Syntax) Syntax chitters "I actually recommend this checklist (or something similar) in just about every MMO I ever interact with. It's usually far more important in other games due to players not being able to influence the canon at all."

(Syntax) Syntax chitters "As for how a judge researches for an event to figure out the answers to that question, I have good news and bad news. The bad news is that the game has been around for a long time and the record keeping for judged events hasn't been great. The good news is that staff are often willing to give the green light on new events if you have good justifications. If you want to dive into old events, however, they are all listed on the wiki!"

(Syntax) Syntax chitters "Any questions regarding respecting the game's lore? Or, god forbid, not being an asshole?"

(Greyson) Greyson raises a hand.

(Syntax) Syntax chitters "Shoot, Grey!"

(Kaguya) Kaguya also raises a hand actually, has a dumb question!

(Greyson) Greyson muses, "For scenes in areas that maybe haven't seen development for years- or sometimes over a decade given the age of FS as a game, how would any of the above rules on 'consistency' change? Would it be possible to argue that enough time has passed for something new to be made from the old location, or should newer scenes still try to follow along the same sort of story-arc that the original creator was working on before they left?"

(Syntax) Syntax chitters "That is actually a great question and one that I have personal experience with!!"

(Syntax) Syntax chitters "Eureka as a zone, prior to me getting involved with it, had remained mostly untouched since, like, 2013. Give or take a few years. It's also hilariously how I became a member of staff. I wouldn't stop bugging Nuku and he was eventually like "You want it? IT'S YOURS!"

(Syntax) Syntax chitters "For content that hasn't really been updated in a long time, you should at a minimum try and figure out the original intent of the zone."

(Kaguya) Kaguya softly churrs "For missions like the FOB, we were able to take the tower without any issues that couldn't be dealt with but what does happen if a judged scene...fails? Would there be another judged scene in the future to retake the tower again or would that just be it?"

(Syntax) Syntax chitters "For example, Eureka stands out from other areas because it is primarily protected by remnants of the US military, was a front line for China's invasion, and has the highest number of insect based infections. It also is one of the few zones that has an explicitly visible criminal underworld."

(Syntax) Syntax chitters "For older concepts that have gone untouched, you can also bug the staff (as I did) to get more insights as to what is going on. In some cases, like me as a member of staff and Eureka, you can even get more immediate and certain responses (since that zone is basically entirely under my area of interest)."

(Syntax) Syntax chitters "And for things such as Out of the Bubble lore that has very little information? That's part of why judges are important!"

(Syntax) Syntax chitters "Areas of the world that have had little story exploration are actually SUPER useful for judges because the only thing you might have to do is avoid introducing something that turns into a metaphorical pandora's box of ramifications."

(Syntax) Syntax chitters "As an example, Firecracker was interested in introducing something into OotB content that was heavily inspired by the Stalker series. Pockets of abnormal anomalies created by malfunctioning mako nanites."

(Greyson) Greyson raises a finger, "That- does bring up another question... when it comes to making /new/ areas, are those done with personal deeds, or something staff can help you assemble?"

(Junes) Junes raised a hand but looked over to kaguya this time, making a gesture to syntax and getting the okay the hissune answers "about that! it really depends but for example, one event i had been part of was a rescue effort for the previous team...or another where we had taken so long they presumed our team was lost but came back...but yes efforts can possibly be taken to try and unscrew the situation but other times that simply may be it but typically there are options and of course suggestions or solutions aside from that contextually, a town not receiving supplies in time may have ventured out to get resources and upon return the new mission is to find the missing townspeople! lots of possibilities or sure!"

(Kuricha) Kuricha raises a hand with a Kweeh-stion..?

(Syntax) Syntax chitters "Sorry, that one took a bit to answer. I let Junes type that up so I could finish this, but yes! A judged event can theoretically fail and what happens next is really up to the judge and the players."

(Syntax) Syntax chitters "I'll answer Grey's question last as it does have a few important extra points. Go ahead, Kuricha"

(Kaguya) Kaguya nods at the Hissah's question and gives them a thank you thumbs up!

(Kaguya) Answer!*

(Kuricha) Kuricha speaks up and is mute says "Kweeh!" but it translates to; "How involved is the Judge's character allowed to get into the scenes they run, or do they have to sit it out and let the other players have all the spotlight?"

(Syntax) Syntax chitters "Oh, AWESOME question, actually! Remember how I said that your role as a judge is more so for the community than for yourself?"

(Syntax) Syntax chitters "Your question actually ties into something dungeon masters in tabletops have to contend with themselves. Can your character be just as involved as the players? Yes...but it can be VERY difficult to separate your powers as a Judge and your meta knowledge of the situation with the actions of your character. Ensuring your character doesn't hog the spotlight away from the players is actually kind of the easier part."

(Syntax) Syntax chitters "The far harder part is both running a scene in which you are aware of everything that is going on and playing a character who...well. Doesn't."

(Syntax) Syntax chitters "My general advice for judges is, if your character is involved, give them a supporting role of some kind or give them something to do while the players are active in the scene."

(Syntax) Syntax chitters "For example, when I ran the FOB event, Wolfwood was off fighting off smaller adds that would have distracted the players as they took down the two bosses."

(Syntax) Syntax chitters "In past events related to the Enigma Complex, Syntax was often staying behind and providing admin support while the players went into the dangerous lower levels."

(Syntax) Syntax chitters "So while you are not forbidden from being just as involved as the players, you'd basically be judging on hard mode."

(Mal) Mal thinks it's not out of the question to have your character be the one *initiating* the scene. "Say, being the one HIRING this little band of mercenaries, or being the one with the job posting, as examples. But that's more a personal stance - I don't like to take it any further than a supporting role, though, much like Syntax."