Hello Starmourners,

As many of you are aware, unlike in other IRE games, here at Starmourn, the admin team are allowed to have mortal characters (often called 'morts') as well as working on the game. We think it's very important to, first and foremost, love being immersed in and involved in the growth of this rich world. This is how and why we all became admin, and to have to sacrifice that enjoyment and valuable point of view in order to volunteer seems counter-productive. The highest pay grade in the Starmourn-specific team right now is 'hobbyist', so in order to maintain Starmourn's status as our favorite activity, a lot of the team may also be players (though they're not obligated to be). We manage this by making it very clear to all parties that our admin personae do not exist in any way, shape or form in character, they simply exist as your point of reference OOC for facilitating your stories.

Because of this, it's very important that we are transparent about how it all works, and the necessity of this document has been overlooked for far too long.

It's perfectly reasonable and understandable that players will speculate if they don't know our rules and processes. We're also aware that sometimes approaching a staff member with these concerns can be awkward or difficult, so we would like to take the opportunity to preemptively address all the queries or concerns you may have about it. Integrity, respect and boundaries are incredibly important and we recognize that you need to feel able to trust your admin team. It's also incredibly important to us that you see us for the wholesome and honorable dorks we are!

There are of course some rules that our team must follow, as well as some benefits to ensure that they feel valued. So here we're going to detail what volunteers and producers can, may, may not and cannot do, as well as some related expectations of our players.

Admin of any kind:
- Cannot participate in any admin judged contests.
- Are entitled to have their privacy and boundaries respected.
- Must request content, customizations and events for their player characters as players and are not allowed to work on their own requests, at all. They can't even approve their own design submissions.
- Do not get to work on vanity projects or any content that does not benefit the wider playerbase.
- Put other players/requests first.
- Can claim one of any promo item they work on substantially, but have to request for it to be issued by a producer.
- Are fallible humans with finite capacity levels.

Storytellers/volunteers:
- Have no access to issuing credits or credit-value stuff, nor can they issue/revoke artifacts or collectibles etc
- Have no access to any of the back-end auction information.
- Have no access to players' personal info.
- Can and do work on the things that interest them, and to their strengths and skills. They are volunteers, so if they don't find something fun, they're not obligated to do it. And we want them to want to stay!
- Must have any new content approved by a producer.
- Have exactly the same entitlement to bid in auctions as any other player, and have no access to the auction system beyond what every other player does. They have no insider information and therefore are subject to the exact same bidding rules. They can bid on however many auctions their currency balances allow for, with no special advantages.
- Do get some bound credit rewards for building tasks, but it's only a few, depending on the involvement of the task. It's a bit like a volunteer version of dailycredits, but dependant on what's been listed at the time.
- Can use their credits the exact same way as any other player, with no additional restrictions or benefits, with the exception of being able to purchase promo only artifacts, but these may only be bought with credits rewarded by completing builder tasks.
- Are not paid and are not obligated to do anything they don't want to do, or anything outside of a 10 hr a week commitment or equivalent. Although most of them have put hundreds of days' work into looking after Starmourn, because they care about the game and its community.
- Have quarterly reviews and if we find they're not doing anything and/or not communicating with us about the reasons for this, would be replaced. (So if you don't see storytellers doing something, that doesnt mean they're not doing countless things that you can't see!)

Producers:
- May play the game for their own enjoyment - but there is a firm line between their player character and job.
- Do not bid in auctions or take part in contests.
- May not take up high-ranking faction positions on mortal characters.
- Make all decisions objectively and fairly, with priority given to the outcomes that impact the wider game in the most positive/compelling/interesting way.

Players:
- Will likewise always have their privacy and boundaries respected.
- Are expected to understand that the identity of admin morts is private information and should not be speculated on or shared around.
- Should contact us with any concerns. We'd much rather deal with any problems, reassure you or elaborate on something than for you to build up some kind of covert resentment about us! Remember we're just trying to make the game fun to play, and we're here for you, not the other way around.
- Should (we hope) be assured that the admin team are capable of (and great at!) managing the boundaries between their admin role and their character(s).

*Anyone* found to be breaching any of these rules, either admin or player, could potentially face a temporary or permanent ban (cases are dealt with individually).

Traditionally, the people who volunteer for these positions are the same people who are passionate about roleplaying, events, building and bringing life to Starmourn, both as their mortal character and as a storyteller... and they are valued for both roles if so.

ALL players who get "stuff" have earned it through roleplaying, playing a lot, or spending credits, including admin morts, so if you happen to have figured out an admin mort and you think they got something unfairly, please be assured that they didn't! It's because they requested it or earned it, or sometimes because another admin or producer has seen a fun angle for a roleplaying event and followed their imagination. Storytellers do not get any more opportunities than anyone else to request this stuff, or to bid in auctions.

ANY of you can and should do this. We can't promise that every request will be fulfilled, because we're a very small team, and we also have to discuss and assess whether it's lore appropriate etc, but it really is our favorite thing to do and literally what we're here for.

If you have any issues or doubts about any of this, you can ISSUE about it, message Damiel or Neritus directly in-game, or email support@starmourn.com (which we both have access to). We hope that you feel comfortable enough to speak to us directly, but it's okay if not, we know it can be hard. If you have any concerns or complaints about the producers then you are welcome to email support@ironrealms.com or go straight to jeremy@ironrealms.com if you prefer.

We're also happy to discuss any concerns you have on the official Discord!

This information is also available at HELP ADMINRULES from here on out.

Thank you for choosing to play Starmourn with us. We are so grateful for this community and will continue doing everything in our power to continue to build on this amazing world with you.

Damiel and the Starmourn team