The Star Wars Galaxies Warden Program
We'd like to take this opportunity to thank you, our Star Wars Galaxies players, for your continued dedication to the game despite the unfortunate infiltration of credit spammers into our online world. We recognize that these individuals continue to negatively affect your in-game experience (and the in-game experiences of most other MMO's out there today). The credit spammer issue has been a growing concern for a while now, and we wanted to make sure you knew that your calls for action haven't fallen on deaf ears.
This is definitely not an easy problem to solve - which is why so many games continue to suffer from it. But, with the situation persisting in Star Wars Galaxies, we felt that we needed to start taking more -assertive action?so we began experimenting. Some of you may have noticed that when they can, our GM team goes into limited areas in-game and flags the credit spammer characters for PvP so that players can take out their aggressions on them. We saw how much you enjoyed this, and it convinced us that our next attempt to deal with situation needed to be another way we all could work together to combat the situation. We think that we've achieved that goal and would now like to introduce to you The Warden Program.
The Warden Program allows Galaxies players to apply to be voluntary in-game Wardens who have the ability to thwart the efforts of credit spammers and power levelers who are trying to sell their services. With the use of a simple command, a player in the program can target a spammer offering credits or power leveling services and squelch their ability to speak through all chat channels, spatial emotes, spatial chat bubbles and in-game mail for a period of 6 hours. Meanwhile, an automatic email will be sent to our Customer Support Team, who will follow up on each incident and take further action against the account of the spammer.
We will be putting this new program into play in approximately a week's time, but we're starting off slowly - with just a handful of pre-selected Wardens to test out the program. Then, once we're confident that the system is working effectively, we'll start adding players based on a desire to get involved and the application review and selection process. Our hope is to eventually have about twenty Wardens per server. We'd like to believe that this number of Wardens will be enough and that all of this will have a positive effect on the current spamming situation, but if doesn't, we're always open to trying new things.
So, if you want to join in the fight against credit and power leveling spammers, please feel free to apply. Keep in mind that you must be 18 years of age, have a game and message board account in good standing in order to be considered and you can't currently be a part of any other Star Wars Galaxies volunteer program.
We've compiled a FAQ below followed by instructions on how you can apply to become a Warden. Thanks again for your continued support and we hope you're interested in getting involved and giving those spammers the "silent" treatment!
DeadMeat
---------------------------
Warden Program FAQ
1. Who can participate in The Warden Program?
The Warden Program will start off slowly, with just a handful of Wardens per server to begin with. The initial Wardens will have been picked by Customer Support to help us test the system based on several criteria. Once we are ready to expand the program, anyone who is interested in battling the spammer situation and who meets the following requirements can apply:
-Must be 18 years of age
-Must have an active game account and message board account in good standing
-Must not currently be a part of any other Star Wars Galaxies volunteer program (The Senate, volunteer message board moderator, etc)
2. How are Wardens picked?
Once the program opens up, Wardens will be picked from those who apply based on player game history (marks against your account), server, time zone, play times, ability to follow directions and how the question supplied on the Warden application is answered.
3. How many Wardens are there on each server?
Initially, there will be a small number, but as soon as we feel comfortable with how the program is going, the ultimate goal is to have approximately 20 Wardens per server (from different time zones).
4. Is this a Guide Program?
No. It is completely unrelated.
5. What does the Warden ability allow me to do?
The Warden ability allows players to target a character in-game and execute a command that will silence (squelch) that player's chat, emote and in-game mailing abilities for a 6 hour time period. Executing the command will also send an automatic report to the GM’s who will review your action quickly, verify that the person you targeted was in fact a spammer, and then deal with the spammer account accordingly.
Please Note: You DO NOT need to send in a petition when you execute the Warden command.
6. As a Warden, what can I use my abilities on and what can I not use them on?
You may ONLY use your Warden abilities on characters that are spamming 1.) credits for sale or 2.) power-leveling for sale in exchange for real-world money.
You may NOT use your abilities in the following ways:
- On anyone NOT spamming credits/power leveling for sale in exchange for real-world money - especially not on friends as a joke. (We will be able to tell if you do this). This also includes NOT using the command on what you believe to be a Credit FARMER.
- To threaten or intimidate others - example: "I'm a Warden. You better do whatever I say or I'll freeze your ability to communicate."
- To silence valid in-game auctions. Be careful about this!
- To silence guild recruitment efforts of other players.
- On a member of the GM staff. (We already thought of this and your Jedi mind tricks won't work on us - but ours will work on you!)
It is absolutely essential that you NOT use your Warden abilities to silence people spamming racial slurs or displaying vulgar chat behavior of any sort. We encourage all players who witness these types of behavior at anytime to submit a petition regarding it. To do so, go to support.station.sony.com/petition and then click on the In-Game Support tab.
7. Why can't I use Warden abilities on a Credit FARMERS?
The command should not be used on what you believe to be a Credit Farmer because you do not have the ability to check account information in order to tell whether the account you are targeting is a genuine account or not. People you suspect are Credit FARMING with the intent to sell their credits for real money, should be petitioned in the normal manner by going to support.station.sony.com/petition and then clicking on the In-Game Support tab.
8. Are the actions of Wardens monitored?
Yes. Every use of the Warden command is logged and reviewed regularly by Customer Support.
9. What happens if I abuse the Warden ability?
Upon investigation, if you are determined to have purposely used the Warden command on anyone other than a credit or power-leveling spammer, you will be dismissed as a Warden and further action may be taken against you - up to and possibly including termination of your game account.
10. What happens if I make an honest mistake with the Warden command?
We recognize that this can happen. As a first defense against it, we have built in the ability to reverse the Warden command after you have used it on someone. This does not mean, however, that you can go around silencing and unsilencing others for fun. Customer Support will investigate every use of the Warden command and will easily be able to determine if this is occurring and whether or not it was an honest mistake. If it was intentional and you were just messing around, you run a high risk of losing your Warden status and having additional action taken against you.
11. Do I have any other responsibilities as a Warden?
Other than actually committing to use the ability, the targeting and squelching of credit/power leveling spammers for real world money is your only task - aside from being a regular player and enjoying the game, of course!
12. How much time in-game do I need to spend acting as a Warden?
That is up to you. While we will never make demands on you to act as a Warden for a certain amount of hours each week, or set a quota for the number of spammers you need to squelch, we do want to make sure that if picked as a Warden, you are spending some time acting as one.
With the amount of people who will want to participate, the only way to keep things fair is to check Warden accounts to make sure they are being utilized to some extent in order to help the community. If we see no action on a Warden account, we reserve the right to take your Warden status away and give it to someone who has been waiting for the chance to become a Warden.
13. If I'm picked as a Warden how long can I stay one?
If you are picked as a Warden, you can remain one as long as you like -- as long as you continue to execute the Warden ability and don't abuse your powers.
14. Who do I contact if I need to quit being a Warden?
If you need to step down from being a Warden for any reason, or you know that you will be away and not able to act as a Warden for an extended amount of time (and don't want us to tag you for inactivity), please contact us at galacticdefenders@soe.sony.com. Please be responsible about this so that others have the opportunity to become a Warden. In cases where you will be away for extended amounts of time, we may appoint an 'interim' Warden until your return.
15. Can I tell others that I'm a Warden?
Sure you can...but we'd like to stress that you shouldn't flaunt it or use it as a way to intimidate or threaten others (as mentioned before). If we get reports that you are doing this, action will be taken against you by our Customer Support Team.
16. Will players be able to recognize me as a Warden in-game?
Nope. Other Wardens will be able to recognize you as one and the GM staff will, but that's all.
17. What do I get for being a Warden?
You get the incredible satisfaction of knowing that you're making the SWG game world a better place by helping rid it of annoying spammers!
18. Can I ban accounts as a Warden?
Nope - that is not a power you have. Customer Support will be responsible for banning any account that warrants such action.
19. How do I apply to become a Warden?
You will need to send an email with some information included in order to be considered. Please see below!
20. How will I know if I get picked to be a Warden?
You will receive an in-game email from galacticdefenders@soe.sony.com welcoming you and giving you some detailed information including how to use your Warden abilities.
How To Apply:
Hint: It is important for potential Warden candidates to demonstrate that they can follow directions to a "T"..
Please compose an email to galacticdefenders@soe.sony.com
Make sure that "Warden Application" appears in the subject heading.
In the body of the email, list the following information:
1. Your real name
2. Age
3. Station account name
4. Server (pick just one please)
5. Character name on that server (the one that you want to have Warden status applied to – you may only have Warden status on ONE character)
6. Time zone you're in
7. Times and days you regularly play within your time zone.
8. Answer this question: Are you currently a part of any other Star Wars Galaxies volunteer program? (Yes/No)
Please answer the following question using between 200-300 words:
Why Do You Think You Would Make A Good Warden?
Thanks for applying! You will be notified if you are picked as a Warden or notified if you?re put on the back-up list.
This is definitely not an easy problem to solve - which is why so many games continue to suffer from it. But, with the situation persisting in Star Wars Galaxies, we felt that we needed to start taking more -assertive action?so we began experimenting. Some of you may have noticed that when they can, our GM team goes into limited areas in-game and flags the credit spammer characters for PvP so that players can take out their aggressions on them. We saw how much you enjoyed this, and it convinced us that our next attempt to deal with situation needed to be another way we all could work together to combat the situation. We think that we've achieved that goal and would now like to introduce to you The Warden Program.
The Warden Program allows Galaxies players to apply to be voluntary in-game Wardens who have the ability to thwart the efforts of credit spammers and power levelers who are trying to sell their services. With the use of a simple command, a player in the program can target a spammer offering credits or power leveling services and squelch their ability to speak through all chat channels, spatial emotes, spatial chat bubbles and in-game mail for a period of 6 hours. Meanwhile, an automatic email will be sent to our Customer Support Team, who will follow up on each incident and take further action against the account of the spammer.
We will be putting this new program into play in approximately a week's time, but we're starting off slowly - with just a handful of pre-selected Wardens to test out the program. Then, once we're confident that the system is working effectively, we'll start adding players based on a desire to get involved and the application review and selection process. Our hope is to eventually have about twenty Wardens per server. We'd like to believe that this number of Wardens will be enough and that all of this will have a positive effect on the current spamming situation, but if doesn't, we're always open to trying new things.
So, if you want to join in the fight against credit and power leveling spammers, please feel free to apply. Keep in mind that you must be 18 years of age, have a game and message board account in good standing in order to be considered and you can't currently be a part of any other Star Wars Galaxies volunteer program.
We've compiled a FAQ below followed by instructions on how you can apply to become a Warden. Thanks again for your continued support and we hope you're interested in getting involved and giving those spammers the "silent" treatment!
DeadMeat
---------------------------
Warden Program FAQ
1. Who can participate in The Warden Program?
The Warden Program will start off slowly, with just a handful of Wardens per server to begin with. The initial Wardens will have been picked by Customer Support to help us test the system based on several criteria. Once we are ready to expand the program, anyone who is interested in battling the spammer situation and who meets the following requirements can apply:
-Must be 18 years of age
-Must have an active game account and message board account in good standing
-Must not currently be a part of any other Star Wars Galaxies volunteer program (The Senate, volunteer message board moderator, etc)
2. How are Wardens picked?
Once the program opens up, Wardens will be picked from those who apply based on player game history (marks against your account), server, time zone, play times, ability to follow directions and how the question supplied on the Warden application is answered.
3. How many Wardens are there on each server?
Initially, there will be a small number, but as soon as we feel comfortable with how the program is going, the ultimate goal is to have approximately 20 Wardens per server (from different time zones).
4. Is this a Guide Program?
No. It is completely unrelated.
5. What does the Warden ability allow me to do?
The Warden ability allows players to target a character in-game and execute a command that will silence (squelch) that player's chat, emote and in-game mailing abilities for a 6 hour time period. Executing the command will also send an automatic report to the GM’s who will review your action quickly, verify that the person you targeted was in fact a spammer, and then deal with the spammer account accordingly.
Please Note: You DO NOT need to send in a petition when you execute the Warden command.
6. As a Warden, what can I use my abilities on and what can I not use them on?
You may ONLY use your Warden abilities on characters that are spamming 1.) credits for sale or 2.) power-leveling for sale in exchange for real-world money.
You may NOT use your abilities in the following ways:
- On anyone NOT spamming credits/power leveling for sale in exchange for real-world money - especially not on friends as a joke. (We will be able to tell if you do this). This also includes NOT using the command on what you believe to be a Credit FARMER.
- To threaten or intimidate others - example: "I'm a Warden. You better do whatever I say or I'll freeze your ability to communicate."
- To silence valid in-game auctions. Be careful about this!
- To silence guild recruitment efforts of other players.
- On a member of the GM staff. (We already thought of this and your Jedi mind tricks won't work on us - but ours will work on you!)
It is absolutely essential that you NOT use your Warden abilities to silence people spamming racial slurs or displaying vulgar chat behavior of any sort. We encourage all players who witness these types of behavior at anytime to submit a petition regarding it. To do so, go to support.station.sony.com/petition and then click on the In-Game Support tab.
7. Why can't I use Warden abilities on a Credit FARMERS?
The command should not be used on what you believe to be a Credit Farmer because you do not have the ability to check account information in order to tell whether the account you are targeting is a genuine account or not. People you suspect are Credit FARMING with the intent to sell their credits for real money, should be petitioned in the normal manner by going to support.station.sony.com/petition and then clicking on the In-Game Support tab.
8. Are the actions of Wardens monitored?
Yes. Every use of the Warden command is logged and reviewed regularly by Customer Support.
9. What happens if I abuse the Warden ability?
Upon investigation, if you are determined to have purposely used the Warden command on anyone other than a credit or power-leveling spammer, you will be dismissed as a Warden and further action may be taken against you - up to and possibly including termination of your game account.
10. What happens if I make an honest mistake with the Warden command?
We recognize that this can happen. As a first defense against it, we have built in the ability to reverse the Warden command after you have used it on someone. This does not mean, however, that you can go around silencing and unsilencing others for fun. Customer Support will investigate every use of the Warden command and will easily be able to determine if this is occurring and whether or not it was an honest mistake. If it was intentional and you were just messing around, you run a high risk of losing your Warden status and having additional action taken against you.
11. Do I have any other responsibilities as a Warden?
Other than actually committing to use the ability, the targeting and squelching of credit/power leveling spammers for real world money is your only task - aside from being a regular player and enjoying the game, of course!
12. How much time in-game do I need to spend acting as a Warden?
That is up to you. While we will never make demands on you to act as a Warden for a certain amount of hours each week, or set a quota for the number of spammers you need to squelch, we do want to make sure that if picked as a Warden, you are spending some time acting as one.
With the amount of people who will want to participate, the only way to keep things fair is to check Warden accounts to make sure they are being utilized to some extent in order to help the community. If we see no action on a Warden account, we reserve the right to take your Warden status away and give it to someone who has been waiting for the chance to become a Warden.
13. If I'm picked as a Warden how long can I stay one?
If you are picked as a Warden, you can remain one as long as you like -- as long as you continue to execute the Warden ability and don't abuse your powers.
14. Who do I contact if I need to quit being a Warden?
If you need to step down from being a Warden for any reason, or you know that you will be away and not able to act as a Warden for an extended amount of time (and don't want us to tag you for inactivity), please contact us at galacticdefenders@soe.sony.com. Please be responsible about this so that others have the opportunity to become a Warden. In cases where you will be away for extended amounts of time, we may appoint an 'interim' Warden until your return.
15. Can I tell others that I'm a Warden?
Sure you can...but we'd like to stress that you shouldn't flaunt it or use it as a way to intimidate or threaten others (as mentioned before). If we get reports that you are doing this, action will be taken against you by our Customer Support Team.
16. Will players be able to recognize me as a Warden in-game?
Nope. Other Wardens will be able to recognize you as one and the GM staff will, but that's all.
17. What do I get for being a Warden?
You get the incredible satisfaction of knowing that you're making the SWG game world a better place by helping rid it of annoying spammers!
18. Can I ban accounts as a Warden?
Nope - that is not a power you have. Customer Support will be responsible for banning any account that warrants such action.
19. How do I apply to become a Warden?
You will need to send an email with some information included in order to be considered. Please see below!
20. How will I know if I get picked to be a Warden?
You will receive an in-game email from galacticdefenders@soe.sony.com welcoming you and giving you some detailed information including how to use your Warden abilities.
How To Apply:
Hint: It is important for potential Warden candidates to demonstrate that they can follow directions to a "T"..
Please compose an email to galacticdefenders@soe.sony.com
Make sure that "Warden Application" appears in the subject heading.
In the body of the email, list the following information:
1. Your real name
2. Age
3. Station account name
4. Server (pick just one please)
5. Character name on that server (the one that you want to have Warden status applied to – you may only have Warden status on ONE character)
6. Time zone you're in
7. Times and days you regularly play within your time zone.
8. Answer this question: Are you currently a part of any other Star Wars Galaxies volunteer program? (Yes/No)
Please answer the following question using between 200-300 words:
Why Do You Think You Would Make A Good Warden?
Thanks for applying! You will be notified if you are picked as a Warden or notified if you?re put on the back-up list.
Tags: News, StarWarsGalaxies