# Event Policy

##### Admins VS Game Masters

Some servers call their admins “game masters,” particularly on higher-RP forks. There, admins are responsible for adding to the flow of events, and creating experiences for the playerbase. Here on Harmony, admins are \*\*not\*\* game masters. We are able to do events, but they should not be overwhelming, frequent, or alter the round substantially without prior planning and help.

This doesn’t mean events are illegal! It’s still possible and even encouraged to run events here and there, because they can be fun for both players and admins alike.

##### What is an Event?


An “event” here is generally meant to be any admin intervention in the round that affects more than a handful of people: spawning a cookie for a prayer, no, spawning a sentient monkey that runs around and messes with people, yes. As a general rule of thumb, any event that involves spawning in an entity that can be controlled, move, communicate, or interact with its environment should be considered an event.

Heavily round-altering admin events (e.g. powerful wizard invasion, Nukies vs. Death Squad) should be voted for by the playerbase with customvote in lobby and generally done on \*\*Greenshift\*\* (that means forcing the preset before the round starts!). Very large-scale events, such as custom game modes (e.g. Rimworld, 1984, Teach & Learn), are best scheduled ahead of time (even if only privately), planned alongside other admins in our admin event planning channel, and should ALWAYS be announced to the players before the round begins.

<details id="bkmrk-major-events-like-th"><summary>Major Event</summary>

Major events like these should generally be run in conjunction with at least one other admin. This allows for more input on events, and more hands on deck in case something goes wrong. An admin running a round-altering event should be able to commit to the entire round in order to avoid leaving your “helper” admins holding the bag.

</details>##### When should I run an event?

Admin events should be done in moderation, and heavily round-altering events should be done with full transparency.

Events overall should not occur every round or with high frequency. Log what events you’ve done in &lt;#1265099634955649129&gt; (just when &amp; what), even if it seems minor. Any admin action that is additive rather than corrective should be logged.

If you've decided to run a medium- or large-sized midround event, run a customvote to ask the players what severity of event they would like. An "Event? Yes/No" vote should be avoided, since a majority always votes Yes, and players who voted no will feel ignored. Running a severity vote helps gauge what size event should be run, and ensures that more player opinions are taken into account.

Recommended is:

```
customvote "Midround event severity?" "1 - low" 2 3 4 "5 - high
```

But you can adjust that however you want

```
"1 - was that the wind?" "5 - FUCK US UP"
```

##### What to keep in mind:

Try not to overwhelm players. Events should keep in mind things like security presence, individual departmental workload (e.g. don’t run an event that breaks things when there are only two engineers), and gamemode (e.g. don’t spawn in extra entities during zeds).

Events should be done for players, not for admins, and should not operate off systems of bias. An admin should not be running an event because they are bored, to provoke a reaction, or purely because they think it would be funny. Additionally, admin events should not revolve solely around an admin’s friends, or in ways that by design elevate specific, individual players to “main character” status. Notably, this does NOT mean that admins cannot exercise discretion when granting potentially complicated or “risky” roles, it just means that decisions should be made based on objective track record rather than subjective opinion.

Communicate! If you’re adminning with other people, let them know what you’re up to, or ask them for their opinion on it. It’s good to keep people in-the-loop and informed.

##### TLDR:

Events should be done in moderation and with communication/feedback from other admins online. If you’re running a round-altering event, such as spawning in a unique ghostrole etc., you should make sure you can commit to seeing the event through. Don’t overwhelm players, and keep in mind what departments your event may impact. We are not game masters, but we can still have fun!