EQ... the general topic.

[TheColonel]

Sony has been far superior to catering to customer's desires... in my book they're a high 9 as far as customer satisfaction... now the only reason they aren't 10 is because I've had a few incidents when I needed a /petit to get what I needed done... and it didn't happen... their actual customer service department sucks smurf balls, but they ears are open... scream into them. They will listen, as they have.. they implemented a map for poopy's sake!! Next step from that is allowing non-AFK macros. They've got the profit thing almost completely gone, and if it isn't, PM me about it... =) anyhow... I believe they area company that is responding to the "problem customers" and not always in a negative way... They've realized that there is NO way around the Xylobot map feature, and added a feature to screw Ben... which I find great... I can't stand the program... I'm sure if you start selling MQ they'll eventually crumple and add a feature... (j/k) But seriously, Sony is the best thing that has ever happened to EQ. Bugs fixed, exploits remove, whiners filtered. This whole 100 people in the /ignore list is the best thing EVER!!! That's my 2 copper. Take it, lock it, move it, as you will.

[lifewolf]

I think saying SOE is the best thing to happen to EQ says a lot about EQ. Ill let other people criticize the rest of your post, because I know they will too... Playing EQ has always been like walking on sharp rocks with no shoes.. The second they get something right, theres always a better angled sharp pointy coming up next

[Dirtface]

As an ex guide, and knowing exactly HOW we're told to handle customers, you're completely wrong. SoE Customer Service is a low low 3, and it would be a 1 if it werent for the only 3 GMs that actually do a good job.

[some_newb_001]

anyone that feels like getting enlightened to guide do's and dont's have a good read




Customer Service Guidelines for EverQuest

Last Revised July 4, 2001
1. Customer Service Roles and Responsibilities 2
1.1 Avatar Levels 2
1.2 Candidates 2
1.3 Apprentice Guides 2
1.4 Guides 4
1.5 Senior Guides 6
1.6 Elder Guides 9
1.7 SOE Game Masters 9
2. The Customer Service Interface and Tools 10
2.1 The Customer Service Interface 10
2.2 Customer Service Commands 12
2.3 Customer Service Tools 13
2.4 Getting Equipped 15
2.5 Soulmarking 17
3. Communications 21
3.1 Communications between Sony Online Entertainment and Customers 21
3.2 Communications between Customer Service Personnel and Customers 21
3.2.3 Email Support for Customers 21
3.3 Input to Customer Service Policies and Procedures 22
3.4 Communications Among the Customer Support Staff 22
3.5 Customer Service Representatives Posting to Public Boards 24
3.6 The Nightly Report 25
4. Customer Service Personnel Policy and Practices 26
4.1 Customer Service Personnel Policy 26
4.2 Customer Service Personnel Procedures 26
5. Rules and Regulations 30
5.1 Information Dissemination 30
5.2 Interacting In-Game 30
5.3 Discretion and Professionalism 31
5.4 On The Job 32
5.5 Account Security 35
5.6 Customer Service Limited Zones 36
5.6.3 General Customer Service Limited Zone Policies 36
6. General Customer Service 38
6.1 General Customer Service Policy 38
6.2 General Customer Service Procedures 38
7. General Incident Procedures 39
7.1 Account and Billing Problems 39
7.2 Special Procedures 39
7.3 Corpse Recovery 41
7.4 Loss of Items or Experience Due to a Verifiable Bug 43
7.5 Minor Bug Reporting 43
7.6 Major Bug Reporting 44
7.7 Quest Administration 44
7.7.4 Creation of a Quest 45
7.7.5 Quest Scheduling 46
7.7.6 Quest Performance 47
7.7.7 Persistent Characters 48
7.7.8 Historical Quests 49
7.7.9 PvP Quests 50
7.7.10 Quest Disclosure 50
7.8 Questions about Becoming a Guide 50
7.9 Questions about Game Mechanics 51
7.10 Stuck NPCs 51
7.11 Questions about Game Secrets 52
7.12 Technical Problems 53
7.13 Under the World 54
7.14 Real Life Threats 54
7.15 Event Administration 55
8. Exception Incident Procedures 56
8.1 Abuse 56
8.2 Disruption 58
8.3 The EverQuest Name Policy: 60
8.4 Name and Surname Changes 62
8.5 Exploitation 63
8.6 Banning 64
8.7 Loot Anomalies 65
8.8 The Chat Room 65
9. Behavior Guidelines 66
9.1 Professionalism 66
9.2 Program Escalations 67
Appendix A – Guide Absences and Returns to the Program 68
Appendix B – Recognition Programs 70
Appendix C - Zone Listing 71
Appendix D - Common Abbreviations, Terms, and Names 74
Appendix E – EverQuest Customer Service Contacts 75
Appendix F - Changes to this Document 76














Scope: This document covers all of the policies for all members of the EverQuest Customer Service Program and the procedures for them to follow to enforce these policies.

The term "Customer service" includes all interactions with players/testers, and includes everything from first-level technical support to public relations. The goal is to support and enhance the playing experience for customers, and to provide an interface between the customers and Sony Online Entertainment (hereafter referred to as SOE). Although there are defined customer service groups (Guides and certain GMs), any employee of SOE or member of Guide Program interacting with a customer for any reason is performing customer service and should be following these same guidelines.

The customer service organization is the "face" that SOE presents to the customer. As such it is very important that all actions taken by customer service be ethical and professional and avoid even the appearance of favoritism or conflict of interest. These guidelines provide customer service personnel with a way to handle customer situations that will ensure consistent and professional behavior.

Mission Statement:
"To support, educate, and direct the customers of EverQuest to create an enjoyable and immersive Role Playing experience."
1. Customer Service Roles and Responsibilities


1.1 Avatar Levels
There are six levels of participation in the EverQuest Customer Service Program: Candidate, Apprentice Guide, Guide, Senior Guide, Elder Guide, and Game Master (GM.) For GM's, there are three levels of SOE employees performing CS services: GM-Admin, GM-Lead Admin, and GM-Mgmt.

CS Representative Names

New Apprentice Guides must choose a first name they have not used previously either as an EverQuest character or in any public association with EverQuest. The first name must conform to the Naming Policy. (ref. 8.3 The EverQuest Naming Policy)

Having a surname is a privilege reserved for those who have attained the level of Guide. Apprentice Guides are not permitted to use the /surname command to set their surname, nor are servers permitted to assign any surname to an Apprentice (including "the Apprentice").

Guide+ and GM's are bound by the following rules when choosing a surname. Guides may assume surnames of their choice upon approval of the SMT. These surnames might depict the role they have chosen for their guide character and may:

Contain the word 'the' or similar connector (such as 'of' or 'D` ')
Be more than one word (such as Kindred Spirit)
Contain titles within the surname (such as Dragonlord)
Contain double capitals (such as NightStalker)
Utilize any combination of the above four bullets

It should be stressed, however, that the gist of the names should still be high-fantasy oriented, professional in appearance, and must not otherwise violate the Naming Policy (ref. 8.3 The EverQuest Naming Policy).

If any CS Representatives have an issue with the name or surname of another CS Representative, normal escalation procedures should be followed for reporting. The final arbiter of names (for Apprentice+) and surnames (for Guide+) is the Elder Guide. The final arbiter of names and surnames for GM's is the Head GM.


1.2 Candidates
Candidates are those who have expressed an interest in becoming part of the program. They have passed the application process; after having their age verified they are awaiting further contact for entrance into the program. In the tradition of “walking a mile in his moccasins”, no player can be considered a candidate for Apprentice Guide until they have played a minimum of 2 characters up to at least 10th level. Without this experience, it is not possible to understand the frustrations a customer can feel. A Candidate will not be assigned to a server on which they have a play character. Should the candidate play on the server to which they are assigned, they should contact the EQ CS Program member who sent them their invitation e-mail to be reassigned. No member of the Guide Program should ever have a play character on any server on which they also have a Guide Avatar.

1.3 Apprentice Guides
Apprentice Guides are Members of the guide program who have been chosen from the list of Candidates and are under review by the Server Team to determine their suitability for the program. They have limited powers and are mostly concerned with answering questions and learning. Due to the sheer amount of information that an Apprentice must digest and the many and varied situations they must face, the Apprentice must remain as such for no less than two weeks from their buffing day. Furthermore, the maximum length of time one can remain an Apprentice is six weeks. During this time, a seasoned Guide mentors the Apprentice until they are comfortable addressing customer issues on their own. Each server's Server Management Team can tailor the Apprentice's training to suit the needs of the server, so long as the minimum and maximum time requirements are adhered to. It is possible, due to circumstances beyond the Apprentice's control, for the maximum time to be extended by either the Server Management Team or a SOE CS Rep.

1.3.1 The Senior Guides and other experienced Guides on a server will monitor the Apprentice Guides on that server, providing guidance and assessing their performance

1.3.2 Since Apprentices serve on a probationary basis, they are not fully "guided" when they join the program. They are partially buffed, made non-aggressive to all monsters, and given some basic Guide tools.

1.3.3 Apprentices are allowed to explore freely any area, with the exception of zones listed below as "Apprentice-restricted zones." They are forbidden from exploring these more difficult areas of the game to reduce the amount of knowledge they can take with them should they not become Guides. Apprentices may not be bound to any restricted zone. The list of restricted zones is as follows:
Arena Befallen
Cazic-Thule Chardok
City of Mist Cobaltscar
Crystal Caverns Crushbone
Dalnir Droga
Eastern Wastes Frozen Shadow
Great Divide Hole (The)
Howling Stones (Charasis) Iceclad Ocean
Kael Keasora
Karnor’s Castle Kedge Keep
Kurn’s Tower Lower Guk
Mistmoore Najena
Necropolis Nurga
Old Sebilis Permafrost
Plane of Fear Plane of Growth
Plane of Hate Plane of Mischief
Plane of Sky Siren’s Grotto
Skyfire Mountains Skyshrine
Sleeper Solusek A
Solusek B Split Paw
Thurgadin A Thurgadin B
Unrest Upper Guk
Veeshan’s Peak Veeshan’s Temple
Velketor’s Labyrinth Wakening Lands
Warrens (The) Western Wastes

For easy reference, the Apprentice-restricted zone list is simply the list of dungeon zones shown in the Appendix C, plus Skyfire Mountains, City of Mist and all Velious Zones.

The following zones are also apprentice-restricted, with the following exception: an Apprentice may, after informing the CS staff online via /pr, travel through the following zones for the sole purpose of reaching the zone on the other side. Apprentices may not explore these zones and may not be bound to these zones.

Blackburrow Runnyeye

1.3.4 The responsibilities of the Apprentice Guides are to:
Answer /petitions
Explore the world to learn it as much, if not more, than the players
Participate in Answer Circles (an informal question and answer session in a safe area)
Assist the other Guides as needed

1.3.5 The things an Apprentice does not do (in addition to the restrictions of the Guides below) are:
Explore apprentice-restricted zones as listed in 1.3.3
Handle exploitation, abuse, or any other exception petitions as anything more than a witness to a Guide
Be online without a full Guide
Be anonymous. Exception: an Apprentice may use /anon right before camping. When the Apprentice logs in again and verifies that a full Guide is online, he or she must go un-anonymous again. This exception is to prevent the Apprentice from receiving /tells for help when he or she is not allowed to remain online. As well, they may also go /anon at the direction of a Senior Guide or mentoring Guide.

1.4 Guides
Guides are the mainstay of the Guide Program and are the most numerous rank. When all members of the Server Management Team approve an Apprentice on their server, he/she is promoted to Guide. Once a Guide, it is possible to remain one indefinitely, as this is the most critical function of the Guide Program. It is recommended that Guides contribute a minimum of 6 hours per week to the Program. There should be no fewer than 40 Guides per server.

1.4.1 Guides are the first line of contact for the customers. As such, they are responsible for the first level of escalation for problems and issues. They handle the immediate issues, answer game play questions, and in general are responsible for resolution of first level problems.

1.4.2 Problems that are not resolvable in a reasonable amount of time or those that involve an angry customer who cannot be placated should be escalated to the Server Management Team (the Senior Guides and GM-Admin assigned to that server.) It is anticipated that the overall volume of petitions will be high. If a Guide finds that one petitioner is monopolizing them to the extent that the incoming petitions are not being handled, the Guide should pass the petition to a member of the Server Management Team if one is available.

1.4.3 In situations that are covered by the Incident Policies and Procedures below, the Guide’s primary role is investigator. Guides are not agents of enforcement. They gather information and make sure the Server Management Team has enough information to make the correct decision. Any Guide involved in an emergency situation, which is not covered by these policies, should escalate to a member of the Server Management Team if one is online. If no member of the Server Management Team is online, the Guide should handle the situation using whichever of the policies below most closely suits the situation to the best of their judgment. This action should be followed up by an email notification to the Server Management Team for review.

1.4.4 The responsibilities of the Guides (in addition to the duties of an Apprentice) are to:
Perform CRs (Corpse Retrievals) and unstick players
Mentor, train, and supervise the Apprentices
Assist in event administration as authorized by this document and the Guide’s Server Management Team
Handle escalations
Investigate candidates for the Guide program.

1.4.5 The things a Guide does not do:
Run or create dynamic quests and quest characters independently
Reprimand Apprentices (to include any form of hazing – see section 1.4.7)
Chastise Customers or Apprentices
Speak for the Guide Program as a whole in a public forum (Bulletin Boards, Newsgroups, etc.)


1.4.6 Guide Level Coordinators

1.4.6.1 Each server should ideally have several "teams" for the major focus areas that time has shown tend to get grouped together for administration purposes. The SMT for each server should establish a minimum and maximum number of guides for the teams, unless specified in this document, so that this information can be shared with the full Guides on their server.

1.4.6.2 When a position on one of the server teams becomes available, all Full Guides interested may apply. If more Guides apply than there are positions, the SMT should vote on whom to fill the position(s), or how to best utilize the skills of those who have applied. Guides not given an assignment on a server team should have a note added to their personnel file for future consideration for when additional positions are available or they have gained the skills to take on a more active or different role.

1.4.6.3 Server teams can be administered as deemed by the SMT, within the guidelines of this document. It is up to the SMT what members of the server teams are called except where otherwise specified as in the case of Quest Coordinator and Event Coordinator. However, the title "Lieutenant" or other title that implies a position or rank above other full Guides, is not permitted. At no time does membership on any server team imply candidacy for Senior Guide or guarantee future promotion. For tracking purposes, full Guides serving on server teams must have notes added to their personnel records indicating their current assignment.

1.4.6.4 It is recommended that Guides performing duties on server teams rotate duties within guidelines defined by their SMTs. While some Guides are better at some duties than others, a well-rounded Guide is more useful to the server and the Guide Program as a whole than one who only knows one aspect of server administration.

1.4.6.5 The major focus areas which servers may opt to implement server teams for are:

Training - The Training Coordinator is responsible for coordinating Apprentice and Guide training, mentoring, and other duties per the SMT's discretion.
Administration - The Admin Coordinator is responsible for coordinating and ensuring the accuracy of various duties at the discretion of the SMT. Examples of duties include weekly status reports, attendance tracking, and bug report compilation.
Quest Coordinator - See section 7.7.2
Event Coordinator - The Event Coordinator coordinates events on the server. See section 7.15


1.4.7 Hazing

One of the goals of the Guide Program is to foster a feeling of family amongst all the Guides on a server. To this end, there are some basic guidelines, which must be followed. One of the best ways to foster the family atmosphere is to give attention to the all the Guides on a server. There are good ways and bad ways to do this.

Unfortunately, some of the Guides and GM's resort to one of the bad ways: hazing. Hazing is when one (or more) CS Reps subjects another to abusive tricks and ridicule and this is strictly forbidden. This can include (but is not limited to): drowning, summoning into lava, summoning to a height and allowing the person to fall to their deaths, and summoning and attacking against their will. Note that this does not include SMT-approved server ceremonies (such as promotion) where all members go through a similar set of trials. Also, this does not include consensual combat in the Sunset Home arena when the queue conditions permit it.

While in most cases the person doing this has no ill will towards the victim, the victim can sometimes feel singled-out. This can be even worse when the perpetrator is a Senior or GM, as now the victim feels that they have no one to turn to. The program has lost many good Guides of all levels due to hazing and it can ill-afford to do so. It is not in the best interests of the Guide Program to tolerate such behavior and, as such, any CS rep caught hazing can be subject to disciplinary action, up to removal from the program.


1.5 Senior Guides
Senior Guides are proven Guides who have shown good judgment and are willing to invest extra time in the program. They handle the more difficult problems, the administration of the program and most of the escalations for their server. Senior Guides answer questions along with the Guides when the load becomes excessive, but are primarily responsible for working together with the server GM-Admin to administer their server.

1.5.1 Senior Guides train, mentor, and audit the Guides and Apprentices on their server, and coordinate the dynamic quests and events for their server. The Senior Guides for a particular server are responsible for the success of the Guide Program on that server, in all aspects. Senior Guides are created from the ranks of the Guides when there is a suitable candidate, and when a review of the workload makes it a reasonable action.

1.5.2 Senior Guides are not losing responsibility, but gaining additional responsibility, and as such are expected to contribute at least 4-6 hours per week in additional time, though not all of this time needs to be spent online. There will be at minimum 1 Senior Guide for every 20 Guides, although this number may increase depending on the types of work to be done and the pool of available candidates. The process for nominating and promoting a Senior is described below:

Guides wishing to be considered for promotion to Senior Guide are encouraged to notify their SMT's as soon as possible of their interest, as this requires significant commitment and the learning of additional duties. It should never be assumed that one would be considered for Senior Guide based on longevity in the program or due to taking on additional duties. While interest can be expressed at any time, SOE and the Elder Guide determine when more Seniors need to be cultivated.

Guides have two methods to achieve review for a promotion to Senior Guide:

Method 1: The Guide must have served a minimum of five months as a full Guide. In this case, a Senior Guide may nominate the Guide for promotion.

Method 2: The Guide must have served a minimum of six months as a full Guide. The Guide then concurrently emails his/her SMT and the Personnel Team (personnel-verant@station.sony.com) stating his/her desire to be reviewed for promotion.

The server GM and/or Seniors for the candidate are contacted and asked to fill out a brief questionnaire on the candidate's abilities, attitude, and contributions. If the SMT is not recommending the candidate for promotion, it will be asked to disclose the reasons why it is not recommending the candidate at this time. It should be understood that while all comments will be kept confidential, the prospective Senior candidate has a right to know what it is s/he needs to change to receive further consideration. Seniors and GM's are encouraged to be fair and have specific examples if a prospective candidate is declined. The feedback to the prospective Senior candidate will come from the Personnel Team.

Both methods ultimately require:

1) A minimum of two nominations/recommendations from active Seniors (or if a server only has one Senior, then the nomination from that Senior will suffice). It is strongly recommended that at least one nomination/recommendation come from the candidate's home server.

2) A recommendation from at least one GM.

3) A clean record as a Guide. The prospective Senior candidate must have NO warning entries in the Abuse database after entering the guide program (the entry date is defined as the date the candidate was flagged as an apprentice, as shown in the Guide database) and no record of significant problems as a guide. Significant problems can include but are not limited to: removal or suspension of any kind, a reprimand for inappropriate or morale-affecting board posts, or anything that, at the discretion of the SMT, Personnel Team, or SOE Guide Support Staff could imply lack of judgment on the part of the prospective Senior candidate.

4) An account check. A GM-Admin+ will provide a review of the prospective Senior candidate's play characters and guide character. This review will include creation date, play time, level, and date last accessed for every character the applicant has. This is done to ensure that the Guide is still maintaining a player's perspective about the game in addition to remaining responsible in the guiding duties.

5) A competency check. The nominating Senior must be responsible to provide examples of the prospective Senior candidate's experience in the following areas:

a) Training (both of Guides and Apprentices)

b) Management of Quests

c) Personnel management and reporting

d) Server reporting (WSR's, DSR's and the like)

The Personnel Team will notify Senior Candidates meeting the above requirements that they are being reviewed. Candidates will be asked to submit an email to personnel-verant@station.sony.com, the Guide Liaison and semi@one.net that should include the following:

1) Why they want to be a Senior Guide.
2) What they feel they can offer the program as a Senior.
3) What they feel their strengths and weaknesses are.

They must also submit a personal information page to include the following:

Real Name
Home phone number
A statement that the candidate is at least 18 years of age
All other people in the candidate's home that play EQ

The remaining candidates will have a telephone interview with a member of SOE Guide Support Staff.

The Personnel Team will then forward recommendations for promotion to Senior to the Guide Liaison and the Elder Guide, based on the packet of information that is contained about each senior candidate. The Guide Liaison and the Elder Guide make the final decision.

1.5.3 Senior Guides handle all escalations from their Guides and provide another level of customer service, especially to angry or dissatisfied customers. They support the Guides in all aspects of their job, taking referrals from the Guides when any petition becomes overly long, or a customer refuses to be satisfied.

1.5.4 During an Exception Incident (described below), Seniors are detectives, but can also engage the customer and attempt to defuse the situation. However, this is only done if the accused customer is not a recidivist. In the event of a repeat offender, the Senior does nothing more than gather information and await the arrival of a GM or Elder Guide.

1.5.5 The responsibilities of the Senior Guides for their particular server (in addition to the duties of a Guide) are:
Manage the Guide Program on their server
Assist Elders as needed
Provide the communication focal point for their server, passing information from the Elders, Guide Liaison, and SOE to their Guide population and reporting status and Exception Incidents from their server to the Elders and SOE.

1.5.6 Senior Guides also have duties that are program-wide, in addition to the responsibilities for their assigned server. Seniors should have a clear understanding of when they are acting on behalf of their assigned server, and when they are acting in a program-wide capacity, and should be able to represent both of these views appropriately. The following roles will be handled by a Senior Guide or a team of Senior Guides, according to the volume of work required. In some cases, Seniors may coordinate these types of work, delegating parts of it to a Guide or Guides. This can be particularly useful when the workload is heavy and when the Senior team for a server would like to evaluate a Guide wishing to become a Senior Guide.

Note: Each of these teams is comprised of at least 5 Senior Guides, 2 SOE employees, and 1 Senior Guide acting in the role of Chairperson. This structure was implemented for the Customer Service Program Reorganization to streamline the decision making process for the upcoming changes to the Program.

· Personnel Team: Responsible for all issues pertaining to personnel, this team is formed of several distinct parts, all of which work closely together.  Admin, Training, SWAT, Graders, and Webmaster.  They manage server levels, initial apprentice training, emergency response, candidate interviewing, and the EverQuest Customer Service web site at http://guide.everquest.com.
· Communications Team: This team handles the matters of intra-program communication; channels of communication, reporting, and any templates for communicating. They facilitate all levels of communication within the Customer Service Program. The team will also be tasked with providing the Guide Program a unified voice to the public.
· Policy Team: The group responsible for collecting input on, drafting, ratifying, and interpreting the Policies and Procedures of the Customer Service Program. They maintain all of the core documents of the Program.

1.5.7 There are times when a Senior Guide is unable to continue to fulfill his/her responsibilities, but wishes to remain in the Guide Program. He/she may email the Personnel Team at personnel-verant@station.sony.com, who will evaluate the request with the Elder Guide and Guide Liaison. If approved, the Senior Guide will revert to the rank of Guide and may be transferred to a different server.

1.5.8 There are times when someone promoted to the rank of Senior Guide may not be able to adequately perform his/her responsibilities. The Elder Guide and Guide Liaison may revert a Senior Guide to the rank of Guide.

1.6 Elder Guides
Elder Guides are the consulting and management arm of the Guide program. They are responsible for the welfare of the Guide program as a whole. Elder Guides are the highest escalation point in the Guide Program.

1.7 SOE Game Masters
The Game Masters are split into several categories, each with different responsibilities and levels of authority, though all must follow these guidelines while in-game and wearing a GM flag:
GM-Admins are the GM’s that work within SOE and are responsible for providing customer service. These GM’s answer /petitions as needed (i.e. when the load is excessive) and use their expanded abilities to provide support to the Guides on duty in addition to customer service responsibilities outside the game. These GM’s are also responsible for monitoring the EQ Chat area and answering questions there, as well as email support.
GM-Lead Admins are the managers of the GM-Admins.
GM-Mgmt are the highest authority of GM’s in the game and the final arbiters in all disputes, escalations, and issues of policy and discipline.
GM-Testers, GM-Coders, GM-Areas, and GM-Art - While these GM’s have no customer service responsibilities, should remain /anonymous and should avoid unnecessary customer contact, they are SOE employees and should be treated accordingly.

2. The Customer Service Interface and Tools

2.1 The Customer Service Interface


2.1.1 The /PRivate Channel GM/Guide internal communications are handled through the use of the GM-only channel, /PRivate. Guides and GMs also use this channel to speak privately among the group across all zones.

2.1.2 The /Petition Queuing Tool When a customer types /petition <msg>, an entry is created at the bottom of the /petition queuing system. These entries are sorted in reverse chronological order, the oldest entries being at the top.

2.1.2.1 Press "G" to access the GM menu and then press "PETITION" to access the queuing tool. This brings up the list of account names on the right side of the primary viewing screen, translucent over any terrain or NPC's that is viewed. The list has the oldest ten entries that are in need of attention, sorted first in urgency order, then chronological order.

2.1.2.2 At the very top will be any petitions that have been escalated as emergency. Emergency queue entries are escalations to Seniors, Elders, and GMs and are red in color.

2.1.2.3 Next will be the urgent ones, which are yellow in color and are escalations for any powered Guide, usually from an Apprentice that is not able to service the petition.

2.1.2.4 Below the urgent petitions are the normal priority petitions colored in green. All petitions enter the queue in this state and will remain a normal priority until they are escalated for more immediate handling.

2.1.3 Taking a Petition It is the desire of the Guide program to answer every petition, no matter how trivial, even if the answer is “I’m sorry, but we’re not able to do that.” All customers are important and all need to feel like we care and listen to them.

2.1.3.1 To take a petition, simply click on it in the /petition queue. This “checks it out” and the Guide now “owns” this entry. The entry is no longer in the queue but only in the hands of the Guide that checked it out. The screen changes to the “Open Item” screen, which has the following items in it:

2.1.3.2 Interface Buttons (along the left hand side)
User Text Displays the customer’s /petition text into the Guide’s text box
GM Text Displays any text appended by a Guide/GM into the Guide’s text box
Append Text Appends text to the GM Text section (see below)
Downgrade Reduces the urgency of the /petition
Escalate Increases the urgency of the /petition
Unavailable Increases the unavailable counter (for player offline or not responding)
Log Bug Logs the petition into the /bug database
Log Feedback Logs the petition into the /feedback database
Log Guidelog Logs the petition into the Guide Logbook (currently not functional)
Check In Puts the /petition back in the queue
Undo Checkout As Check In, but undoes any text added to the /petition
Delete Petition Removes the petition from the queue

2.1.3.3 Interface Fields (down the center)
Urgency Normal/Urgent/Emergency
User handle PID of petitioning player
Last Guide PID of the CS Representative handling the petition
Zone Zone the player petitioned from
Character Character name of the petitioning player
Level Level of the petitioning player
Class Class of the petitioning player
Race Race of the petitioning player

2.1.3.4 The Append Text button To append GM text to a petition, type the text into the text area as if you were speaking, then press the Append Text button instead of the Enter key.

2.1.3.5 Normal Petitions Most petitions fall into the “Normal” category. To handle a normal petition, check the petition out and contact the customer. Follow any of the procedures listed elsewhere in this document to handle the petition until it is completed. Once completed, press “Delete Petition” and move on to the next petition.

2.1.3.6 Bug Petitions If a petition turns out to be a bug report, then investigate the bug as quickly as possible to gather whatever additional information is necessary to file a bug report. The types of information needed are pertinent to the bug in question:

Zone where the problem occurred
Description of the location, as specifically as possible
Name of any NPCs involved
Specific steps to recreate

2.1.3.6.1 Use “Append Text” to add all the information to the queue entry, then press “Log Bug”. This will put the bug into the /bug database. Once the petition is complete, press “Delete Petition” and move on to the next petition.

2.1.3.7 Feedback Petitions If a petition turns out to be customer feedback, gather as much additional information as possible to make the request complete, use “Append Text” to add the information to the queue entry, then press “Log Feedback” to put the request into the /feedback database. Once the petition is complete, press “Delete Petition” and move on to the next petition.

2.1.3.8 Unusual or Problem Petitions If there is a problem with a petition that does not fall into any of the above categories, or that a Guide feels is noteworthy, the Guide needs to record the pertinent details and include an accurate account of the incident in their Shift Report. If escalation is not necessary, and the petition is complete, click the Delete Petition button and move to the next petition.

2.1.3.8.1 SOE Customer Service reviews this log regularly and issues that are placed here can be resolved offline as needed.

2.1.3.9 Petitions from other sources The customer service staff will frequently receive tells or in-person communications from players. The order in which communications should be handled is petitions, in-person conversations, then tells. Any customer service petitions that come in via /tell should be encouraged to utilize /petition to ensure the customer has an avenue of support when the Guide they are speaking to is not online.

2.1.3.9.1 Customer service staff should not respond to /shout and /ooc communications. When the staff is involved with in-person communications, it should be handled in as personable a manner as possible. This includes role-playing whenever it is possible to do so, as well as making an effort to show an interest in the player, enthusiasm in the game, and encouraging good gaming behavior.

2.1.3.9.2 Unavailable Petitioners - Whenever a petitioner does not show on /who all <PID> for one minute or fails to answer two consecutive tells and they have been given at least 2 minutes to respond, the petitioner is considered unavailable. If there are 25 or fewer petitions in the queue, the petition should be marked as UNAVAILABLE with the UNAVAILABLE button and CHECKED IN so that the petition can be answered later. If there are more than 25 petitions in the queue, after a reasonable attempt has been made to contact the customer, the petition may be deleted. Whenever a petition has an UNAVAILABLE COUNT of three or more and a reasonable attempt to contact the petitioner has been made, the petition should be deleted.

2.2 Customer Service Commands


2.2.1 The following commands are available to all Apprentice Guides:

G - Brings up the GM menu/Queuing Tool.

/private - used to speak on the private channel

/searchcorpse <playername> - Used to verify the existence of a corpse and to discover the zone in which it is located. Caution should be taken when using this command as it has proved unreliable when multiple corpses exist. Apprentices using this command should escalate to a full Guide if there is any doubt.


2.2.2 The following commands are available to all full Guides:

/find <playername> or <NPCfirstname_ NPClastname##> or <playername>’s corpse<#> - Used to find the location of a player, player’s corpse or NPC. Intra-zone command.

/goto <playername> or <NPCfirstname_ NPClastname##> - Used to go to a player or NPC. Inter-zone/Intra-zone command. If the parameters are left out, /goto will take the Guide to the targeted PC/NPC/corpse.

/hideme – the GM version of hide. Used for investigations. It will synchronize your /anonymous status with your visibility state. Note: you must target yourself to use this command. The command does not work on anyone but yourself, even though you will receive messages saying that it did. You will no longer be hidden upon zoning, as well (Exception: Senior+ will remain hidden on zoning). There have been reported anomalies with Area of Effect spells and tracking.

/kill - kills the targeted NPC, leaving no corpse. Only used to clear out stuck/broken NPC's, and only after attempting all other avenues of resolution (i.e. Guide Helm, etc.)

/servers – This will show the availability of all zones on a server. The list is ordered with the most recently available zones on top.

/summon <playername> - Used to bring a player to you. Inter-zone command. A Guide can also target a player and then simply type /summon.

/summon <playername>’s Corpse<#> - Used to summon a player's corpse. Intra-zone command. A Guide can also target a player's corpse in the same zone and then simply type /summon. Always use the summoning procedures when using this tool.

/toggle <on/off> Used to toggle your availability to receive /tells on and off at the server .

/zone <zonename> – see Appendix B> - Used to go to any zone. Takes you to a “safe point” in the zone. Always use the summoning procedures when using this tool.


2.2.3 The following commands are available to all Senior and Elder Guides:

/becomenpc <race#> [<gender=M, F, N> <body armor#> <head armor#> <face type#> <height#> <max level#>] - Change the form of the targeted PC or NPC, converting them into an NPC (full PvP). Not all are available in every zone. Some are "global", such as the PC races, and others are local and only appear in some zones. This command may be abbreviated as /be and must be used as specified in section 2.6.

/broadcast <message> Will send that notice message to all players who are online on that server.

/emotezone <message> - Sends a white text message to the zone, for example “/emotezone You feel an icy wind through the land,” would appear to players as “You feel an icy wind through the land.” Often used to warn for zone repopulating and to announce messages. (see Section 5.4.9).

/height <#> -used to change the height of the target PC or NPC. /height 0 returns the targeted player to the default height for the player’s current race. DO NOT EXCEED /height 98, as that will corrupt the character’s file and require external repairs before the character can log back in again.

/kick - used to kick a player from the game and send them back to the server selection screen. This is only used to remove players that are stuck in-game and unable to log in or players who are deemed to be asleep (see Section 7.2.3).

/name <oldname> <newname> - Used to change player’s names. The b is optional and will dump the original name to the name filter when used. This command cannot be used to add last names or titles. Always follow the naming procedures in using this tool.

/lastname - Used to alter last names in accordance with Section 8.3 (The Everquest Naming Policy). To add a name with spaces in it, surround the last name in quotes (e.g. Joe "the Guide").


2.3 Customer Service Tools


2.3.1 The following Tools are available to all Guides of Apprentice level and up:

Staff of Guidance – Creates a gate effect when used, returning the CS Representative to his/her bind point.
 

2.3.2 The following Tools are available to all CS Representatives that have reached the rank of Guide+ unless otherwise noted. Unless stated otherwise in this document, all of these tools are to be used on CS Representatives only, not on players.

CS Armor comes in several varieties including black, gold, and green plate; Velious styles 17,19,20, and 21; green chain; and Monk armor. Appearance and name aside, there is no functional difference between the various types of CS Armor. Please note that some items, such as robes and monk armor, may be Race and/or Class specific.

The piece from each set that corresponds to the following inventory slots will have similar effects:
 
Chest (Breastplates, Tunics, Chestguards, Chestwraps, Shrouds, Coats, and all Robes except the Ceremonial Robe) - This armor has the Guide Health effect and allows CS Representatives to regenerate health faster and to breathe underwater. This armor only needs to be worn for its effect.

Legs (Greaves and Leggings) - Casts Spirit of Norrath on Self only. This provides a significant increase in movement speed.

Arms (Vambraces, Sleeves, and Armbands) - Casts Guide Memory Blur which clears a targeted MoB's hate list. This item is useful in resetting vendors.

Hands (Gauntlets, Gloves and Fistwraps) - Casts the spell Customer Service Resurrection, which is a 100% experience resurrection without any resurrection effects. Currently there is a 3-hour real time limit on all resurrect spells, making it impossible for a corpse to be resurrected after 3 hours.

Wrists (Bracers and Wristguards) - Casts Cancel Magic (at 2x power), Cure Poison and Cure Disease. .

Feet (Boots and Sandles) - Casts Levitation on Self only. Allows CS Representatives to safely travel on treacherous landscapes.

Head (Helms, Caps, Crowns, and Coifs) - This armor has the spell effect Shadowstep. When activated, Shadowstep teleports the CS Representative a few feet away from his/her current location. This is useful in the event that the CS Representative becomes lodged in the game geometry while assisting a player.

The following Guide Tools emit light (even if the CS Representative is invisible). To ensure that no unwanted light is being emitted, these items should be placed in the Guide Pack while the CS Representative is /hidden (they still emit light in the general inventory slots).

Guide Telescope - Allows a CS Representative to zoom in approximately 20 feet.

Celestial Sword - Creates a gate effect when used, returning the CS Representative to his or her bind point. Note: this item was created especially for the Guide Program. This item is to be wielded only by Guides, Senior Guides, and Elder Guides.

Staff of Guidance - listed above. If carried by a Guide+, this item should also be placed in the Guide Pack when /hidden.

The remainder of the Guide Tools are:

Earring of Shifting Sight - Allows the CS Representative to see from a targeted PC's or NPC's perspective. To activate the Earring, the CS Representative should first target the PC or NPC and then right click on the Earring. The item does have a spell effect, therefore the CS Representative will become visible at the time of activation.

An anomaly can occur that will lock-up the view. The workaround is for the CS Representative to [TAB] to target themselves, cast it on themselves, move and then re-cast it. This tool also causes the user's stamina to drain.

Earring of Z - Replenishes stamina and provides a flash of light.

Ring of Escape - Makes the CS Representative impervious to all attacks for 1 minute of real time, though no other spell effects may be cast during this minute. This is used primarily for fire and lava exploration.

Ring of Removing - Casts Cancel Magic (at 2x power), Cure Poison and Cure Disease.

Collar of Contraction - Casts Antlegs (self-only) and allows the wearer to shrink in all locations.

Eyepatch of Lio (Special Sight) - While equipped, the CS Representative will have Avatar Sight, giving him/her Ultravision and See Invisible.

Cloak of Souls - Casts Bind Affinity on the targeted PC.

Belt of Translocation - Effect: Sunset Home, returning the CS Representative to Cshome regardless of his/her bind point.

Words of Ceremony - A cosmetic piece without function

Ceremonial Gown - A cosmetic piece without function

Stone of Gnoming - Gives the guise of a Gnome needed to talk with some NPC's when the CS Representative's race/class will not allow it. Also, allows the CS Representative to shrink at any time.

Wand of Memory - Casts Guide Memory Blur which clears a targeted MoB's hate list. This item is useful in resetting vendors.

Celestial Scabbard - Adds 100 to all resists/saves and has effect of casting Shadow Step.

Guide Pack - A 10-slot 90% weight-reducing pack in which items that emit light are to be placed when a CS Representative undertakes an investigation where invisibility is necessary.

NOTE about all Tools: All of these Tools are for CS Representative use only. Tools MUST remain in the possession of the CS Representative at all times. At no time is the CS Representative allowed to attempt to trade, buy, sell, drop or in any other way shape or form transfer one of these items to any one or thing (players, NPC's, Mobs, etc) outside of the Program or SOE.


2.3.3 A Guide vendor, Llara the Mysterious, is located outside the main hall at the base of the steps in Sunset Home. The following additional items are available to all Guide+:

Valtron's Finest Brew - an alcoholic beverage
Gnome sandwich
Wedding cake
Birthday Cake

All the above items are No Rent and may be given to players within reason. None of Llara's items have any resale value at any NPC vendor.


2.4 Getting Equipped

2.4.1 Once a Guide is accepted into the Guide Program as an Apprentice, they must be outfitted for the job. When they are promoted to full Guide, further outfitting is required. If a Guide should lose their tools, usually due to a corpse loss, they need a way to re-acquire their tools.

2.4.2 The procedure an Apprentice follows to be robed, equipped and brought online is as follows:
The Apprentice attends their training meeting prior to being robed.
They then go to the server assigned to them by the Personnel Team at the time indicated in their buffing schedule, received from their assigned server.
They do a /who all GM, locate a member of the Server Management Team or their trainer and send them a /tell, indicating they are present to be robed.
The Apprentice is summoned to Sunset Home and waits for a GM-Admin.
The GM-Admin shows up, turns on their GM flag, buffs them to 20th level, and gives them a Staff of Guidance.
.

2.4.3 When an Apprentice is promoted to full Guide, their powers are generally given to them before their tools or trappings. The process is as follows:

A GM-Admin arrives on the server and /tells the Apprentice they are there to buff them.
The GM /summons the Apprentice to Sunset Home..
The GM buffs the Apprentice to 50th level and gives them a Guide Note.
The new Guide takes the Guide note and gives it to the Quartermaster, who gives them a small amount of money in exchange. The Quartermaster explains to the Guide that he is there to serve them, providing them the tools they need to do their job.
The Guide right clicks on the Quartermaster, buys the items available to them, and equips them.
In addition, they must also purchase the Verdant Armor, Armor of the Righteous, or Armor of the Malign. They may substitute the breastplate for one of the Robes of Guidance available from the Erudite NPC, Dorala Kerlian if the robes are equip-able by their race, or, if they are a monk, they may replace the breastplate, greaves, and boots for Tranquil
armor available from the Verdant armor merchant

2.4.4 The NPCs in Sunset Home only respond to the appropriate level of Guide, and only when they have given the Quartermaster their note. Once they are trading with the NPC, the Guide is free to return and re-purchase their tools at any time. This is particularly important when the tools are lost due to corpse loss or other such anomalies.

2.4.5 Apprentices and Guides may not make use of any spells or equipment from normal vendors or the GM-Admin vendors, and may not accept gifts of such items from players. If normal equipment is purchased as part of a bug investigation, it should be destroyed as soon as the investigation is complete. (Reference Section 5.4.7 No Hunting/Questing/Looting)

2.4.6 Due to the special abilities of some of the races and classes, CS Reps may find themselves able to speak with Sunset Home vendors they might not otherwise be able to. The vendors in the Sunset Home are meant to only be accessed by Avatars of a specific level. Any CS Reps that attempt to view and/or purchase from a Sunset Home (cshome) vendor not normally accessible to him or her without permission from a GM+ will be subject to disciplinary action.

2.4.7 A new Guide will be assigned a separate Guide account shortly after being promoted. This account will be used solely for guiding and is where the new Guide's Avatar and tools will reside. On this account, a Guide's name will show up as blue when logged into EverQuest Chat. As soon as the Guide account is assigned, a new Guide must change his/her chat name on the Guide account so it is identical, or as close as possible to, the name of his/her Guide Avatar. The chat name may include the server or rank, provided the name of the Guide Avatar is included.

In addition, the new Guide will no longer have to pay to use his/her play account as long as he/she is active in the Guide Program. To ensure the account has been flagged as free, a new Guide must log into EverQuest Chat on the play account and type the #priv command. If the response returned states "Privilege level is FREE USER", then the new Guide may cancel his/her play account to stop billing. Should the account not be flagged as free after promotion, a Guide should contact his/her SMT to inform them of the problem. Note: This only applies to one play account, primarily the one used by the Guide to sign up for the Guide Program.

As SOE provides a free play account to Guides in the Guide Program as a courtesy, refunds will not be issued to Guides for any charges incurred on their play account.


2.5 Soulmarking

2.5.1 Soulmark Commands

All Full Guides+ have access to the following commands:

/praise - Adds a good soulmark to a player's account.

Syntax: /praise {character's name} {PID} {text}

Example: /praise Soandso ABCD1234 Player reported their duped corpse so that it could be removed.

/warn - Adds a warning soulmark to a player's account.

Syntax: /warn {character's name} {PID} {text}

Example: /warn Soandso ABCD1234 Was harassing Newbievictim (WXYZ9876). Nature of abuse and warning of consequences of failure to desist were explained.

/inquire - Will bring up a graphical display of the soulmarks on an account on the server.

Syntax: /inquire {character's name} {PID}

Example: /inquire Soandso ABCD1234

2.5.2 Soulmark Display

NAME Character name of the Player on which the soulmark was placed

ID PID of the Player on which the soulmark was placed

GM NAME Name of the CS Representative who placed the soulmark

GM ID PID of the CS Representative who placed the soulmark

DATE Date the Soulmark was placed

TYPE PRAISE/WARNING/NOTE

TEXT Notation as entered by the CS Representative who placed the soulmark

DONE Checks the Soulmark file back in

NEXT Will display the next Soulmark in the file

PREV Will display the previous Soulmark

2.5.3 Soulmark Procedures

2.5.3.1 Viewing a Player’s Soulmarks

Soulmarks can not be viewed by a CS Rep while they have a GM menu open or if the Name Approval dialog is up. The CS Rep should clear any such menus dialogs or menus before attempting to view a player’s soulmarks.
The CS Rep should then use the /who all command on the player to attain the correct spelling of the player’s character name as well as the player’s PID
The CS Rep should then use the /inquire command according to the format above to view the player’s soulmarks.

2.5.3.2 Adding a Praise/Note

1. Before adding a praise soulmark the CS Representative should use the /inquire command as described above to view any previous soulmarks to ensure that the soulmark has not already been filed by another CS Rep.
2. The CS Rep should then click on the DONE button to close the player’s soulmark file.
3. Finally the CS Rep should use the /praise command according to the format above to add a praise soulmark. If the /praise is to serve as a note, the text of it should start with ‘NOTE:’
4. After making the soulmark the CS Rep should use the /inquire command again to be certain that it was entered correctly.

2.5.3.3 Adding a Warning

1. Before adding a warning soulmark the CS Representative should use the /inquire command as described above to view any previous soulmarks to ensure that the soulmark has not already been filed by another CS Rep and so that the CS Rep will know if the player is a recidivist.
2. The CS Rep should then click on the DONE button to close the player’s soulmark file.
3. When appropriate as dictated by Exception Incident policy, the CS Rep should use the /warn command according to the format above to add a warning soulmark.
4. After making the soulmark the CS Rep should use the /inquire command again to be certain that it was entered correctly.

2.5.4 Soulmark Technical Issues

2.5.4.1 Saves – Whenever a CS Rep clicks on the DONE button on the Soulmark Display it will close the player’s soulmark file. The CS Rep may also receive a message that the Soulmark file is being saved. Unless the CS Rep is a GM+ this message is inaccurate. This is a noteworthy issue as more than one CS Rep may view the same player’s Soulmark file and soulmarks may be added to a file while it is being viewed.

2.5.4.2 Static Interface – If a CS Rep has a Soulmark file opened, the CS Rep will not see any soulmarks which are added until the file is closed and re-opened with the /inquire command.

2.5.4.3 TYPE – A CS Rep may be able to click on the Type button and the designated type of soulmark will cycle through the four possible types: PRAISE, WARNING, NOTE, and NULL. Except for GM+ none of these changes will be saved to the Player’s soulmark file.

2.5.4.4 GM+es Saves – While it will rarely be relevant, GM's+ should be aware that they can save older Soulmark files and effectively erase newer soulmarks if they check out the file while it is in use by another CS Rep. (ie: the GM clicks on DONE after another GM or Guide uses the /praise or /warn commands, or another GM clicks the DONE button).

2.5.5 General Soulmark Policy

2.5.5.1 Note

2.5.5.1.1 Making a Note – Sometimes it can be important to make a notation on a player’s account for the server and the notation is neither a praise nor a warning. If making the notation can be beneficial to tracking serious issues such as reimbursements, resurrections, CRs, etc, the /praise command should be used. The text of such notations should start with the word ‘NOTE:’ CS Reps should be selective about adding notes to player’s accounts and should add notes according to direction provided by their Server Management Team.

2.5.5.2 Praise

2.5.5.2.1 /Praise Restraint – We do want to keep track of good deeds of players, however the /praise command should be used sparingly when only being used to say what a wonderful player a person is. WARNINGs and NOTEs (or PRAISEs used as a note) can be beneficial to tracking undesirable behavior on a server. If soulmark files are cluttered with unnecessary PRAISes, this effect is reduced. CS Reps should be selective about adding PRAISEs to player’s accounts and should add praises according to direction provided by their Server Management Team. As mentioned above, CS Reps can add PRAISEs to an account to function as a NOTE. This praise policy does not apply to such notes.

2.5.5.3 Warnings

2.5.5.3.1 /Warn Restraint – Each WARNING in a player’s Soulmark file is considered an official record of that warning. Therefore CS Reps should only use the /warn command on a player’s account after they have warned the player.

2.5.5.3.2 Concurrent Use with Abuse Database – Soulmarking has the benefit of allowing CS Reps to immediately know if escalation is necessary in Exception Incident Investigations by letting us know if the player is a recidivist (repeat offender). Soulmarks do not follow players from server to server. Nor are soulmarks searchable. The Abuse Database is not server-specific and is searchable. Because of this, anytime a CS Rep makes a /warn soulmark, they must also file a report in the Abuse Database.

2.6 Use of /becomenpc
2.6.1 The /becomenpc command is a powerful tool typically used in dynamic quests. It must be used discretely and never in front of players. Like other CS Representative tools, /becomenpc is not a toy.
2.6.2 The following guidelines must be observed when using the /becomenpc command:
· /becomenpc must never be used on a player or Apprentice Guide
· /becomenpc must never be used so that the target, while visible, changes into a NPC in front of a player unless being done so in accordance with a SOE approved dynamic quest/event
· /becomenpc must never be used so that the target assumes the form of a god (Tunare, Veeshan, Innoruuk, etc.) unless being done so in accordance with a SOE approved dynamic quest/event
· /becomenpc must only be used in accordance with a SOE approved dynamic quest/event, or an activity approved by the Elder Guide and Guide Liaison. If a Senior+ desires to "practice" using the /becomenpc command, they should do so in cshome and out of sight of Apprentice Guides and Guides.
3. Communications


3.1 Communications between Sony Online Entertainment and Customers

3.1.1 The official communication channels between SOE and EverQuest customers are the EverQuest web site at http://www.everquest.com, and the eqnews.txt file which is resident on every customer’s PC in the EQ directory and is also accessible by pressing the News button on the Server Select Screen or below the EverQuest chat screen. Additions to the eqnews.txt file may also be seen on the patch screen. Customers should be told to check these sources on a regular basis for any information that the SOE staff wishes to communicate to the entire user base.

3.2 Communications between Customer Service Personnel and Customers

3.2.1 Communications between Customer Service personnel and EverQuest customers should be handled in as professional and courteous manner as possible. This is not to say that we must be serious and short with the customers. On the contrary, customer service personnel should attempt to roleplay their encounters with customers, portraying some personality and using humor where appropriate. We should at all times show good communications skills, speaking to the customer in correct English or a suitable role-play variant. Commonly used slang associated with hackers/cheaters/warez sites, etc. should not be used, as it is unprofessional. Foul language should never be used when speaking to customers.

3.2.2 Revealing your Guide identity

3.2.2.1 All players should be treated alike, regardless of whether they happen to also be Guides. The following rules are designed to avoid as much as possible the chance of guides showing favoritism to one another or using their Guide status to get favorable treatment from other players.

3.2.2.2 Guides are prohibited from having a player character on the same server they Guide on.

3.2.2.3 When you're logged in as a Guide, don't tell anyone who your non-Guide characters are.

3.2.2.4 When you're logged in as a non-Guide, don't tell anyone that you're a Guide or who your Guide characters are. The only exceptions are if a GM specifically asks you (since they could look it up anyway), or if you need to look for a Guide or GM on a server other than your own to help in an emergency on your own server. In the latter case you may create a new character on that server specifically for the purpose of talking to the staff.

3.2.2.5 Out in the real world, you can identify yourself with any of your characters. However, any time you identify yourself as a Guide, you are bound by the same rules as if you were Guiding in game. You should present yourself courteously and professionally, keeping in mind that those you are speaking with will see you as a SOE customer service representative. Remember also that confidential information (such as bug, exploit, or quest details) should never be revealed. (ref 3.5 Guides Posting to Public Boards)


3.2.3 Email Support for Customers

3.2.3.1 In attempting to resolve an in-game issue, there may arise a time where a customer will be in need of or request support via email. An Apprentice+ may then refer the customer to any proper SOE email address (a list of those for player use is provided in 3.2.3.2) set up for player concerns/problem resolution or that of the Server GM. At no time shall an Apprentice+ disclose a non-SOE email address (those not ending in @verant.com, @station.sony.com) to a player but rather refer him/her to those official addresses already present to provide additional support should it be required out of game.

3.2.3.2 Along with the extensive out-of-game support provided via the EQ website and by phone, several email addresses are available should a player require additional support, wish to address his/her concerns over gameplay issues, or for resolution or inquiries into specific issues which may arise in game. A list of those, which have been set up for this purpose followed by the type of issues each is suited for, includes:

Each GM has an email address (ending in @station.sony.com, @verant.com) to which players can be referred should a server-specific issue/problem arise. In most cases, this is the preferred email contact point for an issue a GM would normally resolve in game (such as reimbursal requests). If the issue is one that a GM cannot resolve in game (banning issues or problems with a guide for example), players should instead be referred to the appropriate contact below. Players on a server temporarily without a GM may be referred to the email of the Lead GM for that server group until one is assigned.
eqmail@verant.com - The main customer support address which can be used for a variety of situations where the customer is in need of additional support or an avenue to express any concerns. Any issue, which does not seem to be covered in other email contacts, can be sent here to ensure the appropriate party has an opportunity to review it.
eqtech@verant.com - This address, along with support via phone and through the Tech Support section of the EQ website, can be used for any technical support issues which may arise during gameplay.
eqfeedback@verant.com - This address is for feedback/player suggestions on gameplay.
eqbugs@verant.com - This address can be used by players to report any bugs encountered during gameplay.
eqtesting@verant.com - Address used to report any quest-related bugs encountered, not for assistance in completion.
appadmin@verant.com - Players with guide application problems/issues may be referred to this address.
eqaccountstatus@verant.com - An address specifically for inquiries regarding bannings or suspensions.
eqcs@verant.com - An address for problems regarding the Guide Program in general.
eqguilds@station.sony.com - An address for players who are having trouble getting their guilds created in-game or for any other guild-related problems.

3.3 Input to Customer Service Policies and Procedures

3.3.1 Customers as well as members of the CS staff will hold many opinions of what the customer service policies and practices should be. These opinions tend to surface at inappropriate times, such as when a customer is having a problem. Customers should be informed that the CS team follows any policies that are currently in place, and does not have the power to change them “on-the-fly” at the request of individual customers. Customers may provide input to the Guide Program by e-mailing the eqcs@verant.com address. All such submissions are reviewed by CS management. Members of the Guide program wishing to have input to the program policies should send such input to their Senior Guide.

3.4 Communications Among the Customer Support Staff

3.4.1 The official method of communication for the customer support staff is the EverQuest Guide web site, located at http://guide.everquest.com. Email communications may also be used less formally, or for communications between subsets of the staff (all CS staff on one server, all Senior CS staff, all new apprentices, etc.)

3.4.2 The EverQuest Guide web site consists of several message areas. Personal play issues must not be addressed on any of these boards; however general play issues and game mechanics may

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cont.


3.4.2 The EverQuest Guide web site consists of several message areas. Personal play issues must not be addressed on any of these boards; however general play issues and game mechanics may be addressed on the Laboratory.

Those who post to these areas must be mindful of the others reading them; there must be:
No ranting,
No non-constructive criticism,
No profanity.

When posting a message, the only acceptable entries in the Name field are:
Your official CS Representative Name (you may also include "for Apprentice Joe" or the like, if posting for a CS Representative who is having board access problems),
The form that has been pre-determined by the SMT or board moderator for board Threads (such as Threads, a dash, or a blank entry). Note that posting board Threads is the only time the Name field may be left blank,
A Team affiliation (Policy Team, SMT of Rallos Zek, etc.) provided you are an actual member of that Team.

These message sections are:

Server boards. Each server has its own message section. Apprentices and Guides can only see the board for their own server; Seniors and above can see all servers. All guides should post a report here for each shift they work (see The Nightly Report below).
News. This is where the Customer Service Management will post important announcements. All guides should check this area on a regular basis.
GM/Swat Help. Place all requests for emergency action response from the SWAT team and covering GM-Admins on this message board.
The Common Hall. This is an open area for Guides to discuss any topics of interest. Newly discovered bugs and player issues are usually posted here.
Backstage. This area is for discussing dynamic quests, from design through post-quest reports. Apprentices cannot see this board.
The Arena. Used for the scheduling and discussion of server events.
Laboratory. This area is for discussing game mechanics, game balance, and technical problems.
The Rumpus Room. This area is for guide humor and general fooling around.
The Library. This area is for roleplaying and stories.
The Senate: The area set aside for the Server Management Teams to discuss and provide a focal point for issues that need to be directed to Customer Service Management.

3.4.3 The EverQuest Guide web site also contains tools for scheduling Guide shifts and dynamic quests, submitting quest ideas, and filing abuse reports.

3.4.4 In addition, the Guides on a particular server may hold meetings on a regular basis to provide a forum for handling pressing issues and airing concerns. These meetings will either occur on an IRC server in a channel designated by the meeting chairperson, on the game server, or in a private EverQuest chatroom. IRC meetings should be set to +private to prevent unwanted eavesdroppers in the proceedings. Meeting announcements will be placed within the appropriate message area.

3.4.5 Insider information, which includes but is not limited to information disseminated and subjects discussed on the EverQuest Guide web site, CS Program e-mail, and in private CS Program meetings, is NOT to be relayed to the general player population. Disclosing this information to unauthorized parties can result in dismissal from the Program and permanent banning from EverQuest.

3.4.6 Customer Service Guilds
3.4.6.1 In game communication among the Customer Service staff is provided via the /private channel. To augment that, a CS Guild may be created for all the Guide+ personnel on the server.
The name of the CS Guild must be chosen by the SMT. It must be professional in nature and be fitting for both our role and the game environment.
3.4.6.2 Leadership of the CS Guild should be shared by all members of the SMT. CS Guild officers may be chosen from the Guide+ personnel on the server by the SMT as the SMT deems necessary.
3.4.6.3 Apprentice Guides may not be a part of any guild using their Apprentice Guide Avatar. Being a part of a CS Guild is an earned privilege of becoming a Guide.
A Guide+ cannot be a part of a player guild with his/her Guide/GM Avatar at any time. A GM may, however, join a player guild temporarily in the performance of his/her official duties. At no time must a player be permitted to join a CS Guild.


3.5 Customer Service Representatives Posting to Public Boards

3.5.1 As CS Representatives travel about outside the game, they can frequent news groups, bulletin boards, and other messaging media where players congregate and discuss the game. CS Representatives (with the exception of members of the Communication Team) are free to post to these boards as they wish with a few restrictions:

They may not indicate they are CS Representatives
They may not answer questions specific to CS policy
They must adhere to the Policies and Procedures of the Guides when discussing in-game material

3.5.2 In short, CS Representatives do not speak of things out of game that they can not speak of in-game. CS Representatives maintain the mystery always.

3.5.3 Under the direction of the Communication Team and the Public Relations Guidelines the members of the Communication Team openly represent the Guide Program on web sites and bulletin boards during the course of their duties but always conduct themselves as Guides, even out of EverQuest.

3.5.4 In the event that a CS Representative encounters a poster that is specifically attacking the Guide Program or a specific CS Representative (even if they are the target), they should not post, but instead send an email to the Communications Team (eqcomm-verant@station.sony.com) with a link to the post. The reason for this is that one of the roles of this Team is to be the voice of the program. How the program is represented to the public is of paramount importance so it is necessary that it speak with one voice and one consistent message.

3.5.5 Under no circumstances should a CS Representative “fight” with another player on a public board, nor should a group of CS Representatives “gang up” on a player simply because they all disagree with them. The Guide Program has no true authority outside of EverQuest, and at all times our goal is to present ourselves professionally and maturely.

3.5.6 Non-historic Quests are coordinated by the Server Management Team and implemented by the Guides as scheduled. These Quests come from the Approved Quest Pool board, complete with histories, storylines, and background. CS Representatives are prohibited from posting information, stories, background, announcements, or anything else related to a Quest without first getting approval from the Communications Team and Quest Masters.

3.6 The Nightly Report

3.6.1 Guides and Apprentice Guides will post a nightly report covering highlights of their shift on their server discussion board. Highlights should include severe problems and problems affecting a large number of players. These reports should be very concise, containing brief summaries of only those events of the evening believed to cause the most impact to the game.

3.6.2 Every week a Senior Guide for each server will pull together the highest priority items from the reports and post these as the report for that server. SOE staff checks the weekly reports to quickly assess the current issues.

3.6.3 Each server will use a board format agreed upon by the SMT. Regardless of the format, each subsequent addition by a Guide or Apprentice Guide for that section is added as a response to that post, not a new post. There should be a section of the nightly report dedicated to that evening's incidents, including such things as Abuse and Exploitation (detailed below). Each incident should contain all pertinent information to the incident, particularly the character names and PID's of the players involved.


The EverQuest Guide web site is located at http://guide.everquest.com.
4. Customer Service Personnel Policy and Practices

4.1 Customer Service Personnel Policy

4.1.1 The Customer Service staff maintains constant exposure to the EverQuest customer base and our actions are under constant scrutiny. We must exhibit the highest standards of behavior and avoid even the appearance of impropriety.

4.1.2 Reports on the performance of the customer service staff are expected to come from many sources, not all of which are reliable. It is to be expected that some unhappy customers will file reports concerning customer service people simply for not giving them what they want. Conversely, it is expected that some people who are not good candidates for the program will join the staff.

4.1.3 Any staff members who cannot follow the policies and procedures, or who are found to not be a “good fit” for the program will be released from the Customer Service program. It is much preferred that we keep our own house clean than allowing the customer to do this for us.

4.1.4 All CS Representatives are responsible for actions not only on their Guide or GM account, but also on their play account(s). A CS Representative who commits a serious violation of the P&P or EverQuest Users Agreement and Software License on any account can be subject to dismissal from the Guide program (or from SOE, in the case of GMs). Additionally, disciplinary action may be taken against the play account(s) of the dismissed. This disciplinary action can take the form of suspension or banning, but only the most severe of infractions will result in banning of the play account(s). Examples of serious violations include, but are not limited to: divulging Historic Quest information, posting all or part of the P&P on any public site, extreme abusiveness towards a customer or another CS Representative, creation of a character with a name which violates rule 1 or 2 of the Naming Policy, or attempting to defraud a GM.

4.2 Customer Service Personnel Procedures

4.2.1 Members of the Customer Service staff deserve at least as much consideration as an average player when an incident report is filed against them. All such reports are handled privately involving only the reporting party and the Senior Staff member investigating the complaint. The following procedures are used to ensure a fair review.

4.2.2 A report of misconduct may occur in a public forum or as part of a private conversation with a customer. Reports may also be generated directly by Customer Support Representatives. These reports will not be posted to the message boards or disseminated to anyone other than the appropriate escalation point.

4.2.3 Whichever staff member receives the report should try to ensure that basic information is included. (Char name of the CS person involved, server, date and time, and incident details) This information should then be forwarded privately to the appropriate escalation point:.

Complaints about a Guide or Apprentice should be taken to that Guide or Apprentice’s Senior, who will evaluate the issue with an Elder Guide.
Complaints about a Senior Guide should be taken to an Elder Guide, who will then coordinate efforts with the Guide Liaison.
Complaints about an Elder Guide should be taken directly to the Guide Liaison. The Guide Liaison will coordinate any action with the Customer Service Manager.
Complaints about GM-Admins should be taken to a Senior on the server, who will then take it to an Elder Guide to coordinate with the Lead GM-Admin for that cluster.

4.2.4 The investigating staff member will look into the incident as thoroughly as possible, involving the subject of the report in their investigation. In the case of reports against Guides or Apprentices, the Senior Guide will then inform the Elder Guide with the results of their investigation. The Elder Guide will take whatever actions are appropriate, whether this involves counseling the Guide or removing the Guide from the program.

4.2.5 In cases where the program releases a staff member, either the Senior or Elder will notify SOE, copying the investigating staff member. SOE will then have the character removed. After the character is removed, the investigating staff member will seek out the individual, and inform them of their removal from the program. It is imperative that the released staff member not be communicated with prior to the removal, as they represent a threat to the program. It is also important that they be communicated with as soon after their removal as possible, and as discretely as possible, to ensure a clean removal with as few hard feelings as possible. SOE will be notified of routine (e.g. resignations, MIA) personnel releases via the weekly Personnel Reports.

4.2.6 To reiterate, once SOE has removed the staff member, it is the responsibility of that staff member’s immediate superior (The Senior for dismissed Apprentices and Guides, the Elder for dismissed Seniors) to locate the person and communicate their change in status as quickly and professionally as possible to reduce the shock and potential hard feelings.

4.2.7 Appealing an Involuntary Release

4.2.7.1 Sometimes circumstances arise that require the removal of a guide from the program. Should it be felt that this removal is unjust and unwarranted, the following procedures should be followed to make an appeal:

An email with the subject of "Appeal of Involuntary Release - GuideName" should be emailed to the Elder Guide(s) and the Guide Liaison. This email should contain all of the following information:

· Your Guide Name
· Your Station Name
· A brief explanation of the event(s) which led to the removal. Only the facts should be concentrated on this should include dates (if possible) and names.
· An explanation why it is felt this is an unjust removal. (Phrases like "a guide friend told me" or "a senior friend told me" are unacceptable.)

4.2.7.2 The Personnel Team Chair(s) will check records (removal emails and the Guide database entries) and discuss the appeal from the removed Guide with the SMT. They will also gather any further information about the events that led to the removal, if any exists. All information gathered will then be forwarded to the Elder Guide and the Guide Liaison for review.

An Elder and the Guide Liaison will reach a decision based on the facts presented and inform both the removed and server management teams of their decision.

4.2.8 Transfer Procedure

Situations may arise where Candidates, Apprentices, Guides, or Senior Guides transfer to another server. Examples can include but are not limited to: new servers opening, an established server being under-staffed, or a personal request. These transfers can be either voluntary or involuntary, based on the needs of EQCS as determined by the Guide Liaison and the Elder Guide.

4.2.8.1 Candidate Transfer Requests

Candidate transfers sometimes are required because the Candidate plays on the server where he/she is first assigned or does not want to guide on a PvP server. If the Candidate needs to be transferred for these reasons, his/her Senior should post a message on the Senate board announcing the Candidate’s availability. After a response from another interested server’s SMT is obtained, both servers will process the Personnel Report actions necessary to allow the transfer to occur. The SMT losing the Candidate must make a notation in the Candidate’s database record on the Guide website regarding the transfer, which can include information such as the date, reason, and the server to which he/she was transferred.

If the Candidate desires a transfer for another reason (an example could be a desire to guide with a friend), these requests should be sent to personnel-verant@station.sony.com. These will be forwarded to the Elder Guide and Guide Liaison for review and evaluated on a case by case basis. If approved, both servers will process the Personnel Report actions necessary, with the SMT losing the Candidate making the appropriate notations in the Candidate’s database record on the Guide website as described above.

4.2.8.2 Apprentice and Guide Transfer Requests

Apprentice and Guide transfers sometimes occur as a result of a call for volunteers, such as when a new server is being brought up, or as a result of a personal request.

4.2.8.2.1 When a situation arises where volunteers for a new server are sought, a post will be made to the News board on the Guide website by the Elder Guide, Guide Liaison, or the Personnel Team requesting volunteers or to the Senate board asking Seniors to request volunteers from their respective servers. Apprentices, Guides and Senior Guides volunteering for transfers should email personnel-verant@station.sony.com and also inform their SMT of their desire to transfer.

4.2.8.2.2 Apprentices or Guides who desire a transfer to a specific server for any other reason should contact their SMT. The SMT will then contact the SMT from the server the Apprentice or Guide requested.

If the Apprentice or Guide desires a transfer but does not have a specific server in mind, his/her Senior should email personnel-verant@station.sony.com. The Apprentice or Guide may also send the email but must cc: his/her SMT on all correspondence relating to the request.

The email should have the subject of: “TRANSFER REQUEST - Guide Name” and contain the following information:

Guide Name:
Current Server Guiding On:
Reason for Requesting Transfer:

The Personnel Team will look for a suitable server or a choice of servers, if possible, for the Apprentice or Guide. Once a selection has been made, the Apprentice or Guide’s Senior will notify the chosen server’s SMT about the transfer request.

4.2.8.2.3 Once notified of the situation, both SMT’s must agree on the transfer. It is the responsibility of SMT members from both servers to disclose and consider the following before agreeing to a transfer request:

The gaining SMT should be informed of any on-going or recent attendance, DSR posting, attitude problems, or other issues regarding the Apprentice or Guide’s performance as a member of his/her current server team.
Apprentices and Guides should be encouraged to solve problems on their own or with mediation from SMT members when possible. If there are conflicts within the team, the Apprentice or Guide is encouraged to contact the Personnel Team or the Elder Guide for mediation before a transfer is decided upon.
If a member of either SMT involved in the transfer has reservations, he/she is encouraged to communicate them with the other involved SMT or the Personnel Team.

4.2.8.2.4 After both SMT’s agree upon the transfer, each server will process the Personnel Report actions necessary for the transfer to occur. The SMT losing the Apprentice or Guide will then make the appropriate notations in his/her database record to verify that the transfer is mutually agreed upon and will send an email to personnel-verant@station.sony.com to notify the Personnel Team. If the note verifying the agreement is not made in the database record, the transfer will not be processed.

Every effort will be made to accommodate Apprentices or Guides requesting specific servers, though as the best interests of the entire program must be served, there is no guarantee. Should any concerns be raised throughout the process, by a member of either SMT, the Personnel Team, or SOE, the transfer request will be forwarded to the Elder Guide and Guide Liaison for further review. In these cases, the transferring Apprentice or Guide will then be informed by his/her Senior regarding approval or disapproval of the transfer.

4.2.8.3 Senior Transfer Requests

Any Senior Guide desiring a transfer outside of the reason mentioned in 4.2.8.2.1 should send an email detailing the request to personnel-verant@station.sony.com. In the event of any Senior transfer situation, whether voluntary or involuntary, the Guide Liaison and the Elder Guide will have final approval, through the Personnel Team.


5. Rules and Regulations

5.1 Information Dissemination

5.1.1 Questions regarding material available in the manual/.TXT file. The EverQuest Manual and EQNews.TXT file contain a great deal of information. CS Personnel should encourage people to read it by not answering questions that are answered in these documents. Should a significant number of questions be generated about something that is not in the documentation, effort should be made to have the files updated with the additional information.

5.1.2 Questions about game specific information. In their travels, CS Personnel learn a lot of details and gain insight about Norrath. They see spells and items that will only be accessible through the most difficult quests in the game. They see the bottoms of dungeons and the loot of monsters that may not be generally accessible yet in the game. And they tell NO ONE. This information is part of the mystery of the game. We do not divulge information of this nature to any player for any reason anywhere. If the customer wishes to know, they can go find out on their own. Divulging this information to anyone other than a Guide or SOE employee is a violation of policy and one of the more serious offenses a CS member can commit.

5.1.3 Questions regarding other CS representatives. CS representatives are not always on duty. When they are off duty, they should continue to play as much as possible on servers where they are not representing the program to ensure that they don’t lose contact with the player’s perspective of the game. At no time does any CS representative. reveal the identity of one of these player characters to anyone outside the program. Additionally, a CS representative will not identify his player character(s) on any message board in which he speaks in an official capacity. This protects the CS Representative in question from many things (accusations of favoritism, excessive /tells from people that know they are a CS representative, etc) as well as allows us to travel the zones with impunity to investigate exploit reports or evaluate potential CS Representative candidates. The primary reason for this regulation is to allow us some peace and quiet to enjoy the game when they are not on duty. (ref section 3.5 CS Representatives Posting to Public Boards)

5.2 Interacting In-Game

5.2.1 Intra-zone Communications and Question Handling. CS Representatives may use /shout and /ooc to address a zone when pertaining to official duties such as zone warnings for profanity, naming ceremonies, or as directed by your Server Management Team. Questions may be addressed via Answer Circles and /tell, but we do not answer questions in /shout or /ooc. The more populated zones are currently overrun with this chatter, and we will not contribute to it. Customer service representatives will set a precedent by not answering questions that are delivered in such a manner, asking the customer to use a more appropriate method for communicating with them.

5.2.2 In-game Character Services. We are not in Norrath to interfere with the economy in any way. That means we do not provide services that can be provided by other PC’s. These services include, but are not limited to: Binding, Curing, Healing, Enchanting, Tailoring, Smithing, or Scribing. Any service that can be provided by a PC should be, even if that PC is charging a fee for that service.

5.2.3 In-game Character Protection. No matter what degree of danger customers may find themselves in, the Customer Service representatives are not to intervene. We watch, but do not act. Should customers come to us for aid, we should immediately remove ourselves from the situation. This means "question and answer sessions" should be formed in safe areas such as around guards, not in public adventure zones.

5.2.3.1 This includes PvP combat in all its myriad forms. If a customer we are speaking with is suddenly attacked by another player, we must not intervene, no matter the situation. If the attacker is utilizing an exploit or abuse in the attack, then use the Exploitation or Abuse Incident procedures documented below. The best solution, for both the customer and the CS Rep, is to only do “question and answer sessions” in a guarded area.

5.2.4 Pseudo-Nepotism. Customer Service Representatives should, at all costs, avoid any interaction with Guildmates while on duty. This includes, but is not limited too:

Taking /petitions from Guildmates
Escalating issues to Guildmates that are also part of the Customer Service program.
Referencing or speaking of the Guild or Guild references while on duty.
Having the Guild advertise that a CS Rep is a member

5.2.4.1 Essentially, if a Customer Service Rep’s player character is a member of a Guild, they should have nothing to do with anyone anywhere, while they are on duty, that is also a member of that Guild, even if that person is also in the program. This prevents the perception that, because a guild has a CS Rep within it, members of that Guild gets preferential treatment.

5.2.5 No d3wDzP3aK (Doodspeak). As Guides, we communicate with our customers 100% via the written word. As such, it is very important that we deliver our responses in a professional and literate fashion. There is no quicker way to offend or “put off” a customer than communicating in a manner that sounds ignorant or overly informal. Few people will complain or notice if our communications are concise, clean, and professional, but MANY will notice should they be sloppy, erroneous, and illiterate. Consequently, Guides will not use the style of communication generally referred to as Doodspeak. This includes words such as:
'u' instead of you
'ur' instead of you're/your
'sup' as a greeting
Etc.

5.2.5.1 Communicating in a “role playing” manner is acceptable, as long as it’s consistent with EverQuest’s genre, so “thee” and “thou” are allowed. However you choose to communicate, remember the primary goal is to communicate effectively. Once you’re doing that, the role playing can be added for colour.

5.3 Discretion and Professionalism

5.3.1 Set an example. It is imperative that all CS personnel maintain an air of professionalism and integrity, both with customers and their fellow CS Reps. When in the Guide persona, a Guide should always present his or her best face to the customer. A Guide's communication with other players and in game actions should always be exemplary. This means that Guides should never use "doodspeak" nor should they ever appear "drunk" in front of players. Personally, out of character, and "off the clock", they can behave how they wish as long as there is no connection between who they are and their Guide persona. But on duty, even in the /private channel, we speak of and to the customer with kind regard and consideration, even when telling them "No".

5.3.2 Tempers. No matter how frustrating the situation, no matter how angry the customer, no matter how personal the insults, a Guide should never lose their temper. Should a Guide feel that they are losing their temper, they should escalate the petition immediately to a member of the Server Management Team if possible or another Guide if a senior member is not available. This is not personal, and the Guides are here to help.

5.3.3 Ignoring customers. No matter how frustrating a customer can be, we never /ignore them. If a CS Rep is having a difficult time with a customer, they should escalate it to another team member, if possible. If no one else is available, the CS Rep must simply handle it as quickly and efficiently as possible, then disengage from the customer.

5.3.4 Guide and GM “friends.” The end goal of the Customer Service program is to have representatives spread across multiple servers to allow them to not have to play on the same servers as their friends. However, friends will go where they will, so the program must endeavor to avoid the stigma of favoritism.

5.3.4.1 CS Representatives do not take a /petition from a friend unless there is no one else to take it. If no other team members are available he CS Rep must take the /petition, doing only the minimum amount of work required to close the petition, even if it means leaving the problem only partially fixed. Better to be accused of giving poor service to friends than better-than-normal service to them.

5.4.4.2 No CS Representative shall request 'favors' of a player, either for themselves or on behalf of another customer. In such cases where it is deemed that player assistance is needed, the GM or Senior Guide shall be the contacting person.

5.3.5 Controlling customer perception. No matter the intentions, no matter how pure the motives, no matter how well meaning the representative, the specter of favoritism can rear its ugly head if we are not diligent and consistent in our actions. All it takes is for the belief to be propagated to cause a problem, even if it is completely untrue. This must be avoided at all costs, as it not only damages the individual’s reputation and that of the program, but undermines EQ overall.

5.3.5.1 We do not stay in zones where our friends are playing – the further away the better. We do not associate with friends while we are on duty, even if the friend is aware of our role in the Customer Service program. Seeing a CS Rep in the same zone with the same characters consistently, especially if it the identity of the representative’s alternate character becomes known, is simply asking to be accused of favoritism.

5.3.5.2 Under no circumstances whatsoever should any CS Rep “help themselves”, such as answering a /petition put in by their player character or that character’s party or doing a CR on their player character or members of that character’s party.

5.3.6 Twinking. Customer Service Representatives have the ability to test and explore dungeons and zones at their leisure. We do not adventure and do not give things to other players, no matter the circumstances. This includes giving items to our player characters. We are observers, not participants.

5.4 On The Job

5.4.1 Off Duty = Off Duty. When we are off duty, we are not a Customer Service Rep, Guide or GM. Our player characters have no authority whatsoever, and are essentially another customer. Consequently a CS Rep in their player character should never approach a customer in an official capacity, nor should they ever imply they have more power or authority than that of a normal customer. Likewise, our player characters should not call on other CS Representatives for any special considerations—the rules apply to all characters and there will be no favoritism within the Program. This means off duty CS Representatives do not identify themselves, in any way, shape or form, as CS Representatives on their play server, particularly when requesting assistance via the petition system or direct tells to the CS staff on the server. Off duty = normal player.

5.4.1.1 CS Representatives that find their play characters embroiled in the middle of a questionable situation should extricate their selves from it as quickly and quietly as possible to avoid any potential issues arising from their presence. Representatives that allow their player characters to initiate questionable situations will find themselves subject to discipline, as the Customer Service staff is held to the highest standard of behavior, on or off duty.

5.4.2 Threats of banishment. Regular Customer Service staff cannot ban players, ever. When investigating a petition, no matter how severe, the investigating representative should never insinuate, threaten, or otherwise imply that they have the power or ability to banish a player. The CS Rep is there to gather the necessary information and report it to according to the procedures. GM-Mgmt then makes the final decision.

5.4.2.1 A CS Rep threatening a player with banishment creates two problems. First, it implies a level of authority they do not possess, creating hostility in the customer base. Secondly, if the player is not banned, it reduces the credibility of the program overall as it gives the impression that we make threats that they either cannot or will not follow through with.

5.4.3 No Dragging Corpses. During a CR, the player in question (or his designate) must come to the spot of his corpse (or as close as possible). Customer Service personnel do not drag corpses out. This is to prevent people going in to a place, getting killed, and having us drag the corpse out when they should not have been there in the first place. If the customer got in there once, they can get a CR party and do it again. CS Representatives also do not negotiate with other players to drag corpses. Retrieval of the customer's possessions is solely the responsibility of the customer. Our only role is to ensure that the customer's body is reachable by the customer via normal means.

5.4.4 Summoning characters. Summoning normal players (not GM's or Guides) is only used in the following cases:

To unstick stuck players
To move a player trapped in a developer’s room due to a bug or zoning anomaly; player should be moved to a safe spot in the zone.
To bring a player to his/her body in the event that he/she died due to a bug (the bug directly killed him/her, see below)
To shuttle players across a sea zone in the event that the boats are non-functional
To move a player back to his/her bind point, should an affinity reset occur for that player
To remove a disruptive player from an area he/she refuses to leave; player will be placed in the nearest safe zone (as defined in section 8.2.5)
To move a player out of a bind-death loop in accordance with that procedure (see section 7.2.2)
To move a player out of an impending death situation due to a verified server or zone crash/reset. (see section 7.3.3.1)

The /summon command is very powerful and not to be used frivolously. Players should not be summoned just because they need to log off soon or they got themselves in over their heads. Players also must not be summoned to Player or GM events (or back to where they came from afterwards) without specific permission from a Gm-Admin+. Under no circumstances are players to be summoned into the Sunset Home (cshome).


5.4.5 /Anonymous Guides
Guides will remain visible at all times except when required to perform investigations requiring the use of /anon, or when directed to by their Senior. A visible Guide is someone the customers can ask questions of and expect an answer from if they can see one online. A Guide that is on a project (such as investigating an exploit report) or a developer that is working on a problem that does not wish to be disturbed should be /anonymous to avoid confusion and frustration to the customer. Apprentices may use /anonymous during the camping process in order to be anonymous when they login later. This is to alleviate being the target of a large number of /tells when they are checking for a full Guide upon logging in. Depending on if a full Guide is available, the apprentice will immediately become visible or log out.

5.4.6 /Toggle To prevent the reception of unsolicited /tells while anonymous, the CS Representative may use /toggle to turn incoming /tells off. Whenever a CS Representative is not anonymous, their incoming /tells will be on. This, and Quest Actors using /roleplay, are the only two circumstances in which this command can be used. (ref: 5.4.5 /Anonymous Guides)

5.4.7 No Hunting/Questing/Crafting/Shopping/Begging/etc. The CS Avatars are provided to make sure we have the resources we need to perform our duties. They are not toys nor are they for play. Consequently, unless it is explicitly covered by another procedure, CS Representatives do not kill NPCs in any other manner but /kill. They do not use spells, pets, weapons, skills, their hands, or in any other way interact with a NPC in any manner that produces a corpse or an item. CS Representatives do not fight players, no matter the circumstances, outside of scripted quests and may only fight other CS Representatives inside the Arena of the Sunset Home.

Note: This does not include Exploring. Guides need to know their way around, the lay out of the zones, and in general where things are. With the exception of the Apprentice restriction to higher level zones (reference Section 1.3.3) and the customer-service limited zones (reference Section 5.6), Guides can and should go everywhere possible and be comfortable navigating any zone in the game.

5.4.7.2 Guides do not have money, as everything they require will be provided to them. Any money a Guide possesses on his/her Guide Avatar must be destroyed. The Guide vendors in the Sunset Home will provide most approved items to Guides who have submitted a Guide Note to the Quartermaster. If a Guide feels he/she needs a tool or resource he/she does not posses, then he/she should contact his/her Senior and ask for it. If it's already been approved for use in the Guide Program, the Senior will provide it. If it's not, and the Guide can convince the Senior it's required, the Senior will submit the request to the Communications Team.

5.4.7.3 The Communications Team collects such requests and processes them with SOE and the Elder Guide to prevent every Guide in the Guide Program from asking every GM they see for things they feel they need. This allows the Guide Program to work most efficiently with SOE. Unless there are special circumstances involved, when the Guide Program requests things from SOE, the Communications Team will batch these requests and schedule them.

5.4.7.4 Guides are NOT to approach GM's or other SOE employees to request names, items, levels, or anything else. These requests are handled uniformly across the Guide Program, according to the procedures mentioned above or those outlined elsewhere in this document.


5.4.8 /Broadcast
As using the broadcast command can instigate increased server load, the one using it should weigh the benefits of using the command with the drawbacks. Non-urgent announcements should be made only when the server load is lower; not at prime time if at all possible. The one using the command should also refrain from using it excessively, and only use the command enough to communicate the necessary information.

Use of the /broadcast command will be restricted to the following:

Issues of immediate concern for the majority of players online at the time (such as server maintenance).
Positive changes in staffing on the Server Management Team level (Senior promotion, departure or arrival of a Senior or GM in good standing, promotions to the Server Management Team)
The awarding of a Medal of Service 1 Year
Announcements approved by SOE Management and above of unique accomplishments by players (such as recognition of the first player to obtain a fiery avenger)


5.4.9 /Emotezone
Emotezone <message> - Sends a white text message to the zone, for example “/emotezone You feel an icy wind through the land,” would appear to players as “You feel an icy wind through the land.” Often used to warn for zone repopulating and to announce messages.

5.4.9.1 /emotezone may be used:

To provide /emotezone background for approved quests, major invasions, minor invasions and events.
To announce issues of immediate concern for the majority of players in one zone that are online at the time (such as server maintenance).
Responsibly within the Sunset Home.


5.4.9.2 /emotezone command may not be used for:

Harassing, “spamming” or intentionally causing a player distraction with messages, such as “you are out of water, you are out of food”
Announcing a player run event such as a trade bazaar or guild event.
Announcing a player accomplishment such as defeating a high level NPC or completing a high level quest.
Announcing any form of weddings, whether performed by a player or a guide staff member.
Informing players within the zone of administration or operation action unless directed to by a Game Master in game or in chat.
Giving the appearance of an NPC, unless part of an approved quest or event, speaking such as, “/emotezone Cazic Thule shouts, ‘Teliesin, you shall suffer the fate that your brother Lithgar has!’”



5.5 Account Security

5.5.1 Account Sharing Per the EverQuest License Agreement, item one, which reads: “You may not transfer or share your Account with anyone, except that if you are a parent or guardian, you may permit one child to use the Account instead of you (in which case you may not use that Account),” CS Representatives will not share their account with anyone, to include other members of the EverQuest CS Program.

5.5.2 Passwords As all CS accounts are privileged, it is strongly recommended that you change your password periodically; at least every 90 days, and keeping the “strong” password model in mind when creating them. Do not share your password with ANYONE. Passwords are considered strong if they fit the following criteria:

· Minimum of 6 characters in length, 8 characters recommended
· Is alpha-numeric
· Contains at least 1 special character (e.g. @#$?%^&*)
· Varying case (if the system is case-sensitive)

5.5.3 Compromised Accounts. If for any reason you believe your CS account has been accessed by anyone other than yourself, do the following steps immediately:

· Change your password
· Notify one of your Senior Guides
· Send an email to the SOE Security Manager at ging@verant.com , CC:-ing your Server Management Team and the Guide Liaison.

5.6 Customer Service Limited Zones
Some zones in EQ have been designed with extreme rewards and risks. Because of design and tuning issues, Customer Service intervention in these zones is restricted.

5.6.1 List of Customer Service Limited Zones
Sleeper (sleeper)
Temple of Veeshan (templeveeshan)
The Plane of Fear (fearplane)
The Plane of Growth (growthplane)
The Plane of Hate (hateplane)
The Plane of Mischief (mischiefplane)
The Plane of Sky (airplane)
Veeshan’s Peak (veeshan)

5.6.2 Acceptable CSRep Presence in Customer Service Limited Zones
The presence of Customer Service Representatives in Customer Service Limited Zones creates two undesired situations. First, players are more likely to ask for assistance in gameplay issues from the CS staff if a CS Rep is in the zone. Second, players are more likely to blame CS Representatives for any inconvenience they may experience if a CS Rep is in the zone. For these reasons mentioned above CS Reps must not be in Customer Service Limited Zones except under the following conditions:
They are investigating a possible Exception Incident (Abuse, Disruption, or Exploitation) at the request of a player.
They are investigating a possible bug at the request of a player for documentation purposes.
They are removing a corpse from an object such as the ground, a wall, a tree, etc. according to Corpse Recovery Procedure (See 7.3 Corpse Recovery)
They are unsticking a player stuck on the geometry (in an object, in a wall, etc). The player should be moved the minimum amount of distance necessary to unstick them from the geometry.
They are following Policy and Procedures concerning an Under the World Case. (See 7.13)
CS Representatives may travel to CS Limited zones to assist players with binding death loops (refer to 7.2.2).


5.6.3 General Customer Service Limited Zone Policies

5.6.3.1 Exploring and Adventuring
CSReps should not use their CS characters to explore Customer Service Limited Zones. If a CSRep is in one of these zones for a reason approved above (see 5.6.2), they should leave immediately after addressing the issue they are there for and should not stay in the zone any longer than necessary.

5.6.3.2 Reporting CS Actions Taken in Customer Service Limited Zones
A GM+ should report any action they take in a Customer Service Limited Zone to their direct superior. Senior Guides should report any action they take in a Customer Service Limited Zone to the rest of the Server Management Team, including the GM of the server or the Lead GM of the server if the server is not currently assigned a GM, and include a detailed account of any Customer Service action taken in a Customer Service Limited Zone on their server in the server’s weekly server report. Any Full Guide or Apprentice Guide who takes Customer Service action in a Customer Service Limited Zone should report a detailed account of it in their Daily Status Report and/or in a designated section of their server board.
5.6.3.3 Resurrections in Customer Service Limited Zones
CSReps are not to provide resurrections in Customer Service Limited Zones under any circumstances without specific authorization from a GM+ as directed by SOE Management.

5.6.3.4 /Kill Restraint in Customer Service Limited Zones
The killing of any mob in Customer Service Limited Zones (see 5.6.1) is considered to cause a significant change in game play. Therefore CS Reps should not /kill in these zones without specific authorization from a GM+ as directed by SOE Management. (This Policy can also be found at 7.10.7.6)


5.6.3.5 Repopping a CS Limited Zone

A CS Limited Zone may not be repopped without authorization from a Lead GM, with the exception of patch day repops of the planes and after a server crash. If a Guide receives a petition requesting that a CS Limited zone be re-popped, that petition should be escalated to red for a GM. The GM will then determine if a zone repop is necessary. Prior to repop, all players will be asked to leave the zone. If any players are still located in the zone and do not leave after warning has been given about a repop, then those players should be given one final reminder that no assistance will be offered in the event of their death if they choose not to leave.


6. General Customer Service

6.1 General Customer Service Policy

6.1.1 It is the policy of the Customer Service Program to answer every /petition that comes to in, regardless of whether the problem can be solved or not. Even an “I’m sorry, but we are unable to help you” is better than no response at all.

6.2 General Customer Service Procedures

6.2.1 Apprentices should be the first to answer any incoming petition. This not only gives them the experience needed to be able to manage large petition volumes, but it also allows other members of the team the time they need to handle escalations or special projects. If a Guide (Apprentice, Guide, or Senior) does not know the answer to a question, it behooves them to find out the answer to make sure they can answer the question if it arises again. Avoiding a question, simply because they do not know it, creates a “blind spot” in their knowledge base. In addition, it is the responsibility of the ones that do know the answers to provide those answers to those that do not know.

6.2.2 Time Limits – During peak times, or times of low staffing and moderate /petition load, it is recommended that a CS Rep not take longer than 2 minutes to answer any non-travel /petition. In other words, if the solution can be answered via /tell, then it should not take longer than 2 minutes to resolve.

6.2.2.1 The idea behind this is to prevent us from spending 30 minutes resolving a problem and pacifying a customer while the other representatives become overwhelmed with the load. No customer deserves more of our time than any other, and all customers deserve our attention when they need it. This is more a recommendation than a mandate, as not every problem can be resolved in 60 seconds. But it is imperative that we Guide spend as little time resolving the problem as possible to be available for the next petition.

6.2.2.2 Obviously, during periods of low load, we are not under as much pressure, but it is best to maintain the same sense of discipline when handling petitions regardless of the load.

6.2.3 During the course of answering petitions or spending time in the chat area with your CS Avatar, it is recommended that logging be turned on at all times. Not only are logs used with automated shift report creation tools such as EQGSR, but they can also assist with your memory of an incident and be requested by a Senior+ for investigations. For these reasons, it is strongly recommended that logs be kept for at least 30 days.

6.2.3.1 For logging in the EverQuest chat area, use the #log command (see section 8.8.2)

6.2.3.2 For logging in game, use the /log command. To ensure that logging is always turned on when you go in game add "Log=TRUE" to the eqclient.ini file in your EverQuest program directory.
7. General Incident Procedures

7.1 Account and Billing Problems

7.1.1 Players with problems regarding customer accounts and billing should be requested to use the website, http://www.station.sony.com to resolve their problem. Those unable to handle their problem through the web site can call (858) 537-0898.

7.2 Special Procedures

Note: A few types of problems are common enough that specific guidelines have been created for dealing with them.


7.2.2. Binding Death Loops

7.2.2.1 This section applies when a player finds themselves bound next to a stationary monster that is KOS (kill on sight) to them, so they repeatedly die, respawn, and die again with no way to escape or to solve the problem in-game. (The only way out of such a loop is to disconnect from EverQuest; the player will usually then log in as another character and ask for help.)

7.2.2.2 This is not a bug, and it’s a predicament that the players got themselves into, so a strict reading of the guidelines would forbid the Guide from intervening. However, since it makes the game completely unplayable for that character, and requires out-of-game manipulation to even try to arrange a rescue, we have made this an exception.

7.2.2.3 On receiving a petition about a binding death loop, you should /zone to the area where the deaths occurred and verify the situation. (A pile of corpses next to a stationary guard, for example.) Then find a spot in that zone or a neighboring zone that will be safe for the player. Set up a hotkey of /summon . Then ask the player to log out and log back in as the endangered character, while repeatedly pressing the hotkey. As soon as the player arrives, use the Guide Cape to bind them to this new location..

7.2.2.4 The corpses should be left alone; they will decay in a few minutes, since they are empty. The player will not be reimbursed for experience lost due to these deaths.


7.2.3 Sleeping Players

7.2.3.1 This procedure is not to be used in a CS Limited zone as listed in 5.6.1. If the sleeper is in a CS Limited zone, tell the petitioner that the sleeper will be kicked if he is moved to a non-CS Limited zone.

7.2.3.2 Due to the sometimes-competitive nature of EverQuest, players may, at times, find themselves waiting for a spawn for many hours. During this time, party members may suspect that other party members may have fallen asleep at their keyboard. The group mates may then petition to have their sleeping comrades disconnected from the server. While this is largely a situation of the 'sleeping' players' own doing, in the interest of providing superior customer service, we will normally oblige this request.

7.2.3.3 Note that, except in instances where the 'sleeping' player is caught in a bind-death loop, this is not considered an emergency. Under no circumstances will a player be moved by a CS rep (except as required in 7.2.3.6, step 1). Under no circumstances will a player be reimbursed for items or experience lost due to being kicked.

7.2.3.4 If there are no Senior+ online or the petition load is excessive, then the petitioner should be informed that we are unable to honor their request at this time. If a Senior+ is on line, these petitions should be immediately escalated to red for the Senior+ and the Guide or Apprentice who took the petition should do nothing further with it.

7.2.3.5 Prior to attempting to contact the 'sleeping' player, the Senior+ should contact all other CS reps on server to ensure that there are no petitions of a negative nature against the 'sleeping' player (such as an exploit, corpse camping, etc . . .). If such a petition does exist, the 'sleeping' player will not be kicked.

7.2.3.6 If it has been determined that the 'sleeping' player is eligible to be kicked, then the following procedure should be used by a Senior+:

1. If the 'sleeping' player is in a death loop, move them out of the loop in accordance with section 7.2.2

2. Ensure that your log is turned on (/log)

3. Goto the 'sleeping' player.

4. Attempt to communicate with the 'sleeping' player a few times over the course of five to 10 minutes. If, during any contact attempt with the player, the contactor receives the 'I am A.F.K. . . .' response, the player will not be kicked.

5. /tell the 'sleeping' player that they are being kicked because they appear to be sleeping (this is done in case they are running a log). Also, request that the petitioner announce to their group/guild (if applicable) that the 'sleeping' player is being kicked (it may be that the 'sleeping' player is away, and not asleep, and only told one person why they left).

6. Wait an additional two minutes.

7. /tell the 'sleeping' player one more time that they are going to be kicked, as they appear to be sleeping. Also /tell the player that since they are being kicked due to appearing to be asleep that they will not be restored any items or exp lost in relation to being kicked.

8. Soulmark the 'sleeping' player (using the Note: option, in accordance with section 2.5.5.1) as kicked due to the fact that they were suspected of being asleep.

9. If the sleeping player has not moved or responded during this procedure, /kick the 'sleeping' player.


7.2.4 Guild Creation

Upon receiving a Guild creation petition you should:

Verify that the Guild Creator has received the approval email from SOE.
Congratulate the petitioner on the new guild.
Inquire if the 10 prospective guild members are online and in the general area of the Guild Creator. Leeway may be given for as few as 8 people, but no fewer. Under no circumstances will players be summoned for guild creation purposes. If the required number of players is not yet there, ask the Guild Creator to please petition again when all players are present.
Visit the petitioner and visually verify that the necessary number of players is present. If so, inform the Guild Creator that you have verified the membership and you will now inform the GM that the guild can be created. After you have verified the membership, the other players may leave.
Append to the petition the Guild name and the fact that you have verified the necessary membership. Escalate it to red for the GM, announce this information over the /pr channel, and Soulmark the Guild Creator (using the Note option in section 2.5.3.2) stating that the requirement for membership has been met.
Inform the Guild Creator/petitioner that the GM will be with him/her within an hour.
If the petition is received during non-GM hours or on days when the server GM does not perform guild creations, ask the petitioner if it is possible to reconvene the members during normal GM hours (2 PM to 11 PM PST) and/or on the specified day(s). If this is not possible, the petitioner can attempt to locate a GM in chat and request to have the guild created. The requirement listed in Step 3 still applies, even during off-hours.
If the Guild Creator cannot find a GM in chat, or if the chat GM is unable to assist, inform the Guild Creator that you will pass the information on to a GM.
If a Guild Creator has any problems getting the guild created or has any guild-related problems, request that he or she email EQGuilds@station.sony.com, and the situation will be addressed promptly.


7.3 Corpse Recovery

7.3.1 When a customer petitions indicating they have lost their corpse:
Ask them where and how they died.
Go to the zone where the corpse is located.
Find the corpse (/find <playername>’s corpse#-- the "‘s" is required, and the # is replaced by a numeral, starting at 0, to differentiate between multiple corpses) and make note of the xx, yy, zz coordinates of the corpse.
As long as the player did not die by falling into lava or through the bottom of the ground (if the latter is the case, the zz coordinate will be negative a large number), /goto the corpse and investigate it.

7.3.1.2 If the corpse is clearly visible (i.e. not embedded in a hillside or a tree) and accessible through normal travel (i.e. not under the ground, in the air, or hanging off of a cliff) then summoning the corpse should not be necessary. If not, then find the closest patch of land to the corpse and summon the corpse to it. Inform the customer that their corpse is now available for retrieval and end the petition.

7.3.1.3 All corpses in lava will be considered irretrievable, and upon /petition will be pulled to the nearest spot of dry land, regardless of other dangers in that area.

7.3.1.4 Players who petition they died on a boat or otherwise have lost their corpses on a boat will often petition for assistance. When a ship travels into the next zone in its journey, all corpses on the ship are left where it zoned often under a great deal of water. When a Guide+ investigates the corpse and believes this is the case, he/she may /summon the corpse to the safe point in the zone or a short distance from the point if it is unsafe to the player.

7.3.1.5 If the corpse is underwater (except as specified in 7.3.1.4), near a dangerous monster, or anywhere else accessible at risk to the player, it is left there for the player to attempt to retrieve. These are hazards of the game and CS Representatives are not here to circumvent them.

7.3.2 Verifiable Bug Deaths

Note: The only exception to the above procedure is if the cause of death was a directly due to a verifiable bug.

7.3.2.1 Some examples of causes of death that are considered verifiable bugs:

Falling through the world for massive damage
Flying through the air and falling for massive damage
Player zoned into lava when entering Lavastorm (where the corpse will appear at the zone safe point)
Drowning in a bugged patch of water that, once a character enters they are unable to leave and drowns again

7.3.2.2 Some examples of causes of death that are not considered verifiable bugs:
Falling into lava after becoming linkdead
Being knocked into lava by a monster
Falling off a cliff
Being killed by a monster
Dying while under the influence of a monster’s spell, except where noted above (i.e. falling through the world)
Dying while linkdead, except where noted above (i.e. falling through the world)

7.3.2.3 If the cause of death was a verifiable bug, then the corpse retrieval process is different.
Ask them where and how they died.
Go to the zone where the corpse is located.
/summon <playername> to a safe spot in the zone, usually the zone entrance.
/summon <playername>’s <corpse#> to that spot then use the Guide Gauntlets on the targeted corpse to resurrect the player, thus reversing the loss of experience points accrued due to the erroneous death.

7.3.3 This is a courtesy service provided by the Guide Program in an attempt to compensate for the loss of experience and inconvenience caused by the character dying to an anomaly in the game, which is not something they could have possibly avoided.

7.3.4 Link death is caused by client or network issues that will exist well after release and can not be compensated for by programming. Link death can never be proven and can actually be used by players to purposely avoid dire consequences of their actions in the game. Consequently, dying while linkdead will never be considered death by a bug.

7.3.5 Verified Server Connectivity Issues and Zone Crashes

7.3.5.1 Occasions may arise when a verified connectivity issue either within or outside of SOE’s network will result in the simultaneous disconnection of players. This could be as small as one zone on a specific server or as large as the majority of the players online across several servers. Players may often die as a result, either during the period they are linkdead or in the few moments the server or zone is again functional.

Upon receiving a report of such an incident (usually indicated by a high volume of complaints about a zone or mass linkdeaths across a server), a Guide+ should locate a GM-Staff+ as soon as possible to inquire whether the incident was due to a verified connectivity issue or zone crash and if resurrections are authorized for deaths resulting from it.

7.3.5.2 Once approval for assistance due to the incident is granted by a GM-Staff+, a Guide+ may resurrect any player who petitions and claims to have died due to it using the procedure outlined in section 7.3.2.3.

It is often not possible to prove the incident directly caused a player’s death in each case. However, as these issues often affect the majority of the player base online at the time and are confirmed problems either with the affected zones or network supporting the server, all claims of death resulting from these issues are considered valid if submitted within a reasonable amount of time following the incident.

7.3.5.3 At times following a server-wide connectivity issue or zone crash, a player may find him/herself in a situation where logging on may lead to an impending, often unavoidable death due to creature respawn in a dangerous area where he/she had been before the incident occurred. In cases where a GM-Staff + has verified the connectivity issue or zone crash, a Guide+ may /summon a player facing this situation to a safe spot in an adjacent zone, following the procedure outlined below:

Upon receiving a petition from the player (often sent as an alternate character on the account) in an impending death situation, collect the name of the endangered character, /zone to an adjacent zone and find a place that will be safe for his/her character.
Set up a hotkey of /summon [playername]
Ask the player to log out and log back in as the endangered character, while repeatedly pressing the hotkey.
Once the player appears at the new location, end the call.

Note: This is similar to the procedure for bind-death loops except that the player is not bound to the new location.



7.4 Loss of Items or Experience Due to a Verifiable Bug

7.4.1 Reimbursals will be handled in the game by SOE’s GM staff. When there is a petition for a reimbursal due to a bug death, the Guide should record the following information about the customer:
Character name
PID
Server Name
Player’s email address
Full description of the incident leading up to the loss of the possessions
General list of the possessions lost

7.4.2 This information should be placed on your Server Board at http://guide.everquest.com with a copy emailed to the Server Team at their option. If this is the first reimbursal report for the day, it is posted as a reply to the day's first status report with the subject "Reimbursal: <PID>". Each successive reimbursal report should be posted as a reply to the first one, with the same subject format.

7.4.3 The SOE GMs assigned to the server will check the web site frequently to pick up these requests. They will then review the customer’s accounts, inventory and bank accounts to determine if reimbursal is warranted. If so, the GM will contact the customer and arrange to reimburse their items. We are attempting to have people reimbursed within 48 hours of petitioning. This delay is necessary for the GMs to verify the customer’s account.


7.5 Minor Bug Reporting

7.5.1 Players will report minor (non-emergency) bugs through the use of /petition. The proper response to these types of petitions, as documented above, is to gather as much information as possible and log the petition as a bug.

7.5.2 CS staff should include zone of any location dependent bug or NPC having a problem. Faction problems should be reported with complete information on the player’s race, class and religion, along with the name and location of the NPC involved and the text of the NPCs speech.


7.6 Major Bug Reporting

7.6.1 If the bug is of a disruptive, or imbalancing nature, further action may be required. Examples of such bugs:
Loot given in an area of the world is excessive to the extreme – A CS Rep should move to the area as quickly as possible to verify the bug. If the bug is indeed correct, the representative should attempt to minimize the exposure by killing or removing the NPCs involved, warning other players away, and attempting to immediately escalate the problem to a SOE GM for further resolution. If no GM is available, the Guide should attempt to find a Senior, Elder, or a GM in the chat server to notify them of the problem. Email SOE Customer Service (currently eqcs@verant.com). Until SOE fixes the exploit, a representative should remain in the area of its occurrence until the

[some_newb_001]

Until SOE fixes the exploit, a representative should remain in the area of its occurrence until their shift is over, notifying the rest of the staff when they are leaving so that another team member may come and take up the post. This ensures that a minimum of damage is done from the bug.
Buggy NPC pathing causing an NPC to run into a wall (corner) and not respond normally to attack or player presence - The problem should be logged into the bug database with /loc, /zone, NPC name and the circumstances that led to the pathing problem. The first course of action is to target the NPC and activate the Guide Helm, which will cause the NPC to forget why they are doing what they are doing and return to their static location or patrol. If this does not work, then the next course of action is to /kill the NPC to allow it to respawn in its normal spawn point. In either case, ensure all information has been gathered prior to any action being taken.
A specific area is generating more than average petitions, such as a gate in Neriak or a hallway in Befallen – A member of the staff should be dispatched to be near that area and camp there to assist players that are inconvenienced by this as quickly as possible. The issue should be included in detail in the nightly status report. As with the excessive loot problem above, we should make sure that the area is guarded on each shift.

7.6.1.2 Major bugs such as the above require direct intervention to prevent them from becoming disastrous ones. This does not necessarily require a dedicated CS Rep in all cases, but the longer we are present on the scene, the faster the response time that can be provided in the event of a customer issue.


7.7 Quest Administration

7.7.1 The following terms relating to quests are defined as follows:

Quests: Any in-character occurrence involving characters played by Guides or GMs. This can be as simple as an invasion or as complex as a murder mystery. Some quests have rewards for the player(s) who successfully complete them, but a reward is not mandatory.
Quest Master: The Quest Masters are employees of SOE. Responsible for all dynamic quests, Quest Masters have authority over all quests performed per the direction of SOE Management and subject to these Policies and Procedures.
Quest Troupe: The Quest Troupe is a program separate and distinct from the Guide Program. Members of EverQuest Customer Service may come into contact and work with members of the Quest Troupe during the course of the Quest Troupe members carrying out their quest duties, which can include directing and acting in historical quests, assisting in non-historical quests, and portraying Persistent Historic Characters.
Quest Coordinator: Quest Coordinators are members of the Guide Program and selected by their Server Management Team. They coordinate non-historic quests and non-historic persistent characters on their servers. Each server should have at least one Quest Coordinator. Quest Coordinators work with their Server Management Team, Quest Troupe Members, and the Quest Masters in the coordination of quests as described by these Policies and Procedures.
Quest Team: The Quest Team is made up of all Quest Coordinators. Members of the Quest Team must report to their SMT and may use the Quest Team to communicate issues between other Quest Team Members, the Quest Masters, and their Server Management Team.

7.7.2 Quest Coordinators

7.7.2.1 Quest Coordinators are the main point of contact in the Guide Program for quests run on their server. Their duties include:

Coordinate non-historical quests and non-historical persistent characters on their server including:
o Selecting non-historical quests to be performed
o Scheduling non-historical quests as necessary
o Sign up Guide+ actors for quests
o Ensure there is a GM or Quest Master available for copying characters and/or buffing
Work with their Server Management Team, the Quest Masters, the Quest Troupe, Guides on their server, GMs, and non-historical persistent characters on their server.
Provide feedback and reports to their Server Management Team, the Quest Masters, and the Quest Troupe as needed

7.7.2.2 Quest Coordinators are selected by their server's Server Management Team. The SMT may assign a different Quest Coordinator or an additional Quest Coordinator at their discretion.

7.7.2.3 Quest Coordinators report to their server's Server Management Team. Along with providing feedback to the Quest Troupe and Quest Masters, the Quest Coordinators must provide regular reports to the SMT. These reports will be specified by the SMT along with their frequency. Typical reports include:

Quests performed during the week including Guides/GMs acting, date/time, length, problems, comments
Suggestions for improving the participation of Guides and GMs in quests
Upcoming quest schedules
Persistent characters on the server
Important Quest Troupe news

7.7.2.4 Additional duties may be assigned to the Quest Coordinators by the SMT. Additional duties may be assigned to the Quest Coordinators by the Quest Masters with SMT approval.

7.7.3 The Backstage message board on the Guide web site is for discussion of quest ideas and policy, and generally anything relating to quests. Quest-specific announcements will appear on that board.

7.7.4 Creation of a Quest

7.7.4.1 Any CS Representative may submit a quest idea for review through the EverQuest Guide web site. Submitted ideas go into a queue of unapproved quest ideas where they wait to be reviewed and revised by the quest team (composed of Guides, Senior Guides, and GM members) who ensure that it meets the following criteria:

· Well thought-out and defined - no loose ends or unexplained plot elements
· Complete - all information needed to run the quest is specified, including detailed actor information, specific places, and complete sequence of events
· Consistent or non-conflicting with the existing history of Norrath
· Appropriate challenge and reward for the intended player audience
· Appearance of historical NPCs of Norrath, significant NPCs (dragons for example), gods or explanations of known landmarks (dragon skeleton of Steamfont for example) are restricted for use in historical quests, they may not be used in non-historical quests. Non-historical quests may not require changes in a zone or ownership of a zone (dark elves take over Freeport for example).
· Quests should not be identical or extremely similar to other quests that are or have been in the approved quest queue.

7.7.4.2 Each quest is classified into seven categories based on its intended frequency:

Class A Quests of this type may only be run once per week. The same quest may not be repeated for one month.
Class B Quests of this type may be run once per week. The same quest may not be repeated for at least two weeks.
Class C No more than two of these quests may be run in a week. The same quest may not be repeated for at least one week.
Class D Quests of this type may be run once per day. The same quest may not be repeated for at least three days.
Class E Quests of this type may be run once per day. The same quest may be repeated after one day. Template types may be run in different zones within the same day.
Class X Quests of this type may only be performed as often as stated within the quest.
Class H This category is for Historical Quests. Unless otherwise specified in the quest's description, these quests may only be run once.

7.7.4.3 Create & Run Quests

7.7.4.3.1 Create & Run Quests are the result of inspiration and as encouragement for such creativity, it is possible to create a quest, get tentative approval, and run it immediately. Previously approved quests that require modification for some reason should also be considered in this category and handled similarly.

7.7.4.3.2 A GM may, after consulting with any other Seniors or GMs online at the time, perform a Create & Run Quest by filling out the appropriate Create & Run Quest Form and submitting it to a Quest Master for approval. After approval, the quest may be run following the outline on the Create & Run Quest form. Provided that the quest proves to be successful and requires no further revision, the Quest Masters may permanently add the quest to the approved quest pool.


7.7.5 Quest Scheduling

7.7.5.1 Once a quest has been approved by the Quest Masters, it appears in the Approved Quest Pool on the Guide web site. Each Server Management Team and the Quest Coordinator are cooperatively responsible for scheduling quests on their server.

7.7.5.2 Class A through E and X quests do not need to be scheduled in advance. Class H quests will have deadlines, so these quests need to be scheduled in advance. The Server Management Team will be given at least a week notification of historical quests so they may adjust their schedules.

7.7.5.3 Quests may be scheduled by the Server Management Team or the Quest Coordinator in order to ensure that there are an appropriate number of actors available to perform the quest, sufficient coverage for customer service concerns, and to ensure that a GM is present for any buffing, item creation or any character transfers when needed.

7.7.5.4 Quests may be performed at any time when the petition queue is deemed low enough at the discretion of the Server Management Team and there are enough Guides online to cover the queue while the quest occurs. Senior Guides and GMs who wish to run a quest should consult all other Senior Guides and GMs online at that time and make the decision. Members of the Server Management Team and the Quest Coordinator may coordinate resources such as character copying, character buffing, and item creation as necessary.

7.7.5.5 CS Representatives participating in class A, B, and C quests must do so during times they are not scheduled to be on-duty. CS Representatives may participate in class D and E quests during their scheduled duty hours at the discretion of their Server Management Team. Apprentice Guides may not participate in quests.

7.7.6 Quest Performance

7.7.6.1 Dynamic quests (including invasion templates, but excluding "Create and Run" quests) are to be obtained solely from the Approved Quest Pool. It is not permitted to add characters, spawn extra monsters, change zones, or otherwise change the quest from its' definition unless authorized by the Event Masters. If a quest is inadequate as written for whatever reason, provide feedback to the Event Masters on the Backstage message board on the Guide website or via e-mail. Minor changes can be requested as stated in Create & Run Quests (see Section 7.7.4.3).

7.7.6.2 In most cases, pre-made, buffed, and itemized characters for every approved quest will be available to copy into an actor's Guide/GM account. These characters are to be copied no more than five days prior to the quest and should be deleted immediately after the quest.

7.7.6.3 NPC's and /Kill Restraint During Quests

Any quest which requires an actor to be /becomed should be located away from NPC's (especially guards and their pathing, if mobile) whenever possible. This is recommended because a /becomed actor can be attacked by any player. If a player attacks an actor in the vicinity of a guard, then the guard may attack the player. The guard will not attack the actor unless the actor subsequently attacks the player. Keeping quests away from such NPC's ensures our actions do not cause a player to be inadvertently killed.

Use of the /kill command on guards (or any other "interfering" NPC, for that matter) is permitted in cases where the NPC is adversely affecting the quest. Examples of when this would be permitted would be an NPC druid attacking a player or actor who was attacked by an animal or when several creatures that consider green to an actor are creating excess battle spam. The exception to this is if the interfering NPC is a rare NPC (like Brother Zephyl). If a rare NPC attacks an actor, then the actor should zone. Any named non-merchant or non-guard NPC should be considered rare and not killed unless given permission by a Senior+.

If the /kill command is used, then the name(s) of the NPC(s) killed should be reported to your SMT, in a manner determined the SMT.

At no time should the /kill command ever be used on a player.

7.7.6.4 The Quest Director
Prior to commencement of the quest, a Director should be appointed. The Director can be a GM, Senior, QC or any other Guide designated by the QC or SMT (it is recommended that this person is not an actor in the quest). Unless a situation arises which can be detrimental to the completion of the quest, the Director should be the only individual /killing NPC's.
7.7.6.5 Once a Guide+ logs into a quest character, he/she is to take no CS actions, such as answering petitions or issuing warnings. Additionally, actors are not able to mentor Apprentice Guides. If there is not a non-actor Guide+ on, then the Apprentice must log out.
7.7.6.6 Care should be taken not to use the Avatar related privileges such as /goto and /summon or any of the GM Client features unless specifically required by the quest's script or it is done in such a way that the integrity of the quest is not compromised.

7.7.6.7 To facilitate the success of the quest, the following must be observed:

At the beginning of the quest, all quest actors should use the /tog off command to block tells from the players. Communication for the quest may be accomplished by using /groupsay, creating a temporary guild consisting of the quest actors, or as a last resort, the /pr channel. It would be preferred that the /pr channel not be used, so as not to interfere with the Guides and GM's answering petitions.
No quest actor shall speak out of character or respond to /ooc communications.
Actors must always use either /anon on, or /roleplay on (/roleplay on automatically makes the character anonymous) so that players don't see them, or their Avatar level, in /who. In addition, if using a guild (temporary, or the regular "Guide" guild for the server), /roleplay should not be used. Instead, use /anon on in order to hide the guild tag from player view.
Trades should be turned off, unless trades are specifically called for in the quest script.
It is suggested that the actors disable spell effects (/showspelleffects off) and any similar options in an effort to reduce lag effects for themselves, so long as the quest script does not require the effects to remain enabled. Chat filters for message channels such as /ooc, /shout, and /auction should not be turned off to reduce lag. These need to be left on to allow quest actors to watch for possible disruption in these channels and either /report such instances for review at a later time or, if extreme, escalate to a non-actor Guide through /pr for immediate attention.
Upon entering a zone for placement or /become, actors should use /hideme unless otherwise instructed in the script. When becoming visible again, actors should check to make sure they are still anonymous.
Do not kill a player who is recovering his/her corpse, or one whom you have already killed, or a player who is running away unless that player subsequently attacks you.

7.7.6.8 Once a quest has been completed and all the actors' corpses have been verified looted, actors must delete the quest characters from their accounts. Actor characters are for use only in the dynamic quest for which they were created. Using a buffed actor character for any other purpose is grounds for dismissal from the Guide Program.


7.7.7 Persistent Characters

7.7.7.1 A persistent character is a Guide or GM actor character who, instead of appearing for the short duration of a quest and then vanishing, stays in-character for extended periods of time to interact with players. Guides or GMs playing persistent characters are encouraged to log in the persistent character whenever they have a chance and interact with the citizens of Norrath.

7.7.7.2 It is important that persistent characters remain strictly in-character. Out of character comments or questions from players should either be ignored or deflected in character. The command /tell should not be used, except in accordance with the persistent character's profile defined by the Quest Masters. It is important to distinguish between Persistent Characters, which are non-historical in nature and may be played by any Guide or GM, and Historical Characters which are historically significant and are generally portrayed by members of the Quest Troupe or the Quest Masters.

7.7.7.3 Each persistent character will have a predefined history - a description of things that character knows and can therefore share with players. Some persistent characters will also be authorized to grant class quests to players as permitted by the Quest Masters and defined in the history document.
7.7.7.4 The Quest Masters must approve persistent Character ideas before they can be implemented. Guides wishing to portray a persistent character should contact their Quest Coordinator. Guides must be approved by their SMT before they are permitted to portray a persistent character.

7.7.7.5 Guides and GMs portraying persistent characters will be assigned to a server other than their play server or home GM/Guide server with the exception of those storytellers who are grandfathered (see section 7.7.7.7). The Quest Coordinator will be notified of any persistent characters that are assigned to be portrayed on the server. Persistent characters must make their presence known to the EQCS staff online as petitions may result from the presence of a persistent character.

7.7.7.6 Guides and GMs portraying persistent characters must post a daily report on the Dressing Room board of the Quest Troupe website.

7.7.7.7 Guides and GMs that have existing Storyteller Persistent Characters that would like to continue to use them on their regular Guide/GM servers, rather then another server, may continue to do so if they meet the following criteria:

The Storyteller character must have a creation date prior to May 01, 2000.
The person who approved the character must be identified.
The GM who originally buffed the character must also be identified if the character was approved by someone other then an employee of Sony Online Entertainment.

Guides who meet the above criteria should contact the Quest Coordinator for their server who will pass the information to the Quest Masters for consideration. If approved by the Quest Masters, a note indicating the exception should be noted in the Guide's personnel record.


7.7.8 Historical Quests

7.7.8.1 Some quests will be identified by the Quest Masters as Historic (H), indicating quests that are part of a larger plot in the evolving history of Norrath. Historic quests must be run once and only once on each server (unless otherwise specified in the quest's description) and will often have deadlines.

7.7.8.2 Historical quests are scheduled with the approval of the Server Management Team, but they are to be staffed and run by the Quest Troupe. The SMT will receive a notice of one week prior to the running of a historical quest on their server including any requests of additional actors. Occasionally, a historical quest will need to be run with less notice and this must be approved on a case by case basis by SOE CS management.

7.7.8.3 The Quest Masters may request the help of actors available on the server if the need arises, but the responsibility for historic quests lies completely with the Quest Master and the Quest Troupe. If actors from the server are needed, the Quest Masters will notify the SMT in advance so that actors can be scheduled, customer service functions are maintained, and Apprentices are supervised.


7.7.9 PvP Quests

7.7.9.1 Players on non-PvP servers who have PvP status will often petition to have the PvP flag removed. This can be done via a PvP quest. Each server's SMT will determine the exact details as to how this quest is implemented. Normally, these quests are given out by a GM or Guide playing the role of the Priest(ess) of Order or other, similar, designated persona, rather than by a static NPC. The Priest(ess) of Order is not considered to be a persistent character in the usual sense; therefore, they may be used on the regular server of the person giving out the quest.

7.7.9.2 The quest to remove the PvP flag will be customized for the class and level of the player. Each non-PvP server should set a time and place that the Priest(ess) of Order may be contacted; players who petition about the quest should be given this information.

7.7.9.3 After completion of the quest, the GM/Guide who administered the quest should soulmark the character using the Note procedure (2.5.5.1). This will allow the SMT to track completion of the quest in the event a GM is not there to change the flag. Additionally, if there
is no GM on to change the flag at that time, the administering Guide will inform the SMT that the quest has been completed. Each non-PvP server's SMT will devise a method for ensuring that the PvP flag is changed as quickly as possible.


7.7.10 Quest Disclosure

7.7.10.1 Details of a dynamic quest may not be disclosed without the explicit approval of Sony Online Entertainment. CS Representatives found using quest information for their or their friends personal advantage can result in dismissal and banning from EverQuest.

7.7.10.2 Specific quest access is permitted as follows:

Quest Masters: All quests.
Quest Troupe: Quests in which they are performing one week prior to performance.
GMs: All quests.
Senior Guides: All approved, non-historical quests. Historical quest information may be obtained from the server GM.
Quest Coordinators: All approved, non-historical quests. Historical quest information may be obtained from the server GM.
Full Guides: Information is provided as needed for their participation in a given quest by a Senior Guide or Quest Coordinator.
Apprentice Guides: No information provided.


7.8 Questions about Becoming a Guide

7.8.1 Players who show an interest in becoming a Guide should be referred to the http://www.everquest.com site under the topic “GM Guide FAQ.” This page has information about the program and a link to an online questionnaire.

7.8.2 Players who have previously applied but have gained enough knowledge and experience that they wish to reapply, and players who started to apply but accidentally submitted the application before it was complete, may reapply using their station name followed by an X (i.e. if original application was johnsmith, they would reapply as johnsmithX).

7.8.3 For a candidate to be seriously considered there are a number of things that must be true:
*They must be 18 years of age or older. The Guides will be required to sign a legally binding contract to provide accountability for their actions within the game, as poor judgment or abuse can result in monetary loss to SOE.*
They must not appear on the abuse report more than once for a confirmed exception of any type.
They must not work for a competitor of SOE in the MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) market.
They must not run or staff a spoiler site, an exploit site, or any site that supports the dissemination of information that is in violation of these policies.
7.8.4 Questions pertaining to the status of applications that have been submitted may be directed to appadmin@verant.com



7.9 Questions about Game Mechanics

7.9.1 Customer Service staff should not generally answer questions that are also answered in the EverQuest manual. These questions should be handled politely and the first one or two may be answered generally, after which the customer should be referred to the EverQuest manual. Players may ask questions about game mechanics in order to determine if they have encountered a bug. For example, a player may ask the intended effect of a spell because they are not seeing any result from casting it. Rather than telling the player specifics on the effects of the spell, it is better to ask a key question or two and determine whether the spell is working correctly. If it is, inform the player of that. If it is not, then the customer service representative should follow normal problem reporting procedures.


7.10 Stuck NPCs

7.10.1 During the course of play, players periodically run into NPCs that are "stuck". Stuck is defined as:
Running in place
Hung on geometry (stuck in a gate, behind a barrel, immobile but trying to
move)
Someplace they should not be (a Hill Giant inside the entrance to Befallen,
unable to get further in or out)

7.10.2 When a stuck NPC petition comes in, the investigating Guide has a very clear process to follow. Apprentice Guides are not to attempt to free a stuck NPC.

7.10.3 Stuck NPC Procedure
Use the Guide Helm on the NPC - This will clear its memory, or "hate list" and hopefully cause it to go about its normal route.
If that does not work, use /kill on it. This will remove the monster, without leaving a corpse, and allow it to respawn again.

7.10.4 Alternate method (only for the bravest of Guides).
Sometimes, attacking a monster will cause it to turn and dislodge itself. This is effective on NPCs that are crucial to quests or other functions and should not be /killed if it can be avoided. The process for this requires a delicate touch and good timing. Use the Ring of Banishing on the NPC. If the NPC follows, QUICKLY use the Guide Helm on it. The monster, now dislodged from its location will return to its normal route.

NOTE: UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES should this be used when there is a danger of training the NPC onto a player. Rather than risk the lives of the players’ characters, the Guide should either /zone away or allow the NPC to kill them.

7.10.5 Guides will not attempt to unstick NPCs residing on any of the planes unless instructed to do so by a GM-Admin+.

7.10.6 No matter which resolution is used, the incident must be reported as a bug. Add any additional information to the petition, especially the correct name of the NPC and the location of the incident, then Log it as a Bug in the queuing tool.


7.10.7 /Kill Restraint

7.10.7.1 As it is one of the most powerful commands of CS Representatives, CS Reps should not use /kill on mobs that will cause a significant change in game play.

7.10.7.2 Mobs of higher levels often have long spawn times. Therefore CSReps should not /kill mobs that are level 50 and above. The CS Rep may /con a mob to determine its level. The killing of mobs in the planes, and the killing of dragons is strictly forbidden unless the CS Rep has been specifically authorized to do so by a SOE Employee (GM+).

7.10.7.3 Some mobs such as Brother Zephyl and Hasten Bootstrutter are on 'spawn-tables'. When one mob is killed, the other has a chance of spawning. As spawn-tables are intended game mechanics, CS Reps should not /kill NPCs on such spawn tables if one of the spawns is involved in a quest. As no CS Rep can be expected to know all of the spawn tables, it is a good idea for them to check with their fellow CS Reps who are online before killing a non-merchant NPC. Stuck merchants can almost always be safely killed without seriously altering the natural game-mechanics of players.

7.10.7.4 As GMs have access to tools that allow them to address the game-mechanics issues caused by the /killing of rare, high level, and quest NPC mobs, and they are ultimately responsible for maintaining the server, they may /kill such mobs when they have determined it to be necessary. Other CS Reps may also /kill such mobs when acting on the explicit and specific instructions of a GM.

7.10.7.5 A CS Rep may /kill mobs as necessary to allow players to obtain their corpses if a Senior Guide or GM has determined that the zone in which the mob is located has crashed. SOE Management may also authorize the /kill-ing of mobs such as Lord Nagafen when it has been determined that the zone crashed as the direct result of the actions of players.

7.10.7.6 /Kill Restraint in Customer Service Limited Zones
The killing of any mob in Customer Service Limited Zones (see 5.6.1) is considered to cause a significant change in game play. Therefore CS Reps should not /kill in these zones without specific authorization from a GM+ as directed by SOE Management. (This Policy can also be found at 5.6.4)



7.11 Questions about Game Secrets

7.11.1 Customer Service Representatives must never answer questions that give away the game’s secrets. These include, but are not limited to, questions about quests, armor, spells, weapons, and locations of objects or NPCs.

7.12 Technical Problems

7.12.1 Technical problems may include problems staying connected, problems with incorrect graphics, game response time or performance, and sound problems. Technical problems originate in one or more of the following places: The EverQuest servers or network, the EverQuest client, the player’s own PC, or the network connection between the player and EverQuest.

7.12.2 The online customer service staff is not required to handle support for technical problems, but may do so at their discretion. Technical problems not handled by the online staff should be referred to the technical support staff.

7.12.3 Known Problems:

7.12.3.1 All customer service personnel should check the GM discussion board daily and read the highlight reports to find out the current “hot problem” list. Players submitting known problems should be informed that the problem is already known, but the customer service staff should submit a problem report if they have additional information needed to solve the problem.

7.12.4 Determining the source of unknown problems: Determining the circumstances when the problem occurs and the circumstances when the problem does NOT occur can pinpoint the source of a technical problem.

7.12.4.1 Examples: If the problem occurs for more than a few players, the player’s own PC is not likely to be the problem, assuming they have met the basic requirements to run the game.

7.12.4.2 The four known exceptions to this are:

If the player does not have at least 300M free space on their swap drive (usually C: )
If the player has a number of files in C:\windows\temp or C:\Temp
If the player does not have the most recent video drivers or version of DirectX from the EverQuest web page. Often these are not the same drivers as listed by the manufacturer.
The player has 32 meg of RAM, P-233 or slower computer and/or an older graphics card.

7.12.4.3 If the problem occurs in one zone and not another, then factors such as the player’s PC configuration, and network connection can generally be ruled out.

7.12.4.4 If a problem occurs under a player’s new PC configuration, but not under the old one, and no other players are having the problem, it is likely to be a configuration or hardware problem with that player’s PC. Assuming the player’s PC meets the minimum requirements, then request that the player submit a /bug on the problem. Players experiencing problems with new hardware or software configurations can also be encouraged to check established message boards to find other players with matching system configurations. These can then be compared to provide the player with information on how to customize his system to run EverQuest successfully.

7.12.4.5 Many players misdiagnose all system response problems as lag. Many players assume that lag is the fault of SOE’s network. If a response time problem occurs for a player, or a small number of players, chances are good that it is not a SOE-performance problem with either the servers or the network. (A server or network problem would affect all the players, or all players in one zone or on one server.)

7.12.5 Undetermined technical problems

If a technical problem is not resolved by the customer service staff, the player should be asked to obtain technical support by emailing eqtech@station.sony.com or by calling Technical Support at (858) 537-0898.


7.13 Under the World
Through an anomaly players and corpses can sometimes become stuck Under the World.

7.13.1 Verification of Under the World
Something can be confirmed to be below the world by targeting it with /find and then using the /goto command. Please note that often when something is under the world it will appear to be on the surface at the ‘safe coordinates’ of the zone. It is confirmed that something is under the world if:
the CS Rep receives a message that they are Under the World and/or that they are being teleported to safe coordinates when they attempt to use /goto on the player/corpse
OR
when they use /goto successfully they see sky below them.

7.13.2 General Procedure for Player Characters Under the World
Confirm that the Player Character is Under the World (see 7.13.1)
Summon the Player Character to the /zone-in coordinates of the zone.

7.13.3 Procedure for Player Characters Under the World in Dangerous Areas
A player character under the world can inadvertently become added to the hate-lists of mobs in the zone. In dangerous areas such as a Customer Service Limited Zones, Dungeons, or areas where the mobs are relatively high level compared to the player following the General Procedure for Player Characters Under the World can result in mob trains. Therefore, to retrieve players from these areas without indirectly causing the deaths of players the following procedure should be followed:
Confirm that the Player Character is Under the World (see 7.13.1)
Summon the player to the zone named Arena
Summon the player to a player character of their choice in the zone in which they were stuck, to a Player zone-in point of the zone in which they were stuck, or to the Customer Service /zone-in point.

7.13.4 Under the World Corpse Recoveries
If a player has a corpse stuck under the world, summon the corpse to a player of their choice who is in the zone or to any other location of their choice in the zone.


7.14 Real Life Threats
Though a very rare occurrence, players have, from time to time, made threats of real life suicide, bomb threats, or other real life threats within a petition or in the course of communicating with a CS representative. SOE and the Guide Program must take every real life threat extremely seriously.

Guides encountering such a real life threats must immediately locate a GM, by any means necessary, to deal with the threat. Make sure to /report and screen shot the incident right away, as well as having a record of the /log for later. The GM will contact the authorities in the area of the player if necessary.


7.15 Event Administration

7.15.1 Events are defined as any occurrence initiated or controlled by players. Auctions, treasure hunts, weddings, and music concerts are all examples of player events.

7.15.2 CS Representatives may not supply any powers, money, or items to player-run events. They may participate with their presence and words at their Server Management Team’s discretion.

7.15.3 Arena Door

The door in the Arena zone on the entryway into the inner circle ring can be opened and closed by anyone Guide/GM flagged, but the only persons permitted to do so under normal circumstances are Event Coordinators, Senior Guides, GMs, and Event Masters. Some events require the door to the inner circle to be closed. Seniors, GMs, Event Masters, and Event Coordinators may close entry to the inner circle once an event sanctioned by the Event Masters begins.

The only time the door may be closed is during an event. At all other times, the door must remain open.

Petitions received during an event concerning the closed door should be responded to like any other petition. Unfortunately, once the doors are closed, CS Staff cannot provide transportation or reopen the doors just because the player was unable to get to the event in time. If a petition is received about the door being closed and an event is not currently underway, a Guide+ should reopen the door, and it should be noted in that staff member's shift report.
8. Exception Incident Procedures

8.1 Abuse

8.1.1 Abuse is defined as any activity that is exercised with the intent of disrupting the over all play environment of one or more players.

8.1.1.1 Things that are Abuse:
.
· Hate Mongering – participation in or propagation of Hate literature, behavior, or propaganda related to real –world characteristics.
· Sexual Abuse or Harassment – untoward and unwelcome advances of a graphic and sexual nature. This includes virtual rape, overt sexual overtures, and stalking of a sexual nature.
· Attempting to Defraud a CS Representative - Petitioning with untrue information with the intention of receiving benefits as a result. This includes reporting bug deaths, experience or item loss, or accusing other players of wrongdoing without basis for it.
· Impersonating a Customer Service Representative – falsely representing yourself to another player as a Guide or a SOE employee.
· CS Personnel Abuse -- sending excessive /tells to a CS Representative, excessively using say or other channels to communicate to a CS Representative, making physical threats, or using abusive language against a CS Representative.
· Using Threats of Retribution by GM Friends – attempting to convince another player that they have no recourse in a disagreement because favoritism is shown to one of the parties by the SOE or Guide staff.
· Fraud - falsely representing one’s intentions to make a gain at another’s expense
· Ninja-looting - when a player, disregarding the players or player who killed a mob, loots an item that is generally regarded as significant or valuable from the mob they did not kill.

8.1.1.2 Things that are not Abuse:
· Contextual Swearing – players that swear in character, or use racial terms that are appropriate to the genre.
· Contextual Racism – behaving poorly or with hostility towards other characters of a race that is hated by the character’s race generally.

8.1.2 Abuse Procedures

8.1.2.1 Abuse is one of those “soft” issues that are the hardest to identify and punish. What two players call fun, two others will call abuse. The key to enforcing the abuse policies in EverQuest is consistency. The goal of EverQuest is to create a world where as many people as possible can come and enjoy an immersive role-playing experience.

8.1.2.2 When a player is accused of abuse, the process is as follows:
Gather all of the information on ALL parties involved. Get the character name, race, level, and account name of both the accusers and the accused, as well as the zone and situation and document it.
Locate the situation and go there, invisible and /anon, being sure not to tell
the petitioner you are coming.
Attempt to ascertain the nature of the problem without interacting with either party

8.1.2.3 If the situation is visible and questionable:
Do not intervene.
Contact the accuser, explain that the accused is behaving within acceptable limits of the genre and if the accuser does not like it, they should use the /ignore function or leave the area.
The petition is closed.

8.1.2.4 If the situation is visible and obviously abuse:
Escalate to a member of the Server Management Team immediately if possible.
If a member of the Server Management Team is not available, attempt to have a fellow Guide present as quickly as possible.
Engage the accused, explain that their behavior is abusive, and that they have been escalated for review. Tell the accused to stop the behavior, then disengage from the incident.
Do NOT argue or debate the incident with the accused. Do not discuss the incident past what is required to explain the nature of the abuse to them.
Do not /summon or move the player from the zone


8.1.2.5 Take note of everything said by the accused and add it to the documentation. File a report in the abuse database and in the customer's soulmark (using the /warn command) for review by Senior Customer Service staff.

8.1.2.6 If this is the first incident for the accused, they will be suspended from the EverQuest servers for one week. If this is the second or later incident, the player will be banned from EverQuest.

Note: See Banning under Exploitation for further information

8.1.3 The /report command

8.1.3.1 Often abuse goes on through /tell, or only when a GM/Guide isn’t there to listen. Players who report such abuse should be told to use the /report command the next time it occurs. This command captures the last ten lines of visible text from the player’s text window, sending it to a file on the server. These files can only be accessed by SOE staff, so they can be used as evidence (unlike screenshots, which are easily forged).

8.1.3.2 Customers should be informed that if they are the subject of harassing language, to use the /report command to send the last ten visible lines of chat text to SOE, and given the format of the command. They should also /petition after they /report, to alert the CS staff.

8.1.4 Reports of Fraud

Fraud in all transactions between players will result in disciplinary action when confirmed by a GM. Examples of this activity include, but are not limited to, offering to recover possessions from the corpse of another player and refusing to return that property to its owner, as well as using flaws in a secure trade window to deprive someone of one of their items. When petitions reporting fraud are received, they are to be escalated to a GM for resolution.

8.1.5 Reports of Ninja-Looting

If confirmed by a GM, ninja-looting will result in disciplinary action up to and including player suspension or banning. Ninja-Looting is when a player, disregarding the players or player who killed a mob, loots an item that is generally regrded as significiant or valuable from the mob they did not kill. Ninja-Looting is also defined as when a member of a group loots an item from a mob he helped to kill even though he may not have been entitled to it by the rules in place for that particular group.

When a CS Rep receives a petition reporting ninja-looting, they are to contact the petitioner, gather preliminary information, and escalate to a GM for resolution. Determination of whether or not an item is ‘generally regarded as significant or valuable’ is left to the GM’s discretion as directed by SOE Management.




8.2 Disruption

8.2.1 Disruption is defined as any activity that is disruptive to the game play of others, though not necessarily with the intent to do so. Disruption has been sub-categorized into major and minor types.

8.2.1.1 Examples of Minor Disruption:

Non-Fantasy Names – Names that are not appropriate for the fantasy genre of EverQuest
Excessive Spam – Continued overuse of /ooc, /shout, or /auction over time such that many players complain
Offensive Names – Names that are profanity in some form, including homonyms and anagrams
Kill Stealing – The killing of a mob for any reason that is already aggravated onto another player.

8.2.1.2 Examples of Major Disruption:

Foul Language – excessive use of foul language in an inappropriate context, including swear words, real–world racial slurs, and other language that is not consistent with the fantasy environment and designed to hurt.
Harassment – targeting another player, or group of players, to harm or inconvenience them
Zone/Area Disruption – monopolizing most or all of the kills in an area rather than stealing from a specific player or group of players, deliberately blocking a doorway or narrow area so other players can’t get past, refusing to cooperate with the other parties at a contested spawn site after having been instructed to do so by a CS Representative

8.2.2 Disruption Procedures

8.2.2.1 Disruption is the most difficult problem to deal with, as the accused are frequently not doing it with the intention of disrupting, but simply having fun or behaving as they wish. The key to dealing with Disruption situations is to defuse them with as little customer aggravation as possible.

8.2.2.2 When a Disruption petition comes in, the process is as follows:
Identify the complainer and the suspected antagonist. Document their character name, level, zone, and account name.
Go to the zone in question, remaining invisible and anonymous, being sure not to tell
the petitioner you are coming.
Bring a fellow Guide if possible, preferably invisible and /anon.
Observe the behavior in question and that of those complaining.
If there is no problem with the behavior as you and your fellow Guide see it, then explain this to the complainer and close the petition.

8.2.2.3 If it is not possible to distinguish which behavior is worse, the accuser or the accused, engage both groups.

8.2.2.4 If it appears that the accused is being intentionally disruptive,
Gather information.
Engage the accused, explain that their behavior is disruptive, and issue a warning. Tell the accused to stop the behavior, then disengage from the incident.
Do NOT argue or debate the incident with the accused. Do not discuss the incident past what is required to explain the nature of the disruption to them.
Take note of everything said by the accused and add it to the documentation.
Record the incident in the abuse database and in the customer's soulmark (using the /warn command) for further review by Senior Customer Service staff.

8.2.2.5 If the accused is obviously being disruptive, but not necessarily intentionally,
Engage the accused.
Attempt to convince the accused to cease the activity, explaining that it is disruptive.

8.2.2.6 If the customer becomes confrontational, treat the issue as if it were intentional, described above.

8.2.2.7 For minor disruptions, three warnings will be issued. The perpetrator will then be suspended for a minimum period of three days. For major disruptions, two warnings will be issued, followed by suspension for a discretionary period with a one-week minimum. The next major disruption offense following suspension for major disruption will result in the player being banned.

8.2.3 Contested Spawn Complaints

When a complaint is received indicating that a spawn or kill is contested, a disruption investigation should first be initiated according to the procedures of section 8.2.2 to determine if harassment or Zone/Area disruption is occurring. After following those procedures and issuing warnings as necessary, instruct the parties involved in the contested spawn situation to work out a compromise. Then leave the scene.

If another complaint is received involving the same spawn site, another disruption investigation should be initiated. After following those procedures and issuing warnings as necessary, if any of the parties involved were involved in the initial situation, establish a compromise for the parties to which the parties are required to abide. The compromise should be as described in section 8.2.3.1. Any party refusing to abide by the compromise established by the CS Representative should be issued a warning for disruption.

On PvP servers, where players can reach a solution to the contested spawn situation, the CS Representative does not need to require the players to share the spawn.

8.2.3.1 The compromise will require all parties to take turns killing the spawn(s). All parties involved in the contested spawn should be instructed to use /random 0 100 to choose a number. The CS Representative then uses /random 0 100. The individual with the closest number to the CS Representative’s number will be next in the rotation. The CS Representative then bases the rest of the rotation order on how close the other parties’ numbers were to theirs. The compromise established by a CS Representative must be objective and not require the CS Representative to choose one customer over another based on subjective criteria. The CS Representative is the arbiter in any disputes in establishing the compromise.
8.2.3.1

8.2.4 Kill Stealing

When a kill stealing scenario involves a single spawn, or only a few specific spawns, the procedures in section 8.2.3 (Contested Spawn Complaints) should be followed. However, should kill stealing as defined in section 8.2.1.1 be witnessed during the execution of that procedure, the CS Representative should issue a warning for disruption.

When investigating other reports of kill stealing, the CS Representative should be anonymous and hidden. If the CS Representative observes one player steal a kill as defined in section 8.2.1.1, the CS Representative should issue a warning. The CS Representative should use their best judgment in determining whether a kill was stolen or if more than one player/group simply engaged the mob at roughly the same time. As it is a minor disruption, if the CS Representative believes the customer did not intend to disrupt, they may refrain from issuing a warning. The CS Representative’s decisions in these cases are final.


8.2.5 Use of /summon in disruption incidents

8.2.5.1 There are occasions when a Guide+ may encounter a situation where a player will continue to display behavior that threatens to ruin the civil gameplay of others in his/her general area. If the behavior does not cease after a warning is given, the situation should be escalated to a Senior Guide if possible. Should the situation remain out of control or a Senior Guide not be available, a GM should be contacted immediately to investigate and attempt to diffuse the situation, with any logs or /reports made forwarded to him/her if requested. Should these situations occur during hours when a GM is not online, the Guide+ should seek assistance from a GM in the chat area or submit a post to the GM/SWAT assistance board.

Unless specifically authorized by a GM, a Guide+ should not use /summon to remove a player from the area as these situations, which often involve players who are ignoring all other CS staff, are best handled by a GM with the tools to effectively resolve them.

8.2.5.2 In the specific case of a dynamic quest or event, occasions may arise when a player's actions will disrupt it such that leaving him/her in the zone would prevent many others from participating or enjoying it as originally intended. A Guide+ may use /summon to distance a disruptive player from these situations, however, an attempt to warn the player before doing so must be made unless the disruption is clearly intentional (ex: a player is casting on or spamming a historic quest character such that no one can hear his/her lines) or takes place during an event where players have been told that any interruption will result in their removal from the zone.

The player should then be summoned by a Guide+ (non-actor in the case of quests) to a nearby safe zone (defined as either a point in the given zone accessible by the /zone command or close to a zone line where the player is not placed in immediate danger) to distance him/her from the situation. A player should be summoned to a safe zone far enough to distance them from the area where the disruption occurred, though not so far as to inconvenience them further than what is necessary, i.e. across continents or into dungeons. Additional care should be taken on the PvP servers to /summon the player to as secluded a spot as possible, as danger lies not only from npc's on these servers, but also from other players within his/her level range.

8.2.5.3 A player may not be placed in a "jail" area (such as the developer's rooms in qcat and other zones) by anyone other than a GM (or at the explicit direction of a GM), bound to the safe zone, nor be summoned back continually if he/she tries to escape, as those actions could potentially aggravate him/her further and tend to worsen an already delicate situation. If the player returns to the site of the incident and continues the disruptive behavior, a GM should be contacted immediately to handle the situation.


8.3 The EverQuest Name Policy:

8.3.1 Character names in EverQuest should reflect the genre of the game. Original, high-fantasy names are desired. These guidelines apply both to first names and to surnames, and also to the combination of first name and surname. (For example, the first name Clint and the last name Eastwood are both acceptable names separately, but Clint Eastwood is not.)

8.3.2 The following types of names are unacceptable and are listed in order from the most to the least offensive:

Vile, profane, rude, or racist names including common swear words, anatomical references, racial slurs, and homonyms of these words.
Combinations of words that produce an offensive result (e.g. Hugeaz, Tug Mcgroin).
Names of religious, occult, or significant historic origin (e.g. Jesus, Allah, Satan, Stalin).
Copyrighted or trademarked names of products, characters, services, or concepts (e.g. Drizzt, Marlboro, Sony).
Non-fantasy oriented names from popular media. These names can be either fictional (e.g. Rambo, Darthvader) or non-fictional (e.g. Garth Brooks, Pierce Brosnan, Ronald Reagan, Michael Jordan).
Common words and phrases that would not be found in the place and time setting of the game (e.g. Switchblade, Phaser, Toaster, Cannabis, Sloegin, Anyone).
Proper names from EverQuest (e.g. Rathe, Karana). This also includes the first or last name of any significant EverQuest NPC (e.g. Dorn, Trumpy, Karn).
The names of senior Customer Support Representatives or employees of SOE (e.g. Absor, Abashi, Aradune)
Names chosen with the intent or possessed with the effect of harming the reputation of a player or Customer Service Representative.
Names containing titles within them, such as, but not limited to: The, Lord, Lady, Master, King, Knight, Sir, Father (e.g. Sirtallon, Lordeagle, Mothermaggy, Darksister).
Names that contain sentences (Ikillorcs), phrases (Ontop), or two or more words that do not form descriptive compound words (Petcarbob, Diediedie and Tablechair). Descriptive compound words are allowed in first names and are encouraged in surnames (e.g. Treehugger, Giantslayer). Descriptive compound words (each separate part of the word and the entire word) must otherwise adhere to all other naming rules.
Fantasy-oriented names which are easily recognized from popular existing media (e.g. Merlin, Gandalf, Belgarath, Tanis).
Names where the combination of the first and last name forms a phrase or violate a previous rule (e.g. Crymea River, Bran Muffin, Story Thyme)

8.3.3 Variants

8.3.3.1 For all of the above, misspellings and alternative spellings (such as spelling it backwards) of the word or words are also unacceptable.

8.3.3.2 For all of the above, any foreign variations are also unacceptable. If a player petitions a name he or she feels is offensive in a foreign language, the Senior+ investigating should verify (either online with the available staff or with an offline source) that the name is indeed offensive prior to changing the name.

8.3.4 In the event of improper names, the CS representative should collect the character's name and account name and forward the information to a Senior Guide, Elder Guide, or GM. The Head GM may grant exceptions to names on a case-by-case basis. If a player has been granted an exception, then the player must be soulmarked, stating that such an exception has been granted.

8.3.4.1 The individual changing the name will then use the following process:

Check the soulmark on the character to see if the name has been granted an exception by the Head GM
For category 1-2 offenses, the name will be changed immediately. The player does not need to be given the opportunity to loot outstanding corpses. The individual changing the name will then contact the customer and discuss the change.
For category 1-2 offenses, at his/her discretion, a GM may delete a character in this category in lieu of changing the name. At the Lead GM's discretion and in extreme circumstances, suspension or banning procedures may be initiated against the player. These actions may also take place upon review of name changes of this category made by a Senior Guide. If a GM deletes a character because of this, the items and experience levels will not be restored or reimbursed without approval of the Head GM.
For categories 3-11 and 13, contact the customer and initiate a discussion about the name change. When the customer has chosen a new name and looted any outstanding corpses, the name change will be performed using the "b" parameter to load the old name into the name filter. No reimbursements will be given on outstanding corpses not looted prior to the name being changed.
In addition to the bullet above, Category 8 names will be changed as soon as possible after discussing the situation with the customer if the CS Representative is universally flagged (such as SWAT Guides and GM's). If a non-universally flagged CS Representative transfers and finds that his/her previous name is not available on their new server, the CS Representative will have to choose a new name. The Guide Liaison and Elder(s) will be notified via email whenever a CS Representative's name is changed.
For category 12, or the name doesn't fit into one of these categories but is the subject of a petition or is noted by another CS Rep, the Senior+ handling the call will poll the current CS staff online to assist with obtaining a judgment. If the name is decided to be illegal, then the same procedures are followed as for categories 3-11 and 13.

8.3.4.2 If a Senior+ is not available for a category 1-2 name change, or if the player is not cooperating with the name change process after being notified that a change is necessary, the CS Rep should follow the established procedure for handling exception incidents, and log the incident to the abuse database.


8.4 Name and Surname Changes

8.4.1 Players often petition to have their names or surnames changed, or to ask for a surname that the /surname command won't allow. A first name will only be changed if it violates the naming policy. A surname can be changed by any Senior Guide or higher, under the following guidelines:

Surnames are partially protected by a Grandfather Clause: If a surname currently exists with spaces, double capitals, or accents, but does not violate the naming policy rules, the surname will remain unchanged. However, if the surname violates any of the naming policy rules (1 through 13 of section 8.3.2 or an alternative spelling thereof), then the surname will be changed, REGARDLESS OF THE LEVEL OF THE OWNER. First names are not protected by this clause in any manner and will always be changed (regardless of level) if in violation of the naming policy rules.

Conditions under which surnames are modified:

The player is level 20+ and:
Either the surname, or the combination of the first name and the surname violate the naming policy.
Is getting married or divorced.
Is entering or leaving a guild or family that shares a common surname.
Doesn't have a surname yet, or wishes his/her current surname to contain double capitals (e.g. McGregor, GaFennix, XacLevir).
Doesn't have a surname yet, or wishes his/her current surname to contain an accent ( ` ) (e.g. Ka`Trevx, Doli`k, Jan`frik). A surname can contain only one accent.
Doesn't have a surname yet and the surname he/she is trying to give him/herself is not being granted even though it does not violate the naming policy.
Surnames will not be modified for any other reason.

Surname Guidance:
A surname may not contain spaces.
A surname may contain double capitals only if neither of the capitalized divisions of the surname is a real word, it does not create a title or a sentence, or it does not break up a real word.
A surname may contain an accent ( ` ) provided neither side of the accent mark is a real word, its addition does not create a title or a sentence, or it does not break up a real word. Do not use apostrophes ( ' ) in surnames as they can cause a corruption of a character. This accent is the only non-alphabetic character that is allowed in surnames.
Any number of players may have the same surname. Players wishing to use a surname that's rejected by the name filter as already in use do not need to seek out the original user of that surname to obtain permission.

Note: Non-words like--D, Da, De, Di, El, Z, Za, Ze, Zi, L, Le, La, Li are unacceptable in cases where the name contains a normal word, as they are references to "The" and implicate a title (e.g. D`Kval is acceptable where D`Basher is not).


8.4.2 Visiting Senior+
The local server's Server Management Team is responsible for name changes of all categories. Any visiting Senior+ may only change the names of players under the following conditions:
When either the first or last name fall under category 1 or 2 of the Naming Policy (see section 8.3.2)
When the player is requesting a modification of their surname which is permitted under section 8.4.1 (weddings, divorce, double capitals, etc.)
When the player's first name ends in a captial "X", denoting that the playername is a duplicate after a server move, character restore, or similar issue

All other changes of first or last names should be left to the local SMT and should be posted on that server's message board for action.

8.5 Exploitation

8.5.1 Exploitation is defined as abusing weaknesses in the game system to the advantage of one or more players with the intention of profiting from them in some manner.

8.5.2 Examples of Exploitation:
Duping – creation of money or items from nothing.
Farming – using broken spells or spell effects to kill monsters, thus gaining experience from them.
Safe Zones – using areas of bad data in the game that have monsters behaving erratically (such as running in place, running around, standing still, or any other behavior that has the monster not defending itself) to kill said monsters with minimal danger to the attacker.
Price Gouging – finding items that have anomalous pricing and abusing them, such as items that sell for more than they cost to buy.
PvP Switch Avoidance – Using in-game methods to work around the PvP switch and allowing non-PvP players to kill other players, such as hall blocking, dumping of monsters, or spell effects that cross that boundary due to a bug.

8.5.3 Things that are not Exploitation:
Twinking – giving money or items from one character to another is not an exploitation, unless the money is derived from one of the above activities. This activity will exist and is not controllable by any reasonable means
Camping – sitting in one spot to await the spawn of a monster or item.
Slumming – hanging around in lower level areas and killing monsters there.

8.5.4 Warning Procedures for Exploitation

8.5.4.1 When a player is accused of exploitation, the process is as follows:
Locate the player.
Make note of the player’s account name, the character name, level, and the zone of the character and the accuser.
Inform any member of the Server Management Team that may be online at the time of the report.
Travel to the zone (if possible) while /anon and invisible and attempt to determine the nature of the exploit. Do not contact the accusing player before investigating, as the news that an investigation is underway might find its way back to the exploiter.
Study the activity, make note of the other players involved, and make sure that the accusation appears sound (i.e. they are doing what they are accused of doing)
If this is the first incident with this customer, explain that they are exploiting, and ask them to stop. Do not defend your position, do not argue, and do not attempt to reform them. State the accusation and tell them that the incident has been recorded. Warn them of the consequences of a second offense. No further interaction is required past this point. Record the incident by filing a report in the abuse database, and use the /warn command to add a warning to the customer's soulmark. SOE Customer Service Management will review these records.
If the CS rep is aware that this is the second incident with this customer, they should remain invisible and anonymous and not engage the customer in conversation. Follow all the above steps to gather as much information as possible. If a member of the Server Management Team is online, call them to verify the incident. When a second incident has been verified, the senior staff member will speak to the offender, informing them that a second incident of exploitation has been recorded. The senior staff member who handled the petition will document all the gathered information and record the incident into the abuse database.
If the CS representative is aware that this is the third incident with this customer, they will remain invisible and anonymous and will not engage the customer in conversation. Follow all the above steps to gather as much information

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Follow all the above steps to gather as much information as possible. If a member of the Server Management Team is online, call them to verify the incident. In these cases, the senior staff member will also remain invisible and anonymous and will not engage the customer in conversation. The senior staff member who handled the petition will document all the gathered information and log an incident into the abuse database. These incidents will be reviewed by the SOE escalation review board, which will meet on a regular basis for this purpose. If the incident passes review, a player will be banned as a result of the third incident. Results of third incidents will be posted by Customer Service Management and appear in the daily report on the GM board.

8.5.4.2 The key to determining whether a person is exploiting is not in the activity, but in the intent. A player that is using a rain spell to kill masses of monsters may not know it’s an exploit, but instead believe that this is simply the function of the spell. It is the responsibility of the Guide to educate the player and ensure that the intention to exploit is present.

8.6 Banning

8.6.1 Once an account has been deleted/suspended, GM-Mgmt notifies the GM group that this particular account was banned/suspended. A list of players who have been banned/suspended including the player name, PID, and server will be posted weekly to the News board on the Guide website.

8.6.2 The official Customer Service response to the banning of players is one of regret, as we regret any actions resulting in loss of customers. It is unfortunate that actions like these must occur to keep EverQuest enjoyable for the majority of the players. Details of official actions taken against a player are between Customer Service and that player and will not be discussed with anyone but that player.


8.7 Loot Anomalies

8.7.1 NPCs in EverQuest are supposed to possess loot appropriate to their level. The word is appropriate because there is no documented list of what level NPC should have what loot. However, it should be consistent with all other monsters of that level, within reason.

8.7.2 Examples of Loot Level Anomalies:
Low level monsters with items as loot that sell for large amounts of money.
NPCs with loot far in excess of peer-level monsters

8.7.3 Loot Anomaly Procedures

8.7.3.1 When a petition comes in about a potential NPC Loot Level Anomaly, the process is as follows:
A full Guide or higher must be immediately dispatched to the zone in question.
The Guide finds and kills two of the monsters conventionally to determine if the loot level is incorrect as reported, then deletes any loot found.
If the anomaly does in fact exist, the Guide immediately escalates the issue to a member of the Server Management Team.
If no member of the Server Management Team is present, the Guide logs off of the server and checks the chat room. If a Senior, Elder or GM is present there, the escalation is handed off.
If no Senior, Elder, or GM is present in chat, the Guide exits EQ and sends an email or ICQ to their Server Management Team to apprise them of the situation.
After escalating the issue, the Guide returns to the zone and announces it off-limits to all players in the zone, /shouting that all players should leave it immediately.

Note: Any players caught killing the NPC after the announcement should be treated as Exploiters (documented above).

If available, the Guide can summon an Apprentice to "baby-sit" the zone while the Guide handles other escalations (corpse retrievals, etc.).
Each successive shift of Guides is notified by the prior one and the zone or NPC is "baby-sat" until SOE can resolve the issue.

8.8 The Chat Room

8.8.1 In addition to the game itself, EverQuest offers a set of chat rooms. CS Representatives who are present in these rooms who are Guides or Senior Guides have their names flagged in blue, while SOE staff members are flagged in red. Since the name color is highly visible, anyone with a colored name is “on duty” any time they are present in a chat room, and should conduct themselves accordingly.

8.8.2 A number of commands are available to deal with players who become disruptive in chat rooms. A full list of chat commands is available by typing #help in the chat room. Not all of these commands are available to Apprentice Guides. Here are the commands that are most important to know:


/<name> <message> Send a private message to the player with the specified name. Note: This works across channels. You can also click a name in the list at the right of the window and then type a message to send the message privately.
#journal <text> (GUIDE+ ONLY) Sends the specified text to the journal.txt file in your EverQuest program directory
#kick <name> (GUIDE+ ONLY) Disconnects player from the Chat server
#log (GUIDE+ ONLY) Toggles the logging of the chat session to the chat.txt file in your EverQuest program directory
#lookup [CH|PID] <criteria> (GUIDE+ ONLY) Returns the chat handle and PID for the given search criteria. #lookup must be provided with a chat handle (CH) or Player ID (PID).
#moderate on (GUIDE+ ONLY) Puts the channel into moderated mode, so only GM’s, Guides, and specifically chosen players can talk. Use this only in emergencies.
#moderate off (GUIDE+ ONLY) Returns the channel to normal, unmoderated mode
#priv Returns your privilege level. Used to determine if your account is flagged as free.
#rename <oldname> <newname> Renames your chat handle to a new chat handle
#shutup <name> (GUIDE+ ONLY) Stops a player from speaking in chat for 3 minutes or until logging out and back in again. The player receives a message informing him or her of this. Use this if a player is spamming or using offensive language.
#unshutup <name> (GUIDE+ ONLY) Turns off the “shutup” command for a player without waiting for 3 minutes to pass.
#talk (GUIDE+ ONLY) Lists all players currently allowed to talk in a moderated channel.
#talkon <name> (GUIDE+ ONLY) Allows a player to talk in a moderated channel
#talkoff <name> (GUIDE+ ONLY) Stops a player from talking again in a moderated channel




9. Behavior Guidelines

9.1 Professionalism

The Customer Service staff is expected to behave professionally at all times. This does not mean “stiffly and formally”, but consistently, ethically, and with integrity. Being that we are in Norrath to enhance the game, there is a code of conduct that all Guides and GM’s must follow whenever dealing with customers in any capacity.

9.1.1 Courteous. The Customer Service staff is polite, always. No matter how angry the customer, no matter how bad the complaint, no matter how personal the insult, we are always polite.

9.1.2 Empathetic. We care, always. Even when we can not help, or when the customer is abusive, the CS Rep always remembers what it was like to be in the customer’s position and understands how they feel.

9.1.3 Patient. Things go wrong, often. Things do not work out or fall apart, and take customers with them. No matter how wild the chaos, the Customer Service personnel are a rock that the customers depend upon in the storm.

9.1.4 Decisive. When a critical problem occurs that requires immediate action, that action must be rational, logical, and consistent with the program policies. A CS Rep being able to keep their head, contacting the proper escalation points, and executing consistent damage control can keep a minor emergency from becoming a disaster.

9.1.5 Humble. We are not above the customers. We support them, and they are the reason the program exists. The hierarchy of Guides is a measurement of the trust earned from other Guides and SOE, not necessarily an indicator of experience, knowledge, or ability. The Senior Guides are there because they excel at the requirements listed here, not because they have been in the program the longest.

9.1.6 Consistent. The actions of any individual representative directly impact the expectations on all of the others. Anyone who steps outside of the policy, no matter how "necessary" the violation, immediately causes other customers to ask why that exception was not granted to them in their own time of need. Policies exist for a reason, no matter how unfair they sometimes seem.

9.1.7 Committed. We are committed to the success of EverQuest. This is above personal gain within the game, making friends, and ego. Our commitment to our mission statement drives this.

9.1.8 Honest. The Guide program is where it is by earning the trust of SOE and its customers. Any betrayal of that trust hurts the other Guides, the customers, SOE, and EverQuest. Any short-term gain from being dishonest is FAR overshadowed by the long-term damage.

9.1.9 Creative. This is a roleplaying game. As such, most of the fun is mental and spontaneous. The more creative a CS Rep is, the more fun everyone can have with each encounter and situation.

9.1.10 Tolerant. People do not come to us happy. They only petition when something has gone wrong, and they are often angry. It is not personal. We smile, listen, and fix it to the best of their ability, no matter how they are treated by the customer. A Customer Service representative should not carry any negative feelings about a customer encounter—into the next customer encounter. The CS staff on a server should develop a level of teamwork that will allow the team members to support each other, avoiding passing on our frustration to the customers.

9.2 Program Escalations

9.2.1 Links of the same chain Whenever a CS Representative has an issue with SOE, the Guide Program, EverQuest Customer Service, or any of their composite teams, divisions, or members, the CS Rep should address the issue using this escalation chain:

· The CS Representative should first contact their Server Management Team for them to address the issue. If unsatisfied with the response or lack thereof from the Server Management Team the CS Rep may then take the issue to the next step in the escalation chain after informing their Server Management Team that they are doing so.
· If the issue is not covered by one of the Teams the CS Representative may take the issue to the next step in the Escalation chain after notifying their Server Management Team. If CS Representative has contacted the team and is unsatisfied with their response or lack thereof, the CS Representative may take the issue to the next step after notifying the Team which covers the issue as well as their Server Management Team.
· If the issue is an one of Policy the CS Representative may contact the Policy and Procedures Team via policies-verant@station.sony.com
· If the issue is a Dynamic Quest issue the CS Representative may contact the Quest Masters
· If the issue is a Personnel or Training issue the CS Representative may contact the Personnel and Training Team via personnel-verant@station.sony.com
· If the issue is a Communications matter, the CS Representative may contact the eqcomm-verant@station.sony.com
· If the previous two steps have been exhausted, the CS Representative may take the issue to the Elder(s) and Guide Liaison via eqcs@verant.com after informing their Server Team.

9.2.2 Customer Service Morale Protection Maintaining positive attitudes in a cooperative organization such as the EverQuest Customer Service Program is vital to its success. Therefore, all CS Representatives should refrain from intentionally and unintentionally damaging the morale of anyone in the EverQuest Customer Service Program. To ensure that this does not happen, the escalation chain defined in section 9.2.1 should be used to handle issues and problems that address SOE, the Guide Program, EverQuest Customer Service, or any of their composite teams, divisions, or members.

9.2.3 Issues that can damage the Program’s morale in any way should never be posted to the message boards or expressed in any forum outside of the escalation chain established in section 9.2.1. Anyone who such damages the morale of the EverQuest Customer Service Program shall be subject to disciplinary action up to and including dismissal from the Program.



Appendix A – Guide Absences and Returns to the Program

Absences

Apprentices should at least make an attempt to guide 5 days a week and do their best to put in 6 hours or more on their server. An Apprentice who has not put in at least 6 hours in a two week period is considered to be inactive and will be removed from the Program. He/she will need to contact personnel-verant@station.sony.com to re-join the Program.

Guides should schedule themselves to be on their server for 6 hours a week.

Should a Guide need to miss a scheduled shift, the Guide needs to relay a message to his/her Senior(s) stating the reason for the absence.

Reasons a Guide may lose his/her access to the tools provided by SOE and the Guide Program:

If a Guide does not communicate to his/her Senior(s) an absence of more than one week in activity in the Guide Program, all access to his/her tools will be removed and he/she will be marked as inactive.
If a Guide is absent for any reason more than two weeks, his/her access will be removed and he/she will be marked inactive.

If a Guide needs to be inactive for more than two weeks but has a definite date of return, the SMT will add a note to his/her personnel record on the Guide website stating that the absence is occurring, the reason for the absence, and the date that the Guide is scheduled to return. When the Guide returns, he/she will need to contact a member of his/her SMT to have his/her account reactivated. The SMT may reactivate him/her with an action on the PR report. If the Guide does not make contact with his/her SMT by his/her scheduled return date, or if there is no note in the Guide personnel record, then the reinstatement must go through normal channels via the Personnel Team.

A Guide can request reinstatement by emailing the Personnel Team at personnel-verant@station.sony.com.

Any period of absence from the Program will be tracked in the member's personnel record on the Guide website.

Returning to the Program

Members of the Guide Program sometimes resign from the Program for one reason or another, but later wish to rejoin.

The steps that are to be taken when seeking reinstatement are:

The Apprentice+ seeking reinstatement should send an email with the subject of: “Returning [Apprentice/Guide/Senior] – GuideName” to personnel-verant@station.sony.com.

This email should contain all of the following information:

Your Guide Name
A brief explanation of why you resigned and why you wish to rejoin.

The Personnel Team will check records (resignation emails and the member's personnel record on the Guide website) and talk with the current SMT about the resigned Guide. The Elder Guide and Guide Liaison will reach a decision based on the facts presented and inform the Personnel Team who will then notify both the resigned and SMT of the decision.
Appendix B – Recognition Programs

1. Server Management Team Programs

1.1 Server Reward Initiative

For actions above and beyond what is asked of them, the Server Management Team may bestow an in-game reward upon the deserving Guide+ member of their staff. These rewards are the only circumstance in which a Customer Support Representative may carry anything outside of the tools and items purchased from the Guide Vendors.

1.1.1 Eligibility

All Customer Support Representatives assigned to that server who are Guide+ are eligible to receive a Server Management Team in-game reward. Any Guide+ member of the EverQuest Customer Support Program may nominate a candidate for receipt of a reward. The nomination must be accompanied by a citation of the deed or actions witnessed that merit the reward.


1.1.2 Nominations

On-Server: If you are assigned to the same server as the candidate, your nomination should go directly to the Server Management Team. The nomination will include a citation of the event you witnessed to include date, approximate time, and a summary of the event.

Off-Server: If you are assigned to a different server than the candidate (e.g. You’re on your play character), you may nominate a candidate anonymously through your own Server Management Team. Once passed to your own Team, they will forward it to the candidate’s Team after stripping any mention of your identity. Again, the nomination will include a summary of the event you witnessed to add merit to the reward.

Examples:

On-Server: “I would like to nominate Guide Galn for a Server Management Team reward. On Sunday, January 2nd, 2000, Guide Galn single-handedly performed 142 resurrections following a server crash during an off hour. Guide Galn was not scheduled to perform this shift, and as a matter of fact had been on his play server when the servers crashed. It is this kind of dedication that reflects well on the Program.”

Off-Server: “I would like to nominate Guide Galn for a Server Management Team reward. I witnessed him perform an answer-circle to 40 players in which he recanted Norrathian history, in prose, to entertain the mass. As a player, I can appreciate the time it took him to prepare such an intriguing lesson. It is this kind of event that enriches the world in which we thrive, and serves to soften the ill-begotten image that Customer Service is a group of nay-saying automatons.

1.1.3 Determining the Reward

Upon receiving a nomination, the Server Management Team will review the event cited and determine a reward that is suitable to match the deed. It is imperative that all members of the Team agree upon the reward. Items will be specifically made for this purpose. A list of items will be provided in a category form to choose from.

1.1.4 Bestowing the Reward

Once the reward is determined, the Server Management Team is responsible for seeing that it is given in a manner that reflects the honor the candidate has earned. A small recognition ceremony in front of the candidate’s peers will usually suffice. The event should be cited, the award justified, and the reward given at this ceremony by the Server Management Team.

1.1.5 Tracking

Once the ceremony is complete, the Server Management Team will be responsible for updating the candidate’s soulmark to reflect that he has been given this reward. As well, the Team may wish to update the candidate’s database notes with mention of the reward as well.


Appendix C - Zone Listing

This is a list of all of the zones in the game by zone name to facilitate /zone and /goto.

TOWNS

Ak'Anon akanon
Cabilis:
East Cabilis cabeast (Kunark)
West Cabilis cabwest (Kunark)
Erudin:
Erudin erudnext
Erudin Palace erudnint
Felwithe:
North Felwithe felwithea
South Felwithe felwitheb
Freeport:
East Freeport freporte
West Freeport freportw
North Freeport freportn
Grobb grobb
Halas halas
Kaladim
North Kaladim kaladimb
South Kaladim kaladima
Neriak
Foreign Quarter neriaka
Neriak Commons neriakb
Neriak 3rd Gate neriakc
Oggok oggok
Paineel paineel
Rivervale rivervale
Surefall Glade qrg
Thurgadin
City of Thurgadin thurgadina (Velious)
Icewell Keep thurgadinb (Velious)

Qeynos
North Qeynos qeynos2
South Qeynos qeynos
Qeynos Catacombs qcat



WORLD ZONES

Burning Wood burningwood (Kunark)
Butcherblock Mtn butcher
City of Mist citymist (Kunark)
Cobaltscar cobaltscar (Velious)
Dagnor's Cauldron cauldron
Dreadlands dreadlands (Kunark)
East Commonlands ecommons
Eastern Plains of Karana eastkarana
Eastern Wastes eastwastes (Velious)
Emerald Jungle emeraldjungle (Kunark)
Erud's Crossing erudsxing
Everfrost everfrost
Feerrott feerrott
Field of Bone fieldofbone (Kunark)
Firiona Vie firiona (Kunark)
Frontier Mountains frontiermtns (Kunark)
Great Divide greatdivide (Velious)
Greater Faydark gfaydark
High Keep highkeep
High Pass Hold highpass
Iceclad Ocean iceclad (Velious)
Innothule Swamp innothule
Kerra Isle kerraridge
King Xorbb’s Maze beholder
Kithicor Forest kithicor
Lake of Ill Omen lakeofillomen (Kunark)
Lake Rathetear lakerathe
Lavastorm Mountains lavastorm
Lesser Faydark lfaydark
Misty Thicket misty
Nektulos nektulos
Northern Desert of Ro nro
Northern Plains of Karana northkarana
Oasis of Marr oasis
Ocean of Tears oot
The Overthere overthere (Kunark)
Qeynos Hills qeytoqrg
Rathe Mountains rathemtn
Skyfire Mountains skyfire (Kunark)
Southern Desert of Ro sro
Southern Plains of Karana southkarana
Steamfont Mountains steamfont
Swamp of No Hope swampofnohope (Kunark)
Temple of Solusek Ro soltemple (Optional)
Timorous Deep timorous (Kunark)
Toxxullia Forest tox
Trakanon’s Teeth trakanon (Kunark)
Wakening Land wakening (Velious)
Warslik’s Wood warslikswood (Kunark)
West Commonlands commons
Western Wastes westwastes (Velious)
Western Plains of Karana qey2hh1

DUNGEONS

Arena arena
Befallen befallen
Blackburrow blackburrow
Cazic-Thule (Lost Temple of) cazicthule
Chardok chardok (Kunark)
Crushbone crushbone
Crystal Caverns crystal (Velious)
Dalnir dalnir (Kunark)
Droga droga (Kunark)
Frozen Shadow (Tower of) frozenshadow (Velious)
Guk:
Guk guktop
Ruins of Old Guk gukbottom
Hole hole
Howling Stones charasis (Kunark)
Kael Drakkal kael (Velious)
Kaesora kaesora (Kunark)
Karnor’s Castle karnor (Kunark)
Kedge Keep kedge
Kurn’s Tower kurn (Kunark)
Mistmoore mistmoore
Najena najena
Necropolis necropolis (Velious)
Nurga (Mines of) nurga (Kunark)
Old Sebilis sebilis (Kunark)
Plane of Air airplane
Plane of Fear fearplane
Plane of Growth growthplane (Velious)
Plane of Hate hateplane
Plane of Mischief mischiefplane (Velious)
Permafrost Caverns permafrost
Runnyeye runnyeye
Siren’s Grotto sirens (Velious)
Skyshrine skyshrine (Velious)
Sleeper sleeper (Velious)
Solusek:
Solusek’s Eye soldunga
Lord Nagafen’s Lair soldungb
Split Paw (Lair of the) paw
Temple of Veeshan templeveeshan (Velious)
Unrest (Estate of) unrest
Velketor’s Labyrinth velketor (Velious)
Veeshan’s Peak veeshan (Kunark)
The Warrens warrens




Appendix D - Common Abbreviations, Terms, and Names

D.1 The following is a list of commonly used abbreviations and terms in the Policy and Procedures Manual or seen while Guiding:

/pr - the /private channel. Used by members of the Customer Service program to communicate.
The Plus sign (+) -- denotes "or higher" when used in conjunction with a rank (i.e. Guide+ means any Customer Service Rep of the rank Guide or higher.
AWOL - Absent Without Leave
Cluster - a group of about 6 servers, overseen by a Lead GM
CR - Corpse Retrieval
DSR - Daily Shift Report
EC - Event Coordinator
EM - Event Master
EQCS (or just CS) - EverQuest Customer Service
FFA - Free-for-all (zone) Usually, mistakenly applied to Highpass. There are no free-for-all zones in EQ.
GM - Game Master (also can be a Guild Master)
I/A - Invisible and Anonymous
KOS - Kill on Sight
KS - Kill Stealing
Lead - Lead GM (the head of the GM's in a certain cluster)
LOA - Leave of Absence
MIA - Missing in Action
Mob - used to denote any computer-controlled creature
MOTD - Message of the Day
NPC - Non-Player Character
P&P - The EverQuest Policy and Procedures Manual
PC - Player Character or Personal Computer
Pet - short for petition
PID – Player ID
PNP (or PNR) - Play Nice Policies (or Rules)
PR - Personnel Report
PvP - Player versus Player
QM - Quest Master
Red-locked (or Rlocked) - a condition which exists where the queue is full of Red petitions
Repop -- Repopulation (of a zone; this is where a GM resets the zone)
SMT - Server Management Team (the Senior Guides and server GM on an individual server)
SWAT - a team made up of Senior Guides and Guides who are flagged on many different servers and are able to assist on those servers in a Customer Service capacity.
WSR - Weekly Server Report (turned into SOE by Seniors)

D.2 The following are the EQ and real names of some of the people you may encounter:

Smed -- John Smedley
Aradune -- Brad McQuaid
Ifurita -- Jeff Butler
Vashaar -- Mike Hutchins
Abashi -- Gordon Wrinn
Elionia -- Michelle Butler
Aikbach -- Thom Terrazas
Camii -- Ester "the Tester" Sauter
Semiramis (Elder Guide) --Tracy Schuhwerk


Appendix E – EverQuest Customer Service Contacts

E.1 The following contacts may be given to players as specified in other sections of this document. Email support for players is detailed in section 3.2.3.

eqmail@station.sony.com - Customer Service feedback, suggestions, complaints
eqtech@station.sony.com - Technical support
eqaccountstatus@station.sony.com - Suspension/banning inquiries
eqfeedback@station.sony.com - General feedback and suggestions
eqbugs@station.sony.com - Bug reports
eqtesting@station.sony.com - Quest related bug reports
eqguilds@station.sony.com - Guild related problems
eqcs@station.sony.com - Complaints about Guides or GMs
appadmin@station.sony.com - Guide application problems
http://guideapp.everquest.com - Guide application site
eventmaster@station.sony.com - Event Masters
http://www.everquest.com/ - Main EverQuest website
http://www.station.sony.com/ - Customer account and billing problems
http://everquest.station.sony.com/suppo ... onduct.jsp - Rules of Conduct
http://everquest.station.sony.com/suppo ... de_faq.jsp - GM/Guide FAQ
http://everquest.station.sony.com/suppo ... naming.jsp - Naming Policy
1-858-537-0898 - Tech Support Phone

E.2 The following contacts are for EverQuest Customer Service personnel ONLY and must not be given to players at any time:

https://guide.everquest.com/ - Guide Website
eqcomm-verant@station.sony.com - Communications Team
personnel-verant@station.sony.com - Personnel Team
policies-verant@station.sony.com - Policy Team
swat-verant@station.sony.com - SWAT Team
guide-graders@station.sony.com - Grading Team
guide-trainers@station.sony.com - Training Team
emasters@station.sony.com - Event Masters
pzastoupil@station.sony.com - Guide website problems, feedback, suggestions
semi@one.net - Elder Guide Semiramis
jthornley@station.sony.com - Guide Liaison Jhek
jhelssen@station.sony.com - Guide Coordinator Lithgar
mbutler@station.sony.com - Head GM Elionia
Appendix F - Changes to this Document

This is a working document and will change to meet the needs of the program. Requests for changes to this document may be sent to policies-verant@station.sony.com. Normal, non-emergency change requests will be batched and handled as time allows, while change requests flagged as urgent will be processed as they arrive. Requests for all other changes will be discussed among the senior guides, and representatives of SOE. If the change is approved, the document will be modified and a new copy sent to all customer service personnel.

[OldNecro]

This is an EXTREMELY outdated version of the POP... In fact, this version is even older than the one I got when I first became a guide, which was only a couple months after this one was released...

The hierarchy of leadership doesn't even work that way anymore...

[Valerian]

POP? P&P you mean... anyway, yes, very out of date.

[Everguide]

Here is the new version... All 106 pages..hehe

EVERQUEST POLICIES AND PROCEDURE MANUAL
COMBINED MANUAL
LAST UPDATED 11/16/02






Scope 7
Mission Statement 7
Changes to the Document 7
1.0 Guide Ethics - A Guide is Always Polite 8
1. 0.0 General Behavior 9
1. 0.5 On Duty 10
1.0.10 On Server Interaction 11
1.5 Interacting with Other CS Reps 13
1.5.0 Website 13
1.5.5 Server Boards 13
1.5.10 Server Guilds 15
1.10 Coming, Going, and Transferring 15
1.10.0 Choosing your name 15
1.10.5 New Apprentice 16
1.10.10 Promotion to Guide 16
1.10.15 Revealing your Guide Persona 17
1.15 Absences 18
1.15.0 Guide Absences and Returns to the Program 18
1.15.5 Returns After An Absence 18
1.15.5.0. Returns From Absences With a Definite Date of Return 19
1.15.5.5 Returns From Absences Without a Definite Date of Return 19
1.15.5.10 Returns From an Absence of 6 Months or More 20
1.15.10 Involuntary Releases 20
1.15.15 Guide Program Personnel Procedures 21
1.15.20 Appealing an Involuntary Release 22
1.20 Transfers 22
1.20.0 Candidate Transfer Requests 22
1.20.5 Apprentice and Guide Transfer Requests 23
1.20.10 Senior Transfer Requests 24
1.25 Program Obligations 25
1.25.0 Account Security 25
1. 25.5 Information Dissemination 25
1.25.10 Communications between Sony Online Entertainment and Customers 25
1.25.15 Posting to Public Boards 26
1.25.20 DSR's 26
1.25.25 WSR's 27
1.30 Avatars - Levels and Descriptions 28
1.30.0 Avatar Changes 28
1.30.5 Avatar Levels 28
1.30.10 Candidates 28
1.30.15 Apprentices 28
1.30.15.0 Apprentice Training in an Apprentice Restricted Zone 29
1.30.20 Guides 30
1.30.25 Guide Level Coordinators 31
1.30.30 Senior Guides 32
1.30.30.0 Becoming a Senior Guide 33
1.30.35 Elder Guides 35
1.30.40 SOE CSRs 37
1.30.45 The Server Management Team (SMT) 37
1.35 Is a Team for YOU? 38
1.35.0 Communications Team 39
1.35.5 Personnel Team 39
1.35.10 Grading Team 39
1.35.15 SWAT (Server Wide Action Team) 40
1.35.20 Training Team 40
1.35.25 Policy Team 40
1.35.30 NDCS (Norrathian Dramatic and Comedic Society) 40
1.40 Tools of the Trade (Commands) 41
1.40.0 All Levels 41
1.40.5 Senior Level 41
1.45 Answering Petitions - the Queue and Procedures 43
1.45.0 The Customer Service Interface and Tools 43
1.45.5 Other Requests for Assistance 45
1.45.10 General Queue Guidelines 46
1.45.15 Email Support for Customers 47
1.45.20 EverQuest Customer Service Contacts 48
1.50 Other Procedures 49
1.50.0 Chat Room for Swat Guides and Other Brave Souls 49
1.50.5 Who can I turn to with Problems? 50
1.50.10 Program ONLY Email addresses 51
1.55 Recognition Programs (Medals, Levels and Awards) 52
1.55.0 Service Medals 53
1.55.5 Avatar Levels Based on Time in Program 53
1.55.10 Achievement Awards 54
1.60 Common Abbreviations, Terms, and Names 56

2.0 Commands and Tools 58
2.5 Soulmarking 59
2.5.0 Soulmark Commands 59
2.5.5 Soulmark Display 60
2.5.10 Soulmark Procedures 60
2.5.15 Soulmark Technical Issues 61
2.5.20 General Soulmark Policy 61
2.5.20.0 PRAISE 61
2.5.20.5 WARN 61
2.5.20.10 Concurrent Use with Abuse Database 61
2.10 Customer Service Tools 62
2.15 Zones 65
2.15.0 Zone Listing 65
2.15.0.0 Towns 65
2.15.0.5 World Zones 66
2.15.0.10 Dungeons 67
2.15.5 No-Loitering Zones 69
2.15.5.0 Acceptable Guide Presence in No-Loitering Zones 69
2.15.5.5 Exploring and Adventuring 69
2.15.5.10 Reporting CS Actions Taken in No-Loitering Zones 69
2.15.5.15 Resurrections in No-Loitering Zones 69
2.15.5.20 NPC Interaction in No-Loitering Zones 70
2.15.5.25 Repopping a No-Loitering Zone 70
2.20 Responding to Questions 70
2.20.0 Account and Billing Problems 70
2.20.5 Questions about Becoming a Guide 70
2.20.10 Questions about Game Mechanics 70
2.20.15 Questions about Game Secrets 71
2.20.20 Minor Bug Reporting 71
2.20.25 Major Bug Reporting 71
2.20.30 Technical Problems 71
2.20.35 Known Problems 72
2.20.40 Undetermined technical problems 72
2.25 General Incident Procedures 73
2.25.0 Summoning characters 73
2.25.5 Corpse Recovery 73
2.25.10 Verifiable Bug Deaths 74
2.25.15 Verified Server Connectivity Issues and Zone Crashes 75
2.25.20 Stuck NPCs 75
2.25.20.0 Stuck NPC Procedure 76
2.25.20.5 /Kill Restraint 76
2.25.25 Under the World 77
2.25.25.0 Verification of Under the World 77
2.25.25.5 General Procedure for Player Characters Under the World 77
2.25.25.10 Procedure for Player Characters Under the World in Dangerous Areas 77
2.25.25.15 Under the World Corpse Recoveries 77
2.25.30 Reimbursal Requests 77
2.25.30.0 Reimbursement of Items or Experience 77
2.25.35 Guild Creation 78
2.25.40 Sleeping Players 78
2.25.45 Binding Death Loops 79
2.25.50 PvP Quests 80
2.25.55 Loot Anomalies 80
2.25.55.0 Examples of Loot Level Anomalies: 80
2.25.55.5 Loot Anomaly Procedures 80
2.30 Abuse Definition and Procedures 81
2.30.0 The /report command 81
2.30.5 Abuse 81
2.30.5.0 Things that are Abuse 81
2.30.5.5 Things that are not Abuse 82
2.30.5.10 Abuse Procedures 82
2.30.10 Reports of Fraud 83
2.30.15 Reports of Ninja-Looting 83
2.35 Disruption Definition and Procedures 83
2.35.0 Examples of Minor Disruption: 83
2.35.5 Examples of Major Disruption: 83
2.35.10 Disruption Procedures 84
2.35.15 Use of /summon in disruption incidents 84
2.40 Exploitation Definition and Procedures 85
2.40.0 Examples of Exploitation: 85
2.40.5 Things that are not Exploitation: 85
2.40.10 Warning Procedures for Exploitation 85
2.45 Threats of banishment. 86
2.50 Real Life Threats 86
2.55 Player Disputes 86
2.55.0 Contested Spawn Complaints 87
2.55.5 Kill Stealing 87
2.60 The Naming Policy 87
2.60.0 Naming Rules 87
2.60.5 First Names 88
2.60.10 Surname-specific Rules 88
2.60.15 Surname Change Procedure 89
2.60.15.0 Surnames that Violate Rules 1-2: 89
2.60.15.5 Surnames that Violate Rules 3-11:: 89
2.60.15.10 For Surnames Being Changed Due to a Customer's Request: 90
3.0 Quests 91
3.0.0 Quest Categories 91
3.0.5 Quest Administration 91
3.0.10 Quest Coordinators 91
3.0.15 Quest Scheduling 92
3.0.20 Quest Performance 93
3.0.25 The Quest Director 94
3.0.30 NPC's and /Kill Restraint During Quests 94
3.0.35 Use of /becomenpc 95
3.0.40 Quest Disclosure 96
3.0.45 Creation of a Quest 96
3.0.50 Impromptu Quests 97
3.0.55 Historical Quests 97
3.5 PERSISTENT CHARACTERS 97
3.5.0 Application Process 98
3.5.0.0 If the Guide or Senior Guide receives a recommendation: 98
3.5.0.5 If the Guide or Senior Guide does not receive a recommendation: 98
3.5.5 Persistent Character Behavior 99
3.10 EVENTS 100
3.10.0 Player Run Events 100
3.10.0.0 Player Weddings 101
3.10.5 Event Coordinators 101
3.10.10 Server Events 101
3.10.15 SOE Sponsored Events 102
3.10.15.0 Tournament Series Events 103
3.10.15.5 Test Series Events 103
3.10.15.10 Challenge Series Events 103
3.10.15.15 Competition Series Events 103
3.10.15.20 Arena Door 104
3.10.15.25 Running/Assisting SOE Events 104
3.10.15.30 SAMPLE BotB Event Guide 104



Scope
This document covers all of the policies for all members of EverQuest Customer Service (hereafter referred to as EverQuest CS) and the procedures for them to follow to enforce these policies. The term "Customer service" includes all interactions with customers/testers, and includes everything from first-level technical support to public relations. The goal is to support and enhance the playing experience for customers, and to provide an interface between the customers and Sony Online Entertainment (hereafter referred to as SOE). SOE Employees are not bound by the P&P in relation to customer interaction. Volunteer Guides, however, are bound by the P&P in all aspects. The customer service organization is the "face" that SOE presents to the customer. As such it is very important that all actions taken by customer service be ethical and professional and avoid even the appearance of favoritism or conflict of interest. These guidelines provide customer service personnel with a way to handle customer situations that will ensure consistent and professional behavior.




Mission Statement

"To support, educate, and direct the customers of EverQuest to create an enjoyable and immersive Role Playing experience."

Changes to the Document

This is a working document and will change to meet the needs of the program. Requests for changes to this document may be sent to policies-verant@soe.sony.com. Normal, non-emergency change requests will be batched and handled as time allows, while change requests flagged as urgent will be processed as they arrive. Requests for all other changes will be discussed among the senior guides, and representatives of SOE. If the change is approved, the document will be modified and a new copy sent to all customer service personnel.



1.0 Guide Ethics - A Guide is Always Polite

Professionalism

The Customer Service team is expected to behave professionally at all times. This does not mean "stiffly and formally", but consistently, ethically, and with integrity. Being that we are in Norrath to enhance the game, there is a code of conduct that all members of the CS Team must follow whenever dealing with customers in any capacity.

Communications between the Customer Service team and Customers

Communications between the CS team and EverQuest customers should be handled in as professional and courteous manner as possible. This is not to say that we must be serious and short with the customers. On the contrary, we should attempt to role play our encounters with customers, portraying some personality and using humor where appropriate. We should at all times show good communications skills, speaking to the customer in correct English or a suitable role-play variant. Commonly used slang associated with hackers/cheaters/warez sites, etc. should not be used, as it is unprofessional. Foul language should never be used when speaking to customers.

Courteous. We are polite, always. No matter how angry the customer, no matter how bad the complaint, no matter how personal the insult, we are always polite.

Empathetic. We care, always. Even when we can not help, or when the customer is abusive, we always remember what it was like to be in the customer's position and understands how they feel.

Patient. Things go wrong, often. Things do not work out or fall apart, and take customers with them. No matter how wild the chaos, we are a rock that the customers depend upon in the storm.

Decisive. When a critical problem occurs that requires immediate action, that action must be rational, logical, and consistent with the program policies. A member of the CS team being able to keep their head, contacting the proper escalation points, and executing consistent damage control can keep a minor emergency from becoming a disaster.

Humble. We are not above the customers. We support them, and they are the reason the program exists. The hierarchy of Guides is a measurement of the trust earned from other Guides and SOE, not necessarily an indicator of experience, knowledge, or ability. The Senior Guides are there because they excel at the requirements listed here, not because they have been in the program the longest.

Consistent. The actions of any individual team member directly impacts the expectations on all of the others. Anyone who steps outside of the policy, no matter how "necessary" the violation, immediately causes other customers to ask why that exception was not granted to them in their own time of need. Policies exist for a reason, no matter how unfair they sometimes seem.

Committed. We are committed to the success of EverQuest. This is above personal gain within the game, making friends, and ego. Our commitment to our mission statement drives this.

Honest. The Guide program is where it is by earning the trust of SOE and its customers. Any betrayal of that trust hurts the other Guides, the customers, SOE, and EverQuest. Any short-term gain from being dishonest is FAR overshadowed by the long-term damage.

Creative. This is a role playing game. As such, most of the fun is mental and spontaneous. The more creative we are, the more fun everyone can have with each encounter and situation.

Tolerant. Customers do not come to us happy. They only petition when something has gone wrong, and they are often angry. It is not personal. We smile, listen, and fix it to the best of our ability, no matter how we are treated by the customer. We should not carry any negative feelings about a customer encounter-into the next customer encounter. The CS team on a server should develop a level of teamwork that will allow the team members to support each other, avoiding passing on our frustration to the customers.


1. 0.0 General Behavior

Set an example. It is imperative that all members of the CS team maintain an air of professionalism and integrity, both with customers and their fellow team members. When in the Guide persona, a Guide should always present his or her best face to the customer. A Guide's communication with other players and in game actions should always be exemplary. This means that Guides should never use "doodspeak" nor should they ever appear "drunk" in front of players. Personally, out of character, and "off the clock", they can behave how they wish as long as there is no connection between who they are and their Guide persona. But on duty, even in the /private channel, we speak of and to the customer with kind regard and consideration, even when telling them "No".

Tempers. No matter how frustrating the situation, no matter how angry the customer, no matter how personal the insults, members of the CS team should never lose their temper. Should we feel that we are losing our temper, we should escalate the petition immediately to a member of the Server Management Team if possible or another member of the CS team if a senior member is not available. This is not personal, and the other CS team members are here to help.

Ignoring customers. No matter how frustrating a customer can be, we never /ignore them. If we are having a difficult time with a customer, they should escalate it to another team member, if possible. If no one else is available, we must simply handle it as quickly and efficiently as possible, then disengage from the customer.

Guide and CSR "friends." The end goal of the Customer Service program is to have representatives spread across multiple servers to allow them to not have to play on the same servers as their friends. However, friends will go where they will, so the program must endeavor to avoid the stigma of favoritism.

We do not take a /petition from a friend unless there is no one else to take it. If no other team members are available we must take the /petition, doing only the minimum amount of work required to close the petition, even if it means leaving the problem only partially fixed. Better to be accused of giving poor service to friends than better-than-normal service to them.

We shall never request 'favors' of a customer, either for themselves or on behalf of another customer. In such cases where it is deemed that customer assistance is needed, the CSR or Senior Guide shall be the contacting person.

Controlling customer perception. No matter the intentions, no matter how pure the motives, no matter how well meaning the CS team member, the specter of favoritism can rear its ugly head if we are not diligent and consistent in our actions. All it takes is for the belief to be propagated to cause a problem, even if it is completely untrue. This must be avoided at all costs, as it not only damages the individual's reputation and that of the program, but undermines EQ overall.

We do not stay in zones where our friends are playing - the further away the better. We do not associate with friends while we are on duty, even if the friend is aware of our role in the Guide Program. Seeing us in the same zone with the same characters consistently, especially if it the identity of our alternate character becomes known, is simply asking to be accused of favoritism.

Under no circumstances whatsoever should any member of the CS team "help themselves", such as answering a /petition put in by their player character or that character's party or doing a CR on their player character or members of that character's party.

Twinking. We have the ability to explore dungeons and zones at our leisure (with the exception of CS Limited Zones). We do not adventure and do not give things to customers, no matter the circumstances. This includes giving items to our player characters. We are observers, not participants. Note: Valtron's Brew and Gnome Sandwiches that Guides can purchase in CSHome are the only items approved for handing out to customers.


1. 0.5 On Duty

Off Duty = Off Duty. When we are off duty, we are not a member of the CS team. Our player characters have no authority whatsoever, and are essentially another customer. Consequently while on our player character, we should never approach a customer in an official capacity, nor should we ever imply they have more power or authority than that of a normal customer. Likewise, our player characters should not call on other members of the CS team for any special considerations-the rules apply to all characters and there will be no favoritism within the Program. This means off duty CS team members do not identify themselves, in any way, shape or form, as such on their play server, particularly when requesting assistance via the petition system or direct tells to the CS team on the server. Off duty = normal customer.

CS team members that find their play characters embroiled in the middle of a questionable situation should extricate their selves from it as quickly and quietly as possible to avoid any potential issues arising from their presence. Members of the CS team that allow their player characters to initiate questionable situations will find themselves subject to discipline, as we are held to the highest standard of behavior, on or off duty.

No Hunting/Questing/Crafting/Shopping/Begging/etc. The CS Avatars are provided to make sure we have the resources we need to perform our duties. They are not toys nor are they for play. Consequently, unless it is explicitly covered by another procedure, Guides do not kill NPCs in any other manner but /kill. They do not use spells, pets, weapons, skills, their hands, or in any other way interact with a NPC in any manner that produces a corpse or an item. We do not fight players, no matter the circumstances, outside of scripted quests and may only fight other CS team members inside the Arena of the Sunset Home.

Note: This does not include Exploring. Guides need to know their way around, the lay out of the zones, and in general where things are. With the exception of the Apprentice restriction to higher level zones (see Section 1.30.15, 1.30.15.0 and 2.15). Guides can and should go everywhere possible and be comfortable navigating any zone in the game.

Guides do not have money, as everything they require will be provided to them. Any money a Guide possesses on his/her Guide Avatar must be destroyed. The Guide vendors in the Sunset Home will provide most approved items to Guides who have submitted a Guide Note to the Quartermaster. If a Guide feels he/she needs a tool or resource he/she does not posses, then he/she should contact his/her Senior and ask for it. If it's already been approved for use in the Guide Program, the Senior will provide it. If it's not, and the Guide can convince the Senior it's required, the Senior will submit the request to the Communications Team.

The Communications Team collects such requests and processes them with SOE and the Elder Guide to prevent every Guide in the Guide Program from asking every CSR they see for things they feel they need. This allows the Guide Program to work most efficiently with SOE. Unless there are special circumstances involved, when the Guide Program requests things from SOE, the Communications Team will batch these requests and schedule them.

Requests for names, items, levels will be given to the Senior Guides on the server, and then will be handled uniformly across the Guide Program, according to the procedures mentioned above or those outlined elsewhere in this document.

Hazing: One of the goals of the Guide Program is to foster a feeling of family amongst all the Guides on a server. To this end, there are some basic guidelines, which must be followed. One of the best ways to foster the family atmosphere is to give attention to the all the Guides on a server. There are good ways and bad ways to do this.

Unfortunately, some of the Guides and CSR's resort to one of the bad ways: hazing. Hazing is when one (or more) members of the CS team subjects another to abusive tricks and ridicule and this is strictly forbidden. This can include (but is not limited to): drowning, summoning into lava, summoning to a height and allowing the person to fall to their deaths, and summoning and attacking against their will. Note that this does not include SMT-approved server ceremonies (such as promotion) where all members go through a similar set of trials. Also, this does not include consensual combat in the Sunset Home arena when the queue conditions permit it.

While in most cases the person doing this has no ill will towards the victim, the victim can sometimes feel singled-out. This can be even worse when the perpetrator is a Senior or CSR, as now the victim feels that they have no one to turn to. The program has lost many good Guides of all levels due to hazing and it can ill-afford to do so. It is not in the best interests of the Guide Program to tolerate such behavior and, as such, any CS team member caught hazing can be subject to disciplinary action, up to removal from the program.

1.0.10 On Server Interaction

Players are to be addressed via /say and /tell. CS Representatives may use /shout and /ooc to address a zone when pertaining to official duties as directed by your SMT or SOE Management but we do not answer questions by utilizing /shout or /ooc. The more populated zones are currently overrun with this chatter, and we will not contribute to it. CS Representatives will ask the player to use a more appropriate method for communicating with them.

To avoid the illusion of favoritism, joining chat channels with players or inviting players into chat channels is not permitted. CS Representatives are allowed to use chat channels to communicate with other CS Representatives as long as the chat channel is password protected to prevent player entry. Exceptions: CS Representatives are allowed to invite players into single purpose chat channels created for the officiating of player weddings (See Section 3.10.0.0) and when specifically allowed in a quest script, in an approved event, or as directed by SOE Management.

To avoid potential CS Personnel Abuse as well as the the illusion of favoritism, grouping with players is not permitted. CS Representatives are required to communicate with players only via the approved channels listed in paragraph 1. Exceptions: Grouping is allowed when specifically allowed in a quest script.

In-game Character Services. We are not in Norrath to interfere with the economy in any way. That means we do not provide services that can be provided by other customers. These services include, but are not limited to: Binding, Curing, Healing, Enchanting, Tailoring, Smithing, or Scribing. Any service that can be provided by a customer should be, even if that customer is charging a fee for that service.

In-game Character Protection. No matter what degree of danger customers may find themselves in, members of the CS team are not to intervene. We watch, but do not act. Should players come to us for aid, we should immediately remove ourselves from the situation. This means "question and answer sessions" should be formed in safe areas such as around guards, not in public adventure zones.

This includes PvP combat in all its myriad forms. If a customer we are speaking with is suddenly attacked by another customer, we must not intervene, no matter the situation. If the attacker is utilizing an exploit or abuse in the attack, then use the Exploitation or Abuse Incident procedures documented in the P&P Petitions document. The best solution, for both the player and the CS team member, is to only do "question and answer sessions" in a guarded area.

Pseudo-Nepotism. Some guilds have branches on multiple servers. It is also possible that real life friends have player characters on the CS team member's Guide server. We should, at all costs, avoid any interaction with guildmates or real life friends while on duty. This includes, but is not limited to:

· Answering /petitions from guildmates or real life friends
· Escalating issues to guildmates that are also part of the Customer Service program.
· Referencing or speaking of the guild or guild references while on duty.
· Having the guild advertise that a CS Representative is a member.


Essentially, if our player character is a member of a guild, we should have nothing to do with anyone anywhere, while we are on duty that is also a member of that guild, even if that person is also in the program. This prevents the perception that, because a guild has a member of the Guide Program within it, members of that guild gets preferential treatment.

No d3wDzP3aK (Doodspeak). As Guides, we communicate with the customers 100% via the written word. As such, it is very important that we deliver our responses in a professional and literate fashion. There is no quicker way to offend or "put off" a customer than communicating in a manner that sounds ignorant or overly informal. Few people will complain or notice if our communications are concise, clean, and professional, but MANY will notice should they be sloppy, erroneous, and illiterate. Consequently, Guides will not use the style of communication generally referred to as Doodspeak. This includes, but is not limited to, words such as:

· ‘u' instead of you
· 'ur' instead of you're/your
· 'sup' as a greeting

Role-playing. Communicating in a "role playing" manner is acceptable, as long as it's consistent with EverQuest's genre, so "thee" and "thou" are allowed. However you choose to communicate, remember the primary goal is to communicate effectively. Once you're doing that, the role playing can be added for color.











1.5 Interacting with Other CS Reps

1.5.0 Website

Communications Among the Customer Support Team

The official method of communication for the customer support team is the EverQuest Guide web site, located at https://guide.everquest.com. Email communications may also be used less formally, or for communications between subsets of the program (all CS team members on one server, all Senior CS team members, all new team members, etc.)

The EverQuest Guide website consists of several message areas. Personal play issues should not be addressed on any of these boards; however, general play issues and game mechanics may be addressed on the Laboratory.

Those who post to these areas should be mindful of the others reading them; there must be:
· No ranting
· No non-constructive criticism or personal attacks
· No profanity
· No grandstanding

Additionally, those posting links to other web sites should make sure that the material contained in the referenced web site does not violate any of the rules listed above. If the material would not be appropriate for posting directly on the boards, then it should not be linked to, either.

The following message boards are visible to all members of the CS team:




1.5.5 Server Boards

Each server has its own message section, divided into several different boards for commentary and issues pertaining to that server. Members of the Guide Program that are not members of SWAT can only see the boards for their own server; SWAT Guides, Seniors, and above can see all servers. All Guides should post a report here for each shift they work (see Section1.25.20).

The following message boards are visible to all members of the CS team:

· News. This is where the Customer Service Management and major CS Teams will post important announcements. All Guides should check this area on a regular basis.

· CSR/Swat Help. Place all requests for the System Wide Assistance Team (SWAT) and for emergency CSR assistance on this message board. Permitted postings are detailed in the Moderator's Message in the CSR/SWAT Help Forum

· The Common Hall. This is an open area for Guides to discuss any topics of interest. Newly discovered bugs and player issues are usually posted here.

· The Arena. This area is used for the discussion of quests and server events.

· Laboratory. This area is for discussing game mechanics, game balance, and technical problems.

· The Rumpus Room. This area is for Guide humor and general fooling around.

· The Library. This area is for role playing and stories.

· Technical Support. This area is for discussing technical issues and problems with other, technically-minded Guides.

· EQGSR Forum. This area is for discussing issues regarding the EverQuest Guide Shift Reporter program. This area is not for posting shift reports generated with this program.

The following message boards are visible to all members of the CS team with the rank of Guide or higher:

· Backstage. This area is for discussing dynamic quests, from design through post-quest reports.

The following message boards are visible to all members of the CS team with the rank of Senior Guide or higher.

· The Senate. This is an area set aside for the Server Management Teams to discuss and provide a focal point for issues that need to be directed to Customer Service Management.

· Board Forum. This area is for discussing issues with the design and operation of the Guide web site itself


Additionally, members of specific groups or teams (Quest Coordinators, or members of the Communications Team, for example) will be able to view and post on forums dedicated to those teams.

The EverQuest Guide web site also contains tools for scheduling Guide shifts and dynamic quests, submitting quest ideas, and filing abuse reports.

In addition, the Guides on a particular server may hold meetings on a regular basis to provide a forum for handling pressing issues and airing concerns. These meetings will either occur on an IRC server in a channel designated by the meeting chairperson, on the game server, or in a private EverQuest chatroom. IRC meetings should be set to +private to prevent unwanted eavesdroppers in the proceedings. Meeting announcements will be placed within the appropriate message area.

Insider information, which includes but is not limited to, information disseminated and subjects discussed on the EverQuest Guide web site, CS Program e-mail, and private CS Program meetings, is NOT to be relayed to the general player population. Disclosing this information to unauthorized parties can result in dismissal from the Program and banning from EverQuest.


1.5.10 Server Guilds
In game communication among the Customer Service team is provided via the /private channel. To augment that, a Guild may be created for all members of the CS team of a rank of Guide+ on the server.

The name of the Guild must be chosen by the SMT. It must be professional in nature and be fitting for both our role and the game environment.

Leadership of the Guild should be shared by all members of the SMT. Guild officers may be chosen by the SMT from the ranks of Guide+ on the server as the SMT deems necessary.
Apprentice Guides may not be a part of any guild using their Apprentice Guide Avatar. Being a part of a CS Guild is an earned privilege of becoming a Guide.

No member of the Guide Program can be a part of a player guild with his/her Guide Avatar at any time. At no time must a player be permitted to join a CS Guild.


1.10 Coming, Going, and Transferring

1.10.0 Choosing your name

New Apprentice Guides must choose a first name they have not used previously either as an EverQuest character or in any public association with EverQuest. The first name must conform to the Naming Policy (ref. The EverQuest Naming Policy)

Having a surname is a privilege reserved for those who have attained the level of Guide. Apprentice Guides are not permitted to use the /surname command to set their surname, nor are servers permitted to assign any surname to an Apprentice (including "the Apprentice").

Guide+ and CSR's are bound by the following rules when choosing a surname. Guides may assume surnames of their choice upon approval of the SMT. These surnames might depict the role they have chosen for their guide character and may:

· Contain the word 'the' or similar connector (such as 'of' or 'D` ')
· Be more than one word (such as Kindred Spirit)
· Contain titles within the surname (such as Dragonlord)
· Contain double capitals (such as NightStalker)

Utilize any combination of the above four bullets

It should be stressed, however, that the gist of the names should still be high-fantasy oriented, professional in appearance, and must not otherwise violate the Naming Policy (ref. The EverQuest Naming Policy).

If any members of the CS team have an issue with the name or surname of another CS team member, normal escalation procedures should be followed for reporting. The final arbiter of names (for Apprentice+) and surnames (for Guide+) are the Elder Guides. The final arbiter of names and surnames for CSR's is the Head CSR.

1.10.5 New Apprentice

Getting Equipped

Once a Guide is accepted into the Guide Program as an Apprentice, they must be outfitted for their duties. When they are promoted to full Guide, further outfitting is required. If a Guide should lose their tools, usually due to a corpse loss, they need a way to re-acquire their tools.

The procedure for a new Apprentice is as follows:

· The Apprentice attends the training meeting in IRC, as arranged by the SMT of the assigned server.
· He/she then goes to the server assigned to them by the Guide Liaison/Guide Coordinator at the time indicated in the buffing schedule received from the SMT of their assigned server.
· They do a /who all GM, locate a member of the Server Management Team or their trainer and send them a /tell, indicating they are present to be buffed and trained.
· The Apprentice is summoned to Sunset Home (Cshome).
· A CSR will turn on their Guide flag, buff him/her to 20th level, and give him/her a Staff of Guidance.

.

1.10.10 Promotion to Guide

When an Apprentice is promoted to full Guide, their powers are generally given to them before their tools or trappings. The process is as follows:

· A member of the SMT will make arrangements for a CSR to be online for buffing
· A CSR arrives on the server, buffs the Apprentice to 50th level, and gives him/her a Guide Note.
· The new Guide takes the Guide note and gives it to the Quartermaster. The Quartermaster explains to the Guide that he is there to serve them, providing them the tools they need to do their job.
· The Guide right clicks on the Quartermaster, buys the items available to them, and equips them
.
In addition, he/she needs to obtain at least one item for each item slot from the vast assortment of armor available at the Guide Vendors in Sunset Home (Cshome). Without a full set of gear, some of the Guides tool/abilities might not be available.

The NPCs in Sunset Home (Cshome) only respond to the appropriate level of Guide, and only when they have given the Quartermaster their note. Once they are trading with the NPC, the Guide is free to return and obtain their tools at any time. This is particularly important when the tools are lost due to corpse loss or other such anomalies.

Apprentices, Guides, and Senior Guides may not make use of any spells or equipment from normal vendors or the CSR vendors, and may not accept gifts of such items from players.

Due to the special abilities of some of the races and classes, members of the CS team may find themselves able to speak with Sunset Home (Cshome) vendors they might not otherwise be able to. These vendors are meant to only be accessed by Avatars of a specific level. Any team member that attempts to view and/or purchase from a vendor not normally accessible to him or her without permission from a CSR+ will be subject to disciplinary action.

A new Guide will be assigned a separate Guide account shortly after being promoted. This account will be used for guiding and is where the new Guide's Avatar and tools will reside. Play characters are not to be created on this account. The only characters allowed to reside upon the Guide account other than a Guide's Avatar are characters specifically created and copied to the account by a CSR+ for SOE approved quests and events, or a character specifically created for the purpose of contacting a CSR of another server in the case of emergencies that arise when guiding.

While on this account, a Guide's name will show up in blue when logged into EverQuest Chat. As soon as the Guide account is assigned, the new Guide must change his/her chat name on the Guide account so it is identical, or as close as possible to, the name of his/her Guide Avatar. The chat name may include server, rank, or team affiliations, but the name of the Guide Avatar must be included. Names may NOT include notations that would make it seem that the Guide is in "alliance" with player Guilds or other players in the Chat room. Further, as RED is the designated color for a CSR, no Guide may change their name or text color in Chat to anything that would be considered "red" or commonly mistaken for "red".

Additionally, the new Guide will no longer have to pay to use his/her play account as long as he/she is active in the Guide Program, providing the play account is non-Legends. To ensure the account has been flagged as free, a new Guide must log into EverQuest Chat on the play account and type the #priv command. If the response returned states "Privilege level is FREE USER", then the new Guide may cancel his/her play account to stop billing. Should the account not be flagged as free after promotion, a Guide should contact his/her SMT to inform them of the problem. Note: This only applies to one non-legends play account: the one used by the Guide to sign up for the Guide Program. If the Guide's play account is on a Legends server, the account will not become free nor will it have a reduced rate.

As SOE provides a free play account to Guides in the Guide Program as a courtesy, refunds will not be issued to Guides for any charges incurred on their play accounts.


1.10.15 Revealing your Guide Persona

All customers should be treated alike, regardless of whether they happen to also be Guides. The following rules are designed to avoid as much as possible the chance of guides showing favoritism to one another or using their Guide status to get favorable treatment from other customers.

Guides are prohibited from having a play character on the server to which they are assigned to Guide. SWAT members and other Guide Program participants who are SWAT flagged are the only exception to this, since SWAT flagged Guides+ sometimes have to respond to an immediate need or other request on a server where they have one or more play characters.

When you are logged in as a Guide, do not tell anyone (players or other guides) who your non-Guide characters are.

When you are logged in as your player characters, do not tell anyone (players or other guides) that you are a Guide or who your EverQuest CS Avatar characters are.

The only exception to the above is if a CSR specifically asks you if you are a member of the Guide Program (since he/she could look it up anyway).

Out in the real world, you can identify yourself with any of your characters. However, any time you identify yourself as a Guide, you are bound by the same rules as if you were Guiding in game. You should present yourself courteously and professionally. Remember also that confidential information (such as bug, exploit, or quest details) should never be revealed or discussed outside the Guide Program (ref section 1.25.15 [CS Team Members Posting to Public Boards] and 1.25.10 [Questions regarding other CS representatives]).






1.15 Absences

1.15.0 Guide Absences and Returns to the Program

All periods of absence from the Guide Program will be tracked in each person's record on the Guide website. Entries will be made for Apprentice Guides and Guides by the server's Senior Guides; entries for Senior Guides will be made by an Elder Guide or his/her designee.
Apprentice Guides should at least make an attempt to guide 5 days a week and do their best to put in 6 hours or more on their server. As it requires time to learn how to become a Guide, an Apprentice Guide who has not put in at least 6 hours in a two week period is considered to be inactive and will be removed from the Guide Program. He/she will need to contact personnel-verant@soe.sony.com to re-join the Guide Program.
Guides are required to schedule their shifts. 6 hours per week is recommended. Should a Guide need to miss a scheduled shift, the Guide needs to relay a message to his/her Senior(s) stating the reason for the absence.
Some reasons a Guide will lose his/her access to the tools and avatar provided by SOE and the Guide Program:
· If a Guide is absent more than two weeks with no communication with his SMT and does not respond to inquiry emails from his SMT, his/her access will be removed and he/she will be marked inactive.
· If a Guide is absent for more than 3 weeks, regardless of the reason, the Guide will be marked inactive.

Note: When a Guide loses access to the tools and avatar provided, this includes the free status on his/her play account.

1.15.5 Returns After An Absence

Prior to requesting reinstatement, any former Apprentice Guide, Guide, or Senior Guide must have either:

· The same active EverQuest account that was in use when he/she was originally in the Guide Program.
or
· An active EverQuest account containing registration information identical to that of the original account used to sign up for the Guide Program.

No allowances for restoring characters lost on a play account, levels, items, and so on will be made.









1.15.5.0 Returns From Absences With a Definite Date of Return

If an Apprentice Guide or Guide needs to be inactive for more than three weeks but less than 3 months and has a definite date of return, the return may be handled through the server's Senior Guides rather than the Personnel Team.

The following procedure will then be used:

· The server's Senior Guides will add a note to the Apprentice Guide's or Guide's record on the Guide website stating that the absence is occurring, the reason for the absence, and the date that the Apprentice Guide or Guide plans to return.
· The server's Senior Guides will set the Apprentice Guide or Guide to inactive status.
· When the Apprentice Guide or Guide returns, he/she will need to contact a member of his/her server's Senior Guides to return to active status. The server's Senior Guides may reactivate him/her with an action on the PR report.
· If the Apprentice Guide or Guide does not make contact with his/her server's Senior Guides by his/her stated return date, or if there is no note in the person's record, then the reinstatement must go through normal channels via the Personnel Team as described in the next section (1.15.5.5).


1.15.5.5 Returns From Absences Without a Definite Date of Return

Apprentice Guides or Guides who went on inactive status without a definite return date, those scheduled to be absent for more than 3 months, and those that failed to return prior to their return date, and returning Senior Guides must follow this procedure:
A request for reinstatement should be sent to the Personnel Team at personnel-verant@soe.sony.com.
The Apprentice Guide, Guide or Senior Guide seeking reinstatement should send an email with the subject of "Returning [Apprentice Guide/Guide/Senior Guide] - Guide Name - Server Name."

This email should contain all of the following information:

· Your Guide Name
· Your server name
· A brief explanation of why you resigned (or were removed) and why you wish to rejoin.

The Personnel Team will check records (resignation email and the person's record on the Guide website) and speak with the server's current Senior Guides about the former Apprentice Guide's or Guide's return request. SOE will also check the status of his/her play accounts to verify continued eligibility for the program. The Personnel Team will reach a decision based upon the information gathered and will notify the requestor and the server's Senior Guides of the decision. If approved for return, the SMT may choose to have an Apprentice return at one level lower and attend IRC training for a refresher. The SMT may also request that a returning Guide be returned as an Apprentice in order to become acquainted with changes that may have occurred during the absence, with the request for temporary demotion of a returning Guide to be reviewed and approved by the Personnel Team Chair.

If the person requesting reinstatement is a former Senior Guide or if there are questionable notes in the person's record, an Elder Guide must additionally approve this person's return. The Elder guide may require the former Senior to return to the program at a lower level and/or to another server.

No person requesting a return to the Guide Program after an absence can be guaranteed reinstatement to the same server from which they left, except under section 1.15.5.0 above. The Personnel Team will try to accommodate a return to the same server, but the needs of the Guide Program may mandate that he/she be reinstated to a different server.


1.15.5.10 Returns From an Absence of 6 Months or More

If the returning Apprentice Guide, Guide or Senior Guide has been absent for 6 months or more, the person, if approved, will return to the Guide Program one rank lower.

· Candidates who passed the Guide Application over six months ago who now request entrance to the Guide Program will have to resubmit the Guide Application (1.45.20).
· Returning Apprentice Guides will have to attend IRC Training and start over.
· Returning Guides will return as an Apprentice Guide, but will not have to attend IRC Training again. Instead, they will be reviewed by their server's Senior Guides and returned to Guide status based on their knowledge of the P&P and their performance on the server.
· Returning Senior Guides will return as a Guide. After one month, they may request a review for reinstatement to Senior Guide by emailing the Personnel Team at personnel-verant@soe.sony.com. The decision to reinstate the person to the rank of Senior Guide will be made by an Elder Guide with input from the server's current Senior Guides.



1.15.10 Involuntary Releases

The Guide Program has constant exposure to the EverQuest customer base and our actions are under constant scrutiny. We must exhibit the highest standards of behavior and avoid even the appearance of impropriety.

Reports on the performance of the Guide Program participants are expected to come from many sources, not all of which are reliable. It is to be expected that some unhappy customers will file reports simply for not giving them what they want. Conversely, it is expected that some people who are not good candidates for the program will join the team.

Any Guide Program member who cannot follow the policies and procedures, or who are found to not be a "good fit" for the program will be released from the Everquest Guide program. It is much preferred that we keep our own house clean than allowing the customer to do this for us.

All members of the Guide Program are responsible for actions not only on their Guide account, but also on their play account(s). Any member of the Guide Program who commits a serious violation of the P&P or EverQuest Users Agreement and Software License on any account can be subject to dismissal from the Guide program. Additionally, disciplinary action may be taken against the play account(s) of the dismissed. This disciplinary action can take the form of suspension or banning, but only the most severe of infractions will result in banning of the play account(s). Examples of serious violations include, but are not limited to: divulging Historic Quest information; posting all or part of the P&P on any public site; extreme abusiveness towards a customer, another member of the Guide Program, or an SOE employee; creation of a character with a name which violates rule 1 or 2 of the Naming Policy; and attempting to defraud a Guide or a CSR

1.15.15 Guide Program Personnel Procedures
Members of the Guide Program deserve at least as much consideration as an average player when an incident report is filed against them. All such reports are handled privately involving only the reporting party and the party that is investigating the complaint. The following procedures are used to ensure a fair review.

A report of misconduct may occur in a public forum or as part of a private conversation with a customer. Reports may also be generated directly by Guide Program members or by SOE employees. These reports will not be posted to the message boards or disseminated to anyone other than the appropriate escalation point.

The person who receives the report should try to ensure that basic information is included. (Char name of the Guide Program member involved, server, date and time, and incident details) This information should then be forwarded privately to the appropriate escalation point:

· Complaints about a Guide or Apprentice should be taken to that Guide or Apprentice's Senior, who will evaluate the issue with Elder Guides.
· Complaints about a Senior Guide should be taken to Elder Guides, who will then coordinate efforts with the Guide Liaison.
· Complaints about Elder Guides should be taken directly to the Guide Liaison. The Guide Liaison will coordinate any action with the Head CSR.
· Complaints about CSR's should be taken to a Senior on the server, who will then take it to the Guide Liaison for coordination with SOE Management.

The investigator will look into the incident as thoroughly as possible, involving the subject of the report in their investigation. In the case of reports against Guides or Apprentices, the Senior Guide will then inform the Elder Guides with the results of their investigation. The Elder Guides will take whatever actions are appropriate, whether this involves counseling the Guide or removing the Guide from the program.

In cases where the program releases a team member, either the Seniors or Elders will notify SOE, copying the investigator. SOE will then have the character removed. After the character is removed, the individual's SMT will inform them of their removal from the program. It is imperative that the released member not be communicated with prior to the removal, as they represent a threat to the program. It is also important that they be communicated with as soon after their removal as possible, and as discretely as possible, to ensure a clean removal with as few hard feelings as possible. SOE will be notified of routine (e.g. resignations, MIA) releases via the weekly Personnel Reports.

To reiterate, once SOE has removed the team member, it is the responsibility of that member's immediate superior (The Senior for dismissed Apprentices and Guides, the Elders for dismissed Seniors) to locate the person and communicate their change in status as quickly and professionally as possible to reduce the shock and potential hard feelings.


1.15.20 Appealing an Involuntary Release

Sometimes circumstances arise that require the removal of a guide from the program. Should it be felt that this removal is unjust and unwarranted, the following procedures should be followed to make an appeal:

An email with the subject of "Appeal of Involuntary Release - GuideName" should be emailed to the Personnel Team. This email should contain all of the following information:

· Your Guide Name
· Your Station Name
· A brief explanation of the event(s) which led to the removal. Only the facts should be concentrated on this should include dates (if possible) and names.
· An explanation why it is felt this is an unjust removal. (Phrases like "a guide friend told me" or "a senior friend told me" are unacceptable.)

The Personnel Team Chair(s) will check records (removal emails and the Guide database entries) and discuss the appeal from the removed Guide with the SMT. They will also gather any further information about the events that led to the removal, if any exists. All information gathered will then be forwarded to the Elder Guides and the Guide Liaison for review.

An Elder and the Guide Liaison will reach a decision based on the facts presented and inform both the removed and server management teams of their decision.


1.20 Transfers

Situations may arise where Candidates, Apprentices, Guides, or Senior Guides transfer to another server. Examples can include but are not limited to: new servers opening, an established server being under-teamed, or a personal request. These transfers can be either voluntary or involuntary, based on the needs of the Guide Program as determined by the Guide Liaison and the Elder Guides.

1.20.0 Candidate Transfer Requests

Candidate transfers sometimes are required because the Candidate plays on the server where he/she is first assigned or does not want to guide on a PvP server. If the Candidate needs to be transferred for these reasons, his/her Senior should post a message on the Senate board announcing the Candidate's availability. After a response from another interested server's SMT is obtained, both servers will process the Personnel Report actions necessary to allow the transfer to occur. The SMT losing the Candidate must make a notation in the Candidate's database record on the Guide website regarding the transfer, which can include information such as the date, reason, and the server to which he/she was transferred.

If the Candidate desires a transfer for another reason (an example could be a desire to guide with a friend), these requests should be sent to the Personnel Team. These will be forwarded to the Elder Guides and Guide Liaison for review and evaluated on a case by case basis. If approved, both servers will process the Personnel Report actions necessary, with the SMT losing the Candidate making the appropriate notations in the Candidate's database record on the Guide website as described above.

1.20.5 Apprentice and Guide Transfer Requests

Apprentice and Guide transfers sometimes occur as a result of a call for volunteers, such as when a new server is being brought up, or as a result of a personal request.

When a situation arises where volunteers for a new server are sought, a post will be made to the News board on the Guide website by the Elder Guides, Guide Liaison, or the Personnel Team requesting volunteers or to the Senate board asking Seniors to request volunteers from their respective servers. Apprentices, Guides and Senior Guides volunteering for transfers should email the Personnel Team and also inform their SMT of their desire to transfer.

Apprentices or Guides who desire a transfer to a specific server for any other reason should contact their SMT. The SMT will then contact the SMT from the server the Apprentice or Guide requested.

If the Apprentice or Guide desires a transfer but does not have a specific server in mind, his/her Senior should email the Personnel Team. The Apprentice or Guide may also send the email but must cc: his/her SMT on all correspondence relating to the request.

The email should have the subject of: "TRANSFER REQUEST - Guide Name" and contain the following information:

· Guide Name:
· Current Server Guiding On:
· Reason for Requesting Transfer:

The Personnel Team will look for a suitable server or a choice of servers, if possible, for the Apprentice or Guide. Once a selection has been made, the Apprentice or Guide's Senior will notify the chosen server's SMT about the transfer request.

Once notified of the situation, both SMT's must agree on the transfer. It is the responsibility of SMT members from both servers to disclose and consider the following before agreeing to a transfer request:

· The gaining SMT should be informed of any on-going or recent attendance, DSR posting, attitude problems, or other issues regarding the Apprentice or Guide's performance as a member of his/her current server team.
· Apprentices and Guides should be encouraged to solve problems on their own or with mediation from SMT members when possible. If there are conflicts within the team, the Apprentice or Guide is encouraged to contact the Personnel Team or the Elder Guides for mediation before a transfer is decided upon.
· If a member of either SMT involved in the transfer has reservations, he/she is encouraged to communicate them with the other involved SMT or the Personnel Team.

After both SMT's agree upon the transfer, each server will process the Personnel Report actions necessary for the transfer to occur. The SMT losing the Apprentice or Guide will then make the appropriate notations in his/her database record to verify that the transfer is mutually agreed upon and will send an email to the Personnel Team. If the note verifying the agreement is not made in the database record, the transfer will not be processed.

Every effort will be made to accommodate Apprentices or Guides requesting specific servers, though as the best interests of the entire program must be served, there is no guarantee. Should any concerns be raised throughout the process, by a member of either SMT, the Personnel Team, or SOE, the transfer request will be forwarded to the Elder Guides and Guide Liaison for further review. In these cases, the transferring Apprentice or Guide will then be informed by his/her Senior regarding approval or disapproval of the transfer.

1.20.10 Senior Transfer Requests

Any Senior Guide desiring a transfer outside of the reason mentioned here should send an email detailing the request to the Personnel Team. In the event of any Senior transfer situation, whether voluntary or involuntary, the Guide Liaison and the Elder Guides will have final approval, through the Personnel Team.


1.25 Program Obligations

1.25.0 Account Security

Account Sharing Members of the Guide Program are prohibited from sharing their Guide account with others, including other members of the Guide Program. NOTE: During your Apprenticeship, your play account is considered your Guide account.
Members of the Guide program are also bound by the EULA in regards to account sharing.

Passwords As all CS accounts are privileged, it is strongly recommended that you change your password periodically; at least every 90 days, and keeping the "strong" password model in mind when creating them. Do not share your password with ANYONE.
Passwords are considered strong if they fit the following criteria:
· Minimum of six characters in length, eight characters recommended
· Alpha-numeric
· Contains at least one special character (e.g. @#$?%^&*)
· Varying case (if the system is case-sensitive)

Compromised Accounts If for any reason you believe your CS account has been accessed by anyone other than yourself, do the following steps immediately:

1. Change your password.
2. Notify the appropriate authorities:

a. Apprentice Guides and Guides must notify at least one of their Senior Guides, then send an email message to the Guide Coordinator with a copy to their entire SMT, the Guide Liaison, and Elder Guide(s).
b. Senior Guides must send an email message to the Guide Coordinator with a copy to the Guide Liaison and Elder Guide(s).
· In addition to the above, members of SWAT must notify the SWAT Team Chair.


1. 25.5 Information Dissemination


Rules and Regulations
Questions regarding material available in the manual/.TXT file. The EverQuest Manual and EQNews.TXT file contain a great deal of information. CS Personnel should encourage people to read it by not answering questions that are answered in these documents. Should a significant number of questions be generated about something that is not in the documentation, effort should be made to have the files updated with the additional information.

1.25.10 Communications between Sony Online Entertainment and Customers
The official communication channels between SOE and EverQuest customers are the EverQuest web site at http://www.everquest.com, and the eqnews.txt file which is resident on every customer's PC in the EQ directory and is also accessible by pressing the News button on the Server Select Screen or below the EverQuest chat screen. Additions to the eqnews.txt file may also be seen on the patch screen. Customers should be told to check these sources on a regular basis for any information that the SOE team wishes to communicate to the entire user base.

Questions about game specific information. In their travels, CS Personnel learn a lot of details and gain insight about Norrath. They see spells and items that will only be accessible through the most difficult quests in the game. They see the bottoms of dungeons and the loot of monsters that may not be generally accessible yet in the game. And they tell NO ONE. This information is part of the mystery of the game. We do not divulge information of this nature to any player for any reason anywhere. If the customer wishes to know, they can go find out on their own. Divulging this information to anyone other than a Guide or SOE employee is a violation of policy and one of the more serious offenses a CS member can commit.

Questions regarding other CS representatives. CS representatives are not always on duty. When they are off duty, they should continue to play as much as possible on servers where they are not representing the program to ensure that they don’t lose contact with the player’s perspective of the game. At no time does any CS representative. reveal the identity of one of these player characters to anyone outside the program. Additionally, a CS representative will not identify his player character(s) on any message board in which he speaks in an official capacity. This protects the CS Representative in question from many things (accusations of favoritism, excessive /tells from people that know they are a CS representative, etc) as well as allows us to travel the zones with impunity to investigate exploit reports or evaluate potential CS Representative candidates. The primary reason for this regulation is to allow us some peace and quiet to enjoy the game when they are not on duty. (ref section 1.25.15 Posting to Public Boards)

1.25.15 Posting to Public Boards

Members of the Customer Service Team Posting to Public Boards
As members of the CS team travel about outside the game, they can frequent news groups, bulletin boards, and other messaging media where customers congregate and discuss the game. Members of the CS team are free to post to these boards as they wish with a few restrictions: (ref section 1.10.15 [Revealing Your Guide Identity] and 1.25.10 [Questions regarding other CS representatives]).

· They may not indicate they are members of the Guide Program.
· They may not answer questions specific to CS policy.
· They must adhere to the Policies and Procedures of the Guides when discussing in-game material.

In short, we do not speak of things out of game that they can not speak of in-game. we maintain the mystery always.

Members of the CS team are prohibited from posting information, stories, background, announcements, or anything else related to a Quest. (ref section 1.10.15 [Revealing Your Guide Identity] and 1.25.10 [Questions regarding other CS representatives]).


1.25.20 DSR's

The Daily Shift Report
All members of the Guide Program will post a DSR (Daily Shift Report) covering highlights of their shift (including quests) and any other duties performed for the Guide Program (quest administration, Coordinator duties, etc.). In the DSR, there should be a section dedicated to that evening's incidents, including such things as Abuse and Exploitation (detailed below). Each entry should contain all pertinent information to the incident, particularly the character names and PID's of the customers involved. Once completed, the DSR should be posted on the Guide's home server message board in the appropriate area outlined for these reports.

The EverQuest Guide web site is located at https://guide.everquest.com.

1.25.25 WSR's

The Weekly Server Report
Every week, a Senior

[Everguide]

Well if you really just HAVE to see the rest PM me and I will send you the word Doc.