Titans and Magistrates
Titans, also known as GameMasters, are the "police force" of BattleMaster. They are responsible for keeping the game running smoothly and fun for all players as far as social interactions and game playing is involved. They especially deal with problem players of all kinds, be it cheaters, abusive people or clueless newbies.
Titans are not responsible for game code, programming, new features or bugs, that is the domain of the Coders.
The Role of Titans
It is important to understand that the Titans' job is to counter cheaters and abusers. If there are ways to solve the problem in-game, including the OOC Ban option of rulers, those options should always be used first.
The Titans are also not a court of law. There is no trial. If the case is in any way unclear, they will usually issue just a warning and err "in dubio pro reo" so that there is no harm (aside from maybe a stern reprimand) to the accused. On the other hand, in cases of crystal clear abuse or cheating, there will be no prior warning or opportunity to muddy the case. The game comes first when it comes to cheaters and abusers, because in the end we're not talking about ruining someone's life with a prison sentence, we're talking about in the very worst case taking a game away.
The Titans' business is OOC things and only OOC things. They will not intervene because someone plays an evil ruler, or an arbitrary and unjust judge. They will not act on in-game nastiness or carnage. They will act if and only if there are OOC elements involved that are damaging the fun for someone or are violating the Social Contract or the Inalienable Rights.
How Titans Act
The most important part about Titan activities is that they act as a council. Individual Titans have no powers but those of communication, i.e. they can talk to problem players, their rulers or others who might help solving a problem without resorting to more drastic measures.
Together, however, Titans are very powerful. If two Titans agree that a player is causing problems, they can temporarily block his characters on the island. With all three Titans in agreement, an entire account can be temporarily locked. In addition, they can appeal to Tom for more severe punishment (i.e. permanent removal from the game).
Who The Titans Are
Titans are players who have volunteered for this additional duty because they enjoy the game and want to ensure it continues to be an enjoyable experience for as many people as possible.
In order to protect the Titans from harassment, their identities are not visible. Since they act as a council (see above), responsibility is shared and so should blame.
Contacting The Titans
The Titans can be contacted through the game interface - The option is available on the Messages page as "Contact the Titans..."
One important rule is that you either contact the Titans, or you don't. Do not threaten other players with them. We have issued temporary account locks for people who said things like "do this or I'll bring you up to the Titans".
If you dislike a Decision...
The Titans are not a part of the game, but outside it, they are acting purely OOC. That's why their punishments aren't roleplayed and we don't even try to make them an in-game thing.
Likewise, if you have any problems with a Titan decision, either about you or someone else, do not bring your complaint into the game. That is whining, plain and simple. Neither the Titans nor Tom monitor your "everyone in this realm" channel, so complaining there will not help and is very much frowned upon. In fact, if you insult the Titans publicly, you might get some "time off".
...DO NOT!
- Write about it to your realm. That includes complaining about it or saying that you dislike the punishment.
- Post a wiki page, forum thread, facebook post, discord chat, or other community post with your reasons as to why you dislike, disagree, or hate the decision.
- Threaten to quit if the punishment isn't revoked. Honestly, we like you and want you to stay, but if the only way you can play is to have your way all the time, you are a drain on the game. (And the other players in it)
The reasoning behind why these are highly frowned upon is simple: the people you contact using these methods CAN NOT help you! The only thing you're doing when you contact them is to complain and/or spread negative about Tom's Titans.
The answer to what to do: bring it up with admins (mailto:community@battlemaster.org), calmly and rationally. Blow off steam somewhere else if you absolutely must.
Play a few rounds of your favourite FPS or whatever you have, but keep it out of the game, Discussion List, and away from other players!