Updated Tue Nov 19 2002

Operator Levels are a ranking system that was originally installed so that existing Ops could not be kicked and banned by new Ops whose only purpose for becoming Ops was to get revenge on an Op they didn't like.

Levels are not guaranteed by Alamak or part of the Ops agreement. We reserve the right to alter the level system in any way or change an individual's level for any reason. We intrinsically try to discourage users who are interested in what we see as power climbing.

The level system is based on the length of time an Operator has been on the Chat. For example, an Operator starts at level 1, after roughly 1 month they increase to level 2. They will continue to increase 1 level every month for 12 months after which thier trial period is over.

The current policy is that after 1 year, levels will increase 1 level per 3 months up to current limit of 60 but this may be increased as we get more and more senior Ops.

Upgrades of level are handled automatically by a program which recalculates your level based on original signup time. This program did have a bug for awhile such that at 12 months you accidentally got level 13 when you were supposed to be 12, but you went back down at 13 months.

Operator membership does not guarantee that Ops will be upgraded, but unless the level system is changed, or there is an abuse problem, upgrade should proceed as usual.

We are aware that this time-based ranking system has some serious drawbacks, a major one being that it doesn't reflect the fairness of a particular Operator.

You should check the current /help for changes in commands and level requirements because we do make changes depending on what commands are being used in a fair manner or possibly being misused by newer Ops. Also the help list shows the most current list of commands available.

For awhile Ops kicking Ops was not allowed due to the unfriendly atmosphere it was creating in the chat but we have relaxed the rules. Currently Ops can kick or ban regular users. Ops level 12 or above can kick or ban abusive Ops who are 4 levels or more below their current level. This means a level 12 can kick or ban level 8 or lower, level 13 can kick or ban level 9 or lower, and so on.

All Operators now start at level 1.

Level 1 Operators can:

• Kick and ban other regular users.
• Run all global Ops commands like /color, /give, /grant, etc.
• Access the /id command to get full /id of themselves with level, but no /id of other Operators.

Level 2 is awarded after 1 months without serious incident. Levels will then be upgraded progressively every month up to Level 12, provided the account is kept continuous and there is not a serious breach of chat policy.

After level 12, increase is 1 level for after 3 months. After 15 months you would be level 15, 18 months level 16, and so on.

Level 3 - 5 Operators gain:

• Kick and ban all regular users and Ops of a lower level.
• Remove bans they placed themselves.
• Access the post board.

Level 6 - 9 Operators gain:

• Ban all users of lower level.
• Clear specific room postings during a flood attack.
• Receive notice of all kicks and bans on the server. This notice can be toggled off with the /log command.

Level 10 Operators can:

• Ban all users of lower level.
• Unban their own ban.
• Receive notice of all kicks and bans on the server. This notice can be toggled off with the /log command.
• Access the /id command to get full id of other Operators as well as full id of themselves.
• Level 12 and up can use the /noproxy command to block harrassment or flooding by proxy

Operators may increase over time. After reaching level 12, increase is 1 level per 3 months.

Some levels have additional commands like /log. This allows you to monitor who is doing what on the server even from other rooms, there are 4 log levels, the higher your level more detailed logs you can see. Log level 4 fills up your private message buffer fast! Logs are mostly to monitor kicking and banning activities, /mute and so on. There are other commands now too like /mkick /nkick /akick /mute /mute - and a whole bunch of others. Most of these new commands are available between levels 13 and 18...

Also once an Operator reaches level 12 he/she maybe be promoted up to a higher level by committee vote. Each committee can set a vote using the /lev command to increase a particular chatter to a higher level. This increase is based on how friendly, helpful, and fair that particular Operator is to other users in the chat. It take about 5 votes from different committee to change a users level, and all committee who vote must, vote to increase the user to the same level for it to work.

The vote system is to discourage favortism and give privledges to those who are putting effort to make the chat a better place.

Committee members put a lot of time and effort into the chat and respond to complaints and advise the office on particular cases.

Committee members can ban lower level Operators, unban any ban, /ublock all bans at once, /deop and /restore Ops. They also have access to advanced /id options.

Can do /ann as well as a bunch of /z*** commands to handle committee functions and read, post, and delete from the committee board, view /abuse logs and so on.

Associate office staff are people who act as collection points for Alamak in various places around the world. They cannot be kicked or banned by lower levels, but they do not have access to commands which may interfere or cross over with committee functions. These modifications are to prevent mix of business and chat politics.

These are office staff that are directly connected with the main offices, either the development office or associate developers.

Can do anything.