Dear recruit,

Congratulations, you’ve been voted to the position of NetOp. If you wish to accept this position, please read on. If not, please inform a member of the NOC that you do not wish to accept this position at this time.

Network Operator Guidelines

More than a privilege, this is a responsibility.

We do not select Network Operators based on technical merit. Between elections, the NOC selects members of the staff to be Network Operators based on a number of factors, including previous record on the Network, social skills, and the ability to learn from, listen to, and cooperate with other staff and interact with the users of the Network.

You will be granted an O-line and services Operator access. This will give you the ability to walk into locked channels, spam everyone on the network, change channel modes, disconnect users, block hosts, and otherwise be rather god-like in your abilities. You will also be granted the hostmask cloak yournick.netop.oftc.net and begin seeing and hearing things you may not have seen before, such as server messages and so-called “GlobOps”, messages sent to all Network Operators by other Network Operators.

While you will have these abilities, you may not use them without being able to justify their use to other network staff, especially the Ombudsman, if such justification is requested. As a member of the staff, you are a representative of the Network and anything you do can and will be taken to be in the name of the Network. As a result, things which you do which may have been innocuous as a user may reflect poorly on your record as a Network_Operator.

As a Network_Operator, your primary task is to respond to calls for help by users. Usually such calls will involve a channel being flooded, or a problem on a channel or between users that cannot be resolved without the intervention of someone from outside. You will also be charged with reconnecting split servers, if possible, and removing problem users. You may also be called upon by a member of the NOC to help in a department, in which case other skills, such as technical skills, may become relevant. Examples of such would be joining the coding staff, or the infrastructure maintenance staff.

Any time there is a non-routine incident that you respond to, such as removing a user or shutting down a channel, you must report it and log it in the Network’s logs. This paragraph will apply when we have such logs, meanwhile, a note should be sent to eventlog@lists.oftc.net.

Because Network Operators are not selected on technical merit, it is possible that you do not have the first clue how to use your abilities as a Network_Operator. There is no shame in this, and I strongly encourage you to seek help from other staff or even select a mentor from among the staff when learning how to carry out the tasks outlined below.

Failure to abide by these guidelines may result in a review by the Ombudsman or by the NOC, potentially resulting in disciplinary action ranging from a note on your record to expulsion from staff.

If you have questions, suggestions, or comments about your role, feel free to contact other members of the staff.