ZARP Policies

Table of Contents

Meeting Scheduling

1. The meeting must start at the scheduled time published on the meetings time thread. See Impromptu meetings section for details about hosting meetings outside of these times.
2. There is no time limit to any section of the meeting or the meeting itself. There is a mechanism by which meetings can be delayed or moved to another date. (See delaying or moving meetings)
3. If a meeting runs over (continues beyond the start of another scheduled application meeting) the other meeting will automatically be delayed and cannot start until the current meeting has ended.

Meeting Host

1. The server owners are responsible for ensuring a meeting host is available to run application meetings at the scheduled time.
2. Server owners, community managers, server head admins and server super admins are eligible for running a meeting.
3. A member may not run a meeting prior to having completed their meeting training.
4. The meeting host is bound to several rules involving voting and interfering with the application process.
5. Meeting co-hosts are bound by the same rules as the meeting host. The co-hosts have the same powers as other meeting hosts. The hosts should decide together who will present and manage different parts of the meeting as these are not outlined in the meeting rules.
6. If for any reason the meeting host cannot continue in their role, any co-hosts first become the main meeting host. If no other co-hosts are available to assume the role, the meeting host must assign an eligible member to continue the meeting. If no one is available, the meeting must be delayed or moved.

Application rules

• During the application discussion, the meeting host is not permitted to make an argument towards or against the current applicant.
• They may state facts relating to the current applicant.
• The meeting host can raise an objection if they feel a crucial fact has not been properly considered or alternatively if they feel a fact has been misrepresented during the application discussion.

Voting rules

• The meeting host is not permitted to vote on an applicant unless an exception exists. (See the relevant sub-sections for Meeting Host Exceptions).
• The meeting host must accept the outcome of the vote and cannot object or trigger a re-vote based on an argument toward or against the applicant, except during a vote triggered under the exception rules.

Meeting Applications & Voting

This section of the meeting rules refers to the application voting process. This is the process by which new staff are chosen. There are two types of voting systems available for application voting, polling or manual votes. The meeting host can decide which system is used for each vote.

1. Before voting can begin new staff must have been shown the brief slide explaining how the voting system works and explaining their rights under the meeting rules.
2. Every application that appears on the presentation must be voted on. There are several exceptions where applications may be skipped. (See skipping applications)
3. The meeting host must allow a reasonable amount of time for every application to be discussed prior to starting the vote.
4. The meeting host must clearly announce the start of voting for the current item.
5. An attendee can request that a manual vote takes place and can request that each attendee provides a reason for the vote. (See attendee powers and voting reasons)
6. Attendees must be present to cast their vote and must cast their vote themselves.

Polling

• When a polling system is used to determine the outcome of a vote, the meeting host must allow a reasonable amount of time for all attendees to vote.
• If less than 50% of attendees have voted on the poll the outcome of the poll is invalidated and a manual vote must take place.
• If the poll has more total votes than eligible attendees in the meeting the outcome of the poll is invalidated and a manual vote must take place.
• The outcome of the poll must be based on as the poll results appear. An attendee who is unable to vote on the poll or who says they voted for the wrong option cannot be counted or de-counted from the outcome.

Manual voting

• The meeting host must inform all attendees that a manual vote is taking place, and should make chat users aware that they should have their vote (and reason if applicable) ready to paste into the chat when asked for their vote.
• If less than 50% of attendees have voted the outcome is invalidated and another manual vote must take place.
• All present attendees must be asked for their vote (and reason if applicable) which will be added to a tally recorded by the meeting host.
• During a manual vote, it is possible for an attendee to request for the host to come back to them after other attendees have voted, except for the first voter who cannot make this request.
• An attendee, can ask to change their vote or reason before the outcome is announced.
• If the tally has more total votes than eligible attendees in the meeting the outcome is invalidated and another manual vote must take place.
• The meeting host must make the attendees aware of the final tally before the outcome is announced.
• The outcome of the manual vote must be based on the final tally of results.

Attendee powers

• Attendees all have equal voting power no matter what rank they assume in the community or relating to the current item.
• Attendees may object to the outcome after it is announced by the meeting host. (See Objections & re-voting)
• Attendees may request another attendee to provide a reason for their vote at any time during a vote.
• An attendee can ask that another attendees argument is stricken from the record if it is found to be a misrepresentation of a fact. The host will make the final decision about this request and if accepted should make all attendees aware that they are not to consider the stricken information.
• Attendees may request a manual vote to take place. They may also request a manual vote to take place in the form of an objection.

Voting reasons

• During a manual vote the meeting host may ask attendees to provide a short reason with their vote.
• The host or an attendee can ask another attendee to provide a reason for their vote at any time during a vote, this includes when a polling system is being used.
• An attendees vote must be counted regardless of the reason they provided.
• An attendee may refuse to provide a reason if they do not want to provide one.

Skipping applications

• An application may be skipped if the applicant has stated in their original post that they wish to cancel their application. They must edit their original post to state the application has been cancelled.
• An application may be skipped if the applicant is currently banned. Evidence of the current ban must be presented to all attendees of the meeting.
• An application may be skipped if there is no identifiable information whatsoever.

Objections and re-voting

Objections are a key power that meeting attendees can use to ensure their arguments are being properly considered by others. They can also be used in cases where attendees feel that illegal meeting proceedings have taken place and therefore a re-vote would be required. (See Resolving illegal meeting proceedings)

1. The meeting host must prompt the attendees to make an objection after the outcome of the current voting item has been announced. This prompt must be given after the outcome of every vote has been announced including re-votes.
2. A reasonable amount of time must be given for attendees to raise an objection.
3. Any attendee may raise an objection (including the meeting host under certain circumstances (See the Meeting Host section)) during the prompted time.
4. A reason must be provided for the objection.
5. An attendee may not raise an objection with the same reason more than once.
6. An attendee may revoke their objection; they must clearly state they are revoking when asked to confirm so. In this case the host must re-state the results and ask for objections again. Revoking an objection does not affect an attendees right to object again.

Re-votes

Re-votes can take place after an objection is raised, a tie has been reached in a poll or manual vote and for a number of other reasons outlined in the meeting rules.

A re-vote can take place under either voting system (See Meeting Applications & Voting) and the vote and results take place under the same rules as the initial vote.

1. The meeting host must announce that a re-vote is taking place and for what reason.
2. The meeting host holds the power to change the voting system but must provide a reason for doing so upon request.
3. Re-votes do not affect an attendees power to object or trigger another re-vote under the meeting rules.

Moderator meeting

A moderator meeting refers to the section of an application meeting where the staff applications for the Moderator rank are voted on.

All staff members for the particular server are eligible to join this section of the meeting.

This section may not include non application vote items.

1. A staff member must hold the appropriate Moderator rank to join this section of the meeting or be eligible under a provisional reason. (See Provisional meeting attendance)
2. Moderators hold all powers as outlined in the Attendee powers section of the meeting rules.

Administrator meeting

An administrator meeting refers to the section of an application meeting where the staff applications for the Moderator rank are voted on.

All administrators and above for the particular server are eligible to join this section of the meeting.

This section may not include non application vote items.

1. A staff member must hold the appropriate Administrator rank to join this section of the meeting or be eligible under a provisional reason. (See Provisional meeting attendance)
2. Administrators hold all powers as outlined in the Attendee powers section of the meeting rules.

Lead Team meeting & Head Admin meeting

The lead team meeting refers to the section of the meeting where Super Admin applications are voted on and a number of other non application items can be voted on.

All Super Admins and above are eligible to join this section of the meeting.

1. A staff member must hold the appropriate Super Admin rank to join this section of the meeting or be eligible under a provisional reason. (See Provisional meeting attendance)
2. Super Admins hold all powers as outlined in the Attendee powers section of the meeting rules.
3. Lead Team application voting must take place in accordance with the “Lead Team Application Voting” policy.

Each lead team meeting may include votes on non application items in several categories, this will vary from server to server but cannot include votes not covered in this list.

1. Server rule changes
2. Server suggestions (For any applicable servers)
3. Removing or adding game bans & punishments
4. Demotions (Must take place in accordance with the “Demotions” policy).

Demotions for Head Admins must take place in the Head Admin meeting, and demotions of sitting staff members must take place in accordance with the “Demotions of sitting staff members” policy.

Where a staff member holds a server rank as part of a global rank they cannot be raised for a demotion in this meeting. Instead an official complaint should be logged about this staff member which guarantees a vote on their demotion at the next meeting in which members holding the global rank are eligible for demotion.

Non application voting is bound to a number of additional rules & differences from application vote items. (See Non-application meetings)

Meeting Host Exceptions

A number of exceptions occur for the meeting host in this section of the meeting.

1. Meeting hosts may form an opinion and make arguments for or against the current voting item.
2. Meeting hosts can utilize all attendee powers excluding the power to actually vote.

Provisional meeting attendance

In some cases a member may be eligible to attend a particular meeting even though they currently do not hold the correct rank or are unable to join the meeting for another reason.

A member may only join the meeting under a provisional reason outlined under the meeting rules.

1. If a staff member is currently demoted temporarily pending a vote item in a Lead Team meeting, they are eligible to join any meeting they would otherwise be eligible for.
2. If a staff member is currently unable to join the meeting due to a ban the ban must be removed upon request for the duration of the meeting.
3. If a member is banned for continued violation of the rules during an active meeting the host can remove them at their discretion. A community team member may veto this removal.

Changes to the meeting rules

Changes to these meeting rules can only take place at the Community Team meeting, any changes to the rules must be voted on under the current rules as they stand.

1. Changes to the meeting rules must take place in the Community Team meeting under the democratic voting variant as outlined in the Community Team meeting section.
2. The current meeting will continue under the previous rules not including any changes voted through. The new ruleset will be effective from the start of the next meeting.

Presentation layout rules

In order to promote fairness throughout community meetings, a number of standards must be adhered to as outlined below when creating the meeting presentation. This is a set of rules and not guidelines.

Application meetings

1. The meeting must be presented in the form of a PowerPoint presentation, this should be presented using the online presentation service.
2. The presentation must include the meeting agreement slide, the voting cycle slide and the voting reasons slide.
3. Applications must be presented using the application layout slide.
4. The application must only include the name of the applicant, the forum link, the gametracker link and an extract of text from the application.
5. The extract of text should not be edited in any way (this excludes spelling or formatting errors which could affect any attendees ability to easily read the extract, but must not include adding or removing new words, or changing anything which may alter the meaning of the extract.)

Non-application meetings

1. The meeting must be presented in the form of a PowerPoint presentation, this should be presented using the online presentation service.
2. The presentation must include the meeting agreement slide, and the relevant slides explaining the democratic voting variant for the type of meeting. Refer to the Non-application meetings section.
3. Any application meeting layout rules must be applied to non-application meetings where they are relevant. (See the above section)

Non-application meetings

This section details the specific rules which govern non-application meetings. A non-application meeting is a meeting, or section of a meeting, in which voting takes place for items other than applications.

This section also includes rules for various types of meetings which do not fall under the server meetings category.

This section of rules is not mutually exclusive to the Meeting Applications & Voting section and all relevant rules are applied to non-application meetings. However this section of rules takes precedent for non-application meetings.

Discord Meeting

The Discord meeting takes place in two separate parts, with the first taking place in order to allow staff to vote on opening applications and the second special meeting taking place the following week when applications have been opened.

Members must hold a Discord staff rank to be eligible to participate in this meeting.

A Discord meeting cannot take place unless 5 eligible members or 25% of the entire eligible staff team is in attendance, whichever is higher, or 50% when there are less than 5 eligible members.

First meeting

1. In the first meeting, all staff must cast their votes on whether or not to open Discord staff applications and then in a separate vote, must cast their votes on whether or not to open Discord Head Admin applications.
2. In the first meeting there is a chance for staff to vote on demotions. Please refer to the Demotions and Demotions of sitting staff members policy for this section of the meeting.
3. Staff must be made aware of the second, special meeting, including the time and date it will take place if the applications have been opened.

Second meeting

1. The second meeting will only take place if at least one application item has been opened from the previous meeting.
2. All staff members are eligible to vote on every item; however, members cannot vote on their own applications and must not be in attendance for the duration of discussion on their application.
3. Application discussion and voting will take place under the same rules as server meeting application rules.

Forum Meeting

The forum meeting takes place in two separate parts, with the first taking place in order to allow staff to vote on opening applications and the second special meeting taking place the following week when applications have been opened.

Members must hold a Forum staff rank to be eligible to participate in this meeting.

A Forum meeting cannot take place unless 5 eligible members or 25% of the entire eligible staff team is in attendance, whichever is higher, or 50% when there are less than 5 eligible members.

First meeting

1. In the first meeting, all staff must cast their votes on whether or not to open Forum applications for the following categories: Section applications (each section must be voted on individually) and Global moderators.
2. In the first meeting there is a chance for staff to vote on demotions. Please refer to the Demotions and Demotions of sitting staff members policy for this section of the meeting.
3. Staff must be made aware of the second, special meeting, including the time and date it will take place if the applications have been opened.

Second meeting

1. The second meeting will only take place if at least one application item has been opened from the previous meeting.
2. All staff members are eligible to vote on every item; however, members cannot vote on their own applications and must not be in attendance for the duration of discussion on their application.
3. For each application item, firstly a list of everyone applying for the item must be shown and then the team must vote on how many applications are to be accepted for the current item.
4. It is possible for attendees to vote for zero applicants to be accepted on an item.
5. Following this vote, and a reasonable time for discussion, a vote will be cast under the Manual voting system in which each eligible member will be asked to cast their vote in the form of a list of names of who they want to be accepted; equal to the number of applicants to be accepted.
6. The applicants with the most votes will be accepted; equal to the number of applicants to be accepted.

Community Team Meeting

The community team meeting takes place under the rules outlined in the Community Team Meeting policy.

This is the highest meeting in the community and all topics are eligible to be voted on which are not covered in another meeting. Refer to the non-application meetings and server meetings sections.

Members of the community team only are eligible to participate in this meeting.

1. The Community Team meeting cannot take place unless 3 eligible members or 50% of the entire community team is in attendance whichever is higher, or 50% when there are less than 3 members of the Community Team.
2. Any rules outlined in the Community Team meeting policy take precedent over the Meeting Rules.

Meeting Host Exceptions

1. Meeting hosts may form an opinion and make arguments for or against all voting items in the Community Team meeting.
2. Meeting hosts can utilize all attendee powers and can vote.

Server Meetings

This section outlines which items are eligible for votes in the weekly server meetings. Refer to the relevant sections for the rules which will govern these votes.

A server meeting cannot take place unless 3 eligible members or 25% of the entire eligible staff team is in attendance whichever is higher, or 50% when there are less than 5 eligible members.

All votes are binding unless otherwise specified.

1. Server applications (Moderator, Administrator, Super Admins and Head Admins)
2. Opening Super Admin or Head Admin applications
3. Demotions (Must take place under the Demotions and Demotions of sitting staff members policy.)
4. Rule changes (Rule changes which would require the addition or change of server features are not binding.)
5. Suggestions (Suggestion votes are not binding.)

Veto

Community Team members have a veto which can be used for specific votes as outlined below. They must provide a reason when requested if they want to veto a vote.

A veto cannot be objected to and the vote must be cancelled by the host when a veto is presented by an eligible member.

Veto power only applies to a very specific set of non-application votes that appear on the list:

1. Rule changes
2. Suggestions
3. Changes to the meeting rules
4. Impromptu meeting scheduling
5. Delaying, moving or cancelling a scheduled meeting
6. A member being banned or removed from the meeting

Impromptu meetings

This section outlines how and when Impromptu meetings can be called. An impromptu meeting refers to any meeting which is taking place outside scheduled meeting times.

1. An impromptu meeting should only be called in extenuating circumstances.
2. An impromptu meeting must be publicised on the forums with at least 24 hours of notice given.
3. An impromptu meeting must be approved by at least one server owner and community team member for sever meetings, and by at least one community team member for other non-application meetings.
4. An impromptu meeting may be vetoed/cancelled by a member of the community team.

Delaying, cancelling or moving meetings

This section refers to delaying or moving meetings that have already started or are about to start. For scheduling additional or extra meetings due to extenuating circumstances, refer to the Impromptu Meetings section.

The host is the only member which may delay, cancel or move a meeting.

A meeting will be delayed when another meeting is currently in progress because only one meeting may take place at any one time.

A meeting can be delayed by up to two hours from the scheduled start time at which point it can no longer be delayed but instead must be moved or cancelled.

When a meeting is cancelled, it will not take place again until the next scheduled time for the meeting. If a meeting is moved to another time and date it must be re-organized as an Impromptu meeting. (See the Impromptu meetings section.)

A meeting may be moved or cancelled for any of the following reasons:

1. When the eligibility requirements for the meeting have not been met; (Refer to the Server meetings and Non-application meeting sections) after waiting a reasonable amount of time after the scheduled meeting start time.
2. When the meeting has been delayed for more than two hours from the scheduled start time.
3. When the ZARP Discord server or the ZARP forums is offline for an extended period of time.
4. For extenuating circumstances.

Delaying or moving voting items

This section refers to delaying or moving specific voting items within a scheduled meeting. For delaying or moving a meeting itself you should refer to the Delaying, cancelling or moving meetings section.

Any eligible attendee (including the meeting host) may call for a voting item to be delayed or moved for any reason.

A vote will take place to determine whether or not the voting item will be delayed.

If the vote to delay is successful the current vote item will instead take place at the next scheduled meeting instead.

Invalidating meeting results

Meeting results may be invalidated by the Community Team when it’s been proven that illegal meeting proceedings have taken place. Refer to the Resolving illegal meeting proceedings section for how to identify when this has taken place.

1. Meeting results must be invalidated within 24 hours of the meeting results being posted.
2. The Community team must vote unanimously to invalidate the results of a meeting. The unanimous vote must take place under the rules outlined under Non-application meetings and the Community Team section.
3. An announcement about why the meeting results were invalidated must be posted immediately following a successful vote.
4. All meeting results must be reversed immediately following a successful vote.
5. It is considered extreme for meeting results to be invalidated and this power should rarely be used.

Meeting training

This section outlines the Meeting training process which must be undertaken by any new server owner or any eligible member who wishes to host a meeting.

This training can take place by any other eligible meeting host who has also completed the meeting training.

1. The trainee must be introduced to the Meeting Rules; in particular, the sections relevant to hosting their particular meeting.
2. The trainee must be given the PowerPoint template and be introduced to the rules regarding the presentation layout.
3. The trainee must be made aware of the voting systems and policies regarding vote items in the meeting.

A server owner or otherwise may not host a meeting if their meeting training has not yet been completed.

Meeting results

This section outlines the rules for publishing meeting results.

During server meetings, an eligible member should post the outcome of the vote for applications on the applicant’s forum thread using the application reply templates.

If the application has been accepted, the applicant must be made aware of this including how they can complete their staff training. If the application has been denied, a clear and concise reason should be specified in order to help the applicant improve next time.

At the end of any meeting ,which included voting item in which there was an outcome, a results thread must be posted indicating these results by an eligible member immediately following the end of the meeting.

Resolving unclear or conflicting meeting rules

This section explains what action should be taken when conflicting or unclear rules exist in this document.

1. Any primary section (section related directly to the current type of meeting or voting item) must take precedent over other rule sections.
2. Any official policy rules must take precedent over the Meeting Rules.
3. The meeting host should make the final decision over the interpretation of any conflicting or unclear rules.
4. If an attendee believes this interpretation was incorrect they should take action as outlined under the Resolving illegal meeting proceedings section.

Resolving illegal meeting proceedings

An illegal meeting proceeding takes place when all or part of a meeting takes place in violation of any rule outlined in this document. In most cases the matter can be resolved by the complainant making the host aware of the illegal proceedings.

The following section details what action should be taken when there is a complaint about illegal meeting proceedings.

A complaint must be lodged within 24 hours of the meeting end time for any action to be enforceable by the Community Team.

1. A complainant can firstly use the power of an Objection (See Objections and Re-Voting) to take their complaint to all attendees of the meeting.
2. A complainant should secondly attempt to contact the meeting host as in most cases illegal proceedings are the result of a simple mistake or misunderstanding of the rules.
3. A complainant should next attempt to contact a member of the Community Team about their complaint. They should specify which section of the Meeting Rules is in violation.
4. The final course of action is to make an official complaint thread on the forums. You should provide as many details as possible and specify which section of the Meeting Rules is in violation. Any official complaints will be reviewed at the next Community Team meeting.
5. The Community Team may call an impromptu meeting to invalidate the meeting results in serious cases.

Health & Safety

This section details the Health & Safety rules which govern all meetings. The ZARP community is not liable under regional health and safety regulations, however the host should always try to adhere to these rules which aim to help reduce the health risks resulting from extended periods of time spent at a computer.

1. It is recommended that all attendees use suitable ergonomic workstations and hardware. Including for example adjustable chairs, foot support and well lit workstations.
2. Attendees should take frequent breaks during the meeting. The host should make sure a number of scheduled breaks lasting at least 5 minutes each are spaced out throughout each meeting.
3. Attendees should be aware of conditions such as Eyestrain, Repetitive Strain Injuries (RSI) and other irritation from environmental factors such as laser printers in close proximity to their working environment.

At attendee may request a five minute break for Health & Safety reasons at any time during the meeting. Meeting proceedings must be suspended for up to 5 minutes until the attendee returns.

The host can overrule this request if they feel it is being made in a deliberate attempt to delay the meeting.

The host may cancel or move a meeting that has lasted longer than 4 hours from the meeting start time for Health & Safety reasons. Please refer to the Delaying, cancelling or moving meetings section.

Meeting Agreement

The Meeting Agreement replaces the NDA (Non Disclosure Agreement) which must be presented to attendees at the start of every meeting. This agreement aims to make sure votes that take place within meetings are as fair and equal as possible for all attendees and applicants.

The meeting agreement applies to all attendees of the meeting.

1. All content included in the meeting is property of the ZARP Gaming community and may not be copied, re-produced or used for reasons other than running a ZARP community meeting.
2. Attendees of the meeting many not send out links to the meeting presentation, polling or any other documents or URLs meant only for eligible members.
3. Attendees may not talk to people outside of the meeting about the current meeting. This includes talking about the current vote, vote results or announcements made during the meeting.
4. Attendees are allowed to tell people outside of the meeting about their own opinions and votes placed on items during the meeting. They may not discuss other members opinions or votes under any circumstances and should not discuss their own votes or opinions until the current vote item has concluded.