I would like to be a mod, how do I become one?
The requirements to becoming a mod are age 18+, mature behavior and all around good spirits. In general, the more you ask to become a mod, the more likely you won't become one.
If you meet the above requirements, you can apply when we're taking applications. Applications are currently OPEN!!! Updates will be announced on Discord.
Check out this thread if you'd like to apply for a community without a staff team.
I think I was banned/muted unfairly. What do I do?
If you believe you've been sanctioned unfairly, refer to the Staff Contact thread.
There is a rule breaker in my room! How do I report them?
The recommended method of reporting is using the in-game command /report "name". Some moderators also take reports through the whisper system (/w "name"). You can see which public moderators are online by friending them or by typing /mod in your chat window.
Other ways to contact a moderator (ranked in order of success rate):
- You can contact an individual moderator by sending them a private message via the forum. You can do this by going to this page and typing the name of the person you wish to contact in the box labeled "to".
- Using the /report function (/report "name"). This is often the best course of action if /mod returns no result.
- Through the official Transformice Discord server. You can access it easily here.
When should I contact a moderator?
Feel free to contact us if you witness any of the following while playing:
- Cheating/hacking
- Racism/homophobia/spam/other chat offenses
- Linking to malicious or inappropriate material
- Anyone asking for for your personal information (such as your password or phone number), and/or anyone offering you cheese or fraises in return for your account.
- Offensive nicknames or tribe names
A more thorough list can be found in the Game Rules and Guidelines thread.
What not to report for:
- Swearing: Moderate swearing is allowed, so you should only contact a moderator for extreme chat offenses such as spam, racism, inappropriate links, etc. You can use the /ignore command (/ignore "name") to mute an individual player or type /filtre in your chat window to block the most common offensive words.
- Trolling: It’s part of the game. If you can’t stand it, switch rooms or use /ban.
- Tribe issues: We are unable to mute anyone in your tribe chat, change anyone's ranking, or kick any members from your tribe for you. Please take advantage of the /tc command to tab out tribe chat, and ask your tribe leaders to handle other tribe issues.
I can't remember the password/e-mail linked to my account! What do I do?
Only admins are able to change other players account details. Moderators do not have access to sensitive player info, thus we cannot verify if you're the actual account owner. You will have to request an e-mail and/or password change through the contact form. When choosing your category, a list of questions will pop up. Answer the questions to the best of your knowledge. You can find more tips on how to properly fill out a contact form here!
I think I have valuable suggestions on how to improve the staff team, where can I post it?
You can refer to the Staff Contact thread if you have valuable feedback or suggestions on how to improve the staff team. You can also use this thread to report staff misconduct, or to file a formal complaint.
Why do mods have to be 18 or older?
Atelier 801 is based in France, and the laws there are strict for volunteers younger than 18. There is a lot of paperwork, and the company is required to monitor their working hours to make sure they aren't working too much. This would be far too much unnecessary work for the three admins to deal with, so they ask us not to hire anyone younger than 18. Unfortunately we can make no exceptions.
Why don't you accept screenshots as proof?
It is very easy to make a fake screenshot. How would you feel if someone made a fake screenshot of you, and we banned you for something you didn't do? It is also possible to edit videos or take videos on pirate servers, so we cannot ban based on video evidence either.
I got muted when there were no mods online!
The EN team does have some private moderators. (Note that not all communities do.) Private staff either do not have time to actively use public accounts, or are training and not ready to be public yet. So don't hesitate to report someone just because there are no public mods online - usually there are private mods who can check reports!
Why did I get muted/banned for something, but another player didn't?
Mods are not omniscient. We can't see what happens in every room at the same time. Someone may have gotten away with breaking the rules if there wasn't an available moderator at the time, but that doesn't make it okay to break the rules. Eventually you'll get caught! Mods can also sanction silently so the pink message does not appear in the room, in case they think that would disrupt the room chat. It's also possible that the mod in the room was busy handling whispers, checking something in another window, or just missed a post or section of chat. In that case, you can let them know politely that they missed something in room chat.
Why did I get banned for breaking the same rule that someone else got muted for?
This is probably because you had multiple previous warnings for breaking that rule. If a player continues to break the same rules, the sanction time increases as a deterrent. Bans and mutes are not the price paid so a user can say something bad, they are supposed to deter rule-breaking. If one hour does not stop someone from using slurs, one more hour will likely not stop them the next time. On the other hand, if you follow the rules and pay attention to warnings, you will have nothing to worry about!
Do mods only hire their friends?
Generally, out of 10-15 applicants who are hired, moderators might know one or two people at most. We judge applications based on what they wrote and consider their in-game behavior. (Check out this thread for more information about writing your applications!) If a mod happens to be friends with an applicant, they can voice their opinion but will refrain from voting. While new staff are in training, they may become friends with public mods just from working together. So if you see mods who are friends, that likely happened from working on the same team for quite a while.
Mods silence their whispers.
"Their whispers are closed so I cannot contact them" is a very valid problem, we absolutely agree about that. Some things simply cannot be sorted through the report function, such as anything requiring admin assistance.
Unfortunately, the sheer amount of whispers we receive from the moment we log in until we log off can be a lot to deal with. Please remember that we are not only moderating en/int (already two servers), but also other very large servers, as we generally help anyone who contacts us. While we aim to help everyone in a timely manner, we face what we can only describe as a tidal wave from the moment we open our whispers, and so silencing them is sometimes the best way for mods to work through the load they already have. Of course this differs depending on the mod, but a silent mod working efficiently is better than no mod at all.
Occasionally it can be really bad...
I am wondering about something that isn't listed here.
Feel free to ask in the Official TFM Discord!