Hound Handbook
Hound Handbook
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Hounds.
To many, a term for hunters, for life-long companions, for guardians.
To those who frequent the temple, the Hounds of Menphina, the wing of the temple devoted to protecting the Goddess's flock, represent all of that and more. As a member of the Hounds, you are a warrior who picks up the blade but prays to never use it; you are a trusted friend who chooses to represent your love for your fellows by standing watch through the night so all within may pray, revel, and rest safely; finally, you are a guard who learns that the most powerful shield is often kindness and understanding.
To join the Hounds is to choose not to devote yourself to Menphina, but instead devote yourself to the protection of all who walk through the temple doors. Your charge is to love all within unconditionally and with every ounce of your being. Finally, you are to be ready on even the darkest nights, when Menphina is herself most distant, to act as a beacon so all may find their way home in safety and love.
- Hound Captain Zoe Delphine
As a Hound you are held to the highest standard of maintaining confidentiality, ethical, and professional behavior. You are the eyes and ears of the Temple. Your job is to ensure a safe environment for others to enjoy their time while at the Temple. This is both an OOC and IC responsibility. The following delves into the OOC aspects of the Hound.
Hound Intervention
Hound Intervention
Every situation is different and will be handled on a case-by-case basis. However, if you see something, say something. Contact an available member of Leadership before intervening, if possible. If someone is handling a situation DO NOT jump in. We are not trying to ambush anyone. The more people that interact with a troll the more they stick around.
WE DO NOT FEED THE TROLLS.
The following details how to respond to an OOC incident.
When should a Hound intervene?
When should a Hound intervene?
Someone has a weapon equipped during one of our gatherings.
Someone has a minion out during WS or ED.
Someone is being disrespectful towards another person.
Someone is being overly lewd during Worship Services or SFW gathering.
Someone is trying to start a religious debate in a disrespectful or OOC way.
Someone is deliberately being a nuisance while being OOC. (Spamming abilities/emotes)
Fighting or rough housing during Worship Services or other gathering where such behavior is inappropriate.
There are many other instances that a Hound may need to step in! Use your best judgement. Is the person causing harm or notable discomfort to others? Is the person disrupting one of our gatherings? Is the person clearly violating one or more of our rules?
When to immediately ask someone to leave
When to immediately ask someone to leave
If there is a clear and intentional breech of IC or OOC consent.
If someone makes a sexually explicit RP post during a SFW gathering.
If someone makes statements that are imposing sexism, racism, harassment, or any form of hate speech. Note that talking about such subjects objectively is fine, but making hateful statements is not.
If someone who is banned from the Temple attempts to attend one of our Gatherings.
IC Interventions
IC Interventions
Ideally, you will attempt to intervene In Character first. This can create interesting RP moments if the person is not a troll - and also help you to more quickly determine if they are a troll.
If someone is breaking a minor rule, has a minion out, etc. you may approach them IC and use it as an opportunity to educate the person on our rules and why the rule exists. This can make a lasting and meaningful impact, and is a wonderful way of showing respect.
A few examples include:
"Good evening, I see that you've brought a companion. While we do wholeheartedly respect the love that can exist for our animal companions, we ask that you not bring them to the Temple. This is a very aether rich environment that can have strange effects on creatures. We also try to be mindful of those who visit who may have allergies."
"Blessed Day, I see that you are bearing arms. May I hold those for you until you leave? We ask that guests not bring weapons onto our sacred grounds. Rest assured, if any issues arise, our Hounds will protect you."
"Excuse me, I couldn't help but overhear your conversation. Many of our Clergy enjoy theological debate, but we ask that you remain respectful of our beliefs while you are here."
OOC Interventions
OOC Interventions
Start by sending a polite tell to the person. Inform them of what they have done wrong or what rule they've broken. With kindness, most people will immediately fix their behavior and apologize.
Should they continue, issue a stern but kind warning. Inform them that their behavior is disruptive and if they do not stop they will be asked to leave.
If these warnings have not curbed their behavior, kindly ask them to leave.
If they do not, you must inform a member of Leadership so the person can be expelled from the Temple.
Examples of Tells
Examples of Tells
((I hate to bother you, but could you please put your weapon away.))
((We would really appreciate if you did not spam emotes. Maybe you could turn emote text off?))
((You have been asked to stop -insert wrong doing-. If you do not, you will be asked to leave.))
((You have been asked to stop several times. It is clear you have no intention of following our rules. We are now asking you to leave. If you do not, we will report you.))
Leadership should always be contacted and informed of situations that require more than one request to discontinue poor behavior, especially instances that someone is asked to leave.
What to do if you aren't sure
What to do if you aren't sure
Some situations are not strictly black and white.
If you are not sure if you should approach someone regarding a concern, reach out to a member of Leadership, ideally a Hound Captain. You may also consult with other Hounds who may have gone through similar experiences.
It is also impossible to know if OOC consent has been established for IC actions. If the IC action breaks consent, you will want to step in regardless. If it doesn't break consent, but you aren't sure if the person is comfortable or okay with what is going on - it is best to send that person a tell asking if they are okay or need assistance.
This is best practice if you pick up on any signals that indicate anyone at the Temple is uncomfortable. Unless you are aware of a pre-established RP dynamic, personality, etc. - there is no harm in sending a tell to make sure everything is okay.
It is better to be safe than sorry.
This is especially true if you are working during a NSFW gathering.
Being a Hound is not simply about keeping the bad apples out. Being a Hound is being an attentive and supportive member of the community who is concerned about the well being of all who participate in our RP and gatherings.
Making a Report to the Temple
Making a Report to the Temple
If there is a disruption that requires hound intervention and is not quickly or amicably resolved, we ask that you make a report. Meaning, you do not need to report instances when you ask someone to correct their behavior and they do so. You need only to report instances that they do not comply or they blatantly break our rules.
Usually, the most senior Hound present will make the report. However, any Hound may do so.
We request that you report both notable IC and OOC disruptions.
Where to place your report
Where to place your report
There are two reporting channels on our Discord, which only Hounds, Pups, and Leadership have access to.
You will find these under the "Hounds Den" category.
The "security-reports" channel is for reports related to OOC incidents.
And, "rp-reports" channel is where you report RP incidents.
For OOC reports, we ask that you use the title format "Firstname Lastname [World]" of the person who is being reported.
For RP reports, titles may be more creative - especially if the persons name is unknown to your character IC.
What to include in your Report
What to include in your Report
For OOC reports, we ask that you include all of the following:
Who was involved in the incident?
When and where did the incident take place? Was it during a gathering?
What rule or rules were broken?
What measures were taken to intervene and by whom?
We also ask that you provide unedited screenshots for our records, especially if there are additional actions that need to be taken.
For RP reports, include as many IC details as your character is aware of. It can follow the same outline provided, but you are not expected to share OOC information in RP reports.
Additional Info
Additional Info
There are a few things to keep in mind..!
If the reported issue is has not been resolved and is an OOC disruption, ensure that you ping @Hound Captain and @Temple Leaders in your report post.
If the reported issue is an RP disruption, ping @Hound Captain when making your report.
If the issue is related to the poor behavior of an active member of clergy, do NOT post your report in the Hound section. Such reports must be made directly Leadership.
Remember: Although you are "security" you are not here to policy anyone's RP. These reports are meant to enhance our experience, not make our community afraid to RP in public spaces.
Making a Report to Square Enix
Making a Report to Square Enix
If someone refuses to leave after being asked to, immediately inform leadership. The responding Hound and Leadership may give one final warning, include that if they do not leave they will be reported for harassment. If they remain or the poor behavior continues, all available clergy and Leadership will be asked to submit reports. If a member of Leadership with the ability to expel someone from the FC house is available, they may do so at this time.
To learn more about what can be reported, please read the prohibited activities provided by SE.
Report Location
Report Location
To make a report, open the support menu.
Select “Support Desk” > “Contact Us” > “Report Harassment”
Report Template
Report Template
When making a report to SE, make sure you have the following details:
Character name/world of offender: [List character or characters]
Date/time when violation occurred: [insert time stamp before sharing]
Area or duty where violation occurred: [insert venue address]
Details of the violation:
Comments made by offending player(s): [Put examples of what was said at this event before sharing for community]
Common Reasons to Report
Common Reasons to Report
Asking someone to leave the property and them not leaving is considered stalking. "Ambushing someone at their destination, or their housing estate, despite being asked to stop the behavior."
Asking them to stop messaging you. "Persistently sending messages to someone, or directed at someone, through Tell or other means, despite being asked to stop the behavior."
Nuisance behavior. "Nuisance behavior" is speech or behavior that hurts others or obstructs their gameplay, but which is not classified as harassment. Even if it was not intended, a penalty may be issued if the end result was that another person was hurt, or their gameplay was obstructed. If the behavior was observed being conducted by multiple players, all involved members will be issued a penalty.”
From SE
From SE
A key point to this is expressions considered impolite or against common sense.
"Just as in the real world, it is important to be considerate of other players to maintain cordial relationships and positive experiences in the world of Final Fantasy XIV. It is prohibited to make expressions or to act in ways that would be unacceptable in the real world. This includes disturbing the peace and having a lack of consideration for others. If a report has been filed and the prohibited activity is confirmed, a penalty will be issued. Separately, in Final Fantasy XIV, player communities may have their own specific set of loosely established rules and guidelines, which involve their own manners, morals, and etiquette. These community-specific rules and guidelines are not officially established as a unified set of rules for the entire community, so they may differ from one community to another. What may be acceptable in one community may be objectionable in another. If there is a situation in which a person repeatedly says or does something that can be judged as intentionally trying to disrupt the peace, such as "intentionally ignoring the community-specific rules and guidelines while being aware of them" or "unwilling to learn of them," a report can be made. If we determine that the behavior falls under our prohibited actions, a penalty will be imposed."
Common Hound Roles during Gatherings
Common Hound Roles during Gatherings
There are a number of roles that Hounds may take during gatherings, depending on current needs. These are some of the most common.
Roaming
Roaming
This most common Hound role across all gathering types.
This is a wandering post. Your main priority is to watch chat and make sure the Temple rules are being upheld. You are expected to intervene if there is a disruption, especially if you see anyone breaking consent.
If you are able to balance keeping up with chat and engaging with others you are absolutely welcome to join in any RP taking place.
Private Door Guard
Private Door Guard
This post is to discourage any wandering patrons from entering rooms that are used for bookings during gatherings that allow for bookings. Keep an eye out in CWLS for booking calls and watch the Discord booking tracker tab. Only people involved in a booking should be entering the rooms during Worship Hours.
If someone enters the private rooms who should not, you must immediately alert leadership via the CWLS.
Note: We may not allow for NSFW bookings if we do not have a Hound to guard the door.
Emergency Posts
Emergency Posts
At times, we may experience threats from trolls and other unsavory types. Instances of repeated visits by such individuals may result in asking Hounds to be on alert for incoming threats.
We may as that a Hound guard the outside doors or the Aetheryte into the subdivision.
If an unsavory type is seen at the Aetheryte, we are able to act quickly and lock the doors so that our gathering is not disrupted.
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