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How to communicate properly with an admin/judge


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Hello there, today I'll teach you the do's and don'ts of talking to an admin/judge (I'll use admin only from here on only) when you need their help with your duel, as well as PM'ing admins as well. You may think not think of us as people, so you may not talk the same way you would with us, like you would with other people, so communication can be difficult at times, and an admin may explain certain things which you may misunderstand, thereby getting angry. Through this article, you'll learn how to properly talk to an admin, including examples of what not to do, and what to do.

 


 

1. Be friendly, treat the admin with respect and behave properly:

 

This may seem self-explanatory, but if are being nasty to an admin, or to your opponent for that matter, an admin's patience with you will decrease rapidly, and their decisions will be skewed, as they are less likely to believe you when you are upset and unfriendly towards them. Dueling can be stressful, having a dispute when your opponent can get you up and going. While you are waiting for an admin, you can take this time to cool down, see the situation over, get yourself in a place where you are at your normal self.

 

There's absolutely no reason to call the admin names or curse at them, and should you do this, don't expect the admin to take that lightly, as profanity against an admin is a higher offense than against your opponent, and will result in a game loss. If you are to do this, don't continue, as an admin is already upset and will not take kindly to anymore profanity used against them, however that hopefully shouldn't happen, as you're reading this article!

 

What not to do:

 

Player 1: My opponent has cheated, he added a card from his Graveyard to his hand, and thought I wouldn't notice it as I was AFK for a minute.

Admin: After viewing the evidence, I have determined that a cheating ban is in order.

Player 2: What, you can't be serious? funk off admin, you are just taking sides.

Admin: Please do no use such language against me, doing so is considered profanity against an admin.

Player 1: Lol, he's super mad.

Player 2: Tell me opponent to shut the funk up.

 

As you can see, the admin has done nothing here to deserve this treatment, he made a decision based on the evidence, and is then cursed at and told that he is taking sides. As an admin, taking sides is a serious offense, as admins are always suppose to act neutral. Furthermore, he's being angry with his opponent as well, which is also going to make an admin even more upset with them. As the opponent, you should also try to be friendly, to annoying the opponent with such comments should be avoided as well, it's no excuse that he's also angry at you, and you should definitely never curse at them because they did so as well.

 

What to do:

 

Player 1: My opponent has cheated, he added a card from his Graveyard to his hand, and thought I wouldn't notice it as I was AFK for a minute.

Admin: After viewing the evidence, I have determined that a cheating ban is in order.
Player 2: Sorry, it won't happen again, I promise!

Admin: Hopefully you'll learn from this time not to such a thing again in the future. 

Player 1: Don't cheat please!

Player 2: I understand, sorry I cheated, I just thought you wouldn't notice if I took a card, didn't think it was a big deal.
 

As you can see, because he acted friendly and didn't curse at the admin, he didn't get profanity. He also acted nice towards his opponent, which means that it's less likely he'll hold a grudge and may not get influenced to cheating himself.

 


 

2. Be clear, precise and don't sidetrack on unrelated notes:

 

An admin's job is to help you in your duel with current issues, so making it harder by not being clear can be problematic. While it may be in your best intention, if you don't paint the full picture, you'll end up with the admin missing important details. Not only can this cause you both to get upset, you will end up letting the call take even longer as the admin has to figure out what you are talking about. It may also cause the admin to make a wrong decision, as they can miss a detail in your statement.

 

As an admin, trying to focus on multiple things at once can be hard, so if you have multiple issues, don't throw them at him at the same time, take one thing at a time, an admin is trying to help you with as much as possible, but if you ramble on about other things while you also want the first thing resolved, you end up confusing the admin, rather than getting help to the appropriate thing.

 

Don't ask about unrelated issues, the admin has a lot of other duels to take care of, while they may be able to help in some cases, don't expect an admin to take care of unrelated issues. If you ever have such issues, take care of them outside of the duel instead.

 

Sometimes there may also be a language barrier, if you do not speak the same language as the admin, try to explain the issue if you can. If you can't, try to explain that you don't speak the language. In the case of Dueling Network, it's possible to get an admin who speaks the language, or possibly use Google Translate etc. to get through to the admin. While speaking the same language isn't necessary, it's a huge help, so if you can teach yourself in some way, that will help your experience greatly. 

 

What not to do:

 

Player 1: Hi admin, he'll explain.

Player 2: My opponent cheated, ban him.

Admin: Please be precise, saying he cheated doesn't help me.

Player 2: He can't activate his card.

Admin: What card?

Player 2: Check the log.

Admin: I will, but it would be helpful if you told me the card.

Player 1: The Set card, admin, he's just trying to get me banned for no reason.

Player 2: You cheated, you even drew when you couldn't before noob.

Admin: Please, only one thing at a time.

 

As you can see, he's being unclear and getting sidetracked here, rather than trying to help the admin getting an understanding of the situation. Not only will this take up a lot of time, it'll make the admin annoyed at him for not being precise. He also has not explained why he couldn't activate the card either, only said he couldn't. By giving a proper explanation, you can help the admin make a better decision, as well as getting through the call more quickly.

 

What to do:

 

Player 1: Hi admin, he'll explain.

Player 2: My opponent activated Solemn Strike when I activated my Shaddoll Fusion. He says that it's a ruling that you can do that, I think he's trying to cheat.

Admin: I see, is it that Set card?
Player 2: Yes, check the log if you don't believe me.

Admin: I'll check the log, hold on.

 

As you can see, because he told him important information, such as what cards were in play and that his opponent told lied to him about a ruling, which does not exist. He was being clear in saying the cards, and answering the admin's questions properly, as well as behaving friendly towards him as well, not demanding him he should ban him and calling him a noob.

 


 

3. Don't demand things from the admin:

 

As a player, demanding the admin does certain things, such as wishing their opponent banned or have them do certain things which they cannot do or simply don't have time to do, or they are trying to focus on something else can make the admin stressed and upset them. In certain times, it may also be against the rules, for example demanding an appeal to an admin who has not finished making their decision yet is considered unsporting conduct.

 

As it's stated in Dueling Network's administrator manual, an admin is not required to show you proof to their claim, if you wish to appeal to a higher admin, you may do this, but you are the only one required to show proof that the admin is wrong in such a situation. In cases like this, don't boast and don't get angry because the admin may be wrong, if you believe you are right, and you actually are, simply show it to the admin, as they will make their decision based on the validity of the proof provided, so don't judge them because of that, admins are also people and can make mistakes.

 

This is also an issue when it comes to PMs, as admins are busy dealing with other issues, so constantly annoying them, even after they told you that they're busy, means that they are less likely to help you. As admins, we try to be helpful all the time, but we can't deal with both you and the call we're currently taking, so don't demand that we ban a certain person, or that we should join you immediately, as it's simply not a thing we can do.

 

What not to do:

 

Player 1: He drew a card, shuffled his hand, then I told him that he couldn't draw since his card missed the timing, give him a game loss and ban him, he's cheating, he needs to be banned.

Admin: I'll look into it, but don't demand a game loss and ban, I'm an admin, I will enforce the rules if I deem them necessary.

Player 1: I don't want you to be my admin then if you're not going to ban him, I appeal, give me another admin.

Admin: I have not even made a decision yet, asking for an admin at this time is unsporting conduct, I cannot grant you that appeal.

 

As you can see, he's demanding a game loss and ban, as well as appealing before a decision is even reached. By doing this, he's not only getting himself a warning for unsporting conduct, he's making the admin upset with him, and also making his appeal claims less valid in the future.

 

What to do:

 

Player 1: He drew a card, shuffled his hand, then I told him that he couldn't draw since his card missed the timing, what can you do?

Admin: Let me check the log for a moment.

Admin: It appears that he could actually draw that card, the last thing to happen during the Chain was destroying that monster, so its effect can be activated.

Player 1: I don't think that's true, I wish to appeal.

Admin: Alright, appeal granted, hold on a moment while I get in contact with another admin.

 

As you can see here, he's not demanding that his opponent gets a game loss or ban, he's simply asking what will happen. He's also waiting for the admin to make their decision before appealing, which he's allowed to do at this moment.

 


 

4. Don't ever lie to an admin or try to fake evidence:

 

Lying to an admin and faking evidence, or in any other way trying to mislead an admin is a serious offense. Trying to cheat the admin to put yourself in a good position will not help you, and will end up getting yourself banned. Faking evidence is also not allowed either, and trying to say things that never happened will make your case poor, and you'll upset the admin as well.

 

What not to do:

 

Player 1: He's harassing me and cheating admin!

Player 2: What? He's lying, I didn't cheat.

Player 1: Yes he did, he called me a "funking idiot" and drew 2 cards instead of 1, then shuffled other cards back in the Deck.

Admin: I don't see him doing that in the logs.

Player 1: Please, he's cheating, trust me! Here's a screenshot (faked sceenshot of a PM)

Admin: That screenshot is fake, lying to an admin and faking evidence is against our rules.

 

As you can see, he's trying to lie here, as well as faking evidence, which is actually another issue. If you ever make a case against your opponent, being factual is the only way to go, ever lying or faking evidence will only end up going badly, and will make your experience worse than it needs to be, even if there are actual issues to be taken care of.

 

What to do:

 

Player 1: Admin, I think he drew 2 cards instead of 1 card.

Admin: Let me check the log.

Admin: I don't see him drawing an extra card.

Player 1: Oh okay, but I think he's PM'ing me with another account and calling me a "funking idiot".

Player 2: I didn't PM him.

Admin: Could you show me a screenshot of the PM?

Player 1: Yes, here you go (screenshot of PM by other user)

Admin: I'll investigate the drawing first and the screenshot later, please hold on.

 

As you can see, while there may have been a proper issue here in the PM, by faking evidence before, he put himself in a bad position, rather than there being an actual issue to be taken care of. He's also only doing one issue at a time, which helps the admin focus as well.

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Not really sure if we needed a guide on this. The entire thing boils down to "Don't be a dick" to be honest. Not knocking the amount of effort that you put into this or anything, but it's not like people don't know how to act. It's more that people just don't WANT to act that way, so this won't change anything.

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Not really sure if we needed a guide on this. The entire thing boils down to "Don't be a dick" to be honest.

Well, you may think it's that simple, but for a lot it isn't. If you are already aware of how to behave, then you don't need to read this guide, though I'm sure you'll learn something if you chose to read it all. It's simply meant for people who don't fully understand how to behave towards an admin/judge, which there's a lot of, especially online.

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The only people this targets are people that don't care to read it anyway.

 

Like, people are going to be bastards. Anyone else already knows better, especially better than the fourth point which is just durr.

That's a rather cynical view I would say. Sure, there are some that are simply trolls, but most people are trying to behave properly, but end up getting mad and communicating poorly, even if they don't intend that. As said, if you are able to already do this, this isn't the article for you.

 

As for the fourth point, the main idea I'm trying to get across here is that they may have certain actual issues which are overshadowed by them lying or faking evidence, which is something I point out to make them realize how bad of an idea that really is.

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The only people this targets are people that don't care to read it anyway.

 

Like, people are going to be a******s. Anyone else already knows better, especially better than the fourth point which is just durr.

I'm sorry, but this is basically my opinion. If this was required reading somewhere somehow, then I would understand, but I mean, its commonsense for most, and for those who it isn't, I doubt they would actually take what you say out of here.

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When you hate to wait an hour +, and they don't reply to PM's. people tend to get frustrated.

Personally I always reply to them, at least letting them know why, I know some admins don't, and I can understand why. We did have a huge amount of new admins come in recently, so it's been getting better, but with thousands of users at once, it can be hard to take care of everyone. When you think a but events, there're maybe only a couple of people playing at a time, here's there at least 100 playing at a time, even when there are only about 1000 people online, and it can get up to 3000 as well.

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Personally I always reply to them, at least letting them know why, I know some admins don't, and I can understand why. We did have a huge amount of new admins come in recently, so it's been getting better, but with thousands of users at once, it can be hard to take care of everyone. When you think a but events, there're maybe only a couple of people playing at a time, here's there at least 100 playing at a time, even when there are only about 1000 people online, and it can get up to 3000 as well.

DN was hitting 10K in its prime and the situation has never been this terrible man

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