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#mtgjudge channel rules and FAQ

Channel rules

Appropriate topics

This channel is a place where judges can discuss judgely stuff: policy, rulings, what events we're going to, and so on. It's also a place where players can ask questions about tournament policy and bask in the glory of the awesome Magic judges.
Questions about Magic rules belong to #mtgrules. Please don't answer rules questions on #mtgjudge.
This is not a generic Magic channel. Discussions about the Standard metagame, latest spoilers, draft picks etc belong on #mtg or other Magic channels. EDH/Commander has its own channel, #edh.
Want to talk about computer programming? #mtgcode is for you!
Excited about football? Find your fellow fans at #mtgnfl!
Off-topic chats are tolerated when nothing else is going on, but please consider moving to private messaging if your off-topic discussion involves only two people and/or takes a long time.
Ops may ask you to stop an off-topic discussion if they believe it to be inappropriate, too heated, in an infinite loop, or for other reasons.
We cannot discuss disqualifications and ongoing investigations.
Please do not discuss unofficial spoilers for new sets.

General rules

If someone asks a judging-related question, please stop off-topic chats.
Be respectful to your fellow judges.
Be nice to newbies, especially people who want to know about becoming a judge.
If you're a newbie, it's always a good idea to lurk for a while before jumping into discussions.
Don't use Datatog commands on the channel unless relevant to the ongoing discussion.
Please don't interrupt letter chains (see below) unless you have a judging questions. It makes people sad.
The latest funny picture/Youtube link/whatever: share it on Facebook, not here.
"Not work safe" pictures of any kind: don't post them.
Use common sense and listen to the ops.
Rule of the week, sponsored by luma: Give strange letter chains a chance. That's how we get Klingon Warblenders and Great Balduvian Shotguns.

Frequently Asked Questions

Some people have a plus next to their username. Why? Can I have one?

The + (or +v, "voice") means that the person is Level 2 (or higher) judge and Datatog will respond to their on-channel commands. It's supposed to help identify experienced judges.

We're currently phasing out this "status", because it's difficult to set up with the bots. Sorry.

If the channel is under moderation (+m), users with +v (and +o) can still talk. Normal users can't.

Who are Datatog, Gleemax and judgebot?

Datatog, Gleemax and judgebot are bots. Datatog has many useful features such as "what is cardname" (you can "/msg Datatog help" for a full list), although the cardname feature is rarely used on #mtgjudge now that #mtgrules exists. Some of the wackiest features have been disabled on #mtgjudge. Datatog is owned by Yawgatog.

Judgebot is our new bot that takes care of giving ops (+o) to people. It's owned by jbennett. Judgebot doesn't have any features that non-ops can use.

Gleemax is our bot emeritus and it belongs to LeeSharpe.

Who are the ops?

The current active ops (+o) are:

flame- (flameWRK) - Level 3 judge Johanna Virtanen
MnarkBr - Level 3 judge Mark Brown
Lems/MadLems - Level 5 judge Jason Lemahieu
luma - Level 2 judge Arttu Kaipiainen
jbennett - Level 2 judge James Bennett

Can I be an op?

No, but thanks for asking.

Why did I get banned? Why is batmen always getting banned? Why isn't axilla banned?

If you got banned, you probably broke one of the channel rules, or otherwise behaved inappropriately. It's nothing personal and you're welcome to rejoin in one hour.

Batmen is banned because he breaks the rules a lot. Axilla was banned for a while, but then he stopped breaking the rules.

What is this letter chain thing?

The letter chain is an ancient and noble game and its rules should be easy to figure out by observation. If you don't like letter chains, you don't have to participate, but please remember that most people on the channel do like them. It's okay to interrupt chains if you have a judging question.

I love this channel and I want to be a judge too! What should I do?

Great! Our plan is working! The first step is contacting your local Level 2 (or higher) judge. If you don't know who that is, you can search at http://judge.wizards.com, ask the channel to help you find him/her, or contact the Regional judge coordinator: http://www.wizards.com/Magic/TCG/Events.aspx?x=judge/resources/coords. The local Level 2 or Regional Coordinator will get you started on your path to certification. You can find a short summary of the process here.

A local player/tournament organizer/judge is doing something shady and I want to report this. Who should I contact?

If you suspect that a local player is cheating, contact the Regional Judge Coordinator: http://www.wizards.com/Magic/TCG/Events.aspx?x=judge/resources/coords .

Problems with judges can also be reported to the Regional Coordinator. In addition, you can submit judge reviews at http://judge.wizards.com (but if you have never done this before, please read the instructions and keep it constructive).

If you think a Tournament Organizer or store owner is doing something that they shouldn't be doing, contact your WPN Representative or local Wizards office. If you don't know who that is, contact your Regional Judge Coordinator.

Another option (for player, TO and judge issues) is contacting Wizards customer service at http://wizards.custhelp.com

I have a problem with my DCI number/password, who can help me?

WotC customer service at http://wizards.custhelp.com can help with lost DCI passwords, numbers that need to be merged, missing e-mail addresses and other problems. This includes not being able to find "the card with the scratch off thing."

Who is in charge of this FAQ?

flame- is. Grrrrrowl.

How to connect to IRC

If you're reading this FAQ, you probably already know how to find #mtgjudge. But if you don't, here are some tips.

Go to http://www.dcifamily.org/askthejudge. This will connect you to the #mtgrules channel. You can then type /join #mtgjudge to...join #mtgjudge.
Install an IRC client such as mIRC (available at www.mirc.com). Connect to an Efnet server (choosing irc.efnet.org will connect you to a random Efnet server) and join the #mtgjudge channel (type "/join #mtgjudge"). More detailed instructions on setting up mIRC are available here: http://www.ircbeginner.com/ircinfo/mirc.html
Use another web-based service, such as www.efnet.org.
To join a password protected channel, type /join #channelname password.

For more information about IRC, visit http://www.irchelp.org/

Mtgjudge FAQ