Sticky New Users Guide

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Note:
Green text in this thread and in any of the guides indicates a clickable link
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Welcome to SGM!
We're happy to have you with us. To get started, this thread will help you in understanding the basics of how our community works.
If you ever have any questions, you are more than welcome to contact any of our staff members, which you can find by clicking HERE.

Our community currently hosts two gamemodes for Garry's Mod:
Trouble in Terrorist Town (Serious TTT)
Deathrun (Serious DR)

On behalf of the community, its members and its staff, I hope you will enjoy your time here!​

 

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Here is some information about our forums and its sections:
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General Discussion
Each one of our games has its own General Discussion forum. Here, you can discuss anything related to the game - questions, debates, discussions, gameplay tips, tutorials and guides, etc. You can also post media (images, videos, etc.) to share with your fellow players.
You can find the forums here:
TTT General Discussion
Deathrun General Discussion

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Introductions and Farewells
Are you new to our community? Tell us about yourself! If you would like to introduce yourself to the community, which is a fantastic idea, you may do so here: Introductions section. We're a friendly bunch here at SGM and we'd love to get to know you!
Leaving? We're sorry to hear that! Saying goodbye can be hard, especially when you've been a part of something for so long. Our Farewell section is where you can post a thread to announce your complete and indefinite absence from our community as a whole and say your goodbyes to the community. where you can follow the tradition and tag (mention) a few close friends as well.
Do not post a farewell if you're only leaving for a short time!

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News and Community General
Our News forum is where you can stay up to date with everything that happens in our community. This is the place where the official announcements are posted - game updates, big changes, events and more. It's a good idea to check this section from time to time to see if anything new happened.
We also have our Community General section, where you can find community-wide related threads - like this guide you're reading right now! We strongly recommend to go through the threads there and read them carefully to make sure you don't miss on something important.

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Ban Appeals
Every player has the right to appeal a ban they were given.
First, to see why you were banned and for how long, simply visit the Ban List. After discovering why you were banned, if you wish to, you may file a ban appeal in the Ban Appeals forum of the related game:
TTT Ban Appeals
Deathrun Ban Appeals
Once filed, the staff member who banned you will provide their reasoning behind your ban and evidence to support it. Whether or not you will be unbanned lies at the jurisdiction of the staff member who banned you. A serious offense such as hacking or blatant Mass RDM is likely to be denied whereas a first offense of RDM and leave would most likely be pardoned. There are exception, of course, but the outcome of the appeal depends on the case itself.

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Reports
Players may file reports on other players who broke the rules, or on staff members who abused their powers. To do so, create a report against them by heading to:
TTT Report Staff/Player section
Deathrun Report Staff/Player section
Be sure to provide valid and undeniable evidence so the offender can truly be dealt with. Don't forget to consult the Server Rules to understand what the player/staff member has neglected.
While a minor and insignificant offense may seem like something you want to report, we encourage you not to do so as it takes valuable time away from staff members.

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Staff Applications
Do you wish to apply to our server staff team? Fantastic! Before you do so, however, you should read the Application Format Explained thread, which runs you through the basics and the requirements of applying for staff. It would be a good idea to familiarize yourself with the community and befriend the players and the staff members. Why? This makes you known and if a staff member happens to have an enjoyable experience while playing with you, they are likely to support your application which improves your chances of being accepted. However, remember that you should never advertise it to them, or to anyone for that matter.

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Questions and Suggestions
Unsure of a certain rule in our server? Wondering why a staff member did something? We have a section of the forums where you can ask: our Q&A section. Feel free to post!
What if you have an amazing idea that you think would benefit the server? Then head over to our suggestion forums:
TTT Suggestions section
Deathrun Suggestions section
There you can post your ideas and gain feedback from community and staff members, whether it be player models or maps to play! If your idea is good enough, it may be picked by our Content Team who will test it and prepare it to being added to our servers. You can also suggest rule changes and forum additions!

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Shoutbox
Want to chat with other users on the forums? Check out the Shoutbox, our forum chat, once in a while to have a meaningful or silly (mostly silly) conversation with the community. Be sure not to use colors that strain the eye, like the infamous dark-as-hell blue.

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Giveaways
Feeling generous? If you ever wanted to give back to the community and offer prizes to others, you can create a giveaway in our Giveaways section. Be sure to follow the Giveaway guidelines!​

 

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Note:
All of SGM's staff are volunteers. They are not rewarded in any way.
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Owner
This position is held by: Highwon. He is the owner of the community and all of its assets. The Owner is responsible for supervising and leading SGM,
for maintaining its technical infrastructure, services and platforms, for the development of new features and content, for making all the decisions and policies the servers will follow, and for supervising the staff team as a whole.
He determines what rules and community standards are necessary to keep the community as popular as it is today. The Owner is the highest ranked member of the community and his word is always final.

Lead Admin
The Lead Admins are the members of the Leadership, which together with the Owner, are responsible for the management of the community and its services.
The main role of the lead admins is to manage the everyday business of the community, handle high-level decisions, supervise the staff team and initiate changes and/or new policies.
Each Lead Admin oversees a group of up to four Admins and their Mods. They also take part in the process of selecting and promoting new Admins.
In the event that an Admin slot is empty, the Lead Admin of the group will temporarily take its place and supervise it.
Lead Admins are selected and promoted by the Owner as they see fit. Only the most skilled and dedicated staff members of the community can earn this rank.
This rank can be held by up to three members of the community. It is currently held by Jabba the Slut and Lordyhgm.

Administrator
The Administrators are the managers of the different staff teams and the supervisors of the Moderators. Each admin is responsible for
a team of up to five Mods and Trial Mods, which they train, assist and manage. Administrators are also given higher level
staffing privileges, such as the use of discretion. The Admins are responsible for selecting and promoting new Moderators
and seeing them through their trials as well as handling staff applications. An admin can independently choose to promote or demote the mods they oversee.
This position is earned by fulfilling one's duties as a Mod and going above and beyond with those duties. Admins are selected by the Lead Admins.

Moderator
The Moderators of SGM are the main section of the staff team. They are responsible for supervising the servers, enforcing the rules,
dealing with troublemakers and ensuring everyone can enjoy the various games our community hosts. Moderators are organized in teams,
with every team containing up to five moderators and led by an Admin. Applying for this is done through sending an application in our applications forum.
Moderators are then selected and promoted by the Admins as they see fit, which then add them to their team and become their supervisors.
When promoted, Moderators often go through a trial stage, in which they are trained and supervised by other mods to help them learn the basics of staffing testing their skills and knowledge.

Trial Moderator
Trial Moderators are applicants for the Moderator position that are currently in their trial stage. This is the stage in which
they are being taught the basics of staffing by the rest of the staff team and train with them, and in which their skills
and knowledge are tested. An Admin is free to skip this phase of they determined the skills of an applicant are already sufficient to become a full Moderator.
Trial Moderators do not have any staff privileges yet and can not fulfill the same duties as a full Moderator.
The performance of a Trial Mod during their trial will decide their fate
and whether or not they can become full moderators. Trial Mods are selected and promoted by the Admins
based on their applications and are later on promoted to Moderators if they perform well in their trial, based on the decision of their Admin.

Developer
The Developers of SGM are the users responsible for the creation and development of new content, systems and features
for our community, like in-game content, new website and Discord features, new games, and more. The Developers are selected
personally by the Owner and are supervised directly by them. While their main focus is not staffing,
Developers are still considered staff members and therefore have the right to enforce rules or staffing decisions.


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If you would like to see our current staff list, click one of the following links:
TTT Staff List
Deathrun Staff List
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Thanks to all past, present, and future staff for their help with this guide and all other staff created content. ​