Prod

A prod is a Private Message sent from the moderator to a player who has fallen afoul of the moderator's set activity rules. The message is intended to remind the player that they are playing the game and have not posted in a while.

If players do not respond to prods in a timely manner, they are summarily replaced.

Caveats

It is very important that only the moderator send prods, as it is a form of out-of-game communication.

Moderators should ensure that they prod and replace players according to the activity rules they set out at the beginning of the game. Prods should not be sent at the moderator's will, nor should players be allowed to PM the mod and say "I'm lurking, let me go".

It is very important that prods be sent out in regards to how long it has been since the player has posted, not since the last time the moderator received an action from them. This is particularly troublesome if a player is known to have not submitted an action overNight, as the prod confirms that no communication between the player and the moderator was sent that Night. Inversely, a player that is still in the game because they have posted in their private topic but not inthread should be dealt with as if they have not been posting at all.