Telanir

You'll have to be less cryptic about your reply, if you mean the ol' "permanent bans are not permanent"—very few bans are permanent, most that even come close to that stage are indefinite.

Just letting everybody here know I have been keeping an eye on this thread. I will make sure this topic is addressed this week after we consider the options. I will continue reading your responses, so please carry on if you have anything substantiated to add.

Hey guys, I am only hear to clear up some misunderstandings. If you are permanently banned you are never returning to this server ever again, therefore, your forum account will also be banned. Straightforward. If you have an indefinite ban (no specified appeal date) on the server you can still post. But your posts are screened first before they show up. If you are serving a standard ban there is no problem. If you are planning to be one of the quarter dozen who ever get a guidelines violation—this does not apply to you. That's all, for reference we plan to continue our tried and true methods from Mitto and dogbew for forum moderation, and do not plan on rabid crackdowns. :)

Hello everyone, I have a brief announcement for you today. FlamboyantRage will be serving us as an Administrator starting today. Please join us in both congratulations and condolences for the poor sap. Now he too may drown in feedback threads. He is an excellent choice as a long time veteran and upstanding contributor to our community. He has offered service as the Lore Team Director for almost a year and will continue to do so as our Lore Administrator. It is long since this position was last filled and he is well-equipped for it. We will continue on our path to transparency, competence, and activity. Thank you, Telanir & the Administration

Hey, I don't want you to have to name anybody so I'm just curious, what was the unstated rule? I don't think this is about the guidelines. If you mean the violations, they are very niche and for old timers. Haha yes, but I mean, I don't mind dialogue. It's the best thing we've got.

Thread is short so you probably want a condensed response. The Guidelines are a mission statement for the kind of server we want to see as a community, all of us. Violations are less about the guidelines and more about this post that I am sure you have read. They are not “the solution” they are our goal. As a Staff member you follow Staff Conduct—which is a far cry from 4d chess? That is the mere requirement. The conduct is available publicly for anybody interested. I know you went straight to hit up the forums but "feedback noted" is like 2016. Times change. Nobody is taking down a reasonable post or ignoring it. Standards would give off the wrong impression that the guidelines are actually enforceable. But, really they are not. The guidelines are part of an appeal process that requires you to expand on them, yes. However, guidelines violations themselves are not about you breaking some specific guideline. They are for patterns of behaviour that lead us the direct opposite away from reaching our goal. It is a bit hard for me to explain but I hope this helps. One person you claim was set to guidelines violation for powergaming? That is not what the violation was for. It frustrates and confounds you because you misunderstand the situation and the pieces don't align. What you want to know is that longstanding staff and veteran players with a history of a certain kind of behaviour may get a special punishment. The Community Guidelines are written to be concise. Writing paragraphs away would be meaningless when you have your own brain and imagination, much of what I wrote over 6 months was cut because of this. And why bother repeating common sense? Lying is obviously beneath us but you know what else it does? It gets you far too invested in your personal pixel success on this server, and in your character. No comment on racism, homophobia, hostility, etc.? Want to bet? I would not suggest you practice your theory on the main server right now, the server rules may have something to say about that. Anyhow, I am down for constructive criticism and a productive discussion with you here if you feel I haven't touched on your concerns.

I know of your lengthy personal distaste for me, but you don't have to be so vitriolic about it. Traditional bans have been standard practice that haven't worked for everybody—and mostly unsuccessful in combatting toxicity. You've said they're mere inconveniences to you. If bans are about serving predefined sentences and mocking an apology then that is wrong. A small minority treats them this way, and for them—all of that does not work. For a very small minority of players there exists the guidelines violation. You break rules, you get the standard practice bans, as it should be. But, if all you have is contempt for that process you will not want to learn anything from it. You also mentioned the process is understaffed. That's true, I was told some thought they were unqualified to handle them and I want to solve that with training. Guidelines violations are handled by administration & directors, which totals almost 10 people qualified to do this. I shouldn't be the only one looking at them, and I will fix this. No problem, this is why I've encouraged us to return to this thread, the topic isn't over. I also have a few relevant posts in my post history that are relatively recent if you are interested in all angles in this new approach. This post is what started all of this. Following that, I took a long time to write out these community guidelines. The first post is the rationale moving forward and the second (the guidelines) is a mission statement for our objective. This means plugins, staff, and future changes are meant to adhere to this in some way to bring this community closer. If you could please clarify what you mean when you ask "what the hell is going on"? I have been transparent in many responses about the community guidelines and I've been open to their discussion, I have not tried to shut down feedback about it. We don't want to act like a business, because we're not a business. We need to be self-sufficient to keep up for the monthly finances—not to please shareholders who want to wring money out of everybody. Also, I'm not convinced to get rid of anybody, I look to guidelines as an objective. The community has shown us that we must address toxicity and I understand why the method is unpopular—I don't think it is anywhere near perfect and I am figuring out a better approach. I don't think any of us want to sit down in-between infrequent conversations on the forums. I think Leo has a good point that it should be combined with at least an instant message conversation. There isn't an ulterior motive. This is the first solution to a very complicated problem. It was nice working with you on the rules, but I don't believe we've ever worked on guidelines? Seeing as you have read them, what do you think of these guidelines? Is there anything you would suggest?

I don't know you well enough to say, but if that is all there is to it then maybe. I will consult with my staff and Directors to find an appropriate solution. Remember, the primary purpose of a ban is that you work hard to become a better person when you come out the other side. If you will learn from a conversation, we will talk. If you will learn from a ban I will ban. If you refuse to learn, you will get a guidelines violation. If all of that does not work then maybe God will help you.

No problem! Thanks for asking. If you threaten a player with DDOS you will be punished. On the flipside, if I view a clipped recording in which you ask how to get someone's IP and chuckle about DDOS then I will add a member note for moderators to keep an eye on you. But, if you have no history of improvement or contribution to this community following previous offences—I would have already pulled the trigger even then. To answer your question, your case will be personalized and compared against your history, your current attitude, and your patterns of behaviour. That's about as close to an answer as I can get.

I have no problem with honesty here. DPM is a man with a very long ban history and record holding server’s longest chain of “Haha I’ll get better, I promise.” His previous permanent ban was lifted by fluke last time—a miscommunication. A retroactive ban was not pursued, instead, we decided he could have that final chance as long as he’s careful. Now, since he recognizes he will never return, he takes to spite. His final act: plot to tarnish high-profile staff with some logs held close and saved for a timely moment. LotC is 6 years too old for blackmail to work. His story ends here, bitter and resentful. What about Ioannis? Once Ioannis reviewed the content matter he realized how his comments reflected both on him and our team. Shortly after, he took it upon himself to step down. Other than vague threats, Ioannis history of malpractice comes remarkably short compared to DPMagician. This is why DPM now serves his final sentence, and Ioannis walks a judgment of similar caliber. Both are veterans. Ioannis knows he shouldn’t have made comments like this as a GM—it is alike bomb jokes in an airport. And DPM, on his paper-thin ice, knew better than to threaten a person the way he did. Humour is not an excuse for either of their situations. Somebody asked why not a community guidelines violation. Two reasons; one, they require an honest conversation which he will not give me; two, he does not take genuine effort to improve himself following restriction. The statement his behaviour makes is he is ready to lie to “outwit that incompetent staff” to get his way. I want to take our focus off of spite and vengeance and onto the path we can carve in the future. It should be clear at this point that this post and these guidelines are not for show, but a mission statement for the direction this server will take. I will repeat what I have said. We will find the good spirit and heart of this server together as a community even in the face of those who will use toxicity, malice, or deceit to come in our way.

Very well. I can be more open to folks serving violations provided they ask the questions on the appeal itself. But, I cannot answer what I don't know; I don't know how long your restriction will last as recently my hands have been full. I handle the violations at my convenience—but I do not attempt to drag them out more than I need to. My primary goal with the violations is to release the people once I recognize they are ready to solve their pattern of misbehaviour. Making the process painless for the punished is secondary. I don't want to make it any worse than it should be but neither am I going to go to lengths to make you comfortable. In my eyes that is reasonable, especially as you are not on an aimless frolic but sentenced. On another note, @iMattyz were you planning a response or is this thread a one-post-show?

The days of the bandit-bully are numbered. The sublime suggestion of rp-void-ss default is the obvious solution for stress-free combat.