The Current Ban System: Possible Change Needed?

[Giggums]

This is very intersting. First of all, it's nice to see someone aknowledge the fact that a decrease in player base is largely stemmed from how many people have been banned. If you think about it, it goes to show that Moderators are doing their job in removing people that shouldn't be allowed on our servers.

As for hacking, I think it is something worth the time of the Administration team to look into. With our anti-cheat system being something that is constantly in the works, it is in our best interest to keep the punishment how it is until we have something definitive and stable. There are roughly 100+ people that are banned every day by Moderators. As I said, that's a very rough estimate. On weekends that number can almost double. Sometimes we will dip under that number. Usually, 70-90% of those punishments every day will be hacker related. So, yes. That is a large amount of people being perm-banned for hacking. With 98% of those players coming back to hack, that would be very unfortunate for the network. You stated that with that being a year ago, times have changed and it may be different. You're right. Things may be different. 98% may no longer hold true. Personally, in the past year I have seen an increase in the amount of people that try to hack, so it's more likely that that number will grow. Even it if does decrease, however, it would still be very high. In the low 90's or high 80's. Anything over 20% in my opinion is bad.

As for abusers. I think that we should definitely keep the punishment how it is. A strict punishment for people slinging around derogatory terms and discriminating others is for the better. A tough rhetoric works well, especially with a tough bite after it. People that use racism, sexism, homophobia, and abuse to the mentally challenged should not and will not be tolerated and will be dealt with. It is disgusting, vile, and unsupported. We want to make it very clear that we will not be lenient with those types of messages on this network. Now, it could be taken into consideration to change the punishment based off the level of the message; however, I'm a firm believer that hate is hate and you are either being racist/sexist/homophobic/etc. or you're not and the same level of punishment should apply to all.

Every day are infact removing more and more people from this network; diminishing our player base. That is true. Think of it this way, though. We are removing people that we do not want on our network. We do not want hackers here. We do not want abusers here. MCGamer should be a place where people don't have to worry about running into another hacker or being called a derogatory term. While it isn't that place right now, it's the place we want it to become. Through our current punishments right now, I believe that we present that and are in a better position heading towards that with every other aspect that is in play. Yet, there is always room to improvement and it's very nice to hear what you all have to say on the matter.

 

[Ceroria]

Because lets be honest. Most ppl will say stupid stuff at least about 3 times in about 2-3 months, and with your 3rd offence being a perm ban I find that a bit harsh. Just my personal opinion

I absolutely agree here, but 8 chances imo is a bit too lenient, and then a short unban time basically puts no use to the punishment :^)

 

[Alyssa]

I've done ban disputes before, and I always saw the most often ones being either: (note I haven't done ban disputes in like 6 months but from what I remember, it may have changed since then)

• Someone who was banned for hacking a 1-7 days ago
• Someone who was banned over 7 months ago

So obviously I think we can agree that we are not going to pardon someone banned perm for hacking who had only been banned for a week. I mean they argue that they have "learnt there lesson" or "wont do it again" but tbh that's not enough time for them to fully change in my opinion.
However for those banned for a few months or more, I do think that maybe a pardon after 8 months or so makes sense. But there is always the argument that why ban perm if we're just going to pardon it after a certain amount of time.
I think that maybe an implementation of a 1 month ban before Perm for those severe punishments like hacking or abuse or those other long ones, could be a good idea. I don't know but it would have to be spoken about within the administration, however I don't think it is up for a change for a while.
For the topic about Abuse being too severe or whatever. In my opinion the abuse bans 3 day - 5 day - perm. Is completely reasonable. It is basically cyber bullying when it comes to Abuse, even if people think of it as a joke, it isn't. Abuse is one of those things that will never be tolerated. And if you're someone that continues it after the 3 day ban, I don't think you deserve an unban tbh.

This is just my opinion.

Alyssa out xD

 

[Preston417]

Alyssa out xD

Did you drop the mic?

 

[Alyssa]

Did you drop the mic?

ofcourse xD

 

[ArgaJones]

No, the ban system is fine as it is. I was a mod when hackers got two chances, and it is much better this way. I disagree with your statement about how "things have changed" While lots of things have changed, I personally haven't seen any change in hacker behaviour, so I'm not sure what led you to believe that more people would stop hacking after their first offence then they did a year ago.

About those websites, we have actually been banning the accounts on websites like that for years now, and the staff were very much aware of them even years ago. Those websites are still out there, and I don't think that they're going away anytime soon.

I do see where you're coming from though. MCGamer isn't nearly as popular as it once was, but I don't think that letting hackers come back again is a good solution. I'd rather have a smaller network of players who don't hack than a larger network where a lot of the players are hacking. If someone does get banned, they can still wait for the forgiveness policy. If they have to go through all the trouble of waiting nine months, and appealing I think they're much less likely to hack again.

Sorry if I sound like a grumpy old man, it's just that I have seen what it was like when hackers got two chances first hand (and from the point of view of a staff member) and I don't think that people now are any more mature than they were last year.

Sorry if that was a grammatical nightmare, I should be doing homework right now, and I can be bothered to proofread a forum post while I'm procrastinating an English essay.

It's really funny, actually. Back when I was staff, players constantly complained about how hackers were allowed back on the network and just ruined the game for other, legitimate players. Now that the policy has been changed, and more and more hackers are being removed from the network, players are complaining about the fact that we ban too many hackers. It just goes to show that you can't please people no matter what you try ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Yeah, I remember that as well. There were quite a few petitions demanding a first offence perm ban.

But there is always the argument that why ban perm if we're just going to pardon it after a certain amount of time.

I think perm banning is a good idea, even if we're just going to pardon it after 8 months. That way the player has to actively seek out a pardon, rather than just logging on after a while and saying "Oh, I'm not banned anymore!"

 

[Strafe]

Agree, things can be improved.