On the topic of VIP "Special Treatment"

[Mooclan]

**please disregard the poll above, when it gets past 10:00 i usually get a bit loopy in the head.**


Before I get into the nitty-gritty stuff of what the issue here is, allow me to explain what the title means.
"VIP Special Treatment" is basically a guideline that states the following, but I'm going to simplify it for you guys:
If a VIP breaks a rule, their case is handled by the Senior Staff or Admins. Sometimes, their punishment is reduced.

Now, the specific situation which brought up this topic:
GoldEllipse, a YouTuber and Livestreamer with ~15,000 combined YouTube subscribers and Twitch followers, recently stated the following in-game, in an MCGamer Hub: "I'm a hard core hacker! (evidence removed)" exactly as written.
He was muted for an hour, and was reportedly raging/crying about it, which is quite beyond my comprehension.
Now, if any regular player - or even a Quantum Donor! - had said this, they would have been instantly banned for the regular duration. First offense, seven days. Second offense, permanent ban. Saying a phrase along the lines of "I Hack" is grounds for an instant ban, and I have confirmed this with both an Ex-Mod and a current MCG Moderator in TeamSpeak.


**okay, well, i sort of got really distracted by this teamspeak conversation so here's my old post that i typed before the staff deleted the thread...**

As I stated on the status,

There are two rules that come into play here.
1: Admitting to hacks is the equivalent of being caught hacking.
2: VIP Rule-breaking cases are handled by the higher-up staff.

Concerning the first rule, there are without a doubt reasons why it's in place.
If, for example, someone admits to hacks in front of a Mod and then doesn't get banned, obviously something would be wrong.
However, there are also cases in which the person might be sarcastic or joking. Unfortunately, it's virtually impossible to determine whether or not they actually are, unless within the message they include that they were not being serious.
Just to be safe, it's better that this rule stays in place and virtually unchanged. Unfortunately, I don't really see a way to improve it.

Onto the second rule, however.
The general public views the rule as MCG saying "We love VIPs, and are biased towards them."
While this is probably not the case, that's how it is interpreted, and that's what it seems like to us regular players.
When a VIP breaks a clear rule and receives a lesser punishment, how do you expect us players to react? Obviously, we're going to be outraged, unless we're all fans of that specific VIP. (Which, in this case, I'm not a fan of GoldEllipse and I don't support the decision for only a 1-hour mute.)

However, it cannot be left unsaid that GoldEllipse had a virtually 99% chance of joking around. I highly doubt that he was actually in violation of any rule except for when he said that he was a hacker.
In this specific case, I do not feel that a 7-day ban would have been fair. However, it is the principle behind the decision and rule of VIP-cases that is somewhat disturbing.

Allow me to give you another example.
ThatOneTomahawk, when he was still a Moderator. He was also qualified for VIP, and was recognized as a "Very important person" within the YouTube and In-game community.
There were a series of screenshots taken which gave blatant and obvious evidence of him abusing his Moderator powers (Global chat) in order to call out, harass, and flame against a team of players, just for killing him.
Said screenshots were indeed shown to senior staff, and circulated among the forumers for a while. Unfortunately, the screenshots have been swept away with time and I doubt I would be able to find them even if I tried looking.
At most, he was given a warning in private. He kept his Moderator rank, did not receive any sort of ban, and as far as I know it did virtually nothing to faze him.



oh wow i didn't even notice that i typed this much
i can almost bet that 4 out of 5 people didn't even read my entire post.

And a short message to staff:
Either you present a legitimate reason to lock/delete this thread, or you leave it open, please and thanks.
I don't want this thread locked just because you don't want to discuss it.
These are the forums, where we're supposed to discuss and debate things. If you censor our most controversial topics, then what the heck are we supposed to do on here? ;-;


Okay, I seriously started typing this stuff an hour and 35 minutes ago, so I'm not exactly thinking clearly... at all.
So, I'm going to leave you off with a question:
"What is your view on the VIP rule? Do you feel that it should be kept the same, changed, or removed altogether?"

 

[MyrkrBrandr]

Thank you for making this! I too said this as a joke, and I was banned for 7 days :/
Higher ups have to face the same consequences, what if a police officer were to kill someone unjustly? He would be punished equally as if a civilian had done it.

 

[Fundamental]

It's pretty stupid how VIP's get special treatment like that. But on there side if there a youtuber and they upload daily or every 2 days ect, they would be pretty annoyed. So idk

i r8 this post 8/8 4 bein gr8

 

[Ephiza]

Thank you for making this! I too said this as a joke, and I was banned for 7 days :/
Higher ups have to face the same consequences, what if a police officer were to kill someone unjustly? He would be punished equally as if a civilian had done it.

That actually happened xD. Some police officer thought a 12 year old was holding a gun, when he was holding a wii mote. Guess what. THE POLICE OFFICER IS STILL AN OFFICIAL XD

 

[Joel/MadDawg]

"What is your view on the VIP rule? Do you feel that it should be kept the same, changed, or removed altogether?"

Quite honestly I think the way the staff has handled VIP rule breakers in the past is fair and reasonable.

First off, when you are talking about VIP's in this thread you clearly mean people that have gotten VIP through youtube or twitch, NOT people that have gained VIP through less popular ways (making a map for example). It is important to make this distinction because I do not believe that less popular VIP's would get the treatment you describe.

People that have gained a high rank from youtube or twitch obviously have a much more influence and fame than a regular user. With that said, mcsg reasonably tries to prevent them from getting too pissed off so they don't use their influence to hurt mcsg. That is why I believe they get special treatment when it comes to petty things like GoldEllipse jokingly saying he hacks. Sure he got mad when he was muted for an hour, but imagine the tirade he could have gone on if he was slapped with a one week ban like a regular user. It is in mcsg's better interests to prevent him and other popular VIP's from getting too mad, so that is why their cases are dealt with specially and often given smaller punishments. I find this completely reasonable.

Why don't VIP's get the same treatment as regular users? Because they aren't regular users.

 

[Miner9823]

To be honest, I think it entirely depends on the person. I actually do disagree with the VIP special treatment and all that, because it shows that VIP people can break rules, and still be around without a serious punishment. But yet again, I think the VIP treatment is pretty interesting to have. However, if the VIP has a good reputation, we can make a strict warning about it. Also, for the people who aren't VIP, I think the instant ban is a little too strict. Yes, we have a zero tolerance policy with false claims as well, and I am glad we have that. But I just don't deem a false claim to be so much of a serious thing that it causes a temporary ban to a permanent ban. Maybe provide a strict warning at first with a temporary mute of three hours, then, if they do it again, the mute will last even longer. If they do it the third time, they can have around a three day ban, and on the fourth time it is permanent.

 

[Ephiza]

To be honest, I think it entirely depends on the person. I actually do disagree with the VIP special treatment and all that, because it shows that VIP people can break rules, and still be around without a serious punishment. But yet again, I think the VIP treatment is pretty interesting to have. However, if the VIP has a good reputation, we can make a strict warning about it. Also, for the people who aren't VIP, I think the instant ban is a little too strict. Yes, we have a zero tolerance policy with false claims as well, and I am glad we have that. But I just don't deem a false claim to be so much of a serious thing that it causes a temporary ban to a permanent ban. Maybe provide a strict warning at first with a temporary mute of three hours, then, if they do it again, the mute will last even longer. If they do it the third time, they can have around a three day ban, and on the fourth time it is permanent.

I think people should be muted for 24 hours if they say "I hack" once. Twice, 7 day ban. 3rd time, perm ban.

 

[TheOnlyChanse]

dey obvs gon b lik dat
vip gets views
which gets dem as players
then the moooooneys
like
have
u
ever
seen
chad
on
mcsg


NOOOOOPE

 

[MyrkrBrandr]

To be honest, I think it entirely depends on the person. I actually do disagree with the VIP special treatment and all that, because it shows that VIP people can break rules, and still be around without a serious punishment. But yet again, I think the VIP treatment is pretty interesting to have. However, if the VIP has a good reputation, we can make a strict warning about it. Also, for the people who aren't VIP, I think the instant ban is a little too strict. Yes, we have a zero tolerance policy with false claims as well, and I am glad we have that. But I just don't deem a false claim to be so much of a serious thing that it causes a temporary ban to a permanent ban. Maybe provide a strict warning at first with a temporary mute of three hours, then, if they do it again, the mute will last even longer. If they do it the third time, they can have around a three day ban, and on the fourth time it is permanent.

Who admits to hacking a 4th time? lol I still think he should be banned for 7 days like the rest of us. MCSG is just sending a message that its ok to break rules if you're a VIP

 

[Blazerboy | Noah]

hey guys, welcome to life. people are going to be treated better than you will be, so deal with it. it's not fair yo. if it really bothers you that much that someone doesn't get banned from a block game but you did, who's the real loser in that situation?

 

[DPinky]

Celebrity's get away with a LOT of stuff too. Do I think it's fair. No, but that's life.

 

[Dexcom]

**please disregard the poll above, when it gets past 10:00 i usually get a bit loopy in the head.**


Before I get into the nitty-gritty stuff of what the issue here is, allow me to explain what the title means.
"VIP Special Treatment" is basically a guideline that states the following, but I'm going to simplify it for you guys:
If a VIP breaks a rule, their case is handled by the Senior Staff or Admins. Sometimes, their punishment is reduced.

Now, the specific situation which brought up this topic:
GoldEllipse, a YouTuber and Livestreamer with ~15,000 combined YouTube subscribers and Twitch followers, recently stated the following in-game, in an MCGamer Hub: "I'm a hard core hacker!" exactly as written.
He was muted for an hour, and was reportedly raging/crying about it, which is quite beyond my comprehension.
Now, if any regular player - or even a Quantum Donor! - had said this, they would have been instantly banned for the regular duration. First offense, seven days. Second offense, permanent ban. Saying a phrase along the lines of "I Hack" is grounds for an instant ban, and I have confirmed this with both an Ex-Mod and a current MCG Moderator in TeamSpeak.


**okay, well, i sort of got really distracted by this teamspeak conversation so here's my old post that i typed before the staff deleted the thread...**



And a short message to staff:
Either you present a legitimate reason to lock/delete this thread, or you leave it open, please and thanks.
I don't want this thread locked just because you don't want to discuss it.
These are the forums, where we're supposed to discuss and debate things. If you censor our most controversial topics, then what the heck are we supposed to do on here? ;-;


Okay, I seriously started typing this stuff an hour and 35 minutes ago, so I'm not exactly thinking clearly... at all.
So, I'm going to leave you off with a question:
"What is your view on the VIP rule? Do you feel that it should be kept the same, changed, or removed altogether?"

Actually Your so freaking right 0.o