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Ever since the beginning of the network’s history, we have always had the idea of hacker forgiveness. We believed that hackers, upon being hit with a seven day ban, would see the error of their ways and thus discard their hacks entirely. It was a form of redemption that was always hotly debated in the community, but we upheld that policy out of a belief that everyone- even a hacker- deserves a second chance.
Well, that will soon change. The Administration has recently completed a Hacker Recidivism study from our network’s ban records, and this study has proven that our policies needed to change. As such, effective February 1st, 2015, the following policy changes are to be made:
Why the Change? What was the Study?
The Hacker Recidivism Study sought an answer to a simply question: how often do first offense hackers become second offense hackers?
After a few days of research and statistical analysis on a large, randomly selected sample of first-offense hacking-related offenses (Yes, AP Statistics does have practical applications), we came to a staggering piece of evidence: 100% of our sampled accounts were found guilty of a second hacking offense, often immediately after their ban is lifted. Even if we accounted for the maximum amount of possible error, the number of hackers who would continue to hack is an astonishing 90%. Furthermore, our evidence suggests that the true percentage of hackers who would continue to hack is approximately 99.8%; only .2% of hackers reform their ways, or simply never played again.
Our previous policy was enforced with the hope that a good number (<10%) of first offense hackers would mend their ways. However, if only 1 in 500 hackers reform, thus giving the other 499 hackers free reign to hack again, it is obvious that our previous policy is terribly inefficient. The study is evidence that hackers simply do not care, so removing them as quickly as possible is now our new policy.
But won’t that cause tons of Ban Disputes?
Some may believe that this will cause a massive tidal wave of disputes to surge through the Sr. Staff, causing them to get flooded with undue work. However, a second study, the Hacker Dispute Length Study, found that is unlikely to be the case. The study found that a small minority of hackers actually dispute their ban, usually to admit their guilt and beg for forgiveness (seriously. It was kind of a depressing sample space), often immediately after they were struck with the notice of their Permanent Ban; it’s the severity of that Permanent notice that was a main point for the policy change, since people seem to take “Permanent” much more seriously than, “One Week” or “One Month”. It is believed that the other hackers who do not file a dispute simply switched to another account, or left the network entirely.
As such, while we do expect disputes to increase, we do not expect the workload to become overbearing for the Sr. Staff.
Remember: if you were wrongfully banned, you can always post a Ban Dispute.
Will there be a Forgiveness Policy?
Yes. We can forgive reformed Hackers, but only under rare instances.
We are definitely keeping in mind that while .2% is not a large proportion, those reformed players can be an invaluable asset. As such, we will offer a strict allowance for permanently banned hackers to be unbanned, but only with a Sr. Staff exception. Details of this policy nor the forgiveness process have been released pending Sr. Staff agreement.
What about current First Offense Hackers? Will they be automatically banned?
No, that wouldn’t be fair to them. Users who have a first offense on our previous policy prior to February 1st (i.e. they have already been banned for 7 days for hacking) will not be automatically banned once the new policy is put into place. Essentially, they will be “grandfathered in” on the old policy. However, if they are caught hacking again, they will still be permanently banned.
Modded Client VS Hacking? What are those? What’s the difference?
What constitutes Hacks and Modded Clients will be a staff decision.
What about those currently banned for Modded Clients? Will they be automatically unbanned?
Unfortunately not. Going along with the, “Grandfathered in” idea, the policies that were in effect when that person was banned are still going to be considered in effect. That means that users banned for Modded Clients before February 1st, 2015 will remain permanently banned.
Will I still be banned for Admitting to Hacks/Modded Clients?
Yes, because it is still treated as admitting to possession of illegal modifications, and must be punished accordingly. But we also realize that most of the instances of admitting to hacks/modded clients are jokes, so we aren’t going to punish them with first offense permanent bans. You will still be banned, but we will allow you to learn from your mistakes after a certain amount of time.
“Effective February 1st, 2015?” What does that mean?
We thought it would be unfair if we sprung such a large policy change on the network seemingly out of nowhere. As such, we decided to make this announcement to the community first to act as a notice saying, “Hey, this is going to change, so be prepared.”
As such, our previous policies (7 day ban and then perm for hacking, modded clients, and admitting) will be active and enforced until January 31st, 11:59 PM. But once the clock strikes 12:00 AM for February 1st, our new policies will be considered active and will be enforced.
Why the sudden change of heart?
Well, truth be told, this is the first time we’ve had definitive evidence on such a hotly debated matter. Previous discussions have always been a matter of anecdotes, assumptions, and generalizations, things that are not very helpful when guiding policy for a network as large as ours. In addition, many people don’t realize the size and scale of the community, so their limited perspectives were not representative of the network as a whole. Everyone has their own opinions and ideas, but there just wasn’t enough evidence to move one way or another. The study changed that by putting our current situation in a real world perspective using a wealth of data from our own network, and as such we had our first valid argument that did not rely on anecdotes, assumptions, or generalizations; we just had facts, and we worked from them.
A lot of you have clamored for this policy change for quite some time, and now we are glad to see it happening. We are as sick and tired of hackers as you guys are, and we hope that this change in policy will help solve this problem. But if you want to see hacking diminish even faster, players are always encouraged to help report rule breakers and/or participate in Cleansweeps.
If you have any questions regarding the change in policy, please a reply in this thread.
If you have any questions regarding either study, feel free to ask Col_StaR.
TL : DR - Read the entire post & don't hack.
Well, that will soon change. The Administration has recently completed a Hacker Recidivism study from our network’s ban records, and this study has proven that our policies needed to change. As such, effective February 1st, 2015, the following policy changes are to be made:
- All Hacking Offenses will result in a First Offense Permanent Ban.
- Modded Client Offenses and Hacking Offenses will be differentiated.
- Punishment for Admitting to Hacks/Modded Client will be lessened.
Why the Change? What was the Study?
The Hacker Recidivism Study sought an answer to a simply question: how often do first offense hackers become second offense hackers?
After a few days of research and statistical analysis on a large, randomly selected sample of first-offense hacking-related offenses (Yes, AP Statistics does have practical applications), we came to a staggering piece of evidence: 100% of our sampled accounts were found guilty of a second hacking offense, often immediately after their ban is lifted. Even if we accounted for the maximum amount of possible error, the number of hackers who would continue to hack is an astonishing 90%. Furthermore, our evidence suggests that the true percentage of hackers who would continue to hack is approximately 99.8%; only .2% of hackers reform their ways, or simply never played again.
Our previous policy was enforced with the hope that a good number (<10%) of first offense hackers would mend their ways. However, if only 1 in 500 hackers reform, thus giving the other 499 hackers free reign to hack again, it is obvious that our previous policy is terribly inefficient. The study is evidence that hackers simply do not care, so removing them as quickly as possible is now our new policy.
But won’t that cause tons of Ban Disputes?
Some may believe that this will cause a massive tidal wave of disputes to surge through the Sr. Staff, causing them to get flooded with undue work. However, a second study, the Hacker Dispute Length Study, found that is unlikely to be the case. The study found that a small minority of hackers actually dispute their ban, usually to admit their guilt and beg for forgiveness (seriously. It was kind of a depressing sample space), often immediately after they were struck with the notice of their Permanent Ban; it’s the severity of that Permanent notice that was a main point for the policy change, since people seem to take “Permanent” much more seriously than, “One Week” or “One Month”. It is believed that the other hackers who do not file a dispute simply switched to another account, or left the network entirely.
As such, while we do expect disputes to increase, we do not expect the workload to become overbearing for the Sr. Staff.
Remember: if you were wrongfully banned, you can always post a Ban Dispute.
Will there be a Forgiveness Policy?
Yes. We can forgive reformed Hackers, but only under rare instances.
We are definitely keeping in mind that while .2% is not a large proportion, those reformed players can be an invaluable asset. As such, we will offer a strict allowance for permanently banned hackers to be unbanned, but only with a Sr. Staff exception. Details of this policy nor the forgiveness process have been released pending Sr. Staff agreement.
What about current First Offense Hackers? Will they be automatically banned?
No, that wouldn’t be fair to them. Users who have a first offense on our previous policy prior to February 1st (i.e. they have already been banned for 7 days for hacking) will not be automatically banned once the new policy is put into place. Essentially, they will be “grandfathered in” on the old policy. However, if they are caught hacking again, they will still be permanently banned.
Modded Client VS Hacking? What are those? What’s the difference?
- Hacks = alterations made to your Minecraft that create a definitive unfair advantage during gameplay.
- Examples include Aimbot, Kill Aura, and Regeneration
- Modded Clients = alterations made to your Minecraft that offer additional non-default functionality but offer questionable advantages during gameplay.
- Examples include Gamma, Minimap, Chest Finder
What constitutes Hacks and Modded Clients will be a staff decision.
What about those currently banned for Modded Clients? Will they be automatically unbanned?
Unfortunately not. Going along with the, “Grandfathered in” idea, the policies that were in effect when that person was banned are still going to be considered in effect. That means that users banned for Modded Clients before February 1st, 2015 will remain permanently banned.
Will I still be banned for Admitting to Hacks/Modded Clients?
Yes, because it is still treated as admitting to possession of illegal modifications, and must be punished accordingly. But we also realize that most of the instances of admitting to hacks/modded clients are jokes, so we aren’t going to punish them with first offense permanent bans. You will still be banned, but we will allow you to learn from your mistakes after a certain amount of time.
“Effective February 1st, 2015?” What does that mean?
We thought it would be unfair if we sprung such a large policy change on the network seemingly out of nowhere. As such, we decided to make this announcement to the community first to act as a notice saying, “Hey, this is going to change, so be prepared.”
As such, our previous policies (7 day ban and then perm for hacking, modded clients, and admitting) will be active and enforced until January 31st, 11:59 PM. But once the clock strikes 12:00 AM for February 1st, our new policies will be considered active and will be enforced.
Why the sudden change of heart?
Well, truth be told, this is the first time we’ve had definitive evidence on such a hotly debated matter. Previous discussions have always been a matter of anecdotes, assumptions, and generalizations, things that are not very helpful when guiding policy for a network as large as ours. In addition, many people don’t realize the size and scale of the community, so their limited perspectives were not representative of the network as a whole. Everyone has their own opinions and ideas, but there just wasn’t enough evidence to move one way or another. The study changed that by putting our current situation in a real world perspective using a wealth of data from our own network, and as such we had our first valid argument that did not rely on anecdotes, assumptions, or generalizations; we just had facts, and we worked from them.
A lot of you have clamored for this policy change for quite some time, and now we are glad to see it happening. We are as sick and tired of hackers as you guys are, and we hope that this change in policy will help solve this problem. But if you want to see hacking diminish even faster, players are always encouraged to help report rule breakers and/or participate in Cleansweeps.
If you have any questions regarding the change in policy, please a reply in this thread.
If you have any questions regarding either study, feel free to ask Col_StaR.
TL : DR - Read the entire post & don't hack.
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