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Hello folks,
The Sr. Staff has been throwing around some ideas for reforms, changes, and improvements that could be made on the moderation side of things, particularly when it comes to punishments. Many of the current policies are quite old, and have not been properly considered since they were accepted years ago. One such policy was regarding the proper punishment for users who were evading punishments, such as using an alternative account to avoid an in-game ban.
After mulling it over for a while, it has been decided to change our current policy regarding users evading punishments. Effective today, users who are caught evading their ban will have their punishment increased to the next level of their current offense. The additional punishment comes on top of any punishment currently being served.
Wait, what does that mean?
It means that if you’re caught evading a ban, you’ll be facing an even more severe punishment on top of your current one.
“Their punishment increased to the next level?” What does that even mean? I don't even...
Our Moderators follow a ban guide, which gives instructions on how to punish players for certain actions that are not allowed. The severity of the punishment is dependent upon how many times the user has committed that offense, so a user who is a repeat offender will face higher and higher punishments (until they get stuck with something permanent).
So a player who Abuses another player gets a 3 day ban for the first offense, a 5 day ban for the second, and a permanent ban for the third.
Our current policy change would increase the punishments for users who evade their ban by one level. So if a player abuses another player gets a 3 day ban, and that player immediately evades their ban by playing on an alternate account, that player will have their ban escalated to include the 5 day ban on both of their accounts as well. So as far as the user knows, they just got banned for eight straight days (3 days + 5 days) for two simultaneous offenses, and are just one step away from a permanent ban. Ouch.
Can I dispute the punishment for Evading a ban?
Yes, you can dispute the punishment for Evading a Ban via the Ban Dispute section on our forums. Fill out the forum as usual. If you are found innocent of evading a ban, the second level of severity for the punishment will be pardoned; you may still have to serve your punishment for the first punishment.
You can also dispute the punishment for the first offense you were punished for as well. So if you were wrongly punished for an offense, and you played on an alternate account which lead to an additional punishment, a ban dispute for the first offense may clear you of both punishments.
Why make this policy change?
Punishments aren’t, “suggestions”, they’re corrective action issued by law enforcement on the behalf of the society they are serving. You can’t just opt to not go to jail if you murder someone, just as you shouldn’t be able to opt not to serve your ban time because you abused someone. But for people who believe that punishments should not affect them- people who evade the consequences of their actions-, the act of avoiding their issued punishment is considered an offense on its own.
Beforehand, our punishment policies did not factor this into the punishments. Upholding the, “one person, one account” policy, it was believed that since the multiple accounts belonged to one person, and we were punishing that one person, that it was punishment enough to simply ban all of the user’s accounts for a single offense, all to be unbanned at a single time. However, the Administration now believes that this is no longer valid thinking nor proper handling of a punishment. As such, we have amended the policy to fit our intentions.
The Sr. Staff has been throwing around some ideas for reforms, changes, and improvements that could be made on the moderation side of things, particularly when it comes to punishments. Many of the current policies are quite old, and have not been properly considered since they were accepted years ago. One such policy was regarding the proper punishment for users who were evading punishments, such as using an alternative account to avoid an in-game ban.
After mulling it over for a while, it has been decided to change our current policy regarding users evading punishments. Effective today, users who are caught evading their ban will have their punishment increased to the next level of their current offense. The additional punishment comes on top of any punishment currently being served.
Wait, what does that mean?
It means that if you’re caught evading a ban, you’ll be facing an even more severe punishment on top of your current one.
“Their punishment increased to the next level?” What does that even mean? I don't even...
Our Moderators follow a ban guide, which gives instructions on how to punish players for certain actions that are not allowed. The severity of the punishment is dependent upon how many times the user has committed that offense, so a user who is a repeat offender will face higher and higher punishments (until they get stuck with something permanent).
So a player who Abuses another player gets a 3 day ban for the first offense, a 5 day ban for the second, and a permanent ban for the third.
Our current policy change would increase the punishments for users who evade their ban by one level. So if a player abuses another player gets a 3 day ban, and that player immediately evades their ban by playing on an alternate account, that player will have their ban escalated to include the 5 day ban on both of their accounts as well. So as far as the user knows, they just got banned for eight straight days (3 days + 5 days) for two simultaneous offenses, and are just one step away from a permanent ban. Ouch.
Can I dispute the punishment for Evading a ban?
Yes, you can dispute the punishment for Evading a Ban via the Ban Dispute section on our forums. Fill out the forum as usual. If you are found innocent of evading a ban, the second level of severity for the punishment will be pardoned; you may still have to serve your punishment for the first punishment.
You can also dispute the punishment for the first offense you were punished for as well. So if you were wrongly punished for an offense, and you played on an alternate account which lead to an additional punishment, a ban dispute for the first offense may clear you of both punishments.
However, do know that playing on an alternative account whilst your main account’s ban is being disputed looks no different than you playing on an alternative account because your main is legitimately banned. This confusion may lead to a second punishment being needlessly issued. As such, the Administration suggests that if you were falsely banned, do not play on an alternative account until your dispute is processed; that way there is no confusion whether or not you are evading a ban or not.
Why make this policy change?
Punishments aren’t, “suggestions”, they’re corrective action issued by law enforcement on the behalf of the society they are serving. You can’t just opt to not go to jail if you murder someone, just as you shouldn’t be able to opt not to serve your ban time because you abused someone. But for people who believe that punishments should not affect them- people who evade the consequences of their actions-, the act of avoiding their issued punishment is considered an offense on its own.
Beforehand, our punishment policies did not factor this into the punishments. Upholding the, “one person, one account” policy, it was believed that since the multiple accounts belonged to one person, and we were punishing that one person, that it was punishment enough to simply ban all of the user’s accounts for a single offense, all to be unbanned at a single time. However, the Administration now believes that this is no longer valid thinking nor proper handling of a punishment. As such, we have amended the policy to fit our intentions.
.
