Wow. That title is a mouthful. But it gets the point across.
A while ago, a Community Discussion thread was posted with the title, "Should Ex-Hackers be Considered for Mod?". The discussion was highly productive and displayed a surprising amount of support for ex-hackers who wished to become staff members. The thoughts that were expressed have been held in the staff's mind for quite some time, and eventually a serious discussion began within the Sr. Staff about reforming our application process with that thread in mind.
A vote was held, and a decision was passed.
Temporary bans that are older than 1 year will no longer disqualify anyone from a moderator position.
If you wish to apply for a moderator position, and you have a temporary ban on your record, you will be allowed to apply normally once one full year has passed since the date of your ban. The offense does not matter, but it will likely be a considering factor with your application. Do be aware that any recent kicks, mutes, and non-ban punishments will be held to a higher level of scrutiny as a result of this, so we hope your history is otherwise spotless. Permanent bans will not be forgiven.
The decision was based on community sentiment and a belief of forgiveness with time. As shown in that discussion, the community was supportive of forgiving past actions and trusting someone with an imperfect past with a position of authority. The rest was a matter of time, and how long it would take for a previously-banned user to illustrate to everyone that they are reformed. While estimates varied quite a bit amongst the initial discussions, the Sr. Staff eventually decided that given the age of our community and the speed at which the Minecraft community operates, one year was a sufficient amount of time to prove someone's attitude.
In the discussion, the idea of having a special application process for previously-banned players was brought up numerous times. This option was also explored by the staff, but it was found to be impractical for the number of people we estimated would apply with previous bans. A separate application process would add a second layer of bureaucracy to the application process, taking up valuable time for what accounts to little outcome. The suggestions that included requirements for the staff to hang out with the previously-banned players in order to gauge their personalities would be too much of a time and personnel commitment, especially since staff members have other, more pressing responsibilities. General forgiveness over a certain amount of time added no additional level of bureaucracy whilst still proving one's integrity.
Ultimately, it was decided that if a player that was previously banned managed to clean themselves up and walk on the right side of the law for one full year, that user has proven that they are reformed, and thus worthy to be considered for a moderator position.
You can find our MCGamer Application section here:
LINK.
