Post by Kouji - Hikari no Shiro Okami on Dec 12, 2009 22:52:04 GMT -5
Hello everybody!
Miri speaking - you probably know me as Kouji/Kouichi, or Elexa, or one of my other myriad characters around the site.
Recently, there have been discrepancies regarding rulebreaking in the forums, discrepancies that have caused arguments between admins and players, as well as admins and admins. These discrepancies and arguments have caused a lot of unnecessary strife for both admins and players. I know that we admins are supposed to remain professional, to not let you all know we ever disagree, to keep up our standing with the players so you’ll respect us more, but I’ve found in personal experience that people like reasons more than ‘This authority figure has decided that X is going to happen. Deal with it.’ So, here it is – the straight-up truth.
The straight-up truth is, there hasn't been any set system for enforcing rules, and while we admins would much rather sit on our butts and let problems take care of themselves, that can't happen... and so our reactions regarding rulebreakers have been just that: reactions. Each case has been dealt with separately, and that makes it hard to be fair. Also, since everything has been decided in committee, these things cause a lot of arguments that spill onto people not necessarily involved. Thusly, we are all so tired from arguing, incomplete/confused facts, and bitch-fests (excuse my language), nothing gets done. Offenders get warned and told not to do it again, and we all go off and have our little separate sessions of self-loathing, anger, and all that other stuff. And, sadly, when we deal with issues so poorly, they have a tendency to happen again.
Well, in order to keep this forum fair for both admins and players, we all got together and discussed a system for how this will work. We unanimously decided, after much discussion, on the system presented below.
This system affects every player, starting now.
1. All players from this moment forward have clean slates under this system, regardless of conflicts in the past, to make it fair for other players.
2. Every time an admin hears of EXCESSIVE rulebreaking, I.E. killing someone's character without permission, dictating to an admin, blatant godmodding, etc., they will receive one Official Warning.
3. After three Official Warnings are issued, another offense will initiate a one-to-two-day temporary ban, repealable by the Head Admin (Volkmar).
4. At Admin's discretion, acts of smaller, minor rulebreaking can be passed by with a friendly warning. A person may ask why a friendly warning was given; however, after explanation, excessive arguing of a friendly warning can, again at Admin's discretion, result in an Official Warning.
5. Any public complaints about a warning, friendly or Official, will result in an Official Warning - if you don't like a decision, take it up with Volk, not the board in general
6. Volk has the ability to repeal any Warnings or Short Temp-bans given, but Volk's decisions are final.
7. After a Short Temp-ban is initiated, another reported incident will initiate an official admin meeting as to the length of a longer, usually MUCH longer, temp-ban. Do not make us do this.
8. Finally, if, after the Long Temp-ban, you STILL think it is a good idea to break rules, we will hold a meeting as to whether to kick you out. As before, PLEASE do not make us do this. We don't WANT to have to get rid of you.
This is it, guys. These are the official rules. We're being lenient here, guys, so please don't take advantage of our leniency. We want this site to be fun for all players, which is why the rules are here. We don't like having to be hardasses. In fact, we would much rather not have to actually use any of these rules. But here they are.
Miri speaking - you probably know me as Kouji/Kouichi, or Elexa, or one of my other myriad characters around the site.
Recently, there have been discrepancies regarding rulebreaking in the forums, discrepancies that have caused arguments between admins and players, as well as admins and admins. These discrepancies and arguments have caused a lot of unnecessary strife for both admins and players. I know that we admins are supposed to remain professional, to not let you all know we ever disagree, to keep up our standing with the players so you’ll respect us more, but I’ve found in personal experience that people like reasons more than ‘This authority figure has decided that X is going to happen. Deal with it.’ So, here it is – the straight-up truth.
The straight-up truth is, there hasn't been any set system for enforcing rules, and while we admins would much rather sit on our butts and let problems take care of themselves, that can't happen... and so our reactions regarding rulebreakers have been just that: reactions. Each case has been dealt with separately, and that makes it hard to be fair. Also, since everything has been decided in committee, these things cause a lot of arguments that spill onto people not necessarily involved. Thusly, we are all so tired from arguing, incomplete/confused facts, and bitch-fests (excuse my language), nothing gets done. Offenders get warned and told not to do it again, and we all go off and have our little separate sessions of self-loathing, anger, and all that other stuff. And, sadly, when we deal with issues so poorly, they have a tendency to happen again.
Well, in order to keep this forum fair for both admins and players, we all got together and discussed a system for how this will work. We unanimously decided, after much discussion, on the system presented below.
This system affects every player, starting now.
1. All players from this moment forward have clean slates under this system, regardless of conflicts in the past, to make it fair for other players.
2. Every time an admin hears of EXCESSIVE rulebreaking, I.E. killing someone's character without permission, dictating to an admin, blatant godmodding, etc., they will receive one Official Warning.
3. After three Official Warnings are issued, another offense will initiate a one-to-two-day temporary ban, repealable by the Head Admin (Volkmar).
4. At Admin's discretion, acts of smaller, minor rulebreaking can be passed by with a friendly warning. A person may ask why a friendly warning was given; however, after explanation, excessive arguing of a friendly warning can, again at Admin's discretion, result in an Official Warning.
5. Any public complaints about a warning, friendly or Official, will result in an Official Warning - if you don't like a decision, take it up with Volk, not the board in general
6. Volk has the ability to repeal any Warnings or Short Temp-bans given, but Volk's decisions are final.
7. After a Short Temp-ban is initiated, another reported incident will initiate an official admin meeting as to the length of a longer, usually MUCH longer, temp-ban. Do not make us do this.
8. Finally, if, after the Long Temp-ban, you STILL think it is a good idea to break rules, we will hold a meeting as to whether to kick you out. As before, PLEASE do not make us do this. We don't WANT to have to get rid of you.
This is it, guys. These are the official rules. We're being lenient here, guys, so please don't take advantage of our leniency. We want this site to be fun for all players, which is why the rules are here. We don't like having to be hardasses. In fact, we would much rather not have to actually use any of these rules. But here they are.
