John Foulroberts
Admin
Hey everyone,
While we're on the subject of moderation (it seems to be a hot topic?), I wanted to officially flesh out our new banning procedures and systems. We've finally rolled out all the pieces and parts that it needs to function, so this is the perfect time to let you all know about it.
*It should be noted that the banning protocols themselves have already been in use for quite a few weeks now. We were only waiting on a backend portion to complete the overhaul, which I'll be explaining below.
To start, we no longer ban for standalone language. This means that "reflexive/habitual" typing of certain words or even typos will no longer ban you. The in-game bot that doled out automated warnings and bans has also been disabled for quite some time now. Sweet, right? We've also been employing some other advanced chat cleansing techniques, such as sequencing specific phrases, and even autocorrecting certain common words to a more appropriate replacement. However, let it be known that we can still read what it is that you typed and determine your INTENT behind those words. If you are harassing somebody and you use language or evade the filter, that'll be bannable for harassment of course (and not language use).
I'd also like to introduce our updated banning ladders and the brand new point system.
Banning ladders are currently taking on the following fashion:
To start, minor offenses are generally those that aren't enough to constitute a violation of the TOS, but they're typically regarded as disruptive (such as causing a ruckus during an event). They're things that are witnessed firsthand by a moderator in most cases.
Intermediate offenses make up the largest chunk of offenses. Things here include harassment, filter evasion, requesting or sharing personally identifiable information, and submitting inappropriate names to name approval, among other things.
Severe offenses also take on a range of various things. If an intermediate infraction (like the ones listed above) cross a certain threshold of number of offending chat logs/instances, the intermediate infraction becomes a severe infraction. Additionally, things like exploiting/autoclicking also fall into this category, as well as misuse of TLOPO services (like email).
These categories are also independent of each other. If you receive one intermediate infraction (email warning) but then commit a severe infraction for instance, you'd receive a 48 hour ban (since it would be the first severe infraction). Offenses are still gradually increasing in severity by nature, just a bit more divided out. This is done with the interest of keeping accounts around longer before termination.
Okay, enough mumbo-jumbo about the categories. I want to learn about the new stuff, the points.
Much like Pirates Forums employs a point accumulation system for tracking offenses, TLOPO has taken a leaf from this book. This was done to streamline internal processes, make moderation policy more seamless between the forums and the game, allow accounts to "last longer" before termination is dealt, and offer a chance for accounts to "redeem" themselves in terms of behavioral infractions. Yes, after a period of time, we'll forgive your past bans.
If you receive any intermediate infraction, 1 point will be awarded to your account and it will take 2 months to expire. Likewise, severe offenses are worth 2 points (by default, it can be upped) and will take 4 months to expire. In order for us to consider the termination of an account, the active point total for an account needs to reach 10 points - expired points obviously will not count towards this total. If you're interested in keeping track of where you are at with your point total, you are able to log into the TLOPO website and view your point breakdown in your account page. NOTE: If you have NO active warning points, the section will not show in your account.
Also, it's worth noting that once an offense expires, the position in the number of offenses in a category will also drop. Say for example you have two severe offenses and one intermediate offense. The intermediate offense expires after 2 months, but you still have the two severe offenses. If you commit another intermediate offense, you'd start back over at the FIRST position in the intermediate ladder, the email warning.
I know I just probably slammed you all with a wall of text, but it was necessary in order to explain the innerworkings of our processes. I hope my explanations made sense, but if not, feel free to leave a comment below and myself or another moderator will clarify things for you. I think everyone will appreciate this new way of handling moderation - we're banning less and allowing more and more to be said, especially with the huge Whitelist updates that we periodically push out. That's a win-win in my book.
Cheers, everyone,
JFR
While we're on the subject of moderation (it seems to be a hot topic?), I wanted to officially flesh out our new banning procedures and systems. We've finally rolled out all the pieces and parts that it needs to function, so this is the perfect time to let you all know about it.
*It should be noted that the banning protocols themselves have already been in use for quite a few weeks now. We were only waiting on a backend portion to complete the overhaul, which I'll be explaining below.
To start, we no longer ban for standalone language. This means that "reflexive/habitual" typing of certain words or even typos will no longer ban you. The in-game bot that doled out automated warnings and bans has also been disabled for quite some time now. Sweet, right? We've also been employing some other advanced chat cleansing techniques, such as sequencing specific phrases, and even autocorrecting certain common words to a more appropriate replacement. However, let it be known that we can still read what it is that you typed and determine your INTENT behind those words. If you are harassing somebody and you use language or evade the filter, that'll be bannable for harassment of course (and not language use).
I'd also like to introduce our updated banning ladders and the brand new point system.
Banning ladders are currently taking on the following fashion:
- Minor offenses: 0 points, no expiry.
- All offenses: In-game warning and a kick from the server.
- If you commit many minor offenses in a row during a particular instance in time, a ban may be pursued.
- Intermediate offenses: 1 point, 2 month expiry.
- First offense: Email warning
- Second offense: 24 hour ban
- Three+ offenses: 48 hour ban
- Severe offenses: 2+ points (2 by default, any higher is determined by Senior Moderators), 4 month expiry.
- First offense: 48 hour ban
- Second offense: 72 hour ban
- Three+ offenses: 96 hour ban
- We reserve the right to increase this category of infraction past 96 hours as well for special cases.
To start, minor offenses are generally those that aren't enough to constitute a violation of the TOS, but they're typically regarded as disruptive (such as causing a ruckus during an event). They're things that are witnessed firsthand by a moderator in most cases.
Intermediate offenses make up the largest chunk of offenses. Things here include harassment, filter evasion, requesting or sharing personally identifiable information, and submitting inappropriate names to name approval, among other things.
Severe offenses also take on a range of various things. If an intermediate infraction (like the ones listed above) cross a certain threshold of number of offending chat logs/instances, the intermediate infraction becomes a severe infraction. Additionally, things like exploiting/autoclicking also fall into this category, as well as misuse of TLOPO services (like email).
These categories are also independent of each other. If you receive one intermediate infraction (email warning) but then commit a severe infraction for instance, you'd receive a 48 hour ban (since it would be the first severe infraction). Offenses are still gradually increasing in severity by nature, just a bit more divided out. This is done with the interest of keeping accounts around longer before termination.
Okay, enough mumbo-jumbo about the categories. I want to learn about the new stuff, the points.
Much like Pirates Forums employs a point accumulation system for tracking offenses, TLOPO has taken a leaf from this book. This was done to streamline internal processes, make moderation policy more seamless between the forums and the game, allow accounts to "last longer" before termination is dealt, and offer a chance for accounts to "redeem" themselves in terms of behavioral infractions. Yes, after a period of time, we'll forgive your past bans.
If you receive any intermediate infraction, 1 point will be awarded to your account and it will take 2 months to expire. Likewise, severe offenses are worth 2 points (by default, it can be upped) and will take 4 months to expire. In order for us to consider the termination of an account, the active point total for an account needs to reach 10 points - expired points obviously will not count towards this total. If you're interested in keeping track of where you are at with your point total, you are able to log into the TLOPO website and view your point breakdown in your account page. NOTE: If you have NO active warning points, the section will not show in your account.
Also, it's worth noting that once an offense expires, the position in the number of offenses in a category will also drop. Say for example you have two severe offenses and one intermediate offense. The intermediate offense expires after 2 months, but you still have the two severe offenses. If you commit another intermediate offense, you'd start back over at the FIRST position in the intermediate ladder, the email warning.
I know I just probably slammed you all with a wall of text, but it was necessary in order to explain the innerworkings of our processes. I hope my explanations made sense, but if not, feel free to leave a comment below and myself or another moderator will clarify things for you. I think everyone will appreciate this new way of handling moderation - we're banning less and allowing more and more to be said, especially with the huge Whitelist updates that we periodically push out. That's a win-win in my book.
Cheers, everyone,
JFR
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