Star Wars Roleplay: Chaos

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Question Should we create an area where all bans are publicly announced?

This is a situation that greatly interests me because it's a situation talked about in detail by a friendly group of sizeable community Administrators and myself.

It's been advised, and suggested, that an area where all bans are publicly announced could be beneficial to communities in the long run. It lets you know what's actually happening behind the scenes, and it gives the Admins the responsibility of having to legibly report their actions to the community. It also gives the community a honest, adult conversation - here's what the actual contexts are getting banned for, here's the decision the Admins came to.

And most importantly, here's what the member did to warrant a ban.

There are a few drawbacks, though.

1. Obviously we wouldn't open it up for discussion, there's too many arguments that would be had and people would feel empowered as if they're a part of the ban decision.

2. No matter which way you cut it, this will be seen as a way to shame banned members. In my experience, most ban situations are recoverable and the member can continue on past the situation - so this is the bullet point I have the most trouble with accepting. However, I've seen a great deal of Admins beyond Chaos - communities I regard, leaders I respect - advise that it's actually been greatly beneficial to their communities and that for the most part, it's been treated maturely.

3. Members who feel ridiculed when revealed why they were banned are way less likely to ever come back. Other Admins and I pretty much agree in sync that this is a worthwhile drawback, despite our intention not being to "ridicule".

We already sort of do this.

Right now our policy is to inform the MFOs and the RPJs. That's literally the only people who get informed of the bans, and it's usually not a lot of information passed - just, "this guy got banned, here's a short sentence why." I mean, sometimes the reason is actually short. Sometimes we've provided a couple of paras of explanation.

Anyways, you made it to the bottom of a rather lackluster non-fiery suggestion thread. What do you think, should we do it?
 
I personally more or less agree what's said here; just have a list put somewhere. Probably not anywhere major like a list in the main home screen for the site. Perhaps put it as a Stickied thread in Staff Announcements in the same way that the Welcome to The Codex thread is for the Pre-Codex section. Then just add to it as you go.
 
I'd say yes.

While it is obviously a "shame" on ban members, it gets out eventually no matter what why someone was banned - the problem is it gets filtered through opinion and perspective until all that ends up to the majority of people is "staff bad staff corrupt". We seen this time and time again before Tefka is forced to post an article explaining the situation, but by then it's already too late. Staff should stop playing catch up with the drama, and instead get ahead of it.

Clarification on the situations, laying out the facts, and leaving it all out in the open to read (and not debate) can definitely help with the bad press staff get for banning a member.

I'd also say that it may keep people away who intend to repeat, but for those who can actually make a change in their behavior it wouldn't effect as much. They could see what they had done know it wasn't who they are now, and work past it. Perhaps that's just hopeful thinking, but it'd be nice.
 
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I understand the hesitation for this:

2. No matter which way you cut it, this will be seen as a way to shame banned members. In my experience, most ban situations are recoverable and the member can continue on past the situation - so this is the bullet point I have the most trouble with accepting.

But I also believe that anyone who is truly apologetic for their ban would be able to show how they have grown since a ban was lifted. If they can't show better behavior then this would just as much serve as proof of their problematic habits as well as a good reminder for everyone why they were banned the last time as well.
 
Just off the cuff, maybe something along the lines of a static thread with a simple post format.


NAME: Boba Kenobi
DURATION: One week
RATIONALE: Cooldown

NAME: Darth Apocrapalypse
DURATION: Permanent
RATIONALE: General Rule 4 (harassment and abusive behavior) - doxxing and racial slurs



Is there a way to turn off reacts for a thread or subforum? That could help nip additional drama in the bud.
 
Lifelong Nerd, Roleplayer, Writer and Philosopher
I say only in cases of the most severe and heinous infringements for the most disrespectful and downright immoral of users, as anything less then that will lead to alienation for lesser offenders and power hunger/vanity-oriented ego trips for any mods and non-mods that become involved in the banning of minor infractions.
 
A brilliant fire
Top Poster Of Month
I came here from a community where there was zero transparency towards members about disciplinary actions. Staff had a list of bans with a few sentences to explain why, but only a few upper admins typically knew all the details of a case. Only on rare occasions, an announcement was posted to give a brief explanation to the community, but it never explained much at all. Absolutely never contained screenshots or any form of evidence for people to make up their own minds.

I've seen this lead to countless cases where large groups of members defended complete whacko's who were banned for incredibly yikes things. While there will always be people defending even the worst types, I felt a complete lack of transparency often sparked a lot of unnecessary drama.

So I'm in favor of a public list of sorts, and a simple format like Jend-Ro Quill Jend-Ro Quill suggested could be a good option.

An idea to maybe lessen the feeling of shaming folks could be to distinguish between the severity of cases somewhat as well. I'm not quite sure if Chaos does temporary suspensions with the idea beforehand that it's temporary, but if members are banned/suspended for X amount of time just to cool off or get their shit back together, perhaps they could be kept off the list. Although I do see Amea Virou Amea Virou 's point as well, and there's a chance the grey area between a suspension and a list-worthy ban could be annoying to figure out.

The last point I wanted to make is something I don't feel would have become an issue — just figured I'd add it — but in cases where a member is a victim of someone's behavior, their name should not come up in the context of why the other member was banned. Examples are situations involving blackmailing or sexual harassment. To keep the victim there anonymous, I feel is important. But again, I don't feel that's something that would have been overlooked. It's just one of those things to keep in mind when it comes to transparency.
 
alienation for lesser offenders and power hunger/vanity-oriented ego trips for any mods and non-mods that become involved in the banning of minor infractions.
This isn't really an issue. Moderators (Role-Play Judges) cannot ban other members, only admins can, and even so a ban is in general a last resort after several warnings have been provided. If anything, the site has been almost too lenient with its bans at times because there is a heavy emphasis on the community self-regulating.
 
Relationship Status: It's Complicated
Tefka Tefka

I think this really comes down to one question.

How necessary is it for Administrators to control the narrative?

There is going to be a narrative no matter what y’all decide to do. Transparency will minimize speculation and the factually incorrect information people like to pass around when the admins do decide they need to take action.
 
Absolutely.

You already inform the community by telling the MFOs who gets banned, and then instructing them to remove said parties from their faction discord servers.

With this, you'd be cutting out the middle man and giving the community much needed transparency. The more people that can see and understand why, the less toxic folks can hang out in back channels trying to start a "revolution".

Edit: I also think successful ban appeals should be mentioned in this same forum. If site staff is giving someone another chance because they're no longer toxic, it's worth giving them a public thumbs up.

Tefka Tefka
 
Living In Color
Codex Judge
Doesn't need to be announced as a whole thing to put people on display, but yeah. Echoing a lot of above, cause they changed my mind. Rumors gonna spread regardless, having a place where facts are put out is always a good thing. Not just to stop rumors of Admin Abuse, but for the person banned. If they wanna come back n' went through the ban appeal but some nasty rumors have spread that took something waaay outa proportion it can be bad.

Do the crime do the time, but nobody should be berated over false rumors.
 
As someone who got banned for using a prohibited name by mistake less than a week after I joined. I think I would have found this embarrassing and despite the fact that the Admin who dealt with my appeal handled it great and accepted my explanation and apology. I don't know if I would have felt able to return if I had been named and shamed in a forum where at that time I hadn't made the friends I have now.
 
Lifelong Nerd, Roleplayer, Writer and Philosopher
Spasa Spasa

Got nothing to hide, then you've got nothing to worry about. Myself, I want this forum to remain PG-13, healthy and non-perverse, lest it fall like so many, many others have in the past. No sexuality beyond kisses, and even that should be rare. Emotional bonds and good vs. evil are all that matters in this universe.
 

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