Post by Trevor Williams on Feb 20, 2012 19:42:30 GMT -8
This outline is for situations in which site discipline is necessary. While we hope not to have to use it often, it sometimes will be needed. Since we've never truly had an outline of this posted for members to see, we're providing this to give people a better idea of what will generally happen. Staff has its own list of possible offenses, but the same basic outline will happen for them as well.
Depending upon the severity of the offense, some steps may be skipped or be added.
Rule Breaking
1st offense - Verbal warning.
2nd offense - Warning bar increased.
3rd offense - Four-week ban.
4th offense - Permanent ban.
Complaints
Complaints certainly aren't as black and white as rule breaking. Because of this, there are additional steps and length of time before more severe consequences may vary. We will always hear both sides of the story no matter what, and some things may never be pursued further if upon some investigation it becomes obvious the complaint is not valid. If it is he said-she said, however, we will likely ask other people's opinions on it before determining if the complaint is valid or not. Those complaints which prove valid will follow something similar to the outline that follows.
(Please note we do encourage members to try to work out their problems, but we do understand there are times when other members seem unapproachable and a mod may be necessary. For these situations, which are considered more personal problems, we will gladly sit in and moderate a discussion to make sure things stay on topic and don't heat up.)
I. Once a complaint has been brought to our attention and determined valid, it will be brought to the member's attention. The member will be asked to keep what is discussed in mind. This may happen more than once at the admins' discretion. If no change is seen after one or two attempts, however, it is most likely things will progress to the next step.
II. A three-month ban will be issued. During this ban, you will not be able to log in or access the c-box, but you will be able to see IC posts. If you're on Skype with us or in the Facebook group, you will also be able to access these. We only ask you don't blow up. By this point you've been given two or more chances to fix things and are being given this course of action because your lack of change is harming the community. Please use this time to reflect and work on your relationships with people on the site. If you need to discuss things with people, please do so in a non-aggressive way. Chances are people made the complaint to an admin because they felt you weren't approachable.
III. If you return and things don't show improvement after two to three months (at the admins' discretion), you will be given a second ban. This one will last about six months.
IV. Your fourth chance is your final chance. If no improvement is seen, you may be permanently banned unless an admin is convinced through contact with you at a later date that you have changed.
We feel this is a fair outline as it gives everyone even footing and a number of opportunities to change. If an offense is severe enough, we may skip steps. If it's minor in its effects, we may add steps. Again, this is at the administration's discretion. However, we will do our best to stick as close to these guidelines as possible.
Thanks for reading!