Nashua
Administrator
Queen of Arcose
PL: 250,000
Oozaru (x5P) Ultra Super Saiyan (x17/x13T) Mastered Super Saiyan (x16P)
Tag: @nashua
Posts: 1,193 
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Post by Nashua on Feb 16, 2021 18:16:53 GMT -6
Hey, everyone! As a quick community update, progress on Project Sparking is going very well, and we expect to be done sooner than we initially thought! We know how excited everyone is to get started, but bear with us just a little bit longer as we finish ironing out the mechanics - we're doing our best to make sure this next iteration of our forum is the most mechanically-sound one yet!
That being said, there is one thing we'd like to get our community's opinion on for the reboot. One thing we've been focusing on is making sure all members of our staff will be treating players and be treated by players fairly and without any discourse. It's no secret that there has been some turmoil between the staff and certain members of the forum in the past, and moving forward, we'd all like to minimize forum conflict as much as we possibly can. And one thing that we would like to get your opinion on regarding that, is how the warning board is handled in the reboot.
On both Turbo and Souls, the warning board was a public thread displaying any and all infractions committed by members worthy of receiving and on-site punishment, with everyone's names and evidence plain for the world to see. The logic behind keeping this entirely public is that it gives everyone very clear understanding of why someone received the punishment they did, and how staff came to the ruling that was dealt out. However, some of the concerns with this system are that it stirs up drama with how public each warn is, and that it may feel shameful for players to have their worst moments displayed so publicly for everyone to look at.
We've been considering the possibility of making the warning board a private one, where only staff members will be able to see each infraction, and each individual member will be made privately aware of their punishment and why they're being reprimanded. Some of us believe this may be a gentler way to go about dealing with problem members without embarrassing them in public, while others have also raised concerns that doing things this way removes the transparency of a public board and opens the door for more easily carried out staff abuse - or, at least opens the door for accusations of abuse to more easily fly.
And at this crossroads, we believe it is fairest to let the community - that's you reading this - to pitch in with your thoughts and help us reach a decision. Do you think it'd be better for us to have a public warning board or for warnings to be privately dealt out to players? Or do you think there is some happy medium we can find? For example, some of us have tossed around the idea of smaller infractions being private and major ones, such as permabans, being public. We're very open to suggestions on this one, as we think letting all of you help us decide is the best way to avoid any potential issues in the future. Though please note, discussions should not center on the process of warns, merely how they will be presented.
Please offer up any thoughts you might have on the matter, no matter how small, below! After enough time has passed, we'll let you all know what we feel seems to be the consensus. Thank you for reading! |
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Piezo
Newcomer
PL: 10,500
Overdrive (x3T)
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Post by Piezo on Feb 17, 2021 8:17:54 GMT -6
In my opinion from past experiences, I think if you are talking specifically about displaying warnings or punishments, those should be made public.
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When you are having someone come forward to report something someone did or have issues that could be with a specific person or persons you might want that kept more private however. Maybe have something as simple as a discord channel or chat to pull people into so they can talk to staff if need be on request or just pm someone on discord or email them on the forum. Keeping this part of it private makes people more likely to come forward.
When it comes to the actual punishment however I always feel that part should be displayed. I don't like simply calling people out in a way that might seem as if you are mocking them or putting their transgressions on display, but in saying that showing the punishment someone is receiving can be a deterrent for the next person doing it. It also can go a long way to show that punishments are made equal so it keeps everyone honest and accountable.
Conflict is bound to happen with punishment by nature. You break the rule, the staff doesn't like it, the person being punished doesn't like it, it sucks for everyone. Being transparent limits that drama and conflict when you are up front with everyone else over keeping it more hidden so you don't end up with people making assumptions and trying to defend someone and arguments happen and finger pointing. Anyone that has been on an rp site has seen it happen at some point or another. When people lack information they start filling in the blanks for themselves, so best to skip that step I feel and just be up front.
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Post by Kalaboo on Feb 17, 2021 15:29:55 GMT -6
I think warnings should be kept private unless they impact the site at large. Stockpiling posts or circumventing travel time isn't as serious as ban-worthy behavior.
penis
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Post by Kon on Feb 17, 2021 19:50:26 GMT -6
Although public warnings do provide transparency, it isn't the only way that the staff can be transparent about it. It shouldn't be posted as if it's some sort of site-wide announcement, as it appears as if you're calling the person out and shaming them for what they've done, to put it bluntly. A situation does not always resolve if it is taken to public light, and sometimes people make mistakes. It doesn't seem right to single a person out and announce their transgression to the entire site to see, especially if the infraction is small, as it's giving an issue more attention than it doesn't need. In most cases, people will already feel ashamed if staff were to go up to them, dish out a warning and potentially see a little warning bar near their profile. There's no need to further make them feel worse by posting what is essentially a staff-wide announcement about it.
If you would like to be transparent about an issue, just have a member DM a staff member for some details about the issue rather than just post it on a public warning board. I am willing to agree that certain issues might need to be announced (such as the Natto situation or the person that posted anti-Semitic and nazi imagery in the discord) but for 99% of warnings, it feels inappropriate to post them in public.
In short: Warnings should stay private
EDIT:
After some thinking, I decided to update this post. All of what I wrote above is still something I agree with, although I have more thoughts added.
It's something from a more personal experience rather than anything, seeing how one of my friends is actually perma banned from the site itself. The warning board itself really seemed to impact how he was viewed in the community, and I understand what he did is his fault, but it's something that he gets mocked for to this day which had impacted his self confidence. I have seen especially for certain type of warn, those who break the rules will be subjected to some ridicule, and this is something I heavily disagree with and something I feel comes with making the warning board public. As someone who has seen first hand what the more negative aspects of the warning board can do, I heavily disagree with the idea of keeping it public
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Post by Derrick Ottoy on Feb 24, 2021 17:33:13 GMT -6
My personal opinion on this whole public or private thing for the warning board is a bit simple: Smaller infringements should probably stay private while much larger problems (that might've resulted in a ban from the discord) should probably be public. The only other potential idea I have is specifically for people who commit those smaller infringements. This is more of me just spitballing, but perhaps there might be an option for the offender to still have their warning posted, but that's about all i can really think of and i don't even know if it's a particularly good or effective idea.
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Post by Amara on Feb 25, 2021 11:04:35 GMT -6
While most punishments may be noticeable without there explicitly being a warning board post (I.E. a longer length suspension from the site or Discord), keeping a permanent record of minor infractions seems a bit harsh. Those people shouldn't have to shoulder that burden for the rest of their time if they do something stupid like an infraction on threads or some temporary toxic behavior. Larger punishments like longer suspensions / permanent bans should be recorded and made public - not only for recordkeeping purposes, but to also give full transparency and evidence to the people who have now been removed forever from the community.
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Post by Saizomaru on Feb 25, 2021 13:34:15 GMT -6
I'm all for privatizing the dealing of warnings. Considering 'cancel culture' has become a disturbingly increasing dogma in society nowadays, it wouldn't surprise me if a member ends up getting ostracized from the forum community for the most stupidest of reasons when in actuality it meant absolutely nothing in the long run and to most of the people at large anyway.
However, it would also be well-advised to give members a path for warning disputes as well: a notice saying they can contact either any staff member or the staff member that issued the warning via DMs on the site or through Discord, for example. Of course, offenders who were blatant about abusing the rules or who are repeat offenders likely won't even be offered that avenue for obvious reasons.
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