[Results] EMC Rule Enforcement

Permabanned? Yes, but a temporary permaban. One just for the sake of resetting their rupees or res. It would be like a fine, except unlike in real life, you only get one second chance, not four or more (i know drivers who have gotten 5 speeding tickets, they have yet to have their license taken away). Caught again? Permabanned for good.

Reading the thread to the end, what I feel Silken_Thread and some others wanted to say is that seeing people being banned because of minor (?) incidents, disappearing without a trace besides few words in the output of "/p", without ability to get the evidence presented and to defend themselves in public, possibly without real chance for an appeal and pardon - makes (other) people feel uneasy and has negative impact on community.

It is also very true that not banning trouble makers would have a strong negative impact on the people playing.

So, IMO, it is important to deal with rule breakers and trouble makers - and it is very important how it is done.
Dealing with them in secret, not presenting evidence for everyone to see, not allowing to appeal in public is not a good idea - because of the community. There is a reason why in RL you have to provide evidence and you have a jury, why court decisions are open for everyone to see.

I've read several statements from staff about what is the most important on EMC - "community," "economy," "interest / revenue of the proprietors" ...

But EMC lacks critical components in the fertile soil where the community and economy could develop.
A community does not form around thin air, it needs something common to the people, something they can call their common property and where they can decide what to do with it.

EMC is a Justin's and Jeremy's game that people here like and therefore come and play.
I'd say it's at most half-community and half-(one-way)-economy.

I wasn't complaining about my ban...?

i swaer this sounds familiar....
you weren't banned where you? because you are sounding like copherfield.

This is a little off topic, but I was playing with my first beacon tonight. I set it to Speed II and went zipping around my residence, then realized one of the players you mentioned was banned for doing what I am now doing legitimately. Bahahahaha!

Well, no, I was never banned - not from EMC nor from anywhere else.

In RL I've chosen to leave my home country and migrate because of its economy and political system. In some figurative sense, this is a bit like being banned. This was a motive for me to keep asking "why" and start studying economy and politics.

A harsh and insensible prosecution of (petty) crimes and drastic punishment is typical for (underdeveloped) societies / communities which do not care about people.

When people are treated without respect - even if they are wrongdoers, criminals, rule breakers, cheaters ... - when basic human rights are denied, then it affects the whole community, all of the people feel uneasy and unsafe.

I assume you mean democracy, not politics.

Because it is impossible to have no politics. Some may think this is just a game - but this is really people, a community is made of people, and humans are political beings. The word politics comes from πόλης (polis) - city, (-> community with common property and interest), πολιτικος
(politikos) - "of, for, or relating to citizens." Politics means "social relations involving authority or power."

You can not have a community and not have politics (community).

You are making the policies and politics here - for the biggest part, you have authority and power. (So EMC is a diarchy - with two diarchs ). So the question is how do you see and judge people here, how do you see people in general, how do you think a community (and economy) can grow and develop.

Just wanted to point this out real quick. The majority of cases handled in the American judicial system are actually handled just in front of a Judge. No jury. You have the option to be judged by your peers if you wish. But most of the time, people do not choose this option. Because it means more time and money to person being prosecuted.

Our community did not form out of thin air. I use past tense, because there is a community here. I do not know what you could possibly mean by a half community? Like you said, its formed around common property. Which is why a lot of our big decisions are affected by votes and polls that we put to the community. Including this survey. If the votes had been 'Majority for lax rules/punishments', guess what? We probably would let up on the punishments and how rules are enforced. We give our community the option to help us make decisions.

You should know that using speed hacks is not the same as speeding in RL. The way they are enforced is treated differently because in this environment, it is different. A speed hack is not considered a minor violation, because it falls under an umbrella of 'Hacking'. Same with many things in American law. Speeding would be more comparable to something like Chat Violations. So just because both have to with velocity, does not mean that are completely on the same plane, because they are not.

to strict

Exactly...

- The community is there only as long, as much and in the way the diarchs like it and care about it. It has little or no life or existence of its own. No matter how wise, benevolent, healthy and careful the diarchs are, this is a critical restriction.

- The diarchs are not accountable to anyone, it is their game, they can turn it off tomorrow if they want, any future of the community is highly uncertain. The virtual life of any player is at their will to keep it or destroy it. This propagates "downwards" and is highly visible e.g. when there is use of power and repression (e.g. censoring) without any explanation or when rules are set without explanation of the background and intention, when there is a statement "we will (or won't) change the rule(s)" and there is no "because...". This is also highly visible when people think that they are expected to blindly and strictly follow the rules without critical thinking and questioning. This is a big restriction.

- The community can suggest, but it can not make decisions, it has no power, there is no democracy.

- There is no organization, no structure within the community, the community can not manage itself. This is a critical restriction.

- There is a semblance of an economy, but it is really only an one-way system "for supporters to get stuff more easily," in first line to attract more paying supporters. There are restrictions of and ideas about further restricting of the economy, about keeping it "in check." This means restricting the community at the same time. This is also critical.

- There is no other power that would balance the power of the diarchs, there is no power sharing, there is little reliability. The diarchs are a potential "single point of failure," meaning that if they fail, the whole system fails.

- The people (the community) have no rights, even basic human rights are explicitly put below the interests of the diarchs (this has been discussed extensively in the forum.)

- There is no system to protect rights (well, it is not needed if there are no rights.) The very same instance "investigates," "sues," "judges" and punish.

- There is no freedom of information, freedom of speech. There is censorship and removal / hiding of information.

- The involvement is minimal, people do not care (this is more a symptom, not a cause.)

- There is a semblance of an economy, but it is really only a one-way system "for supporters to get stuff more easily," to attract more new supporters. There are ideas about restricting the economy, keeping it "in check" - and it means restricting the community at the same time.

- There are classes and a blatant segregation. It has long-term effects on the community even if the immediate effects are remedied by certain factors (numbers and the art of social interaction) and are milder as one (I) would generally expect.

The common property of this community is thin, it's not enough there, there is no structure, there's little community life of its own, there are many restrictions - therefore "half-community."

Even if most of the people do not understand in detail what is going on and how it affects them and the community, I think that most people do have a feeling for community and politics, that most can feel when something is "not quite right." This feeling is important - if people feel safe and secure in this community, if they feel that there is a good chance for it to have a (pleasant) future. If they feel that it is "dead" or "derailed," they leave.

There is a kind of community, but it has (too) little space and basis to develop further. It is interesting - if there ever will be a critical mass - if the human Nature will find a way to overcome this restrictions (like it did happen in RL numerous times.) What is going to happen?

But ... as some have already described, this game is interesting and for many obviously good enough even without a full community life and a sustainable economy.
Having few good playmates and friends on EMC is a good reason to log in, mine a bit, build a bit, trade a bit (Not that I wouldn't like to see EMC grow and reach a critical mass )

I strongly disagree with a lot of what was posted above and feel we have a strong community that helps push us forward in everything we do. We not only have rights for everyone but STRONGLY protect them as shown in this survey we did.

This topic was mainly created, however to show the results of the Community and what they wanted and not to debate if we're a "full" community or not, which I think is silly to say we aren't, but closing the topic now.