If you ever get banned from EMC

Discussion in 'General Minecraft Discussion' started by Silken_thread, Feb 7, 2013.

  1. The purpose of rules on this server and others like it, is not just to keep the peace, but to also maintain a fun environment for all players. When someone breaks the rules they disrupt the peace and show a disrespect to all, both players and staff.

    We all follow the rules for this reason, so we can all have fun and enjoy the game play.

    When someone gets banned some of us do not like it, because we may like the decision was to harsh or that person was for the most part a good person. Or perhaps a temp ban would have been enough.
    I am no different I have felt this also, but think of it this way.

    We all follow the rules, we all enjoy the time we play on here, if someone chooses to break those rules what they are saying is, that they do not want to play by or follow the rules. When this happened's the peace for all is broken. So the mod/staff member must make a decision to return the peace to the server for all.

    Although its not a nice thing to see banning someone happen, the staff do a great job in keeping the servers clean and it is not an easy thing for them to do. Banning ppl you know is even harder for the mod/staff member.

    However any player found taking advantage of another or breaking the rules in a bad way should always be banned.

    There is enough warnings given out to ppl time and again. Putting the staff in the position of having to make this kind of decision is a real mark of disrespect to them and to all other players who play fair.

    As much as I dislike ppl being banned as i am sure other ppl do, I dislike ppl taking advantage or breaking the rules and effecting the game play of other players even more.


    As for if it is a fair judgement on the person being banned, it is between them and the moderator who banned's them.

    The correct way to appeal is to contact the moderator directly by starting a conversation with them and not posting a "Should I be unbanned" thread in the forums.

    Asking such a question of the community, only shows more disrespect to the moderator that banned you because what you are really saying is that they are wrong in the decision they have made.

    Moderator's take there instrutions form the owners of the server who over a long period of time and through long discussions come up with a set of rules that we are all made aware of when we sign up to EMC.

    We take it, that the judgements that all staff make when they ban someone is sound and that the person banned should have been banned for what they did as we support the staff of EMC.

    If a staff member deems it that they may have been too harsh in their judgement or new evidence comes to light then they may see fit to unban the person. That can only happen if the person banned goes to them directly and not post on the forums and only if they are genuinely innocent or the moderator believes the person is truly sorry for what they did and may reduce a perm ban to a temp ban. But again any and all decisions are made by them and not us the community, this is why moderators are chosen to moderate the servers.

    When a person gets banned they have not only let themselves down and lost out on being able to play on a great server with a great community but they let down the ppl the play with.

    So if you ever find yourself in this position remember you know the rules and you broke them, do not then go to the community asking should you be unbanned instead go to the moderator and follow the appeal process that is what it's there for.
  2. Good wall of text, 4/5
    jtc0999 likes this.
  3. I was just commenting to other staff about appeals and how to best write one.

    Step 1: admit to what you did.

    If a banned player can't get past step 1, they will never be unbanned.

    [edit] I was also commenting that we all hope people can learn valuable life lessons here that really don't matter and it will help them to not make them in real life where it can stay with them forever. We all realize there are a lot of young people who haven't completely figured out right and wrong and morality and ethics yet. Older people, too, for that matter.
  4. Thanks for this.

    In regard to bans, I also think of it like this: "It's not the person getting banned, it's that person's stupidity. I believe in second chances. I don't believe in tenth."
  5. No not just nfell, although that was my prompt to do this thread. Several ppl have done this in recent weeks and it seems some ppl just do not read the rules on appeals. In addition to that it is more annoying when the ppl who have got themselves banned know the rules enough not to post on the forums in this way, and yet still do.

    As for why ppl have got banned doing /p [name] and it will say why.
    jkjkjk182 likes this.
  6. To add to this, if the reasoning is "Derp", thats not the mod fooling around:p Thats a hack
    mba2012 and Silken_thread like this.
  7. I've already expressed my thoughts about punishments several times, so I'd add just few short notices here.

    - Punishment is a very sensitive topic.
    - How a community deals with offenses and punishments is telltale of its culture.
    - Socialization in an on-line community is part of RL. It can mean a lot, it does matter.
    - Expulsion from a community is the most severe punishment, it's comparable to life sentence or even death sentence.
    - It is better (for the community!) to let 10 cheaters remain unpunished than to punish one innocent member.
    - Offense committed on-line is offense committed IRL.
    - Community that does not care about its members is weak, or is not really a community.
    - Strong communities with high culture have mild punishments and best rehabilitation programs. (Why?)
    - Having harsh / brutal punishments is a trait of underdeveloped communities and authoritarian systems. (Why?)
    - Informing the community of what happens with it is important for the development of the community. (Why? Compare how it is done in RL.)
    - When people in power hide intentions, rules, proceedings and decisions from the community, even if it is presumably for its "own good" and with best intentions, it still presents a grave problem. (Why?)
    Compare: Freedom of Information Act, OPEN Government Act and similar regulations.

    - I also believe in second chance ... but not in 8th.
    - My vote is for adequate punishments with all relevant circumstances taken into account and permanent ban only for severe / repeated offense, where expulsion from the community is really the best decision and choice - for the community.

    They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.
    --Benjamin Franklin

    If we think about that...
  8. Perhaps I mis-stated my sentiments in this regard. It was not my intent to imply that online activities aren't important. Shoot, I met my wife of nine years online. But my point is that most of us don't even know who the rest of us really are here. How does that compare to your RL name and RL reputation that will follow you for your life, prevent you from getting jobs, mess up your credit score, maybe take away your RL freedom through imprisonment?

    That doesn't mean we don't all value our time, our creations, and our friendships here. And you are correct that losing those things through banishment is the ultimate punishment. None of the staff takes this responsibility lightly.

    This is the exact philosophy of the entire moderation team.

    None of us hide any of the rules or decisions, but we will always protect the privacy of our community--even those we had to remove from the community. Some of the perma-banned will not ultimately be permanently banned, but even if they are we feel we have an obligation to protect every member. Think about how our RL society protects underage criminals. We extend that courtesy to everyone and believe that it improves the experience for everyone.
  9. I think in all fairness EMC has a good balance on banned and unbanned ppl. It is also nice to see when ppl who are unbanned are truly sorry for what they did. On the other side of that, It is sad when those unbanned re-commit the same offences as they did the first and in all honestly I have no time for them and the servers are the better for them being gone.