[POLICY UPDATE] IP Bans and the Forums

Yes

thank you

I'm about to unwatch the thread because I think everything has been said, but while re-reading I can't help think that there's one huge misunderstanding here (I could be wrong).

Please be well aware that a forum ban doesn't mean that IP banned players can't get their daily dose of EMC entertainment anymore. They can still visit the website, they can still read most of the posts we make and can also follow all the news and updates around the Empire.

The main difference is that they can no longer log on to share their own input on it.

It's not as if staff is trying to shut them out completely.

I took this into account, although it may not have looked like it, during my ranting and raving.

Oh, you can dispute the existence of a rule if you think it's not a good rule, for sure. You don't have to respect nonsense rules just "because I say so" or whatever.

I was just talking about choosing whether to follow a rule based on what its punishment would be, since you were saying it might not be fair for players to get a punishment they didn't know they would get, on the premise that they would've followed the rules had they known.

And I also wasn't talking about you "you", lol. I like you. :3

here you go...

Hi, just a comment passing through-

as someone who lays pretty low in game and on forums, I wholeheartedly agree with 99% of the staff's decisions, including this.

Why does a player banned from the server deserve access to the forum to simply start havoc, as displayed in Runder's post? And honestly, coming on here and whining is not going to help with an appeal, IMO

This makes it sound like I'm a banned player who came on here to cause havoc.

Never said you were banned, never was implied either, however, your picture depicts a banned player and you causing havoc for ???

It's his signature (just helping out and letting you know what it is)

it was a different post with another picture...i'll let someone else dig through this post and find it

That's called a joke. Just like my signature.

Havoc caused = minimal. No posts removed, no one had action taken against them, no one saying things they regret.

(I've been waiting to use this XD)
I don't really know any IP banned players very well, only one I've ever really talked to is Foxy. But I still passively disagree with this policy, (I won't rant about it because most of what could be said has been said, and besides what I say won't really matter here) because I don't play EMC much but I still poke around the forums sometimes, and can see why a banned player like CoryLovesYou or Foxy would like to keep visiting even after being banned.

IF (a player banned for something like scamming/illegal mods) does something like cause drama or whatever, THEN a blanket ban would be fully justified, *PROVIDED* they are held to the same standards of any other player *People IP banned for things like chat abuse should be blanket banned straight away* I haven't seen Foxy or anyone do something super-excessively-drama-causing that a normal player has been banned for (although I may be wrong about that idk)

Furthermore, even if you disagree with my above points, think about this; *it's still unfair to the players like Foxy because at the time they were banned this policy did not exist* And this is not biased because I'm an older player or something, honestly I can't give less of a damn about the in-game-age of a player =P

About your second paragraph - I'm still kind of on the fence about this issue, but I do see why that could be more negative than positive. See my second post - I believe I made a point that it would make the rule seem permeable, or easily bypassed, and eventually would make it even appear redundant. And as far as it being unfair because it didn't exist when the ban was passed... I highly doubt knowing they would be disallowed from speaking on the forums would stop them from the actions they committed. That's like saying because I don't know the speed limit on a road is 50mph I should be allowed to plead my case when I was going 75mph.

Foxy knew well and true when he committed his actions that they were disallowed by EMC. If he committed them without caring he would lose access in-game, do you really think him knowing about forum blanket-banning would change his behavior? It's very, very unlikely.

Also, please see ShelLuser's above post. These players can still view all the threads and many of the things on EMC. It doesn't cut the umbilical cord completely.

And it took 4 years to actually add it? I guess that explains why updates take so long. You just do them when you finally get around to it. k, got it, thx.

I have to disagree with this policy. I think that being able to see what is happening on the forums for a banned player is not something that needs to be taken away. The punishment is not being able to log in into EMC minecraft server. Lets say there is an IP banned player that said(in their mind), "&@!$ this server, they banned me, not joining back ever), his decision of not appealing is related to that he was recently banned, so he might take it as an attack instead of a time to grow as a person. I think, that for a IP banned player, seeing EMC's progress after some time after the ban(maybe by remembering he played here or something) might encorouge him to come back. Im sure that many of us, and staff want "reborned" people in EMC: caring, wise, respectful. Specially because it shows and proves that EMC is transforming people to be better selves.

Yeah, some poeple might not change, or even remember EMC(if IP ban was a long time ago), but the ones that do chage, should have a welcoming them back, but also remembering them that due to their actions in the past, he/she was banned(also state reason 'cause they might have forgotten). I know IP bans are rare, so making them a little custom, might be worth it for the player's good

These are kinda ironic, you call Cory by the name of "banned player", but you say he is no player...

I completely disagree with your secong statement. A banned player is a player(it says it in the name), and might also be a well remembered/respected player, just that for having a bad day and a bad actidude towards the rules. Although he does not play cause he is banned, he is part of the family. Many people may have a bad time following the rules due to a disabillity or just a bad habit of his coming from his family, where lives, etc. So as a community manager, saying "your are banned", might not be so helpfull for the player. Maybe saying: Hey! you were banned for this, this and this. You can appeal here, but also you might want to improve here in your attidude.(this is giving the player a goal to work on, and the reward is coming back to EMC(which I find as a great reward)).

-before starting, I completely agree with people respecting all rules at all time

Knowledge of punishments due have an effect on peoples actions(knowledge in general is helpful, like to know gray areas in rules that need to be clearer, so you accidentally break the rule cause there was no set limit, and you thought it was ok).

I have been banned(not IP banned), and it was cause I "scammed" someone. I do accept I scammed him in a way, but it was accidental. It was a troll directed to some friends, but they didnt fell for it. Forgot to close res, or remove the troll, but someone fell for it while I was not logged in, and since I didnt know about the rupee history(I didnt used the forums that often, if anyat all) I didnt know the person who I owed them the diamonds, so i just let sit the items separated from the rest, as they were not mine). Later, I was banned, and appeal bla bla bla. The point here, is that if I had the knowledge, or had forseen, that my troll could end up happening to another person, i would not have done it).

I have broken some rules, but have never disrespect them. I have killed a person in the wild(with their consent) to test a bug with fishing rods that had to be fixed. Could you say I broke the rules, yes. Were staff aware I killed someone in /wild, yes. Did the person gave me perms to test the bug, by killing them yes. Did anyone loose, no, 'cause I immediatly reported the bug, so no person could suffer what I had forseen that could happen. Another time I accidentally logged in to EMC using a hacked client(no, I did not exploit anything) , I told Cami about it(which was online), and just logged in with my regular client, and then chatted with Cami again. Was I disrespecting the rules? no, because I didnt know. Did I brake the rules in a way multiple times? you could say so, but my intentions werent to do so. It was for a greater good, or by accident. So your argument about knowledge is invalidated. Sure, I may be stretching the rules, maybe a little far, but I do respect the rules.

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Plus, I mean, the forums arent a game. They are social media. What I find amazing is that without knowing people irl, or even know personal stuff, I am their friends. That is the magic of the EMC forums. So for IP banned players not being able to show/say an opinion, for example, on a friend response to the 2016 election thread, is not necessary.

I belive in freedom of speech, but I already know your response Krysyy, EMC is private so you dont have rights, you have privilages, etc... I think you are wrong here, cause everyone has a mind and should say what they want, but, I also believ that a person's actions have consequences.

What I would like to suggest. Cause I know i won't be able to change your opinion on the policy is this:

• IP banned players to have access to homepage, but they cannot respind to any threads(or create them)
• IP banned players can create PMs, to keep relations with friends, maybe a last note to a friend or something)
• We should know why IP banned players were banned. You might disagree, I can let go on this one
• Maybe they can do chat status messages or that sort of stuff.
• IP banned players should know what they did wrong(maybe they dont understand what happened etc) probably this already exist
• IP banned players are players. Sure, they messed up multiple times, but you dont have to take them away from the EMC family
• Being able to appeal to for forum use, or forum use and servers

**Sure, if they abuse their little privilages that are left(the ones I suggested), just take them out of the grid.
Hope, I made my point clear. have a nice day! hope you consider my opinion

It's not being taken away, only the ability to post and stuff. You can browse the forums without even logging in, so that could never be taken away.

Saying "banned player" is like saying "former player", potentially "future player". Yeah, the word "player" is in there, but it doesn't mean they're really a player at the moment.

There's a big difference between rules and punishments. I never said you don't need to know rules; you should absolutely know the rules.

It sounds like you only broke rules by accident, or for the sake of bug testing, with staff knowledge. That's not what I was talking about. I was talking about people knowingly breaking the rules because they weighed the risk of the punishment and decided they could live with it - a circumstance that was only ever hypothetical and derived from someone else's implication.