Ok, we have a problem. We have some people following the rules, some people not. The people that don't follow the rules often don't have any one rules violation that warrants a suspension/ban from the forum or an opt-in group. However, in many cases cumulatively their actions/violations warrant a suspension or loss of opt-in privileges.
Much of the feedback we receive is that the repeat offenders keep getting away with attacks and other rules violations. However, we have no good way to monitor and issue suspensions and opt-in bans, because it is all too arbitrary right now.
Now that the mods are in charge of suspensions, we have and are talking about things, such as three strike policies, but what constitutes a strike?
Should all of the following 'equally' count as a strike:
- Someone typing f'k and circumventing the language filter
- Someone typing "geez, apparently you don't know how to read"
- Someone typing "you are a worthless piece of shit, and I hope you die a slow, painful death"
All of those are rules violations, but should they equally count as a 'strike' in something like a three strike policy?
Hence the dilemma. I have been roundly criticized for being to lenient and not banning people who deserve to be banned, but it is very difficult to make arbitrary decisions on rules violations of varying degrees that occur over extended periods of time. Add to that the fact that we all have 'bias' (thanks Buff for reminding us ), so human nature is to give a 'pass' to someone you think is typically a good poster that got caught up in the moment, vs. someone you think is a 'trouble maker'. However, how many times should a 'good poster' get a pass, before s/he is moved to 'trouble maker' status?
These are just 'some' of the factors that people don't see on a regular basis, which makes it hard for me personally to pull the trigger on a ban, and tend to give people second and third chances.
Now, as the banning is being turned over to the mods, we are discussing exactly what criteria should be used, and once again we find ourselves with the same old question, are all violations equal. I don't think so, which makes an x strike policy very difficult. It makes getting it "right" with arbitrary and subjective bannings virtually impossible.
So, while it may be very unpopular with those of us that came from Mania, I am proposing that we institute an infractions points (IP) system, similar to that which existed on Broncosfreak and similar to what Mania has. More important, it is similar to what works VERY well on thousands of other message boards. It is a built in and commonly used feature on vBulletin boards.
For those that came over from Mania, please have an open mind and read on, because this can enable us to remove the subjectiveness (and even bias, Buff ) from the process of deciding when someone needs to be banned/suspended.
I will describe conceptually how the system would work, but this is just a concept, meaning we haven't gone through and defined every infraction, length of time, etc. That would come after we decide to go through with this, depending on the feedback we receive.
So, the concept is that any post that violates a rule, will result in a mod issuing an infraction. There will be multiple infractions, such as:
- Circumventing language filter outside the lounge
- Personal attack - minor
- Personal attack - major
- Defying a mods directive
- Racist remark/gender harrasment
- Sig/avvie violation
- Posting nudity/inappropriate graphic
Each one of the above would be assigned a point values and expirations, maybe like:
- 1 pt - 7 days - Circumventing language filter outside the lounge
- 5 pt - 14 days - Personal attack - minor
- 15 pt - 30 days - Personal attack - major
- 10 pt - 14 days - Defying a mods directive
- 10 pt - 30 days - Racist remark/gender harrasment
- 5 pt - 14 days - Sig/avvie violation
- 15 pt - 14 days - Posting nudity/inappropriate graphic
Then, there are thresholds where privelages are lost, lets keep it simple and just have three groups for this example:
Less than 20 points, full privelages
Between 21 points and 30 points, loss of opt-in privelages
Over 30 points, full suspension from message board.
Since each individual infraction would have it's own expiration, bans woud be issued and removed automatically as infractions expire.
Lets say I get
11/1 Major personal attack - 15 points - 30 days
11/7 Defying moderator - 10 points - 14 days
At this point, I lose my access to the opt-in forums (25 points).
On 11/14 Major Personal attack 15 points - 30 days
Now, I get a full message board suspension (40 points).
On 11/21 the Defying moderator infraction expires
Now, my full suspension ends, but I still don't have access to opt-in forums, because I still have 30 points.
On 12/1 the first Major personal attack expires, which drops my total points to 15, which means I get full access to the message board back.
So, in summary, that is how it would work. There are other nuances, such as a mod would have the option to issue a 0 point warning infraction on some of the minor ones, such as circumventing the filter, or minor attack, so we could alert the poster that they are doing something wrong and track it, but if it is a first offense, not have any points accumulate.
For all the people that have been complaining that we have been too lenient, or that we are not 'fair' in how people are suspended, this system is the ONLY way to apply suspensions/punishment evenly across the board.
While I believe strongly this type of system is what we need to move to, the fact that many on Mania had a bad experience with it, I want to have an open discussion about the pros and cons before any decision is made.
Please give input here.
P.S: There is also a selfish reason for moving in this direction. Up to this point, I have made all ban decisions, and I take making those decisions very serious, giving multiple warnings and being 'sure' someone needs to be banned.
I need to cease to have such a hands on involvement, and want to move more into a role where I can actually start posting again, act as oversite for moderator's actions, deal with poster appeals on bans or other actions, and then do the technical admin roles. I need a break from the day to day operations of the board -- I really need a break. I need to either be able to post again, rather than dealing with crap all day long, or walk away from the board for stretches, knowing that there is a system in place where the mods can keep things running like clockwork, and deal with problem posters.
EDIT: I was asked to produce a screen shot of what it would look like. This shows a couple infractions I received on mania, so it gives you an idea of how it will look when you go to your User CP: