Reforming ban methods.

Support Suggestions Box
#1

[size=12pt]Hello,
I have observed a huge influx of permabans in the last two months. In fact, there have been more permabans since Verna’s ban that the entire rest of the time I have been active on this server.
This would be okay/make sense if the people who were banned deserved it. Some did. However, some bans seemed a bit extreme.

These are the bans that are questionable, in the order of occurrence.

1. Verna_: Verna was banned for stealing in survival. This was well deserved. Nothing more to say.

2. AirstarAirways: Airstar was banned multiple times in the past, for disrespect. Airstar was later banned because it was revealed he was using a fastclick/nuker. He was then unbanned, with a warning not to use these programs. At a later point, Madant approved Airstars use of the fastclicker, and Airstar used it again. That is, until he got banned. Now, rather that the misunderstanding be resolved, staff voted to permaban him. Mainly off the reason he wasn’t well liked by staff.

3. Cortwade: Cortwade was banned in the past for a major grief. He recently came back. Cortwade did his own thing most of the time. He joined Andre’s city and was building. It was obvious he had an interest in playing on PCB again. Now, personally, I hate his guts. However, his ban was utter bullshit. He was essentially scapegoated. And although what he did to offend Will (Whbilbo) is understandably offensive. It is not really worth a ban. Now, I understand he appealed to a city on the forums (which makes no sense) but what he didnt really wasnt worth a ban.
People complained about his “use of caps” while, if you check the chatlogs, others USED CAPS against him as well. He was outcasted by many in the wake of his action on Will (Whbilbo)
Eventually staff concluded to ban him, permanetely, even though he didn’t really break a rule.
Rules: [details=“Spoiler”]1. Griefing
Griefing is the act of destroying another players property, intentional or not, and causing grief/sorrow/anger to that person. It will not be tolerated whatsoever here and there is no excuse for doing it. Respect others buildings and they will respect yours. We have plugins set-up for the sole purpose of finding, fixing, and banning griefers.

  1. Harassment
    The discrimination of any player or staff based on race, religion, sexual orientation, gender, looks, or rank within the server will not be tolerated. Trolling also falls under this rule and will be treated as harassment. Treat everyone with respect and they will do the same for you. Be polite and understanding of other players.

  2. PG-13 Within Reason
    We exercise Freedom of Speech, but within limits and reason. Children do visit and play on our server, although they should be watched by a parent, we won’t enforce rules against swearing/cussing. However, excessive swearing or cussing at players will lead to temporary or even permanent bans. Racial slurs and/or downright disgusting vocabulary will be a straight up permanent ban.

  3. Ranks
    Never ask for a rank, earn it. We will never promote a player who asks/begs/demands for a higher rank. The only true way to achieve a higher rank is by registering for the forums and being a good example to other members and players. Trust is earned through time, not given by force.[/details]
    Now, it could be argued that he broke the rule on harassment. But did he? As it states in the rules, “The discrimination of any player or staff based on race, religion, sexual orientation, gender, looks, or rank will not be tolerated.”
    Did he mention race? No. Did he mention religion? No. Sexual orientation? No! Looks or rank? No. Now, I do see that disrespect towards another is not allowed. However, if Cortwade decided to built a gravestone for someone after their passing, especially in their memory. Especially IN THEIR OWN CITY, is it not their decision to make? How is this disrespectful? It isnt a rude gesture and if Whbilbo didnt like it, well, it was still over the top.
    In all honesty, the same thing happened to me. One of my few friends committed suicide, and someone (I believe it was Cookie or Jmv) made them a gravestone/memorial. That was frankly flattering. I can see how others would have other reactions but is taking offense to things is solely opinion and the offence is always bannable. Then I am offended by this ban.
    Another… interesting ban. Next hoo-man please!

4. MattDB: It was recently revealed that MattDB was probably (95% likely) to be using an x-ray hack. While he did not admit to this, there is strong evidence that he did. Although this action was wrong, Matt was a very well respected member of the PCB community and had few past infractions. The decision to leave him permanently banned can EASILY be questioned. He was one of the most active donators/trusteds and was always friendly. He had very large cities in survival and creative.

[size=12pt]Now, although one or even two of these bans could be a regular occurence, and be accepted. 4 is far too many. Also, the bans get more and more questionable as we go down the list. The list is in order of occurence, so basically, permabans have been looser.
Another thing I have noticed is that there are many new staff members that have been promoted in the last few months. While some are doing excellent, others dont seem to be well versed in the rules and seem to be biased in their methods. I wont say names.
Is is quite possible that these two things go hand in hand. Since staff votes on permabans, more staff who are more biased is a threat to those that arent liked.
Or perhaps, people vote yes hoping to gain support for a promotion? If that’s the case we have some King Louis XIV stuff going down (Anyone get my reference?)

Now, I must say this. Although PCB is an amazing server with an amazing community, it needs work. The setup is great and the community is one of the greatest on the game of minecraft. But if things continue down this path then things will fall apart fast.
So, I would like to propose the banning system is reworked to allow for more of an unbiased banning system, which adheres to ONLY the official server rules. If it isnt mentioned, it isnt bannable.

I have said my piece, please dont remove this if you are offended or reprimand me.
Thanks,
John

P.S: I would like to hear others thoughts on this. Please, do have a ball. Just, lets not argue.

#2

My King! i think u kind of have a point, gibing it thumb up! XD

#3

I agree and I don’t. I think that the new staff member stuff is true. But, I think that the ban system for PCB is great but it would be worked on. Every server has it’s flaws :smiley:

#4

I partially agree, I partially don’t.

I think that all these bans were justified, but permabans could be slightly questionable for a few.

In my opinion, staff bias is [size=10pt]NOT a common occurrence. Sometimes, bias does play a role, but for the majority of the time it does not. PCB has some very good staff, but there may or may not be an outlier or two. As will happen anywhere. Senates, Congresses, governments, people, kids on a recess basketball court. Bias floods this world, but PCB (in my opinion) does a good job keeping it low. Bias is impossible to eradicate, but it is possible to regulate.

Thanks for reading

-Jm

#5

Exactly. In my opinion, Airstar, Cortwade, and MattDB certainly deserved their bans. But permabans is too far.

#6

I’m split, both sides have their ups and downs.
Personally I think that the staff aren’t biased but you will get an outlier like jmv said but only once or twice
and for some cases I think that a warning or temp ban should have been done.

I don’t know what else to say It’s up to staff to decide if the system should be changed
~Vex

#7

Everyone banned was banned for a reason. They have the chance to appeal, where they can explain themselves. If staff still find them to too troublesome for the server, they will remained banned. Ban appeals are decided by staff and are always justified.

#8

As for the new staff member thing, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. The staff members are the people in charge. We wouldn’t be accepted if the staff team didn’t see potential in us. You have every right to not like some of us as much as others, but you still have to respect us and our decisions. Verna, Cort, Airstar, AND Matt all have perfectly fine reasons to be banned. One point to bring up is that in each of the cases, there was an apparent lack of respect, especially towards staff. Specifically in the case of Matt, he kept arguing with us, instead of handling the matter maturely, he LIED to us, and totally contradicted his rank, and just had a bad vibe going on that entire time. Once again, you do not have to like us or our decisions, but you have to respect them. Point, blank; end of story.

#9

i have to agree with this, people will be people, there is no stopping what they will do, if they break the rules, they are punished, its almost like, robbing a bank and the police will be fine with it, that makes so sense. :confused: i say let the staff do what the staff have to do

#10

Honestly, it’s a written rule that, even if we don’t call on it, we can ban anyone for any reason, so long as we believe it’s necessary. I understand your concerns, but our bannings are, by the rules that have ALWAYS been in place, completely justified and follow the rules. Please do get over it, we’ve made the decisions for these bans, and many others in the past.

Thing I find funny is that banning frequency has been relatively normal. Do check the ban list. I think you’re just upset because of the Airstar incident still, where you felt the need to insult the staff for it.

TL;DR: Our bannings are fine. They have not changed, and will not unless we truly have to. Stop your bellyaching.

#11

The frequency is normal, yes. However most of these bans are people who come on to grief. We usually dont know who they are. The amount of permabans of players who are often online, and who are better knows, have gone up.
Actually, I am upset over the fact that three people (four counting Verna) were permabanned for things that were not permabanned for in the past. Especially Cort, as I have been just as rude as him (others have too) and we have not seen permabans.
Additional to that, I am not insulting staff. I am pointing out what flaws I can see. It’s natural for staff to defend themselves in this case, as staff make the decisions I am mentioning. Please, don’t take it as an attack on staff.

TL;DR: Our bannings are fine. They have not changed, and will not unless we truly have to. Stop your bellyaching.

Bellyaching? Oh come on, im just saying what I think. This isnt a complaint, its a suggestion.

It’s nothing like that. I am not saying people shouldnt have punishment, I am saying banning players who are usually quite active in the community permanetely is a bit far.
It’s more like sentencing someone to death for a nonviolent drug crime.

Banned? Absolutely. They all broke rules. However, is it really right to ban people who are often active and contribution (despite rudeness) permanently? The whole deal I have is with the permanent ban thing. People getting banned is not my decision, it’s staffs. However, sometimes staff goes to far with it.

#12

Saying banning someone permanently who is active in the community is “unfair” literally makes no sense.

So when we banned Anth permanently, a former STAFF member, for excessive lava grief, even though he was an active member, you’re saying it should have been a slap on the wrist, with a temp ban?

No. If anything, we’ve been too lax with bans lately. Too many people get away with stupid shit that should have had them banned long ago.

#13

Is Anth Amphitryon?

#14

No. Anthjmon10. Might have been staff prior to your joining.

#15

Cortwade:
I don’t know the specifics of his current ban, but like you said, he was previously banned for griefing, so he was on very thin ice as it was. Second chances are sometimes deserved, but third chances are never deserved. As for him ‘not breaking a rule’, the rules specifically mention “general disrespect to staff, or any other member” under the definition of harassment.

Airstar:
I don’t know too many of the details, but from what I understand, someone told him not to use his autoclicker thing, then a few days later he started using it again and asked mad if it was ok. IMO, he shouldn’t have been banned, but he was, and I will stand by the staff decision on that. In all honestly, he should have just stopped using it after he was told.

Matt:
Matt used X-Ray, which we perm-ban for. Always have done, always will do. He may have got a lighter punishment if he’d owned up, but he didn’t, so he’s perm-banned.

4 is far too many. In an ideal world, none of our players, especially regular players, would break our rules (which can 90% be summed up by ‘don’t be a dick’) but they broke the rules, and they got banned. 4 players being banned for breaking the rules is not our fault, it is the fault of those 4 who got banned.

We have rules in place, and people must follow them, or they will be banned. Being a regular player is no excuse. Being a donator is no excuse. Even being a staff member is no excuse for breaking rules.

As for your final statement, we already only ban for breaking the rules, however, it is written in our Terms of Service that we reserve the right to ban for any reason. (I have also now added this to the rules post too)

#16
#17

I used to play on a server and I got permabanned by the baseball system…

#18
#19

I don’t think bans should be permanent, depending on the crime of course.

Staff should consider using temp bans more often than raising the perma banhammer.

As a suggestion, say someone was banned for 2 weeks, perhaps for half of their sentence (1 week), they should not be allowed appeal their ban. After 1 week has passed, the user should be allowed a chance to appeal their ban, if the ban is lifted, they’re on a parole for a week. During this time, their actions are monitored. If they break a rule during their parole, they’re on the permaban list.

I’m just throwing this out there. I didn’t really think it all the way through so there’s bound to be some issues with my idea, but please do point them out.

#20

the thing is that there is a limit to ones patients and if you reach that limit you are a gonerrrrr