Important Issues the Community Should Acknowledge

You've raised awareness, and plenty of people are on your side. If you were indeed only on the character OOC, and invisibly, then make an appeal. You know in the appeals section, like everyone else has to.

The staff may well be willing to undo the ban if you suck up your pride and you explained your situation and what you said about being invisible and OOC was true. But now you are expecting special treatment.

You've made your point here, now go through the same process as everyone else.

 

Then that is outside the scope of the vanilla game and not on Aiko's head. ._.

 

Rules were still broken. The entirety of this incident is on Aiko's head.

 

By getting back onto the character after being told not to get on the character, even to watch things OOCly, is very much on Aiko's head. He had plenty of ways to watch OOCly without getting on that character, and he got on that character at his own risk.

 

What about Felonious using a name deliberately insulting another player while invisible? Surely that deserves an equal punishment.

 

What?

 

Before even reading the rest of the posts, because I can sense that the rest of them will have an almost argumentative point to try to persuade the community to support or dissuade this person in their actions... I can say from experience, that the moderation team is horrible with communication involving bans. Plain and utterly horrible. From history, and nobody should pop up saying "that's just the past" since we can see from example that this behavior continues, people have been banned without any prior warning of a ban, for seemingly light offenses, for an undisclosed amount of time. Playing on this server trying to follow the rules properly is impossible, because at any time, whoever is moderator can ultimately decide, on their judgement, even though it might not be the best judgment or course of action to take, to ban people. While the length of the ban might be anywhere from a simple day to a month, there is no way of telling how long a person will be banned for. The quick haste to ban people is also an issue here, no multiple warnings, zero tolerance, and things are expected to continue on without conflict.
Anyone who sees banning as something light should reconsider their perspective. If moderators are not going to give the common decency to warn people and encourage people to behave differently, then they are forgoing a level of respect given to the players and instead use their power abusively, to dissuade any conduct they don't see fit.
I would love to entertain the argument, that not even reporting abuse to the server owner is effective. He himself has banned people on very little context, extremely little, because he deemed it so.

So while for whatever reason this conduct continues on this server, I highly suggest that the moderator team either flesh out a clear, communicative, transparent driven method to dishing out punishment, OR that they label this server as a privately owner, 'play-at-your-own-risk' server that is heavily enforced with strict zero tolerance codes.

Otherwise, I cannot possibly imagine this server to be considered a public, safe, open to change and open to creativity roleplay server with the conduct that has been ongoing from moderators and staff from the very beginning this server was conceived.

 

To me, this argument has just been going around in circles. There won't be any more of a budge without a private appeal. The issue as of now has little substance because it is broken down into two sides that have branched from, yes, the name. The name being what some think has led to the ban and Aiko thinking that they were used in favor of being banned. In all honesty, I have become desensitized when it comes to threads like these because they were from big players such as yourself presenting an issue to the community due to an act being enforced on yourselves. They do bring issues to light, but they also bring about emotions and bias which are things that I feel should not be in such discussions. A thread like this should persuade the people showing a positive, a negative, and a compromise. A thread like this should not argue a point showing a side against another side. That does not bring change, especially not in a civil environment much like the one everyone deserves.

I feel no need to go into the character issue. It's not against the rules, but it is worthy of warning. However, the name was used 3 times, so the mods deemed it reasonable to issue the ban. A day was given to comply and the rest is blurry. Now, the ban. The side is that it was unjust and cannot be contested because you would be seen as not cooperating. This view has been used constantly against the police. You see your charge as unjust and refute it, but then get put down for "resisting arrest". Trust me when I say I'm stubborn as well, I stick to my guns and respect that you, Aiko, are doing so as well, but it does not hurt to cooperate. It is not demeaning, it does not lower you, and it does no harm to you. It's like when someone tells you to throw out the garbage on the floor and you say "But it isn't mine!" Well it doesn't hurt to throw it out. It keeps things orderly and keeps things moving. Hell, you'd be starting an argument just by not wanting to throw it out.

But yes, I see the issue here. All I can say though is that the mess is a series of steadfast actions from different interpretations of the rules. Something that should be resolved by protecting yourself against the report in a way that does not come off as a "The system is unjust! I did no wrong!" kind of way. Do I think you did something wrong? Not really. Is this a little far? Yep.

As for the mods, I do appreciate that they are being relatively level-headed about this. But like Aiko, they are also a little stubborn. But hey, that's a human for you. Although mentioning Aiko's reputation doesn't really do much. He only used it in the formation of the thread. But like I've said before, the discussion should be more persuasive rather than argumentative. No bias, charged words, and reputation. The mods hold pretty fast to Aiko having to do an appeal (which I agree with as seen above), and that rules were broken (which I do not agree with). I think the situation should be resolved and rules be added to the server. I also think that threads like these should not just be brushed off as just an issue between player and administration, but a primary source that should be looked into to improve the server. Sort of like that wake up call a father gets when his child is dying of obesity or something. "Maybe it's my parenting."

Okay, those are my jumbled up nonsense of thoughts. I tried to be as neutral as possible, but I can also be biased and emotional. Like a human.

 

Eh, what I see now, is there are still a strong arm from moderators, and some foolhardy behavior from players. But again, the methodology of banning people, a sense of respect in the community between the moderators and players, is not flawed, but wrong. It is utterly bad. If Aiko wasn't banned, but warned, maybe given a chance to explain their name choice, before being punishment, then Aiko probably wouldn't have brought this up to the public. I see the moderators are quick to smash Aiko's credibility and to cover themselves. That's not really a nice open thing to do. If mistakes were made, and by damn this is something as simple as a name change, I don't think anyone would mind if both parties apologized and maked up. But here this isn't the case. By all means, bias and pretty intense hurt feelings are here. Hell, most of the staff might not even have liked Aiko's first character, by the way they sound openly critical of it. I didn't like Aiko Ikari either on the first run... but that is affecting how they judge the player. I wonder even if the report is really from a player, or, from a staff member or moderator who considers themself a player on the server. We won't know unless they tell us.

 

If over an hour long conversation with a player doesn't constitute a warning, I shudder to think of what standards you expect from us staff sorts.

 

That seems a bit unwarranted, witty, and snarky friend. I shudder to think of what consequences could come from pointing out the holes in how the moderation team performs conduct with people. You have been here long in the position of moderator, so surely you understand. Use the system you guys have. I remember I was told to use forum messages to conduct business or communicate with mods, so using skype isn't even a function of these forums, and is actually a pretty unofficial way of communicating with people. If you are going to ban someone, you might as well use the message system as well here, that way it is official, the player knows what's up, and so these kind of posts won't happen in the future.

I'd also ask that you consider what I actually wrote down, the points that I made. It seemed you snagged on the catalyst to my post, or in this case, the situation with Aiko.

 

If you feel the response was unwarranted, I'd suggest you take a look at your own wording and embellishments.

Keep in mind, Antares is a very large community. There are thousands of whitelisted members (Though the actual number of active players is much less). Things will be different compared to the 20 player servers for other games that people are used to. Does this mean the staff should care less, or treat players differently with no reason for simplicity's sake? No, of course not. However, it does mean that some things have to be handled differently. Disciplinary actions are one of these things, both fortunately and unfortunately. Compared to other roleplay servers for any game, tolerance will be somewhat lower due to the large number of players and traffic through the server. If you look at other large online communites, roleplay or otherwise, Antares is actually pretty lenient. Before any ban, temporary or permanent, you will receive a warning, and you have to do a lot to receive a permanent ban, which usually still allows you to appeal anyways.

In this specific situation, Aiko received a warning, said he would comply, and then didn't. He received a three-day ban. He could have appealed through our appeal system, but instead he chose to make a public thread about it, and behave in a rather inappropriate manner. What would you have asked that a staff member do? I will be frank. Three days is not a long time. Is it longer than a day? Yes, but it was seen fit to be three days in this case.

Antares is a medium given to the players and managed by 4-5 people at a time, handling hundreds of people that come through here regularly. If you have a problem with it, work to change it. Complaining the same things over and over again then doing nothing will do nothing but cause you to get more upset and make us more frustrated, so do something about it, instead of brooding until you decide it's a fine time to cause a drama-bomb and attempt to throw the server into turmoil for two days. There is a suggestion forum. There is a discussion forum. There is a security forum. Staff are as available to you as they can be, though most of us are rarely contacted by players until something like this happens. Apply for staff, do something other than tell us to fix a problem and then give the problem no name.

 

Bans, whether they are 3 day suspensions like this, or more long-term, are always discussed among the staff before they are made. This has never (at least as long as I've been here) been a wild-west, each man (or woman) is their own sheriff kind of show. We don't just pull the ban trigger whenever the impulse hits us.

We have provided a warning here. And have in the past. The only times we have a strict 'zero tolerance' policy is with griefing or other purely malign intentions toward the server. Is this always the case? I don't think so... We are not the omnipresent beings you seem to take us for, and so are as likely to commit a mistake, or make an error, as anyone.

While transparency is nice, and it would lead to fewer instances where the community and staff are pitted against eachother, rarely is it that easy. On this server, people form groups and opinions and friends and enemies, and so, independent of what the facts say, they will always have a bias and opinion. If it differs from ours, we are oppressors, if it doesn't, we are a group worth supporting. Transparency in every situation where there is a ban, to the entire community, is unnecessary and will likely draw up more issues and more drama than it will abate. Most people know why they are banned. They know they can make an appeal. And they do what they think is right about it. It is a shame that this is what Aiko thought was right.

And I assure you that none of us take banning or suspension as a light punishment.

 

It's evidently not slander. I will respond to your points respective to the number below:
1. You suggested the compromise in the first place, but say you revoked it, so how can you keep your claim to being 100% cooperative?
2. "... If you think you can justify banning or suspending me for 'using a name that was used several months ago' then I mean, go for it".
"I will pass that on to the staff if you decide to take back your word and play it again with the same name tomorrow. Until then, enjoy it while you have it. Hopefully you will reconsider rather than getting in trouble for something as silly as a name."

Just because you disagree with the terms doesn't mean you can ignore them. I'm fairly certain that that's what being disobedient is all about.
3. It was spoken of more, and the staff discussed it. Keep in mind he said "If you decide to take back your word," which you did, and he responded exactly as he said he would.
4. " so long as this doesn't happen again."

"[3/10/2015 10:22:50 PM] Twitch: So I have your word on this being done after tonight, yes?
[3/10/2015 10:24:48 PM] Aiko la Aiko: I guess so Lol.
[3/10/2015 10:25:41 PM] Twitch: A simple yes or no please.
[3/10/2015 10:26:16 PM] Aiko la Aiko: Of course dear, yes
[3/10/2015 10:26:47 PM] Twitch: Thanks. Have a good night."

"[3/10/2015 10:57:28 PM] Twitch: I will pass that on to the staff if you decide to take back your word and play it again with the same name tomorrow. Until then, enjoy it while you have it. Hopefully you will reconsider rather than getting in trouble for something as silly as a name."

You were told not to do it again three times within the same conversation. The conversation even ended with one of them.

 

Well, just so we can clarify, it has been said that you guys have expressed a warning..... through skype. If anything, that could be considered unofficial and unrelated from the server. Really, one could say that a contract made on skype has no relation to the server.... I'm saying, as I said with Twitch, use the message system on the forum. It sends a much stronger message than skype, which can be easily misunderstood, misread, etc.

And so, if this is a mistake.... why defend it so much? The one thing that is acknowledged is that errors happen, but that's a loophole to avoid the unsavory topic of a mistake being made. Acknowledging the mistake and working to change it for the better would be a much more reasonable alternative.

 

I'm gonna go ahead and say that, regardless of the medium, a warning given by staff should be considered official. Messages sent through the forum tend to be slower to be noticed and responded to, but a service such as Skype or Steam is quick and convenient. The forum is here to be used, but that doesn't mean that all server-related matters have to be handled through the Antares forums alone; if Skype or Steam is faster or more convenient for one or more individuals, then why not use it?

 

Okay, going to keep this short and to the point, as this is getting a might ridiculous.

Aiko, you were asked to stop using a name you have recycled in this server 4 times now, and upon refusing you were temporarily suspended from the server for 3 days, simple as that. You can appeal to have this revoked if you feel the reports filed on you were unjust.

Instead we have a 4 page thread of drama, shittiness and finger pointing. Stop arguing, stop fighting, file your appeal and be done with it, this is a supremely inane issue that is being needlessly dragged out because everyone is too prideful to admit they are wrong.

 

I am locking the thread, I don't care if you didn't want me to, this is getting hostile and toxic

 

I'd like to point out that we're all available to talk if you want to have your concerns addressed. I'll even go as far to add you over Skype or Steam and give you a chat, but I can't speak for the other Staff.