Guybrush

Introduction

I am proposing a new policy for rule enforcement. Some key features are :

• Equal treatment of members
• Predictable consequences for rule breaking
• Transparent rule enforcement
• Mod job is made easier by automatic creation of reports, rule enforcement records and bans

I've summarized my suggestion below in some simple points. Each point is discussed more in detail below.


Summary

The proposed policy is based on the following philosophy.

• The rules should apply equally to all
• Mods should strive to react to any instance of rule breaking
• Rule breaking should be consistently punished with temporary infractions
• Members should be informed impassionately about what rule they broke and the amount of infractions they got as a consequence

These points are discussed below under discussion.


Plan of action

The following is a proposed plan of action for implementation.

1. Bolster the mod team with more moderators
   • Ask ex-mods to come back
   • Consider members for modship
2. Mods revise the rules in cooperation with admins (Yac)
   • Update rules announcement
3. Mods determine infraction amount penalties for various instances of rule breaking
   • Penalties can be revised to fit the current infractions system OR
   • Infractions preset values can be modified to fit penalties
4. Write up guide with examples in mods forum to help mods moderate according to new system
   
5. Inform the rest of the community in a dedicated thread
   • Set a startup date
   • Possibly give weekly updates on how the new system is working, perhaps with some stats
6. On startup date and thereafter, moderate post-startup-date-posts according to new system

Discussion

The rules should apply equally to all

Noone should be allowed to break the rules more than others. To ensure fairness and justice, the rules should generally apply equally to all, whether they are old time members, newbies, moderators, etc.


Mods should strive to react to any instance of rule breaking

To discourage rule breaking, it is important that rule breaking has predictable, negative consequences. Reacting to all instances of rule breaking is also a way to promote fairness, by ensuring that all who break a rule are punished.


Rule breaking should be consistently punished with temporary infractions

Temporary infractions is a great way to punish members and especially when used consistently. Among other things, infractions have the following benefits.

• Are easily available from every post through a drop-down menu
• Automatically creates a PM to the user and a report quoting that PM for other mods to see in the mods forum
• Has the ability to give predetermined amounts of infractions as well as custom amounts
• Are generally temporary, but can also be permanent
• Infractions automatically "keep score" for moderators, meaning that if two moderators unknowingly punish the same user for two separate rule breakings, the infractions add up
• Go on a users permanent record for easy reference in the future
• Makes temp/permabans an automatic consequence of the system, removing decision making and manual action needed to ban members

Infractions are versatile and while such a system can be strict, it can also be calibrated to be lenient, allowing members to commit low levels of rule breaking without serious consequence.

Small amounts of infractions generally do little, but as they pile up, freedoms are automatically removed as the user passes certain thresholds. A user who breaks a minor rule may not suffer any true ill conseqence, but if he or she keeps it up and gains more infractions, he or she may become automatically tempbanned until the infractions time out, putting the user back under the ban threshhold.

More than just a punishment, the amount of infractions a user has can be seen as a measure of freedom. A user with 0 infractions have more freedom than a member with 6 infractions.


Members should be informed impassionately about what rule they broke and the amount of infractions they got as a consequence

Members are generally punished through infractions, not through PMs. Should a conflict arise between a mod and a user as a result of an infractions PM or similar, the mod has nothing to lose while the member has "everything" to lose. To ensure that mods do not abuse this position of power by escalating conflict to goad or troll users into breaking more rules, policy should dictate that PMs are meant to be informative and never hostile.

Angry PMs from punished users are to be expected. Moderators should generally be encouraged not to answer such PMS, or at least to do so with professionalism and good temper.

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Something Completely Different

Oriphiel

Sounds like a plan, but there could be downsides to this system. I think a discussion about it wouldn't hurt.

Oh, and I thought you should know that "Impersonating staff" is on there twice, under 3 and 10 points. (Edit: Fixed! )

RoxyRollah

So did you update this because you feel like it's not happening? Or would you like to see it happen? What's really going on here?

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Guybrush

I agree and thanks for the heads up! Copy & paste error corrected.

This infractions system is built into the board, but it's not being used. I've been in support of using it pretty much since I discovered it. I discovered it after I became a moderator some X amount of years ago.

I've brought it up once or twice on earlier occasions, the first time in the moderators forum. It's probably buried in the discussion thread there. Now I thought I could bring it up again.

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Something Completely Different

RoxyRollah

Megalomaniac.


Ok. I was really just wondering where this came from. So are you gonna put this to a vote?

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Guybrush

I thought about it and decided not to. If I put up a poll, it's gonna be the first thing people see when they come to the first page. Most members don't really understand the infractions system and why it is practical and so there won't be an "educated" opinion behind their vote. One of the important reasons for this is that some of these benefits will apply to moderators and not members.

I can describe it briefly with an example in this post, though.

Examples of infractions in action

A moderator can hand a user X amount of temporary or permanent infractions. Generally they will be temporary. Let's say you have two mods and one user. Moderator A, moderator B and User DERP.

Example 1 : Mod A sees user DERP break a 5-point rule. Mod A gives a 5 point infraction which expires in a week. When Mod A does so, a report thread is made in the mods forum so that all other mods can see that this user was infracted. The infraction also goes on that users permanent record for all mods to see. This is very useful. Now, three days later, DERP breaks the same rule again and is infracted with another 5 point infraction by Mod B. This will cause DERP to have 10 infractions for the next 4 days, until the first 5 infractions "wear off". So, user DERP will be automatically tempbanned for 4 days and all this moderation will be recorded and visible to other mods in the future.

Example 2 : User DERP is so disruptive, a moderator chooses to make a 5 infractions penalty permanent. Now, DERP always has 5 infractions and thus has less leeway than other users who can behave nicely and end up back at 0 infractions.

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Something Completely Different

Janszoon

As when you proposed this when you were a mod, I see a lot of hassle and aggravation for everyone (not the least of which would be trying to get the owners of the site to change the current infraction set up) without any perceptible advantage. You even seem to acknowledge in your proposal that this would annoy a lot of members. So what's the point of it?

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A Night in the Life of the Invisible Man

Time & Place

25 Albums You Should Hear Before the Moon Crashes into the Earth and We All Die

last.fm

The Batlord

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Guybrush

It's been a while since I was mod, but I think the current infractions system that comes with the board supports my suggested implementation.

Successful implementation would change the MB environment into one which punishes rule breaking behaviour.

Initially, this would indeed cause a lot of aggravation because the current culture is one in which rule breaking is common. There would be a lot of infractions being handed out. Possibly, groups of members would try to sabotage the initiative. But - over time, people would either adjust, leave or get permbanned and the boards we're left with after that minor cataclysm would be a friendlier and more civilized place. I'm hoping some old members would return and I think the board will also appeal more to potential future members who like forums to be civilized.

So, it would cause temporary drama followed by permanent bliss.

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Something Completely Different

Janszoon

It doesn't, that's why I said it would need to be changed. There currently is a system, but the rules listed and their corresponding points don't line up to your proposal.

How would it achieve the goal you are describing? To me, handing out infractions over things like short posts would just create animosity and stifle conversation. It also serves to pretty much eliminate context on terms of rule enforcement, which I think is a bad idea. A brand new poster who only makes ten one word posts in their first week here is not the same as longtime, active member of the site who happens to make ten one word posts one week.

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A Night in the Life of the Invisible Man

Time & Place

25 Albums You Should Hear Before the Moon Crashes into the Earth and We All Die

last.fm