Warnings, Infractions and Bans

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DeletedUser

This is to serve as a resource on the disciplinary actions on the The West forums. This has zero relevance to discipline in the game and as a forum moderator, I know only as much as you about the nuances of game discipline and can't answer questions about that. However, this is meant to answer some relatively common questions that have arisen recently.

There are three different ways that a moderator can interact with posters via the disciplinary system. They are: warnings, infractions and bans. Warnings are a moderators way of letting a poster know that they are getting close to breaking a rule or have made a minor violation. They are more of a reminder for posters to check their posting habits and give posters a chance to re-evaluate whatever it is that the warning was given for. At the same time, warnings create a written record that protects both the moderator and the poster because there is a paper trail that other moderators and admins can look at and review.

Similarly, infractions are a way for moderators to tell posters that they have broken a rule and/or are causing a problem. There are several categories of infractions that I won't get into, each with a different expiration length. They are a more serious reminder to posters that they really should check their posting. In general, a warning is given before an infraction, except in one, relatively broad case. That case is when it is likely that the poster knew that they were breaking a rule or they are directly defying staff instructions.

As I mentioned before, infractions expire. What this means is that each person has a number of 'points' on the record, very similar to points on a driver's license. If you compile 4 infraction points, you will be automatically banned, similar to a driver's license being suspended. The ban lasts until one of the infraction points expires at which point the poster will have 3 points. In other words, if you compile 4 infractions over the course of a week and get banned, your ban will last until the first of those expires. Once your first infraction expires, you will be unbanned, but if you get another infraction right after that, you will be instantly re-banned.

Now, at this point of the explanations, many trouble makers say, "Oh! So all I have to do is not break the rules more than 3 times!" Well, thats where bans come in. Moderators can manually ban posters who show a willful disregard for the rules. If people purposely try to cause problems, they will be dealt with quickly. The typical case of a trouble maker shows 1 or 2 quick infractions and then a quick ban by a moderator. These, unlike the infraction bans can vary greatly in terms of length. They can be set from 24 hours to permanently.

I've said this before, but I'll say it again. It is very hard to get banned from here without knowing that you are running that risk. If people disagree, please, feel free to PM me and I'll reconsider this position . I hope that this answers any questions that people may have about disciplinary issues.

Any general questions can be posted here, any specific questions can be directed to my PM box.

(Thanks to Mimelim for this)
 
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