Warnings, Infractions, and Bans

10-13-2008, 09:27 AM

A few people have posed questions about the current system, and I have answered in chat, a HELL thread, and privately. I guess its time to offer a general explanation and post it.

As many members know, we used to have a warning system - "points" were given for various violations, and X points earned the member a suspension (with a fine). The threshold has varied at times, such as during the WS Moderator program, but it was usually pretty liberal. With the recent update, the old warnings have become infractions. I specify the old warnings, because there is still a "warning" feature - which is essentially a formal notification that one is violating the rules. When a moderator chooses to warn a member, that member will receive a PM notification advising them of the warning & what the violation is. It differs from an infraction only in that "points" are not issued.
Infractions are for the same violations as before, and carry the same point values. One thing that is different is that there is an expiration. Most of them last for one year, but a few of the more minor ones will disappear after 30 days. Of note is the fact that the tolerance for some things has decreased significantly, and that is demonstrated by the points:ban threshold. 10 points is an automatic 3 day ban. 20 points is an automatic month long ban. 30 points is an automatic permanent ban. That may seem extraordinarily low, but keep in mind that the points will disappear after 1 year...which means that if somebody earns an automatic permanent ban, they weren't too interested in abiding by the rules of the site (which pretty much means that we don't want them here).
There is also a "custom infraction", whereby the moderator can set the points and the expiration, and "personalize" the description of the offense. This can be used for something that is clearly inappropriate, but falls between the preset categories; or for those that are chronic abusers of the system and need a stronger message.
Of course, at any time, a moderator can choose to ban a member...for anywhere from 1 day to forever (and the ban may/may not carry infraction points). A short term ban might result because somebody crossed a line, or simply to shut down an unwanted situation (think: some of sideline battles on the BOI, for example). It is not our goal to permanently ban members; but if one cannot seem to exercise a modicum of self control, or post within some basic (common sense, and outlined) parameters, then they probably won't be here for much longer.

Any questions?

10-13-2008, 09:31 AM

For those that are unaware of the current no-no's, and how they are scaled:

Anonymous third party quotation........... 1 pt
Innapropriate advertising or spamming.... 1 pt
No FULL NAME in BOI post.................... 1 pt
Overly abusive towards other Member(s) 1 pt
Subject name required in BOI topic line... 1 pt
Profanity......................................... .. 2 pts
Antagonism towards moderators............ 3 pts
Maliciously destructive off topic posting.. 3 pts
Racist/Prejudicial Remarks.................... 4 pts
Actual or implied threats...................... 5 pts