VOTE PASSED - Switch to an automated timed ban system

So here we have it the first community vote that would change the way we have always done things, The current ban system as been in place since we started in February 2014 and during the last year or so and in the recent changes topic people have demanded change.

Current System

If a player gets banned for breach of the rules they are issued a ban which they can appeal in the forums to get un-banned as long as they display a understanding of what they have done wrong and which rule they have breached, If they are banned again the staff can then decline the appeal and they can open a permanent appeal within 6 months.

These appeals have always appeared in depth and we have felt in the last 5 and a half years the players that have been unbanned have rarely been banned again so there has been a level of learning from ones mistakes!

Proposed new system

Using the power of Battlemetrics (the system we use for RCON and Banning) we will move to an automated timed ban system with the ban length and the rule number listed in the ban reason so the player is aware, These bans will auto expire after a certain time and due to that will not be able to be appealed (no exceptions)

Some rules like hacking, racism, bullying, abuse towards staff etc (all to be determined) will be permanent, This community will never tolerate this.

To avoid players not treating the rules with respect we will enforce an increasing ban time system which we propose as the following

Example: (Times to be decided and are not final)

1st ban = 24 hours ban

2nd ban = 48 hours ban

3rd ban = 1 week

4th ban = Perm ban (This will need to be appealed)

We propose that this resets every 6 months so players do get given clean slates so for example if you get banned today for 24 hours and learn from that and get banned again in say 8 months time you will receive only another 24 hour ban then rather than a 48 hours ban, This treats players who made a mistake fairly.

It also means that it might work against players when it comes to an appeal, We will have 4 instances in a 6 month period where the player has breached the rules, Meaning that it will identify the player isn't following the rules or just feel it doesn't apply to them, Therefore the appeal process at that stage will be as in-depth as they are now.

All this however comes with staff discretion if there is a player going around using this system to their advantage or someone clearly do not want to be here and has just geared up to go around RDM'ing then this system will be bypassed.

This will mean that our staff team actually save time in going through unban processes due to the automation, This time could be better used in game taking more times with decisions and speaking to players where necessary.

I feel that this will come across as a more lenient system, one that will appear more fairer to players, however it should not be taken for granted or abused.

Rules that apply to this system will be stated in the community rules.

You decide

Whatever you decide will be implemented, This vote will run until midnight tonight and depending on the result we will either remain with the current system or implement the new one including a rule changelog over the next week as we will need to conduct meetings with the staff team etc.

If the new suggested system is out into place, will all the players banned for those rule breaks also become unbanned (assuming the suggested time limit is up) or will they have to continue the appeal process like currently?

@Wilco, Maby for different rule Breaks there are different times for the first, Second ect rules breaks, Keep 24 hours for a rule break standard, Byt for Rdm it may be 48 hours for the first then 2 weeks for the second. But for a relatively small rule break there is less time 

Simon Ross said:

If the new suggested system is out into place, will all the players banned for those rule breaks also become unbanned (assuming the suggested time limit is up) or will they have to continue the appeal process like currently?

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Please see Community Vote #2 

Mark_02 said:

@Wilco, Maby for different rule Breaks there are different times for the first, Second ect rules breaks, Keep 24 hours for a rule break standard, Byt for Rdm it may be 48 hours for the first then 2 weeks for the second. But for a relatively small rule break there is less time 

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This needs to remain as simple for not only the staff team but the community also. If we move to this system the times will be set in stone.

Good stuff listening to the community. Love the idea of the server getting some democracy. Good work @Wilco it's very rare to see a community leader of any community actually listening. Hope this is the beginning of a fantastic new chapter!

I'm really happy to see management care about this. It's a relief to me after several months of serious issues in the community being seemingly ignored, and I hope this willingness to change continues. +1 from me lads

@Wilco I would suggest with the bans something like this 

1st Ban = 48 Hours Ban (2 Day Ban)

2nd Ban = 96 Hour Ban (4 Day Ban) 

3rd Ban = 168 Hour Ban (1 Week Ban) 

4th Ban = Perm Ban (To be appealed on Forums)

5th Ban = Before 6 Months have passed Perm Ban without Appeal (Now this depends completely on what rules the player broke and time since last ban)

This has been needed for a long time. Thank you for listening 

My only concern with this and the main reason I voted against it, is that the members of the staff team that tend to be slightly harsher when it comes to punishment might now hand out 24 hour bans instead of warnings. I'm not saying this is guaranteed ofcourse but it's still a concern for me and if a time ban system is implemented, I think it should be empthasized to members during a staff team meeting that warnings are still a thing and should be considered when handing out punishment over smaller rule breaks as opposed to a 24 hour ban.

BUT given it's handled correctly I'd say i'm in favour of a timed ban system.

With the 6 month reset, would this occur instantly? For example I have 2 bans but the 1st one was over 6 months ago, would then if I got banned for the third time the day after this gets implemented (If it does) be banned under the 48hrs (2nd ban in six months) or the week long ban (3rd ban but not within 6 months)

@Mr Maxim If the mass unban vote also passes then it would only be fair for us to operate a clean slate from when this system comes in place.

Hopefully you have learned your mistakes from the bans so far, that is all we have never asked and hoped regarding bans

@TheCap Its to be discussed, We will work closely with our staff team to come up with times that are fair to this vote and that we all agree with.

@Xkan There is another vote coming up similar to what you have said here regarding how staff deal with certain situations, However I must stress we should not be looking to ride the rules, on some matters should we really need to give warnings ?

@Cool Around the time you peppered that automatic weapon in 2014/2015 ? 

I know banning is one of the ways to handle people doing something wrong. But I really dont want it to end up like a server where you get 24 hour banned all the time. And even though riding the rules is something that people do I believe that kicking should be something more utilised as its harmless and it gets the message across. For an example no reason to ban a hobo for vaulting a bush when you could have kicked him for the same effect....

Lots of perma unbans coming in, give people one final chance in hopes to repopulate the server, as a few of the players were some of the most active people before they were banned.

Perhaps change it back to how it used to be so that level 4's can deal with perma appeals in order to help go through them as there is currently a lot.

Vote passed

There will now be a period of discussion and meeting within our staff team on how to implement this as quickly as possible as well as discussion and implementing measures to make sure this is not abused and staff team can take action with abuse of our good nature and 1.6 bans where required.

More information will be available later this week.

Thank you for being part of this change.