Scootaloo

In light of recent events, the DMs and DLs of our TF2 division have congregated and discussed at length how our Mods and Admins are to handle specific offenses, those of which are directly related to "Death Threats", "Encouraging Suicide", and "Disrespect" as a whole. @Vector created a thread on the forums last night that directly addressed these issues. If you haven't seen said thread, it can be read here: Death Threats | Xeno Gamers In this thread, many good points have been made about the validity of individuals being banned for using such harsh terms as "Go Kill Yourself" and whether or not these kinds of insults should be tied into the "Death Threat" category. On one side, many of our members are of the mindset that this is the kind of language and treatment we want to avoid on our servers at all costs. The other side feels that we are making too many leaps and bounds to ensure that people aren't being offended. Both are valid concerns, and I can say a decision has been made. Henceforth, the way we handle these kinds of offenses is to change. Before this, we were permanently banning individuals for using such harsh language towards others on our servers, but now, we are going to be a tad bit more lenient. To all the Mods and Admins reading this thread, you are expected to follow the same measures as we have always expected of you when dealing with said issues: Warn, then Mute/Gag, then Kick, then Ban if the offenses continue. No longer are we expecting immediate bans of any sort. Instead, you are to follow the same procedure as with any other disrespecting individual. ANY MODS OR ADMINS NOT FOLLOWING PROCEDURE AS WE EXPECT WILL FACE IMMEDIATE DEMOTION. You are all expected to follow procedure with a level head, to the tee. Absolutely no exceptions. The DMs have all unanimously decided that members telling others to kill themselves is NOT as severe as telling someone that they are going to be murdered. That being said, this offense will still be met with a matter of severity. If you encounter any individuals who continue to tell others that they need to kill themselves, even after the warnings, then the offense will be met with no lower than a week ban at minimum. This is ONLY to be dealt out if said individual continues to ignore warnings and persist with their behavior. As I stated above, any Mods or Admins who are NOT following the given procedure to deal with offenders will be met with immediate demotion. PLEASE ensure you are following correct procedure and giving warnings, using the mute and gag systems, and using the kick function before issuing bans. This should be the norm with ANY issue you face, and bans should only be used in the most extreme cases. As always, when bans are administered, please also do your best to collect the proper evidence if you feel it necessary to possibly seek a permanent ban down the line. We do not want ill-spoken users making anyone's experience negative, but at the same time, we don't want to turn into Nazi's trying to censor everyone and cater to the smallest hurt feelings. No longer will we treat "Go Kill Yourself" offenses as permanent bans, but will handle them as any other form of disrespect. If you have any questions or feedback, feel free to post in this thread. Thank you. @Moosty @Rejects @Ohstopyou @kbraszzz

If that makes it easier for people to understand, that's totally doable. We could simply still categorize "Encouraging Suicide" in the Death Threats category and handle it exactly the same as we have been handling it.

And just so that it is on the record, breaching the current standing rules involving Death Threats is an immediate permanent ban. That's how serious we are expected to crack down on this particular issue. (That is, assuming, that things haven't been changed since the last time this issue was addressed.)

Also @Vector, sorry I didn't respond sooner. My forum handle is metalslug53, so I didn't see the tag. ^-^

Let me go ahead and give an officiated statement regarding this matter so that we can move on and clarify how it's to be handled henceforth. There is a difference between someone making a genuine death threat and someone telling someone else to "Kill themselves." I don't think that there is any hard-to-see discrepancies between the two and they can be differentiated, and they are simple enough to see are completely different things altogether. But, for moderation purposes, these have been lumped into one category for simplicity. So, with this being a taboo point, (And I do mean that, not to be directed at @Vector because he made the thread, but because I hear it a LOT on the servers), I want to clarify exactly where we stand on this particular issue. Death threats are a serious issue, but so are threats of suicide and implied wishes of suicide from other players. To keep things simple, we have in the past lumped all of these three different offences together in the "Death Threat" category. Is Player A telling Player B to kill themselves TECHNICALLY a Death Threat? No it isn't, but that's the category of offense we would have classified it as because they are all lumped together. @Rhododendron has made it VERY clear to the DMs that these types of threats, insults, and conversations about self-harm are NOT to be tolerated any further in the future, hence why we have cracked down so hard recently on the offending parties who choose to use this kind of language to our patrons. Sure, the majority of them are just angsty teenagers trying to sound tough, but that's the kind of attitude we are aiming to eradicate in our servers. We have had multiple problems with this kind of issue in the past, and the LAST thing we want is some sort of liability because we actively allow such language in our servers. If someone tells a kid that they should kill themselves, and they ACTUALLY go through with it, it'd be horrendous. I don't think that would ever actually happen, but it is a possibility, and it is something we are aiming to mitigate. So, I will discuss this at length with the other DMs (@Ohstopyou, @Moosty, @Rejects, @kbraszzz ) and we will deliberate on whether or not this needs to be changed. In this DMs honest opinion, I have no issues continuing to lump these types of offenses together in a "Death Threat" category, as they all fit snugly as it is, but if it is the wishes of the other DMs to relabel it, we shall do so. At the very least, we can clarify the rule about "Death Threats" to include telling others to commit suicide, as to levitate any confusion.

I'm only stopping in to say that this was ALL handled 100% correctly, by our mods, admins, and the DMs following up with the thread. That said, this was of the utmost silly levels. I can't believe this thread. Is it real life?

Agree with Vector. I can't take this as sufficient proof. Sure, it's edgy and not cool, but I can't even determine if this was taken from chat on our servers or a different server entirely. This is why we ask for Demos. =(

Your ban is still legitimate and still isn't changing. If you post another ban protest thread about this same ban, when you've already been given our verdict, you will be permanently banned from the forums. Don't do it again.

So, over the past few weeks, some of you may have noticed that my activity levels have reached an all-time low. Well, I just wanted to post this as a bit of an update as to why that is. As many of you are aware, my wifey is very much pregnant again. It's getting pretty damn close to her due date, and these days money is pretty tight when it comes to our budget, so this has led to me seeking out employment over the summer while I am out of school. Said job is absorbing pretty much all of my free time. If I'm not at home taking care of my child and wife, or I'm not at work busting my ass, I'm usually sleeping. That being said, I obviously don't get to game nearly as much as I was during the school year. I AM still pretty active on forums, dealing with issues that crop up every now and then, but my in-game and my Teamspeak activity have taken a dive. That isn't to say that this is permanent. For the remainder of the summer, I may or may not be able to immediately answer calls for Admins in game, and I may not be on Teamspeak to talk with you guys, but I am available on the forums, as I am making sure to check here at least 2-3 times a day. So, if ever you need me, it's probably best if you send me a message through the forums, as that's where I'll most likely respond. Sorry that it's come to this, but as you all know, family is the utmost important priority. Gotta do for them first. Hopefully I'll have time free up and I'll be able to gallivant once again with you spergs on our beloved servers. Message me if you need me! :D

Death threats are an instant permanent ban. We do not take those kinds of threats lightly. Thread closed.

All the other DMs okay with that? What seems best? 3 days or a week?

Thinking over it, I actually agree with Kypari. Perm does seem pretty heavyhanded. 3 days to a week is my final verdict.

Exploits = Big no-no. We've outlined this one pretty thoroughly. It gets my +1 for perm.

User has been permanently banned from all xG servers. We do not take suicide and/or death threats lightly here. Nor do we care for staff impersonations. We know this individual isn't an admin because the Steam ID has been cross-checked with that of all our current admins. Unless, of course, it's an alternative account, but whatever. If the user wishes to appeal the ban, they may do so in the appropriate forum. ~Closed.

Awww....Perhaps we need to have a Boston Tea Party in Moosty's keyboard.

Alright, it's 1:00am and these comments have me all pissed off when I should be asleep, as I have to be up in five hours. First off, I'm pretty damn sure that when the DMs put a rule into place, it's put into place and everyone abides by it. Spawncamping has always been a touchy issue in our servers, but the rule about teleporting spawn camps was established quite a while ago when we had an issue with one of our mods breaking a camp without permission. We ironed out a lot of the details behind the rules when that happened. How it didn't make its way to the MOTD is beyond me, but that doesn't give everyone the green light to ignore the new rules. That being said, I'm fully aware of the incoming "I didn't know it was a rule" claims that are about to be made, and because of the mess ups on our behalf, you're gonna skate by on this one. But HENCEFORTH, I have personally made sure the rules on spawncamping have been clarified in the MOTD, and EVERYONE will abide by them. Also henceforth, if members have complaints or are needed to give input on a situation, there will be no more anonymous nonsense going on. You have problems to solve? Log in and handle them. I'm tired of the "keep me out of it" nonsense. No, if you're going to be part of this community, you're going to discuss things like a big boy. Xerses, after reviewing the video again, even if you're intentions were not ill-conceived, you seriously set off a bad vibe to the point where someone escalated a complaint against you. I'd highly suggest you be more careful with your choice of words. I'll discuss this further with the other DMs and post our conclusion when we have time to deliberate. Until now, nobody is getting the axe. We will reopen the thread when a decision is made. ~Thread closed. (Temporarily)

Death threats are NOT to be taken lightly, regardless of any instigations or anything of the like. I'm advocating for a permanent ban. I don't care what rules are being broken. Telling someone to kill themselves is NOT okay and we have no place for ANY individual who would do so in our servers. You don't verbally assault them until they stop. You get a mod/admin to fix the issue. For Christ's sake, we just put into place a bot for this very reason. That being said, we DO have to also deal with the fact that this individual was clearly spawncamping in a spot where it is unallowed. This is a blatant breach of the rules that have been set regarding spawncamping a teleported exit. If it pleases the other DMs, I'm moving to ban Xerxes for his heinous comments for a lengthier time, up to and possibly including a permanent ban, and administer a minimum of a 24 hour ban on those responsible for camping the teleport exit. I don't know how many times we have to repeat the same rules before people understand. It really is starting to become quite irritating. -_-

Sounds good. Let's see some efficiency! :D

D-Mot confirmed.

You'll be missed buddy. I hope whatever you encounter in life goes your way. =)

Thread has been reopened because the OP posted the incorrect Steam ID, resulting in no results when you search the active Bans. His correct Steam ID is STEAM_0:0:58897473. According to our records, the user was permanently banned back in March by @Matsi. Since he has a ban in place, the thread cannot simply be closed and brushed away. Matsi, will you be able to tell us all why this user was banned? We may have to hear what happened for him to deserve the permanent ban from you.

I always laugh internally for a good 5 minutes when I see posts like this. You're not sorry for what you did. You're sorry you got caught. You've been teambanned for your inappropriate actions and now you are upset because you lose out on those privileges. This is what we call a "Lesson hard learned." Perhaps if you'd been so adamant as to read the rules before you went on your tirade it would have never gone so far. Even Ohstopyou had contact with you amidst your rulebreaking, but still you persisted. And now we're suppose to say "Aww shucks, give him a second chance." just because you took the time to make a forum account? I have no qualms about keeping you banned. None whatsoever. It's players like these that even make our servers require moderation to begin with. What, you think that just by graveling on the forums and saying that you've learned your lesson will revert the ban? I don't think so. You're not banned from any other xG service. I checked. Your ban from Blu team on our Jailbreak server stays in place. Continue to be active, show some maturity, and contribute to our community here, and we can reconsider down the road AFTER you show initiative. Thread closed.

User has been permanently banned. If he wishes to appeal his ban, he may do so in the traditional way. ~Thread closed.

Sounds good. I'll see what the other opinions are, but odds are that it looks like I'll be putting the perm in sourcebans shortly.

Jesus, you weren't kidding. That's some very unnecessarily brutal backlash directed at him for no apparent reason other than salt. @Moosty, @Rejects, @Ohstopyou, I've reviewed the video and I think it falls in line with what we are looking to keep out of this clan. I'm gonna say +1 for Perma on this one. Just want your thoughts as well.