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First off, we are aware that there have been several ban evasions by the same person recently. However, treating every new member as if they are a ban evasion is completely counterproductive to the environment we want to promote on PureZC:
- Jumping at shadows every time a new member registers is playing into the hands of ban evaders. They get a kick out of over-the-top reactions and attention... especially when they "get credit" for something they didn't even do.
- This scares away new members that are actually not ban evasions or trolls.
- Regular members do not have access to the vast array of tools that our staff has on hand for helping to sniff out ban evasions. Granted we are not perfect at it by any means, but we have more tools at our disposal.
- Even if a ban evasion is actually occurring, that's something for the staff to deal with! We do not need members to make public spectacles proclaiming their hate for <insert new member here> because they suspect that the new member is a "troll" or ban evasion. Use the dropbox, send us a PM, or make a report if you are truly concerned!
- If someone actually manages to evade a ban to the point where they are not a nuisance and they are untraceable, they pretty much deserve to stick around for putting that much effort into participating on our website without hassling people. Granted we'd prefer people to make ban appeals.
...
Anyway... now for the real reason for this announcement. We are making changes to our rule enforcement procedures since it has come to our attention that while we tried to make things more relaxed, we went a bit too far in that direction. Up until now, there have basically only been two rules on the entire forum that have any sort of punishment (harassment and porn). All of the other rules shown were pretty much for show since nothing would ultimately happen unless you were extremely annoying about breaking them.
This is why we are revising the warning system and introducing posting probation a bit more thoroughly. Our hope is that this system is still lenient (since posting probation isn't quite as bad as being outright banned), but not lenient to the level of having 11 rules just for show.
Here is the revised staff action and warning system sections for reference:
QUOTE(The Revised Rules)
Staff Action
Usually, you will receive notices to stop doing something within the thread in which you may have done something borderline. This usually happens for minor things and is meant more as a reminder to everyone, not just you.
However, if what you have done is going to be recorded as an offense, you will receive a private message warning telling you as much. A warning message may also be put in the topic to prevent the topic from getting off subject as well as letting people know the situation has been addressed.
If you don't break any rules for a period of 2 months, your record will be wiped clean. If the staff fails to react to a posting offense after 7 days, it is considered off limits for banning or being added as a minor offense to the record (though you might still receive a notice for it so long as it isn't ancient).
Warning System
If a member gets 3 minor offenses before their record is wiped clean by the 2 months cleaning policy, they will receive a strike. So please be sure to pay attention when moderators directly tell you to not do something again. If a moderator is just doing something like moving a topic for you, you are generally not in trouble.
One instance of a major problem as marked in the rules above (harassment and posting pornography, for example), if confirmed by staff after a short period of review (no more than 7 days after it happened), will give you a strike regardless of how many minor offenses you have made up to that point.
When you receive a strike, the warn level that appears below your name will be increased. The possible warn levels are 0%, 33%, 67%, or 100%.
Each strike has certain effects. The most common effect is posting probation. This means that you will not be able to make posts while that is in effect. All other actions, including private messages, will still be available to you. Consider this a cooling off period.
Keep in mind that if someone decides to retaliate in a malicious manner with the features still available to them while under a posting probation, it will be converted to a ban that lasts as long as the posting probation would have lasted. For instance, if someone were to make a nasty signature 5 minutes before their 1 day probation expires, it would be converted to a ban that lasts for 1 day starting from when we set the ban.
Here is a list of the specifics each strike will give you:
Strike 1: Warn level is increased to 33%, and a PM is sent telling you what you did wrong, and linking to the post. If this is a combination of 3 minor offenses, those will also be noted. You will be put on posting probation for 1 day.
Strike 2: Warn level is increased to 67%, a PM is sent in the same fashion as above, and you will also receive a 2 day posting probation.
Strike 3: Warn level is increased to 100%, followed by a ban. Ban length varies depending on the situation and does take into account behavior in the last year. Temporary bans can range from 1 week to a full month, but a typical length for a first ban is 1 week. You cannot post or use board features while banned. Permanent bans are reserved for those who have really made themselves into a problem by continually breaking rules, and we won't hesitate to do it immediately if you force us to do so.
After your first ban is over, your warn percentage will be reduced to 33%. After the second ban, it will be reduced to 67%. After the third ban, there probably won't be any room for leniency.
The staff also holds the right to ban or warn you at any time if they feel that you consistently cause problems to the PureZC community. But this will be extremely rare since "the staff" means "the staff as a whole" instead of "a handful of people on the staff" since we do not want to abuse that. It also won't be done without provocation. Basically, do not purposely game the system because it's rather flexible if it needs to be.
Usually, you will receive notices to stop doing something within the thread in which you may have done something borderline. This usually happens for minor things and is meant more as a reminder to everyone, not just you.
However, if what you have done is going to be recorded as an offense, you will receive a private message warning telling you as much. A warning message may also be put in the topic to prevent the topic from getting off subject as well as letting people know the situation has been addressed.
If you don't break any rules for a period of 2 months, your record will be wiped clean. If the staff fails to react to a posting offense after 7 days, it is considered off limits for banning or being added as a minor offense to the record (though you might still receive a notice for it so long as it isn't ancient).
Warning System
If a member gets 3 minor offenses before their record is wiped clean by the 2 months cleaning policy, they will receive a strike. So please be sure to pay attention when moderators directly tell you to not do something again. If a moderator is just doing something like moving a topic for you, you are generally not in trouble.
One instance of a major problem as marked in the rules above (harassment and posting pornography, for example), if confirmed by staff after a short period of review (no more than 7 days after it happened), will give you a strike regardless of how many minor offenses you have made up to that point.
When you receive a strike, the warn level that appears below your name will be increased. The possible warn levels are 0%, 33%, 67%, or 100%.
Each strike has certain effects. The most common effect is posting probation. This means that you will not be able to make posts while that is in effect. All other actions, including private messages, will still be available to you. Consider this a cooling off period.
Keep in mind that if someone decides to retaliate in a malicious manner with the features still available to them while under a posting probation, it will be converted to a ban that lasts as long as the posting probation would have lasted. For instance, if someone were to make a nasty signature 5 minutes before their 1 day probation expires, it would be converted to a ban that lasts for 1 day starting from when we set the ban.
Here is a list of the specifics each strike will give you:
Strike 1: Warn level is increased to 33%, and a PM is sent telling you what you did wrong, and linking to the post. If this is a combination of 3 minor offenses, those will also be noted. You will be put on posting probation for 1 day.
Strike 2: Warn level is increased to 67%, a PM is sent in the same fashion as above, and you will also receive a 2 day posting probation.
Strike 3: Warn level is increased to 100%, followed by a ban. Ban length varies depending on the situation and does take into account behavior in the last year. Temporary bans can range from 1 week to a full month, but a typical length for a first ban is 1 week. You cannot post or use board features while banned. Permanent bans are reserved for those who have really made themselves into a problem by continually breaking rules, and we won't hesitate to do it immediately if you force us to do so.
After your first ban is over, your warn percentage will be reduced to 33%. After the second ban, it will be reduced to 67%. After the third ban, there probably won't be any room for leniency.
The staff also holds the right to ban or warn you at any time if they feel that you consistently cause problems to the PureZC community. But this will be extremely rare since "the staff" means "the staff as a whole" instead of "a handful of people on the staff" since we do not want to abuse that. It also won't be done without provocation. Basically, do not purposely game the system because it's rather flexible if it needs to be.
tl;dr: If you get 3 minor offenses within 2 months, you will probably get posting probation. Posting probation only denies posting, so you can still use most features of the forums and site including private messages. You will also be notified by PM if you get an offense on your record that is ultimately counting toward a probation or ban. Finally, don't purposely game the system or we will call you on it.
Our hope is that this system is still relaxed, but it's also an actual system where the rules actually mean something.
