Many of you thought this wouldn't happen, many have been begging for it for some time. Well, we're happy to announce that we've finally finished our discussion about the rules rework, and we're happy to share the result.
There are 3 new changes:
We've condensed the rules down to the very basics and are now straight forward. We're also moving the official rules into it's own subforum and will have a new sticky thread titled Rules Clarification. This new thread will allow the community to have one place to post about a rule and if something is acceptable or not, and allows for Admins/Mods to provide a clear answer. It'll work similar in the Bug Reporting thread, where you use a template to post, and an Admin/Mod will edit the post and provide clarification in Green/Orange. That way, if someone has a question pertaining to that rule, they can look through one thread, instead of all over the forum. If there isn't a post with green text about it, perfect opportunity to post and ask.
Next on the list, the punishments. We're now making them visible, so you know exactly what to expect if you get sanctioned. We're removing the punishments of "loss of guns and/or credits". We're going to be a lot less lenient when we catch rule-breakers. As such, and I'm sure many will be happy about this and many will cry about it, the punishments are a lot more straightforward and a lot more severe. We're working with a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd offense system, for both forum and sever. You can find them in the rules thread dropdown. This means we will be using your forum name in sanctions, instead of ship names. That way we can track how many offenses you have against you. We'll make sure the ship name is included in the sanction description though. You'll also notice words like "Appeal" and such. What that means is we're also opening up the ability for you to appeal publicly, where you as the community will be able to see the discussion surrounding the sanction. Which ties into the next point.
Lastly, and something that was brought to our attention that another gaming community uses, is an appeal system. We've had one before, but this is going to work differently. In it's own sub-forum, this Appeal Thread is going to work as a replacement for player requests for unbanning and for sanction discussions. Instead of replying to the sanction post, sanctions will now be closed. If you want evidence, you may PM a staff member to provide it for you, but everything will be dealt with in the Appeal thread. Appeals now work like this:
- If you are sanctioned, you will follow the template provided and post in the appeal thread. THIS WILL BE PUBLIC FOR ALL TO VIEW. This will allow the admins, mods and those involved with the sanction to discuss publicly (Thus providing the transparency many have been crying for) the reasons for the sanction on both sides, as well as come to a decision if it should be reversed. You'll find the details below.
Now, I'm sure people will wonder how this will come into effect. These new rules are effective immediately moving forward. That means if you've been sanctioned prior to this, you won't be eligible for the new appeal system. Regarding banned players, this will not apply to you either, and you must wait the full 6 months from your initial ban date to post again.
What that means though, is everyone is given a clean slate from here on out. Your actions will prove how clean that slate will remain, as well as how long you remain part of this community.
One last thing, any previous green text or precedents may no longer be applicable to this rule set. The green text here still applies.
