The right to appeal without fear of harsher punishment

[zoomboom]

I want to start off with just trying to confirm something about the moderation appeals process. The appeals page seems to indicate that if someone was moderated then the only way they can appeal is to check the box to say they claim that their moderation does not match the BGA moderation policy. Is that correct?

I think it also said a person might get a longer ban if they appeal and it turns out that their moderation was actually was in line with the BGA moderation policy. So this again could cause even people who really are innocent to not want to risk doing an appeal.

I asked DuckAI to help me know what the downsides could be to enforcing even stronger punishments after an unsuccessful appeal-- here's a couple of points :

Legal Precedents: Implementing harsher sentences after an appeal could set a concerning precedent, where the legal system appears to retaliate against individuals for exercising their right to appeal.

Psychological Impact: The fear of harsher penalties may discourage individuals from appealing their convictions, even if they believe they have a valid case, which could undermine the integrity of the process.

I think those are pretty good points.

If nothing else, maybe the appeals page should at least say to not be afraid to appeal if you are confident you are innocent and that the evidence will not support a guilty verdict.

I'm also hoping a person might be able to appeal if they weren't given a warning before being banned or moderated? Particularly in the case of posting a link to another game website, if the person didn't know it was against the policy. I'm not making any appeal here, but I'm just wondering if that's possible. Has the BGA moderation policy been interpreted to allow for people to receive warnings before they get moderated, in the event that they didn't know the rule?

I see now that it says, "Advertising for other online gaming services is strictly forbidden", and it shows a "10 days no chat" ban, and I didn't get that- I only got 1 day- so I'm grateful I didn't get worse. But it's actually not clear what "advertising" would entail. Would that include any link at all to another website?

Either way, I still wonder if a person can still be given a warning first if they didn't know the rule at all, and if the BGA moderation policy can possibly be clarified to allow for that. (and also clarify the definition of "advertising"), and if I would be safe in doing an appeal in order to receive back my reputation score that got harmed pretty bad.

I didn't want to risk getting a longer ban, so I wanted to ask this here first, and hopefully make it clear that I'm not asking for an appeal here in the forum, but just asking for clarification first on these points.

[aesche]

Consider any mention/hint/link/whatever to any other place to play as sanctionable, as radical as you can imagine.

Go with the assumption that even the slightest misconduct, in whatever way, will be reported and sanctioned.

Consider moderations as correct, and appeals as assumed to be unfounded by default

And last but not least, do with this whatever you need, but don‘t question/discuss/challenge it here, see the pinned banner&post above each page in this forum.

[FrankJones]

Consider any mention/hint/link/whatever to any other place to play as sanctionable, as radical as you can imagine.

Go with the assumption that even the slightest misconduct, in whatever way, will be reported and sanctioned.

Consider moderations as correct, and appeals as assumed to be unfounded by default

And last but not least, do with this whatever you need, but don‘t question/discuss/challenge it here, see the pinned banner&post above each page in this forum.

Yes. This ^^^^

Don't mess around on this site. The punishments are swift and punitive. Warnings are not given. Appeals are ignored and can result in a worse penalty. Even asking clarifying questions can get you a 10-day ban.

Don't take any chances. It's not worth it, especially if you play on here each day. Getting a chat ban is rough. You can't even say "Hello" or "good game, well played", or even privately message people on your friends list. Or post a bug report.

Just play it safe. They err on the side of caution to stop anything from becoming unpleasant before it even gets to that point.

If you have an anecdote or question that references some other site, just write,

"I'm confused about this rule, especially since they do it differently on [ _______ ] site." You'll still get your point across without risking anything. Whatever the actual name of the site you're replacing with a blank doesn't really affect what you're trying to say.

[AKuras]

*moderators removed this post.

[FrankJones]

In fairness to the moderators,

I did receive specific explanations for 2 our of 3 occasions I was moderated. And I appreciate that they did that, even if I thought the moderation itself was slightly more punitive than I thought it should be.

A lot of it depends on the tone of the request for feedback, I think. I was polite and calm and said I genuinely wasn't sure exactly what I said or did that was problematic, and they quoted me the exact portion of the moderation policy that I had fun afoul of.

They are unpaid volunteers likely deluged with hundreds of appeals.

Could the system be improved? Probably.

But it's also very easy to avoid being moderated in the first place. I promised the moderators that it would not happen again, and, so far, so good. I simply reread each post I make, and ask myself, "is this exactly the tone and word choice I would use if I were saying this to the person's face? Is this the tone I would use to try to de-escalate and reach an understanding or compromise? To gain better understanding of the situation?"

Etc.

Even if it seems harmless, it might still qualify as "mild insult", and anyone who was previously moderated will not get the benefit of the doubt.

So, one final check can be performed - "Even if I think this is harmless, could I soften it somewhat just to be extra sure?

[RobertBr]

I asked DuckAI to help me know what ...

And everything else you said can be ignored. You asked an articulate 6 year old prone to flights of fancy to do your thinking for you.

[zoomboom]

I just want to make clear that I was asking my questions in good faith toward the moderation team, knowing that they are doing quite a hard job and are likely doing a good job considering the difficulty of it. I can understand if they generally find it harder than they used to, to trust the intention of posts from players being moderated. I hope for a moderator to take an interest in my questions, but I can understand those that don't.

[Meeplelowda]

I hope for a moderator to take an interest in my questions, but I can understand those that don't.

The forums are not a place to have a dialog with moderators. That's not a thing.

[FrankJones]

I hope for a moderator to take an interest in my questions, but I can understand those that don't.

The forums are not a place to have a dialog with moderators. That's not a thing.

Maybe forum veterans can help the OP.

Perhaps the OP is wondering if there's a distinction between simply mentioning another gaming site and "advertising" another gaming site. And where that line is drawn. Or whether it is better to just never mention other gaming websites in any context.

[Suoivax]

Or whether it is better to just never mention other gaming websites in any context.

that one