Dear players,
We regularly see angry players posting in the Forums after being moderated on BGA.
Some may be right, some may be wrong (usually, this is the case), some are also insulting our moderation team or admins publicly, and some are used by other recently moderated players that get a good occasion to also rant.
The most important thing to know is this: it is totally useless. The reasons:
How to appeal a moderation
If your moderation does not match the BGA moderation policy:
What happens if I challenge the moderators in the BGA forums?
Of course, yes.
Conclusion
Even with hundreds and thousands of games played each day, BGA keeps a very relaxed policy on messaging: you can talk during the games, chat with almost anyone on the website, and we have open forums. At this level of popularity, most gaming service do not offer that much because moderation becomes a nightmare.
However, we consider boardgamers are a better community than the average and we believe that our community is responsible enough, so we decided to keep these channels open.
All of this comes with a cost: the moderation is a huge part of BGA, and we have to set a very strict moderation policy. This may be perceived as "intolerant", "against free speech" or any other adjective, but this is what it costs to have a place on the Internet with a lot of options to speak.
As a player, we ask you to respect this policy, to avoid anything that could hurt someone else in your exchange, and to respect all BGA rules, including the moderation and the moderation appeal procedure.
Thank you very much
We regularly see angry players posting in the Forums after being moderated on BGA.
Some may be right, some may be wrong (usually, this is the case), some are also insulting our moderation team or admins publicly, and some are used by other recently moderated players that get a good occasion to also rant.
The most important thing to know is this: it is totally useless. The reasons:
- The Forums are a place where players can help each other; however, other players are not capable of doing anything for you concerning moderations.
- There is already a clear procedure to appeal in your moderation (see below).
How to appeal a moderation
If your moderation does not match the BGA moderation policy:
- Note the URL of the moderation report
- Contact us though BGA Support page, choosing "Contest a moderation" category
- We have a public Moderation Policy, so you must explain why the moderators did not respect the moderation policy. Example: for my fault, I should have received penalty X instead of penalty Y.
- If the email contains attacks/insults against anyone and/or trolling/spamming/disparage of the moderators, it will be ignored (= no reply) and you may get an additional penalty.
- If the email is asking us to also give a penalty to another player, it will be ignored. The correct way to do this is by reporting this player, not by appealing your own moderation.
- If the email is complaining without referring to our Moderation Policy (example: "this penalty is too harsh"), it will be ignored (= no reply).
- If the email is not convincing in any way, it will be ignored (= no reply).
- If the email is clearly abusive (multiple emails or appeal while the player is obviously guilty), it will be ignored (= no reply) and you may get an additional penalty.
- If none of the previous points are valid and if the moderators made a mistake, you will receive a reply and the penalty will be changed (or cancelled).
What happens if I challenge the moderators in the BGA forums?
- Your post will be locked (and may also be edited/moderated/removed).
- You will get a 10 day ban from BGA.
- You will get a permanent ban from BGA if you do it again.
Of course, yes.
Conclusion
Even with hundreds and thousands of games played each day, BGA keeps a very relaxed policy on messaging: you can talk during the games, chat with almost anyone on the website, and we have open forums. At this level of popularity, most gaming service do not offer that much because moderation becomes a nightmare.
However, we consider boardgamers are a better community than the average and we believe that our community is responsible enough, so we decided to keep these channels open.
All of this comes with a cost: the moderation is a huge part of BGA, and we have to set a very strict moderation policy. This may be perceived as "intolerant", "against free speech" or any other adjective, but this is what it costs to have a place on the Internet with a lot of options to speak.
As a player, we ask you to respect this policy, to avoid anything that could hurt someone else in your exchange, and to respect all BGA rules, including the moderation and the moderation appeal procedure.
Thank you very much