Board Game Arena

It is impossible to appeal against or defend oneself against a false accusation. Why? Link not use.
An aggressive player caused me to quit the match, so I gave him a red dislike and reported him. And *I’m* the one getting penalized for it!!!

Both can be true. They should be reported and you shouldn't have quit the game.

The problem is that some offenses are less easily provable than others. Though in your case, you should have the history of the chat if you go to the game page and click the chat box.

There's a big red banner at the top, which reads: "Warning: challenging a moderation in Forum = 10 days ban"
You've made an interesting decision to post here, my friend. Decisions have consequences.

SamoVrah wrote: ↑07 September 2026, 13:43An aggressive player caused me to quit the match

No, you chose to quit the match. You were unhappy with another player, but you made the decision to leave the match.

You're the one penalized for quitting. If the other player was offensive, you can report it and they may be penalized too. If you responded to the provocation, you may be reported and further penalized.

Kayvon wrote: ↑07 September 2026, 14:07 There's a big red banner at the top, which reads: "Warning: challenging a moderation in Forum = 10 days ban"

There's a distinction between having discussions on what should or shouldn't be penalizable, and the sort of challenging the rule refers to.

The line can be blurry sometimes, and I can see why you'd think that of OP, but it's not something that jumped out to me when I read their post.

tbhp wrote: ↑07 September 2026, 14:24 There's a distinction between having discussions
...
The line can be blurry sometimes

I agree completely. Could go either way. The fact that it's phrased less as a hypothetical and more of an exact situation he wasn't happy with makes ti feel, to me, more like a challenge. But I would completely understand if it were viewed as a discussion requesting clarification.

Expressing it this way isn't the decision I personally would have made. I'll keep my bucket of popcorn out just in case.

tbhp wrote: ↑07 September 2026, 14:24

Kayvon wrote: ↑07 September 2026, 14:07 There's a big red banner at the top, which reads: "Warning: challenging a moderation in Forum = 10 days ban"

There's a distinction between having discussions on what should or shouldn't be penalizable, and the sort of challenging the rule refers to.

THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I’ve seen people get moderated simply for trying to open a discussion about the moderation policy and even write in their thread title “I’m not challenging a moderation” and still got hit with 10 day bans and -50 karma. I’m glad someone else here can distinguish the two.

Kayvon wrote: ↑07 September 2026, 14:07

SamoVrah wrote: ↑07 September 2026, 13:43An aggressive player caused me to quit the match

No, you chose to quit the match. You were unhappy with another player, but you made the decision to leave the match.

They chose to come online and play a nice friendly game without being verbally abused. They shouldn’t have to sit through an entire game of insults. And if they opt to tell this aggressor about their behavior bga shouldn’t punish them and expect them to just sit there and be a punching bag.

ChiefPointThief wrote: ↑07 September 2026, 15:54

Kayvon wrote: ↑07 September 2026, 14:07

SamoVrah wrote: ↑07 September 2026, 13:43An aggressive player caused me to quit the match

No, you chose to quit the match. You were unhappy with another player, but you made the decision to leave the match.

They chose to come online and play a nice friendly game without being verbally abused. They shouldn’t have to sit through an entire game of insults. And if they opt to tell this aggressor about their behavior bga shouldn’t punish them and expect them to just sit there and be a punching bag.

I don't see any reference to insults yet. The only description given so far was that the OP claimed their opponent was aggressive, but no mention was made as to how. For example, if the opponent kept blocking the OP's plays and the OP quit the game as a result, that could easily fit the description given so far. No context for what an "aggressive player" is supposed to mean here, or even what the penalty was. For all we know the OP could have been moderated for insulting their opponent for aggressive play. Alternatively, the moderators might not have been involved at all, and the OP's penalty was just the automatic deductions applies for quitting the game. There are other possibilities. The OP's position might be completely reasonable, or utterly ridiculous, depending on the context.

"Link not use" is something they should probably elaborate on. Given the reference to "an aggressive player", it seems pretty likely that this is in reference to a game where they were at the table with their opponent, meaning if they reported said opponent they should have access to that table's information. Are they just unaware of how the report system works, or is there something else that they're trying to get at? As someone who has gotten a moderation on my account overturned before, I can say it is possible to deal with wrongful moderations.

I wouldn’t advise op to be more detailed as that will most likely result in “challenging moderations in forums”.

What we (or I) do know is that bga’s policy is that they expect you to sit through a game of insults and verbal abuse if that situation arises and say nothing. You can’t even try to deter the situation. Someone can be hauling profanities at you and if you say to them you “you are being very mean. Can you stop insulting me”. A moderator will read this interaction. See 10 profanities hauled your way. Ignore them all and highlight your comment of saying this person is being mean. Resulting in a penalty for you.