Moderation Update Thread

[lilith2013]

This thread serves as a channel for the moderation team to provide updates on changes in our moderation approach, policies, and general status of site moderation.

[lilith2013]

The creation of this thread

As a result of staff discussions regarding the "Moderation Transparency and Accountability" thread, we are creating a staff update thread, which we hope will serve to keep users more in the loop regarding site changes and staff decisions. We have decided not to commit to a specific cadence for update posts, but will make a dedicated post for each update item as the change is implemented. This means there will be few to no “we have no updates” posts.

[lilith2013]

Petition-style bans

We have begun to implement a new style of ban based on some user feedback that we received after a recent ban related to prohibited viewpoints. If someone has been banned for problematic viewpoints or behavior which actively harms the site, harm prevention then becomes a significant factor in a ban, and a set timeframe for a ban does not guarantee that the banned user's harmful behavior will stop when they return. When harm prevention is a significant factor in a ban, we are starting to consider "petition-style bans" which are longer than one month and have a minimum time of less than a year, and now require a petition to the relevant mod team in order for the ban to be lifted. The banned user will need to acknowledge that they broke the rules and agree to refrain from that behavior in the future. Hopefully the new focus on harm prevention will help to better protect our users.

Very generically, the ban message would include something like the following:

In order for your ban to be lifted after the minimum timeframe of [ban length], you will need to send the Discussion mod team:

1. An acknowledgment of breaking the rules, including a description of what happened, and
   
2. An agreement to stop doing that behavior in the future. The ban will be lifted at this point as long as your message accurately describes the events and seems sincere.

You can send your petition to a

Discussion mod

at any time. If you would like to appeal this ban due to what you believe is "Moderation Error" as described in the Appeals instructions, you can reach out to zoraster at any time. You can also send an appeal to zoraster after [ban length] has passed if you believe you qualify under the Commutation section of the Appeals instructions.

The goal for both the moderators and the user is to have the ban lifted while setting the user up so that further action isn't needed. It is not necessary to agree with the policy that resulted in the ban so long as the user wants to avoid violating the policy. Users are welcome to voice their disagreement with the policy as long as doing so doesn't violate the rules to begin with (for example, prohibited viewpoints). But our hope is to make sure that those who are receiving these longer bans understand their bans and at least will try to avoid getting banned in the future. On the whole, we do not want to see users banned, and we're hopeful that we can avoid escalation in punishments that end with users indefinitely banned.

These bans are still appealable to zoraster if the user believes the ban is incorrect (i.e. "Moderator Error" section of the Appeals instructions), or if the minimum ban length has passed, the user can choose to send a Commutation appeal to zoraster. Note that appeals to zoraster for bans will generally have a higher standard for a user's return than the conditions for petition-style bans.

In response to some of the feedback we have received regarding this new style of ban, the banned user can send their petition to the relevant mod team at any time after their ban has been enacted. The mod team will discuss petitions upon receiving them, which can reduce lag time between the end of the minimum ban length and the ban being lifted. However, the minimum ban length will still be served regardless of the outcome of any discussion based on petitions received before the minimum ban length has passed.

[lilith2013]

feedback for bans thread

Based on the feedback we have received regarding the Feedback for Bans thread, we have removed the restrictions on posting in this thread. Please see this post for more details.

[zoraster]

Site Ideas Permission Change

There was an oversight where the discussion ban group didn't cover Site Ideas. That's been corrected.

[xofelf]

Large Social Games Renaming

To further match up with how they're referred to everywhere else but MS, the subforum has been renamed to ORGs and Large Social Games. Because most places call these sorts of games Online Reality Games (ORGs), the hope is to make it clearer what LSGs and Large Social Games are to potential new players.

[AniX]

In order to allow users to better understand what is and isn't prohibited conduct, the moderation team will test out a policy of publicly including mention of warnings that result from Discussion posts within the posts themselves. Please note that not all warnings result directly from posts and moderators may still exercise discretion in the case of warnings resulting from issues that are private or personal.

Warnings resulting from Non-Discussion posts are not affected by this policy change.

[AniX]

After due reflection, the discussion mod team has determined it is in the best interest of the site to revise the rule against "baiting", which previously read as follows:

"In line with our aim to prevent a hostile environment, Mafiascum will not allow ideological purity tests, "witch hunts", or any form of baiting users into defending a prohibited viewpoint. Attempts to weaponize Mafiascum rules or policies in order to get a user banned will result in action being taken against you. It is the moderators' responsibility to regulate behavior. Vigilantism will not be tolerated."

The moderation team believes this version is ineffective and overbroad in addressing the behavior it was written to stop. In particular, there was concern that the rule as written inadvertently prevents or appears to prevent users acting in good faith and with the specific intent to assess whether a user holds a viewpoint harmful to them from doing so. It has been therefore restructured as such:

"In line with our aim to prevent a hostile environment, users should not attempt to weaponize Mafiascum rules or policies in order to get a user banned. It is the moderators' responsibility to regulate behavior. Vigilantism will not be tolerated. Examples of prohibited conduct might include but is not limited to: shadowing another user across threads, demanding a user engage about a certain topic or leave a thread, or coordinated efforts where multiple users engage in behavior that would violate this rule if done by a single user."

[zoraster]

Added a new pronoun field that allows users to enter text. The old one will be phased out. You can find the new pronoun field in your User CP.

[lilith2013]

MAFIA RULES UPDATE

The Listmod team has reviewed and updated the mafia-specific rules, as follows:

• The rules specific to players in the Forum Rules/Guidelines have been updated to reflect our current standards of conduct, remove outdated language, and reflect the updated content of the announcement threads (updates to which are listed below). (Language update to #10 was made on February 25th, 2022.)
  
• We have created an announcement thread on Out-of-Game Influence clarifying the definition of out-of-game influence and in which scenarios we will take action. (A language clarification was made to #4 on February 21st, 2022.)
  
• We have updated the rule on quoting private communications and created an announcement thread on Proving Private Communications describing the change.
  
• We have updated the rule on discussion of ongoing games, and updated the announcement thread on Discussion of Ongoing Games with a description of the change and examples of the types of statements now covered by the rule. ("Discussion of activity" exception was removed on February 21st, 2022.)
  
• Finally, we have created a specific section of rules for mafia game moderators.

To give everyone some time to digest the updates before they go into effect, these changes have been posted but will be effective as of

March 1st, 2022.

We are going to be sending warnings on infractions that have occurred before March 1st to make players aware of where their conduct would be actionable under the updated guidelines and rules.

Given the number and magnitude of the changes we are making, we understand that there might be questions or uncertainty on some of these changes. You can ask any questions about or comment on these changes in this thread, or reach out to any Listmod privately.

In addition to the above rule changes, we are considering implementing a size limit on Large games, and invite feedback on this change (link will be added once the details are posted).

[AniX]

Users subject to Mafia and Mish Mash bans will now be disallowed from commenting on their own ban within the Ban Feedback thread during the terms of their ban. This rule change is due to the purpose of the Feedback thread being to solicit third party perspectives from the userbase and is not an appropriate venue for the user themself to re-litigate or appeal. It also brings Feedback Thread access parity between ban types, as Discussion bans already prevent access to Site Ideas.

[AniX]

Petition bans that include discussion will now be considered "long term" and will involve loss of Speakeasy access for their duration. This change is to correct an oversight and create uniformity amongst ban lengths, as normal bans of one month or longer already remove access to the Speakeasy and petition bans have a minimum length of one month.

[zoraster]

The new Pronoun field has been fully switched over to a fillable one and the old drop-down box has been removed. If you would like to display your pronoun(s) and have not already done so, you can find the new field in the User Control Panel>Profile section.

[AniX]

The Mafiascum Moderation Team has concluded a review of usernames to make sure they are still appropriate for the rules and standards of the site and have edited or removed the ones that no longer are. While releasing the full list of names changed would not be productive, name change reasons include: removing all instances of "88" and "HH", removing the term Lynch and variants, removing usernames that appear to be an alt of a user but aren't, sexually explicit names, racist, anti-lgbt+, or otherwise bigoted names, and names that contain overt advertisements or contact information.

Nearly all the usernames impacted by this belong to members no longer active on the site. When possible, usernames have been minimally edited to make them conform to the rules. However, in some cases the entire username needed to be removed and a placeholder put in. Users impacted by this change have all been contacted and may message a moderator with a new name and we will be happy to substitute it in.

In addition to this overhaul, usernames that contain non-alphanumeric characters may be subject to minor name changes when applying for mafia games due to the incompatibility between some non-alphanumeric characters and access to game-related PT threads.

There was a lot of names and it is not only possible but probable some may have been overlooked.As always, users are encouraged to contact moderation if they see any username, signature, profile picture, or title that seems inappropriate, offensive, or harmful.

NOTE: You will receive an email notifying you of our PM but it will display the NEW NAME of the account, not the old one. Please do not be confused if you receive notice about an account you do not remember creating (although obviously, if it seems suspicious still, please let us know!)

[Isis]

Updates to the discord for plural users

Based on user input and an assessment of new ways we can meet the needs of our users, PluralKit is being added to the discord for its use by the members of plural systems. Pluralkit is a bot that deletes messages from users and replaces them with a message with a different name and avatar for the author, so that in doing so it may use two or more different replacement author names, which allows people who share a discord account because they share a body to be represented by different names. It has other features as well.

Where and who uses Pluralkit

Because discord does not allow users to block the changed-author messages of PluralKit, PluralKit will not be installed in channels of the mafiascum discord server that cannot be exited by dropping the role that grants access to that channel. It will be available in every other channel.
PluralKit should only be used for plurality, not for roleplay. We want to avoid a handful of singlet users using the tool for roleplay and causing the back-to-back message bug when other users are using the tool. Roleplay usage also has a weaker justification for nullifying the block feature. Most commands work as DMs to Pluralkit, but "system server tag" is a notable exception. There will also be a new botspam channel.

Expectations for users using PluralKit

Code: Select all

pk;system servertag <string>

should be used to give the mafiascum discord, and only the mafia scum discord, an appended tag that associates the message with a mafiascum forum account, in accordance with longstanding rule that is usually implemented by "Change Nickname" instead. Examples are

Code: Select all

pk;system servertag {Forumname or a headmate}

or

Code: Select all

pk;system servertag |Blyn System| login:Forumname

which are selected here to illustrate there is no prominence requirement.
It is helpful if Pluralkit users remember to provide as much information as is necessary about the pronouns of their alters.

Expectations for all users

Be respectful to other users. Be careful not to make statements that make false equivalences between different members of a system, or characteristics of the system as opposed to one of its members. Make sure to use the correct pronouns even though they are being presented in a new way.
There are a couple commands that are relevant to you even if you are not using Pluralkit, they are both emote reactions to messages. can tell you more about who sent a message. will ping the user who sent a message.

Closing Remark

We were unable to make changes to mafiascum.net but we are excited about positive benefits from introducing Pluralkit to the discord. Although we extensively discussed this with the community, we are still listening to feedback you may have. As a reminder, you can DM the Modmail bot on the discord to share a message with staff, in addition other manners of communicating with us.

[AniX]

Alt accounts for all users and accounts for system members of users already admitted will now be permitted access to the Speakeasy and Get to Know A Scummer forums. All other requirements for an account to gain Speakeasy Access apply, including at least one account used by the user or system having 100 or more in-game posts and an account user being at least 18 years old. Reminder that Speakeasy access also grants GTKAS access and users applying for Speakeasy access need not also apply for GTKAS access.

Alongside this reform, both the Speakeasy and GTKAS forums will now have a stickied thread listing all users who have access to that specific forum. It will include a separate list of all alternate accounts and accounts for system members of users already in those forums. Plural users are free to disclose their plural status but are under no obligation to. Plural users are also encouraged to inform site staff as to whether they wish to be marked as a plural account on the Masterlist and whether they want a system name, if any, included.

Please note that hydra accounts will remain unable to access these forums. If an account has more than one user, all such users must belong to the same system.

[AniX]

PluralKit will now be available for use in all channels of the Discord server, including General Discussion. In doing so, we are trusting PK users to act responsibly and with respect to the needs of other users who might wish to avoid conversation on certain topics or with certain users. However, we will not impose any particular policy or rule regarding blocking of PK users at this time.

In addition, while we always appreciate feedback from users on policy changes, due to the very personal nature of PluralKit use, please privately message the mods with any concerns or questions you might have about this new policy and we will be glad to address them for you.