Moderation Update Thread

[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."

[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.

[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!)

[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.