Forums

I'd just like to clarify why a permanent ban was issued in this case, since there seems to be a general misunderstanding amongst a lot of people about how the punishment system works.

The type of punishment which is issued is determined by the number of active punishments the player has (punishment means kick, 7 day ban or permanent ban - warnings are not counted). It doesn't calculate based on the type; only on the number of punishments which are not stale and which have not been appealed.

In this case, the player had two active punishments on record, and so when the moderator issued the punishment, a permanent ban was automatically determined to be the next punishment issued - this is outwith the moderator's control. It might seem a little harsh in this instance, but this is one of the reasons the appeal system exists - if the punished player feels it was too harsh, they can discuss with us why it was too severe, and we can potentially consider reducing it. Do also note that moderators can reduce punishments after they are issued, even if the player does not open an appeal. The punishment still counts towards the number of active punishments.

To offer an explanation by example, which may help explain this case: the second punishment issued will be a 7 day ban by default, but the moderator can reduce this to a kick. However, the punished player will still have two kicks on record - this counts as two active punishments, and so the next punishment will be a permanent ban.

The reason the system is structured to follow kick -> 7 day ban -> permanent ban in order to deal with people who repeatedly break the rules. The reason the system follows the number, rather than the type, of punishment is also to aid in addressing repeated rulebreaking, as well as to allow staling to work and enable some form of rehabilitation - staled punishments are ignored when calculating the next punishment, and so do not count towards the total. Testing by previous punishment type might seem simpler and more intuitive, but would render staling useless.