Voting Ban

[Cutlass]

So I came across this idea while another spammer spammed global while the GM's were off, and posted it on global and people liked the idea.
What if we have a voting system to ban someone's IP for an hour, like 20 people voted to ban someone for an hour, and poof. It would stop annoyances at auctions, although we rarely have issues still a nice backup. It would also solve global spam and handle things GM's can't do while they're off. And this shard seems good hearted enough to trust not to abuse the power. Plus, 20 people is a lot.. There would have to be a mass voting all at once, and I don't think you'll find something like that besides at auctions/global and etc. GM's can't be there ALL the time, so let us take control of the server on some parts.

[Lust]

Interesting suggestion, it would definitely be nice to ban the ip(s) that keep creating new characters. When 5 new players are welcomed over a 15 minute span it becomes pretty blatant.

I am unfamiliar with any problems at the auctions, I've been to 4 total (2 staff organized and 2 player organized) and a GM was present for 3 of them. There weren't really any disruptions in any of them (at least none that can be solved through banning an ip).

As for general spam in global, I believe its not as frequent as people believe it. Yes it happens, but usually its caused by a poorly created macro. Also if you ask them to stop spamming every minute then it usually works. For the occasions where they continue to spam then just take note and report to a GM when they are on.

Again, i like the idea of a voting system but if it takes too much time to code and implement then I rather the staff focus their energies elsewhere. If the ExEx auction system gets implemented then I think it would solve a fair amount of the auction and global spam problems as well as enhance the overall shard experience.

[+Colibri]

Hehe yes actually we have seen the need for such a system about or month or two ago, and it's been pretty much thought out, though not yet scripted. It would probably just be for a temporary suspension from public chat. So if there comes to an abuse of the system, the player in question isn't restricted much. Just to keep the spam/profanity from the whole world to see. Only players of at least 1 month account age would be able to vote, and if anyone would abuse the system, they would either be temporarily or permanently restricted from voting.

Just trying to figure out... should it be in command form like [banvote or something you'd click on the [c player list when you click the blue button on the left of the player's name?

[satch]

I know I am new here but something like
[ban(playersname) it would be hard to make a mistake and click the wrong persons button above or below the one you are trying.

[Cutlass]

I'd do something like [bv (playername). BV for banvote.
I would say [ban (playername), but I believe that's already a command for the GM's, and using it for two different things would be quite difficult.

[Orbit Storm]

That's not a bad idea at all; much similar to what WoW has with "Report Spam" when you right click on their name. I'd have to agree with +Colibri on a temporary chat ban rather than an IP ban. I'm not taking anything away from the good people of Excelsior, but we all know human nature. The kindest, sweetest person on this server could potentially become a hazard to newer players if given the opportunity to abuse this sort of system. I know people on here who've helped me whenever I've needed info on a spawn, or advice on the bee system, etc; yet I know they have their days like anyone else, and would "[bv" me just as quick as the next person.

I feel precautionary measures should be taken if this system is implemented, or it could result in bad publicity for Excelsior. Staff should have a command to reverse any "[bv" used against a player, as well as a security log to see who has voted, as well. Although I do not agree with the suggestion that if someone is caught abusing the system they receive temporary/permanent banning from that system. Personally, if someone is immature enough to do such a thing, they should be held to a higher standard and receive a much more severe disciplinary action. I think a 72 hour ban from Excelsior would suffice for the first offense, and certainly ensure people use better judgment when voting, and not "i don't like him/her" mentality.

[Cutlass]

the 72 hour ban would be good if we went with the IP ban instead of chat block. I personally want IP ban because people just create new accounts over and over to spam more. Chaos had to stay online one night for awhile, because he couldn't IP ban this person, so he had to sit and wait for him to change characters, and spam again. And 1 hour is pretty short, so they can go watch an episode of house or something.. Plenty of things to catch up on during that hour, and not so long that it ruins your whole day. You could also make the entire server know when someone votes to ban someone, like a warning or something,
IE: "(name) Has started to vote to ban (name)"
And keep us updated at 50%, and 75% of votes, like 10/20, and 15/20, that way it's not spam. And we can report whoever started the vote, if it's unlawful.
If the person is spamming, anyways, then they shouldn't care that their name becomes public for voting them off. However, it keeps us aware of injustice that someone might be trying to pull, like getting a group of people together and trying to vote to ban someone for an hour. If people see that a person who is doing nothing wrong, and votes start pouring in, then people are going to be vouching for the person being voted against, and THEN we can do a 72 hour ban to whoever started the vote. Problems solved. No spammers, no unlawful bans or severe punishment, and it keeps the spammers from making new characters.

[Orbit Storm]

Well, I don't see any sort of feature in this system showing who is voting to "ban" someone, publicly. For one, we should all already be aware that the Codex states that any disciplinary action taken against someone is to be kept private; perpetrator, victim, staff, etc. In other words, my name appearing publicly that I voted to ban, you, for instance; would be contradictory of the Codex, period.

Just because someone spams chat, or says something vulgar or offensive, does not mean I want them, and all of their friends on Excelsior knowing I voted. This server is full of tight-knit cliques and to vote against someone, publicly, could result in unwarranted vengeance from that person's guild, or friends. It would be far too much drama, and certainly stir up a lot of unwanted trouble, and hostility.

I can't see the IP ban being implemented simply because that is a staff feature, and in the event of whatever unforeseen circumstances, someone could get banned for 72 hours without any way to contest it, in the event they were wronged. If that sort of thing became habitual, there is no way Excelsior would be anything more than a dead server; people would leave, and fast.

+Colibri should simply start requiring account registration. Either before, or after making an account. We're all aware of having to send an email, or apply on a shard's site, to have an account opened from time to time; which most people despise. Therefore, why not restrict chat privileges, PMing, etc until the owner of the new account provides an email, at the very least.

I still stand by the notion of requiring severe punishment for abusing this sort of system, even if it's your first offense. To me, getting someone banned for no reason, would fall under player harassment, by deliberately and knowingly putting a halt to another players' game-play; and so on and so forth. The whole thing is a risky thing to implement. It could turn into an utter disaster or prove to be extremely beneficial to the shard. Only time will tell.

[Lust]

I believe Cutlass is requesting only the person beginning the vote ban be displayed publicly via global chat and thus anyone that joins in the vote will remain anonymous (though a number counter will be displayed with significant increments). However, I do agree with Orbit Storm that even the person starting the vote ban should not be displayed. Even if there is a group abusing the vote ban feature its not like we as players can do much about it. I believe the staff (at their convenience) would review the vote bans to ensure there is no group abuse of the system. Again this is under the assumption that there really aren't too many spammers on the shard. Honestly, I read the logs everyday and there are 0-2 intentional spammers each day.

As for account banning, when I think about it it may be extreme. Is there anyway to just ban their global chat privileges as well as voting privileges via ip address for a certain length of time? If this is possible then it would solve the dilemma of creating new accounts to continue spamming and/or retaliating. As for account banning for abusing the vote ban feature, again I believe it should just be a ban of being able to vote and possibly ban for global chat for a certain length of time. Regardless, I believe players should still be able to play on Excelsior. If I was ever ban from Excelsior for a few days I would be worried for my bees-sake.

As for verification to being using global chat, PM-ing, etc. I would not advise such an action. There are plenty of members (particularly newer members) that just have a simple question now and then. Adding verification may deter them from using global chat and make their experiences more frustrating since they'll have to solve their own problems.

[Orbit Storm]

I'm not talking about a permanent account ban on those caught abusing the system. But when someone deliberately hinders another players' game-play by getting a group together to "[vb" someone; then any person(s) involved should be dealt with in a stern fashion. Sure, being banned from chat for an hour isn't that long, but what if the person didn't do anything wrong?

i.e. Getting a speeding ticket on Monday for $100 may be better than going to jail, but it will still hinder my going-out Friday night.

If you're going to willfully abuse such a system, you deserve much more than a slap on the fingers. It's silly to discipline someone with the same action that someone just thrust upon an innocent victim. Again, i.e Johnny gets beat up on the playground and managed to get a one day suspension, but the teacher later finds out Johnny didn't start it and Billy did, so she suspends him for one day too. See how silly that is? Anyone whose willing to abuse the system, doesn't deserve to be here in the first place. Don't take this the wrong way, but those who break the rules, shouldn't be concerned about their "bees".

I don't see how requiring verification upon account creation would deter anyone at all. Most newer players upon logging in tend to run around and explore, not jump straight into global and have a conversation. I feel requiring, at the very least, a legit email as soon as you log in for the first time, would prevent new accounts being made to spam, etc.

[Cutlass]

OMG That's actually pretty funny,
"Johnny gets beat up on the playground and managed to get a one day suspension, but the teacher later finds out Johnny didn't start it and Billy did, so she suspends him for one day too."
I was in the same incident when I was a little kid in elementary. 2 kids used to always push me around and one day I finally told them off. They jump me and I come out with a bloody nose, they come out with 1 black eye and the other one just had a cut on his face. At the principle office, I'M the one who got the more severe punishment. I got 1 day inschool suspension, and 1 day OSS (outside school suspension). The other kids got 1 day OSS and that's it. I was furious. All I did was finally tell them off instead of being pushed around, and in result I had to use self defense to get them off of me, and I'm the one that gets punished more.

Anywho, enough with one of my life stories. I say let's go ahead and give them a 72 hour ban. It may be harsh, but they shouldn't abuse it in the first place. If they never abused it in the first place, then it wouldn't be a harsh punishment, because no one got banned.

[anarchy]

i see serious problems with the ip ban. just playing devil's advocate for a sec. ok someone who has 20 + friends (now that's a lot, but i like it) can ip ban someone for 1 hour (not really a long time. could do the dishes. hm.. ), but there is an "investigation" on the person who started the vote. That person (having a very terrible day) got po'd at someone (not thinking) started to call their 20 + friends (a lot ) and banned someone's ip for 1 hour (who could be innocent). Now they find out it wasn't a "legit" vote (which it wasn't) and that person (who's having a bad day) gets banned for 72 hours (which is only 3 days).

hope we don't lose player.

people have their good days and bad days. mine's just unlucky. :Þ


chat ban
they still can play and spam, but no one hears them. takes 20 votes. if he's innocent he should get a "tag back" to chat ban that person for 3 days. (hahahahaha)

or my idea
create a new option in the chat menu to ignore a player.

does the filter in game work where you can ignore player or does that show up in chat?

[Tahris Nayloc]

Ignoring a player on global chat is relatively simple. Type as though you wanted to pm the player ([pm billybob) and one of the options in the pm is to ignore the player.

Alternatively, you can type just [c and get the player list and ignore them by selecting that player and hitting the appropriate buttons.

This won't prevent that player from talking to you directly (which you can use the filter in the options to ignore) but their text will no longer show up in public chat and they will be unable to PM you.

[krumhur]

really, anyone ever felt the need to ignore someone? i've yet to feel such need, or meet someone who deserves an ignore/ban on my part.

[anarchy]

so your telling me Tah'ris Nayloc that there is already a way to ignore someone who is spamming globally. ok then what's the problem here?