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+---- Forum: Admin Complaints (https://nwpublic.eu/forum-28.html)
+---- Thread: [Closed] Rule Enforcement and Idle Admins on Minisiege (/thread-662.html)
Rule Enforcement and Idle Admins on Minisiege - Ophion - 03-25-2021
Your in-game name: Ophion
Your GUID: 445460
Your Steam URL: Contact me via Discord, I am part of the NWP Discord Server
Name of the Admins: Someone, Krembit, Badgirl, possibly others
What happened:
The chat was subjected to several racist and dehumanising remarks that stretched over the duration of more than half an hour. This included terms such as calling specific Minisiege players "subhuman", as well as multiple other terms I won't post on a public forum. Due to this, I would kindly ask you to refer to the logs for the necessary evidence.
I spectated the chat for some time until I complained ingame to the admins online that this kind of behaviour is not only explicitly forbidden as per the rules (https://nwpublic.eu/thread-48.html), it is also normalising a community in which derogatory language and insults become the norm, that is, normalised. Others agreed with me in the chat, whereas some didn't. Either way, while one of the admins claimed to have checked the logs and seen no offensive language, another asked me to take it to the forum in form of a formal complaint. The irony of this situation doesn't escape me - as here I am. Yet quite frankly I find it appaling that rather than enforcing the rules (and let's be honest, a basic level of acceptable conduct), I am told to take it to the forums when I complain about rampant racism in the chat. This is for me an offense even worse than the silent acceptance of such language. It is much rather the active enablement of dehumanising language through the admins themselves. This went on for some time, with no action being taken at first, and then later a warning message issued via Badgirl (which didn't stop the racist remarks, nor did it lead to kicks or bans when the offensive language continued).
When did this happen: 25/03/2021 - roughly 3:30pm - 4:10pm
Proof: Please refer to the logs, as I do not want to give the content of the chat any publicity via this forum. It's okay if checking this takes longer than usual, naturally.
Additional comments:
I want to emphasise that this isn't a complaint about a specific admin per se - I understand the chat gets messy and intransparent sometimes, with a lot of players. Sometimes admins can't read everything that is written, and that is understandable. Yet, with minimum three admins online - one of which is apparently a senior admin - I would at least expect a baseline level of moderation.
At this point I would also like to say that I have seen this happen several times before. This was neither an unfortunate accident, nor was it a singular offense. Rather, the in my perception almost constant inability of admins to enforce even the most basic of rules regarding the chat and the language used indicates towards urgent and far-reaching systemic issues within the moderation of Minisiege. I have no knowledge of how the admin team is composed, nor do I know much about what is involved in that. However, with this complaint I urge not only the ones responsible for the moderation guidelines, but every single admin of the server to reconsider on how they want their community run. This is not something that only pertains to the senior admins, it is a tangible issue that enables every admin to do their best to create a welcoming and fun community.
As a formal sign of protest I will take this case for a reason to discontinue my frequent visits onto the Minisiege server until I feel sufficient action has been taken. I admire what you have built up, but the continued systemic issues within the moderation team make it impossible for me to tolerate how the community is run. Thank you for your time.
RE: Rule Enforcement and Idle Admins on Minisiege - Loifas - 03-25-2021
Hello Ophion,
Thank you for bringing this situation to our attention, all input and complaints from the community is valuable to our team.
Our senior team looked into the chat logs around your supplied timestamp and have seen that the chat had edgy players spouting nonsense.
On the matter of dehumanising behaviour in chat, the logs showed instances of 2 seperate players spouting an edgy comment. Whilst it's not of great taste, it's also not enough to justify punishing the players on a one off basis. People using "Jew" as an insult is comparable as using "English Tea Drinker" or "Irish Potato eater" etc. therefore such behaviour won't be punished until it starts getting into extremes. It is up to the admin to determine at what point is too far.
In the past when admins have warned chat, it made the situation 10 times worse. If we were to punish all the players in these situations, the server would have a lesser population. This has happened in the past with dramatic consequences.
However, I agree that racism in the chat does need to be handled in a far better manner, so our staff is reviewing the current system.
But I will make clear that we will never instantly punish players for using such language and that users should always be warned before any action is taken.
In addition, ridding the server of players using non-extreme insults/offensive language will never happen.
Regarding the admins on at the time, none will be punished/warned.
Again, thank you for your complaint. Your input is valuable to us.
All the best,
- Loifas
EDIT: "If we were to punish all the players in these situations, the server would have a lesser population." This statement is subjective to the situation. If this scenario the players were directing disruptive behaviour towards a player, then they are all subject to punishment.