MODERATION ANNOUNCEMENTThis thread developed into the mobbing of a new, inexperienced player by a group of experienced players who acted as though they had the right to order him what to do and attack him for not immediately complying with their demands.
I specifically identify Farsun, Maxington and colonelvesica as sharing in the collective responsibility for what occurred.
Guys, you all know the rules. I have told you many times before: OTAF is
NOT an official part of the game. You have no authority to barge in on a role-play (one you are not even directly involved in) and start ordering players how they can and cannot do military role-play.
You are not obliged to take part in or acknowledge role-play you do not approve of.
You are welcome to set out the terms in which you are willing to take part in a role-play. You are also welcome to offer advice, although this must
always be done
RESPECTFULLY and
always making clear you are
ADVISING, not
ORDERING.
It would appear that as a consequence of your hounding, a player left us. This is not something I am happy about.
I am even less happy that after the player inactivated, the discourtesy continued.
Quite frankly, I expected better from you all. I really did.
Please do not ever let me see this happen again.
***
Sanctions are issued as follows.
Farsun: Despite having received previous official warnings for discourtesy, bullying and employing an inappropriately authoritative manner, you have gone on to do exactly all of the same things all over again here. Over a sustained period of time, you have been throwing your weight around excessively and contributing to a culture of bullying which is not healthy for the game environment. Issuing you with another warning would be a waste of time; that has been tried before and had little effect.
You are suspended from the forum and the game for 2 weeks. Any attempt to contravene this suspension will result in a permanent ban from the game. Please do not return here until you have resolved to amend your ways.
Maxington: The disrespectful behaviour you have exhibited, with the comments, images and videos, must never be repeated again. It amounted to bullying, and I will not have that here. You have since expressed contrition, which I respect you for doing and believe is a sign things will be better with you from now on. Nevertheless, there is no alternative here other than to issue the minimum sanction one would expect in a case like this: a first official warning.
colonelvesica: You were not the most serious offender here, but you were nevertheless a participant in what turned in to a disgraceful pile-in of negativity towards one of our new members. You failed to indicate you were advising the player about military matters instead of ordering him. Your comment after the player inactivated was wholly inappropriate and amounted to a contribution to the collective bullying which was going on.
I expect our members to be treated with courtesy and charity. Always. Please remember that.
You have been issued with an informal warning.
***
A reminder again: OTAF is
NOT OFFICIAL. A small, self-appointed group of players do not have the right to dictate to everybody else how they can do military role-play.
We do have the
Role-Play Accord which provides an official role for the Global Role-Play Team to regulate military role-play in the case of nations which have voluntarily opted in to it.
Please allow the Global Role-Play Team some time. We will begin to see progress made in developing the military aspect of the game, but it has to be done in the right way. Players have to be treated with respect. If there are disagreements or if players (especially new players) make misjudgements, then that needs to be addressed in a civilised way.
I never want to see what happened here repeated again.
