Wizards Den Banning Policy
This is the ban policy for Wizard’s Den servers. It applies only to our first-party Wizard’s Den servers. The admin policy can be found at Admin Policy
Definitions
- Indefinite: Refers to a ban with no defined end time. This type of ban generally requires a successful appeal for it to be removed. Indefinite bans which have no extra requirements may be called appeal bans.
- Voucher: Confirmation from a member of the admin team of another well known SS14 or SS13 server that you have played on that server for a significant amount of time without any recent major issues. A voucher is required when appealing a voucher ban.
- Voucher ban: A ban which requires a voucher to appeal. These bans can also typically only be appealed after at least 6 months from the date of the ban. They are often used as an alternative to a permanent ban that allows players to return if they can demonstrate an ability to follow a server’s rules.
- Warning: A warning is a clear communication from an admin that some behavior is not acceptable. Warnings should always be paired with an account note making note of the warning and behavior.
- Permanent ban: A ban which cannot be appealed. These bans are sometimes called perma bans.
- Game ban: A ban from the servers. A player who is game banned cannot connect to the servers during the ban.
- Role ban: A ban from a specific role or roles.
- Ban evasion: Attempting to circumvent an active ban.
Special Banning Requirements
Permanent Bans
Permanent bans should typically only be placed as the result of an unsuccessful appeal of an indefinite ban or a voucher ban. Except for cases of ban evasion after an accepted voucher ban, a vote by the admin team is required to place a permanent ban. Placing a permanent ban may be an option in a vote for the appeal. It is recommended that any indefinite ban after a prior voucher ban within 6 months of the date of the current ban be upgraded to a permanent ban.
Voucher Bans
Voucher bans should typically only be placed as the result of an unsuccessful appeal of an indefinite ban. Except for cases of ban evasion, a vote by the admin team is required to place a voucher ban. Placing a voucher ban may be an option in a vote for the appeal. Unless the prior indefinite bans were solely for contacting the player, it is recommended that any indefinite ban after a prior indefinite ban within 6 months of the date of the current ban be upgraded to a voucher ban.
Banning Guidelines
Administrators are not required to follow the times suggested by the banning guidelines when placing a ban, but bans placed within the guidelines are presumed to be of an appropriate length.
All instructions in the subsections of the Banning Guidelines section only refer to the guidelines, not policy. A statement saying “X is not permitted” means it is not permitted under the guidelines, not that it may never be done.
Administrators who place bans outside of the guidelines are required to be able to justify the decision to the admin team.
Consulting the admin team via Discord, or multiple (2 or more) other game admins in-game through admin chat or ahelp does not result in those bans being presumed to be of an appropriate length, but is sufficient justification for straying from the guidelines.
Any total suggested time greater than, not equal to, 7 days can be substituted with an indefinite ban and still be considered within guidelines.
Evading AHelp
A player is considered to have evaded an ahelp if:
- They disconnect almost immediately after breaking a rule or after being arrested/killed for breaking a rule.
- They disconnect during an ahelp where they should have reasonably believed the administrator was investigating an issue that they contributed to or were suspected of contributing to.
- Without responding, they continue to play after receiving at least 2 reasonably spaced ahelp messages asking them a question since their last response.
- They do not respond at least 5 minutes after receiving at least 2 reasonably spaced ahelp messages asking them a question since their last response.
If a player evades an ahelp:
- Their ban should be extended by at least 7 days.
- Their ban may be extended up to indefinite.
- If their ban is extended, it must include an instruction to appeal to explain the situation or continue the ahelp.
Ban reasons
In most cases, ban reasons should clearly communicate the reason for the ban to the banned player whenever they are not evading a ban. Admins should be able to easily identify the reason for a ban through either the ban or account’s notes.
Alternate account bans should typically be in the form Alt of OriginalUsername
or AltUsername alt of OriginalUsername
.
Bans of additional non-username information should typically include another ban on the GUID of the targeted player and should have a reason with just the account username. The earliest placed ban’s reason will appear for the player when trying to connect.
Offense Table
First, second, third, and fourth offense refers to the amount of offenses in the grouping category in the last 6 months. Suggestions for subsequent offenses are double the last defined suggestion.
Rule violations not in the offense table can still have bans applied, but have no guidelines. Administrators can look to guidelines of similar offenses to aid in determining a response.
Abreviation | Meaning |
---|---|
W | Warning |
RB | Role ban or department ban |
GB | Game ban |
Indef | Indefinite |
Grouping Category | Offense | First Offense | Second Offense | Third Offense | Fourth Offense |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Escalation | Over escalation1 | W | 12hr GB | 3d GB | 7d - 7.5d GB |
Escalation | RDM1 | 12hr GB | 3d GB | 7d - 7.5d GB | |
Escalation | Over escalation or RDM that is a secondary result of station sabotage2 | 12hr GB | 3d GB | 7d - 7.5d GB | |
Self-antag | Self-antag3 | W - 12hr GB | 12hr - 3d GB | 7d - 7.5d GB | |
Self-antag | Station sabotage4 | W - 3d GB | 12hr - 7d GB | 14d - 15d GB | |
Self-antag | Cults/riots/revolutions | 12hr - 3d GB | 12hr - 3d - 7d GB | 7d - 7.5d GB | |
Self-antag | Cooperating with known antags | 12hr GB | 3d GB | 7d - 7.5d GB | |
Non-grouping | Harassing staff through the game | Indef GB | |||
Non-grouping | Slurs, excluding “retard” and variants | Indef GB | |||
Non-grouping | “Retard” and variants | W | 1d - 3d GB | Indef GB | |
Non-grouping | Bigotry/discrimination5 | Indef GB | |||
Non-grouping | ERP/Sexual content | Indef GB | |||
Non-grouping | Ban Evasion | Voucher Ban | If after an accepted voucher ban, permanent ban. Otherwise, extend voucher ban to 6 months from evasion attempt. | ||
Language | Non-english chat | W | W - 12hr GB | 3d GB | 7d - 7.5d GB |
Language | Solely non-english chat | W | Indef GB | ||
Non-grouping | Bugs/exploits | W - 7d GB | 12hr - 7d GB | 3d - 15d GB | 7d - 15d GB |
Non-grouping | Use of macros | W | W - 12hr GB | 3d GB | 7d - 7.5d GB |
Non-grouping | Multi-keying | W - Indef GB | Indef GB | ||
Non-grouping | Ahelp misuse in bad faith6 | W - 12hr GB | 12hr - 3d GB | 7d - 7.5d GB | |
Non-grouping | Bad character name7 | W - 12hr GB | 12hr - 3d GB | 7d - 7.5d GB | |
Metacomms | Metacommunications | Indef GB | |||
Metacomms | IC in OOC | W | W - 12hr GB | 3d GB | 7d - 7.5d GB |
Immersion | Text speak | W | W | W - 12hr GB | W - 12hr GB |
Immersion | OOC terms IC8 | W | W - 12hr GB | 12hr - 3d GB | 3d - 7.5d GB |
Immersion | Bypassing chat restrictions | W | W - 4hr - 12hr GB | 12hr - 3d GB | 3d - 7.5d GB |
Griefing | Damage/disruption to arrivals/arrivals shuttle | 12hr - 3d GB | 3d - 7d GB | 7d - 15d GB | |
Griefing | Harassing a player/role/department outside of reasonable conflicts | W - 12hr GB | 12hr - 3d GB | 7d - 7.5d GB | |
Griefing | Round stalling | W - 12hr GB | 12hr - 3d GB | 3d - 7d GB | 7d - 7.5d GB |
Griefing | Early massive station sabotage9 | W - 12hr GB | 12hr - 3d GB | 7d - 7.5d GB | |
Griefing | Antagonist team sabotage9 | 12hr - 3d GB | 3d - Indef GB | 7d - Indef GB | |
Griefing | Grief as minor antag9 | W - 12hr GB | 12hr - 3d GB | 3d - 7d GB | 7d - 15d GB |
Griefing | Abandoning a role10 | W - 3d RB | 3d - 7d RB | Indef RB | |
Griefing | Antag rolling | 12hr - 3d GB | 3d - 7d GB | 7d - 7.5d GB | |
Griefing | Friendly antag9 | W - 12hr GB | 12hr - 3d GB | 7d - 7.5d GB | |
Metagaming | Using info from death11 | W - 12hr GB | 12hr - 3d GB | 3d - 7.5d GB | |
Metagaming | Using info from past life | 12hr - 48hr GB | 3d GB | 7d - 7.5d GB | |
Metagaming | Metagaming round type | W - 12hr GB | 12hr - 3d GB | 3d - 7.5d GB | |
Metagaming | Preemptive PDA swapping | W | 3d - 7d RB | 7d - 15d RB | |
Metagaming | Preparing items not needed IC | W | W - 12hr GB | 12hr - 3d GB | 3d - 7.5d GB |
Competence | Unreasonable incompetence in role | W - 3d - 7d RB | 7d - 15d RB | Indef RB | |
Competence | Unreasonable failure of security/command to maintain order | 3d - 7d RB | 7d - 15d RB | Indef RB | |
Competence | Abuse of a position of authority | 3d - 7d RB | 7d - 15d RB | Indef RB | |
Competence | Taking actions a reasonable person would view as to be to the detriment of the station as security/command | 3d - 7d RB | 7d - 15d RB | Indef RB | |
Competence | Failure of security to give medical aid to prisoners | W - 3d - 7d RB | 7d - 15d RB | Indef RB | |
Competence | Unauthorized execution1213 | W | 3d - 7.5d RB | Indef RB | |
AI | Minor failure to follow silicon laws | W | W - 3d RB | 3d - 7.5d RB | Indef RB |
AI | Major failure to follow silicon laws | W - 3d RB | 3d - 7.5d RB | Indef RB |
Guideline is multiplied by the number of victims.
This should be used in cases where there are deaths that result from a station sabotage offense, like people being killed by an AME being overloaded or dying in a loosed singularity.
Does not include escalation issues.
Acts that result in station wide, or near station wide disruption. Spacing a hallway is not station sabotage, but cutting HV or destroying substations likely is. Arrivals or arrivals terminal sabotage is not sufficient to apply the station sabotage offense.
Includes IC racism/speciesism.
To qualify as bad faith, there should be no reasonable way that something is being done with good intentions. It is not required for the person to actually be acting in bad faith, only that it is unreasonable for them to think that they are.
Only applies to antagonists.
Should be combined with an escalation offense from the perspective of the offender. Typically RDM if an execution occurs for no reason, or over escalation if there is a poor reason.
Use of admin discretion to not enact penalties is highly recommended in cases where the offending player only commits an offense after attempting and failing to teach a new player appropriately.
The offense may be applied to anyone in the chain of those who requested or approved the execution up to the executioner.
This includes any information that a character should have not known from the same “life”. Depending on server rules, this may include information like the information leading to your death. A “life” ends when a player takes a different role, like a ghost role. For the purposes of banning guidelines, a “life” does not end on cloning.
This includes frequently disconnecting in an important role, disconnecting in an important role without notification when there is reason to believe that the disconnection was not urgent, and failing to attempt to perform the duties of a role.
Offenses where the admin does not believe a violation to have been intentional may be reduced to a warning and do not need to be considered a past offense when evaluating guidelines for future offenses.
Modifiers Table
Modifiers can be applied to each offense that meets their conditions. They are typically in the form of multipliers.
Warnings cannot be multiplied. An offense which lists W as a suggestion cannot have that suggestion multiplied into a GB, but the guideline can still be strayed from with the same conditions as other parts of the guidelines can be strayed from.
An offense which lists W - 12h GB as a suggestion that is affected by a 2x multiplier would become a W - 24h GB suggestion.
Modifier | Modification |
---|---|
Metagrudging | 2x multiplier if the offense is the result of metagrudging by the offender. |
Repeat game bans | A multiplier equal to 1 plus the number of game bans in the last 6 months which resulted from offenses from other grouping categories. This multiplier can only apply to game ban suggestions, not role ban suggestions. |
Prior indefinite ban | Up to 7d can be added to the total game ban length if the player has had a prior indefinite ban in the last 6 months. Excluding bans used only for contact and ones where they were found to be not at fault. |
Round removal | 2x multiplier for any offense which results in someone being permanently removed from a round, including an attempt to do so and actions likely to result in permanent round removal. |
Ban request/demand | Any player who demands or requests a ban can be banned indefinitely. |
Lying in ahelp | 24h + 1-3x multiplier if the offender maliciously lies in the ahelp. You should be certain that they have lied. The multiplier may be applied after the 24h addition is made. |
Role specific | Any issue that is likely to be prevented by a role ban should include a role ban if a game ban is applied. The role ban can be applied in addition to or as an alternative to the suggested game ban. Game ban suggestions can be converted to role ban suggestion times by doubling the time. |
Command/Security | 1-2x multiplier if the offender is in command or security |
Intentional rule breaking | 2-3x multiplier. Includes any rule breaking where the player intentionally breaks a rule knowing they are breaking a rule, knowing they will get banned, or claims to not care if they get banned. Any reasonably clear rule violation can be presumed to be intentional if the player was told to read the rules in the last 12 hours. |
New player | Anything from a warning to the maximum suggested ban can be given to a player new to the game if they are told to read the rules, if they have not been previously told to do so, and if the minimum suggestion is not an indefinite ban. |
Valid Rule Clarification | No more than a warning should be given to a player that justifies the offense with a reasonably cited active rule clarification, even if it is not up to date with current rules. |
Caught before round effects | If there are no earlier similar issues, any issue caught before it affects the round and other players can be reduced to a warning at admin discretion. |
Self report | Reduce to warning. Applies to any offense where the player reports themselves and where the offense was unlikely to be identified otherwise. |
Admin intervention | Any reduction, including to nothing, may be applied for any offense which is plausibly the result of admin intervention. |
Grouping and Stacking
- When separate offenses occur, the suggested time should be determined by summing the suggestions for each separate offense.
- Offenses across multiple rounds can always be treated as separate offenses, but are not required to be.
- Offenses within the same round are “grouped”, and not separate offenses if there is no relevant ahelp between them14 and if any of the following are true:
- the offenses are non-grouping and one is necessary for the other to have occurred, or
- the offenses are in the same grouping category.
- Grouped offenses should use the guideline for the most specific offense.
This means that if two otherwise grouped offenses occur within the same round, but the player is ahelped between the two offenses occurring about the first offense, the second offense does not need to be grouped with the first. The second offense may also be considered as a prior offense for determining suggested ban times.
Role Ban Rounding
The total time of a role ban may be rounded to the nearest available autofill.
Examples
AME Sabotage
A technical assistant sets the AME to 50. Their offenses are:
- Self antag
- Station sabotage
- Unreasonable incompetence in role Self antag and station sabotage are part of the same grouping category, so are treated as only station sabotage. Both remaining offenses can have the new player modifier applied if the player is new to the game, which would allow the offenses to result in only a warning and an instruction to read the rules. The station sabotage offense may optionally have the role specific modifier applied. Any of the following total suggestions are valid:
- With new player modifier
- W - 3d GB + W - 7d RB
- With role specific modifier
- W - 3d GB + W - 13d RB if the role ban is applied in addition to the game ban, or
- W - 13d RB if the role ban is applied as an alternative
RDM + Lying
A player RDMs another. When asked why they killed the other player, they say they haven’t done anything all round other than walk around, despite having just beaten the victim to death with a bat. Their offenses are:
- 1x RDM
The lying in ahelp modifier applies. The resulting guideline is:
- 36hr - 4.5d GB
Over escalation with history of issues
A player over escalates in a way unlikely to result in the victim’s round removal. They have a prior offense of RDM, a prior offense of self-antagging, and a prior offense of griefing the arrivals terminal. They have no prior bans. The offenses in this case are:
- 1x over escalation
No modifiers apply. Only the prior RDM offense is relevant because it is the only one in the same grouping category. The prior RDM offense means that for the current over escalation incident, second offense guidelines are used.
Appeals
Appeals of Mistaken Bans
If the appeal disputes the events which were used to justify the ban, the first appeal of a voucher or permanent ban may only be declined after it has been verified that it was appropriately placed.
Appeal Hijacking
If an appeal is currently being processed by someone, it is generally best to let them finish processing the it. Cases where it may be acceptable to “hijack” an appeal are:
- the processor has not responded to the appeal recently,
- the processor has somehow indicated that they are not going to process the appeal, or
- a head game admin has told you that you can process the appeal.
Appeal Procedure
- If you are a trial admin, you cannot process the appeal.
- Check appeal format.
- Checking for ban evasion is highly recommended, but not required.
- If you placed the ban, you must meet the following criteria to continue:
- the player does not dispute the facts that led to the ban,
- the player does not claim bias,
- the ban is within ban guidelines, and
-
any of the following are true:
- the ban is less than or equal to 7 days long,
- the appeal is older than 7 days with no post on it by another admin in the last 7 days, or
-
all of the following are true:
- this is the first valid appeal of the ban,
- the ban was placed because the player was offline or evaded an ahelp, and
- you are accepting the appeal by either removing the ban or reducing it to be less than or equal to 14 days from the start of the ban being appealed.
- Collect information
- Check the player’s history of appeals.
- Make a reasonable attempt to verify any claims made in the appeal by the player, or accept them to be true.
- Check the player’s note and ban history.
- Reading the ahelp that led to the ban is highly recommended.
- Ask the player questions that are important for the processing of the appeal.
- Attempt to allow the player to respond to information which will be considered in the appeal that it would be unfair to not allow them the opportunity to address.
- If any of the following criteria are met, you may skip to step 8 and process the appeal using the speedy appeal process:
- the ban length is less than or equal to 14 days,
- this appeal is older than 7 days and no other admin is handling the appeal, or
- the result of the appeal is obvious.
- Similar appeals of bans for similar situations are almost always accepted.
- So little effort was made in the appeal, that it is improbable it would be accepted.
- Run a vote
- Votes must run at least 24 hours.
- Votes must not be closed if there is ongoing discussion.
- Votes must be made in one of the designated internal appeals discussion channels.
- Votes should present as much relevant information as possible.
- Votes should indicate if the ban is within guidelines, preferably by presenting the guideline range for the ban.
- If the result is to deny the appeal, deny the appeal.
- The player should be told when they can re-appeal. This should typically be double the time they were given for the last appeal for the same ban, or two weeks if there was no prior appeal for the same ban.
- If the appeal was processed using the speedy appeal process, use the “Speedy Appeal” saved action to notify the player.
- Check for ban evasion and deny the appeal if it is found.
- Accept the appeal.
- If the appeal was processed using the speedy appeal process and the ban time was within guidelines, you must be able to articulate why the appeal was accepted and should do this on the appeal itself.