Site Post » New Tiered System for Moderation · 11:29pm Mar 17th, 2014
There's a Maud pic here because of quartz there would be.
Hi guys. Today we’re going to talk about rule-breaking, mischief, and general chicanery on Fimfiction. Specifically, we’ll be talking about the new tiered system the staff’s recently implemented to approach that sort of thing. It’s long been a point of contention amongst the staff that various situations might be handled somewhat arbitrarily, without a lot of established standards. Users weren’t entirely sure what sort of punishment to expect for breaking a given rule, and in truth the staff wasn’t always in agreement on what sort of punishment to give for various offenses either. It was kind of a problem.
Knowing this, we drew up a new system that would help to standardize punishment and make it clearer to the userbase how we handle things. The staff’s been using this system behind the scenes for a decent while now and we’re pretty happy with how things’ve been working out, so we’re making it public to help you guys better understand what’s going on when a mod comes knocking.
Essentially, the system works on a system of six tiers, as listed below:
Tier 1: Warning. Self-explanatory. A mod will send you a message or somesuch to let you know we’ve heard that you’ve been breaking the rules, acting way out of line, etc. Most offenses on Fimfiction will start off at a Tier 1 Warning, so if you’re just making mistakes here or there, you’ll always get a heads-up before a ban is on the table.
Warnings may expire after a while, depending on what you did and how long it’s been since you were warned—but this is at staff discretion, so don’t count on a warning being expired if you do something iffy again.
If you continue to break the rules after receiving a warning, the staff’ll start you on a progressively-harsher system of punishments, starting with a one day ban, and eventually moving—on the off chance that you continue to thumb your nose at the rules—up to a permaban. These constitute tiers 2-6.
Tier 2: One Day Ban.
Tier 3: Three Day Ban.
Tier 4: One Week Ban.
Tier 5: Two Week Ban.
Tier 6: Permanent Ban.
A few caveats to this system:
-Plagiarism of another author’s work is an immediate Tier 6 Permaban. Plagiarism isn’t tolerated here on Fimfiction, full stop. We’re a site for writers, so it should be obvious as to why it’s more or less sacrilege to steal words straight from another writer. If it’s only a chapter, or a passage or two, you might be in for less than you’d get if you’d stolen a work wholesale, but do be aware that Fimfiction simply doesn’t look kindly on word-thievery.
To clarify: basing a story on a setting or another work is not plagiarism. Copying text and large chunks of dialogue verbatim is. For example, you can write a story based on Cupcakes, but you can’t copy Cupcakes and post it.
-The tier system is not immutable. 95% of the time, the staff will start you off with a Tier 1 Warning, but if you’re doing something that’s really obviously intended to foul things up, we’re likely going to start you off on a higher Tier. Please don’t try to spam pornography everywhere and expect to get away with just a warning. I can assure you here that you will not.
-It's possible that as knighty continues to add features and functions to the site, there'll be alternative methods of handling rule abuses besides outright banning a user, so the Tier punishments listed here may be subject to change. We'll be sure to keep you updated if anything like that happens.
That should be about the gist of it. A link to a doc containing similar information has been posted in the FAQ under General Rules, so you’ll be able to find it whenever you need it. If you guys have any questions, comments, or concerns regarding this system, feel free to ask! We’re here for you.
And, as always: be sure to have a nice day.
Poultron Edit: It was my idea the whole time! These guys plagiarized my work! I demand that you issue a tier six punishment to these harpies at once, or I will boycott your site and sue you! Thank you for your time and brony on.
Inb4 bring back the old system!
I'mokaywiththis.jpg
Actually, while I think about it, is there any way that you guys can let people know how someone earned a ban? Might solve some headaches about "OMG modz b& h1m cos dey h8rs" or whatever
What's this? Users have chances to not mess up horribly?! The horror.
"There's a Maud pic here because of quartz there would be."
Dammit, Obs...
I give it an hour before someone nitpicks something to complain about and the long-winded arguments begin.
Awesome.
Nice to see such a system in place finally.
~Skeeter The Lurker
I can live with this. Keep up the good work.
Sounds fair.
I know a few users who'll be perma-banned pretty quickly
Fair enough but if I may ask something, will previous bans and warnings be visible to those who visit your page?
Sounds fine to me.
Might I recommend a "silence" system for those who are being rude to others? If people continually badmouth others, they could be disallowed from commenting for a time. If they consistently spam with terrible stories and make no effort to improve, we could make a bunch of bots to spam their stories with stupid comments.
Yes, that last was a joke.
1934113 No. It'll show when you're banned, but nobody will know why unless you tell them. And past bans won't be visible to anyone but staff.
1934113
It's always been the same with this: your account gets a (banned) tag next to your username when you are currently banned, but it does not show up after it expires.
This one is for the road.
derpicdn.net/img/view/2014/3/16/577172__suggestive_cute_adorable_adorable+as+fuck_spoiler-colon-s04e18_maud+pie+%28episode%29_maud+pie_artist-colon-amostheartman_maudabetes.jpeg
1934116 This would fall under
1934090 That's a good idea; maybe something like replacing their user page with "This user has been banned because..." etc.
1934113
Previous bans/warnings aren't visible to the general public, no, so getting a temp-ban won't be some kind of mark of shame.
That said, one should probably still try to avoid getting temp-banned. :V
1934120 Oh, okay.
All this sound reasonable.
1934091 By god. thedomovoi.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/gif_horror.gif
1934123 Aaand I'm apparently blind... :P
Though I'm now going to retroactively say that was totally a suggestion, and not me being dumb.
I demand we return to the tried-and-true method of putting people in the stocks and throwing spoiled produce at them to be the punishment before permabans.
Oh, wait, that might get expensive, and the produce is going to smell awful...
Nevermind, carry on!
Makes sense to me.
1934099 If you don't mind me asking, why do you sign every message (At least that I've seen) with "Skeeter the Lurker"? As far as I can tell, you use no other signature, so it wouldn't help differentiate between people who use the account, and your name already shows up. Have I just happened to not see the posts where it's signed differently? Or is there another, probably blindingly obvious reason that I've missed?
1934130 The first one is certainly worth examining. We'll have to see what's feasible with the way the site works, and what can be added easily. Then we'll take another look at how those new things fit into the tiers. Thanks for the input!
1934090 I don't think posting: "Banned his sorry ass for Plagiarism, Impersonating a Member of the Church and Pornography." next to their names would go well... but it would be funny.
1934146 If you need any help that you think a fifteen year old self-taught programmer can give, I'd do that whenever school isn't interfering. I need something to occupy myself, classes and (what is basically unpaid) work don't really cut it.
1934087
DAMMIT, GUISE! WHY ARE YOU CHANGING THAT WHICH DOESN'T NEED CHANGING!
THIS IS TOTALLY AND UTTERLY REDICULOUS AND YOU GUYS KNOW IT. ONLY 1 WARNING? IS THIS SOME KINDA DICTATOSHIP OR SOMETHING?
*whinge, whinge, whinge, hate, hate, hate*
BRING BACK THE OLD SYSTEM!!
*grumble, grumble*
I'm bored...
down with the system
Silly question but should groups follow a similar format?
1934160 That's totally up to you. We don't police group rule violations as long as they're not breaking site rules. It's up to group staff to decide how to handle cases at that level.
wow please remove this blog your literally ripping off my hard work, i cant believe site mods have sinken this low to literally steal from me, this site will go down just like all the others i have targeted, we are legion we do not forget, expect us
-Anonymous *tips trilby*
1934164
imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/229x200q90/571/w9u7.jpg
Dammit, how am I supposed to complain about things when there isn't anything to object to? Now I have to direct my irrational anger elsewhere
Old: "We don't really have a system. Just... use your brains, okay?"
New: "We've got a system now! Except sometimes when we don't. Just... use your brains, okay?"
1934172
It's certainly better than the old "no system at all," don't you think
1934164 Lies! I merely based my own system on yours for reference! This system is too lenient for the average Fimfic.net user anyway!
1934143 Check his user page.
This all seems fine to me.
However, the thing that's been more worrisome to me in my time here on FiMFiction isn't how individual users are treated (though of course that's important) but by the occasional strangely arbitrary rules about content. The ban on "Five Score" spinoffs, for example, which wound up morphing into pretty much the existing content guidelines anyway once the implications were examined in more detail. Any plans on systematizing rule changes like that, perhaps with some sort of public discussion period so that unforseen difficulties can be cleared up before they go into effect?
1934099 So, you're the pony I've heard so much about.
Welcome to the signature club. ~Golden
Okay, this looks like a good system to use.
1934190 We make sure that each random change we institute is designed to piss off the most people.
Seriously though, every time we do decide to do something it's really for the betterment of the site. It might seem random because it's decided by the moderation team, but it's not. If we allowed all the users to vote on things like that, we'd end up with endless and pointless discussions. And if the thing is popular, even if it's breaking the rules, the vast majority of people would vote for it to stay, which would make it even more difficult to prevent stuff from happening in the future again.
And that's why we love you higher ups so much, because you
take forever to share vital informationare open and truthful with us lowlings.1934164 ebin
1934143
What 1934188 said.
1934203
Been here longer than ye, bud. And don't call me pony. Please.
~Skeeter The Lurker
What if the author gives you permission to put his story on your profile, and you make it clear that that's what happened?
1934229 You're not allowed to post stories that don't belong to you, permission or no, unless it's a transfer within Fimfiction
1934212 I just wish there was an easier way to monitor the "dont be a dick" rule. I'm tired of trolls posting child rape jokes on stories, especially when they're mine.
Anyway, I think this looks awesome. It's fair and simple