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Community Code of Conduct, Updated


JeffR

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A year ago, given feedback from a number of people, I posted a Community Code of Conduct with a number of guidelines for how one should, well, conduct oneself while engaging in the community. I feel the original CoC was solid, but over the course of the year a number of topics and feedback from various users has come back to us, so I figured I would post an update with some expanded parts of the main list.

 

 

  • We, as a community, are committed to providing a friendly, safe and welcoming environment for all, regardless of experience, background, history or characteristic.
  • Please avoid using any overly sexual, offensive, or insulting alias or nicknames for yourself or others that would otherwise detract from a friendly, safe and welcoming environment.
  • Please be kind and courteous. There's no need to be rude.
  • Respect that people have differences of opinion, and that every design, implementation, or choice carries considerations, trade-offs, and costs. There is rarely ever a perfect answer.
  • Please keep critiques constructive. If you are going to critique someone's work, ideas, or decisions, do it with topical and specific feedback so that they can improve. Unconstructive critiques don't help anyone better their work.
  • Insulting, demeaning or harassing anyone is not welcome behavior, whether in public or private conversations. If you feel you have been subjected to any of this behavior, please contact any moderator or admin immediately. Whether you're a regular or a newcomer, we care about making this community a safe place for you. If you have any lack of clarity about what might fall under those concepts, feel free to ask for clarification from the moderation team.
  • Likewise, any spamming, trolling, flaming, baiting or other attention-stealing/seeking behavior is not welcome.

 

Based on feedback of multiple people we have had, some expansion on the above:

  • Do not insult or deride other users. 'You're an idiot' is not a useful comment. Do not do this.
  • If feedback is being provided, it needs to be constructive. Just simply calling something a bad idea is not helpful in correcting the core issues of that idea. Take the time to explain what is wrong with the idea and how it could be improved upon.
  • In threads, under normal circumstances if the OP of a thread requests a post to be removed because they feel it is inflammatory, or off topic or the like, the mods will review it and in most cases, remove it per OP's request. It's their thread, so they get nearly final say in how the thread's topic should flow. MODGRU of course gets the actual final say, but will listen to the thread OPs reasoning, and if it makes sense, will generally abide the request.
  • If any user has a problem with something on the forums, such as content posted, or another user's behavior, they need to contact someone in MODGRU. Moderation cannot be expected to happen in a concise, timely manner if they are not informed about it. Rather than engaging in the negative behavior, users are heavily encouraged to report it and move on. Engaging in bad behavior in response only sets both parties up to be in trouble with moderation.

 

In the hopefully unlikely event someone is found to have violated an aspect of the CoC, they will be provided a direct, specific warning, explaining what they have broken in terms of the CoC that the moderation has felt needed to be corrected.

With new features on the forms, we have the ability to better track when moderation actions have been taken, so the offense tracking and punishment has been adjusted per below:

If the user then goes on to violate the CoC again, they will be given warning points on their account.

Not all behaviors are of the same severity, so certain behaviors will yield more warning points than others, for example:

  • Threadjacking or going completely and totally off topic, 1 point
  • Attacking, insulting or degrading a group of people, 2 points
  • Attacking, insulting or degrading a specific user, 3 points

If a user accrues 5 points in a year, they will be issued a temporary 3 day ban.

If a user gets 10 points, they will be temp banned for a 6 day period.

If they accrue 15 points in a year, showing they have no interest in changing their behavior, then they will face a permanent ban.

 

Anyone facing a suspension or ban is free to appeal this by messaging anyone on the admin or MODGRU and their case will be reviewed. If it is found to not have been in violation, then the user can disregard the original moderation verdict. Otherwise, if found to have been a correct moderation action, then it is considered to be upheld and the user appealing will be informed of the decision so they may - if required - adjust their behavior accordingly.

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