Major Changes to the TOS Violations/Warning System READ!!!!

[KelliH]

We have decided to implement a new system to deal with TOS violations and the resulting user warnings. This new system will make things much easier for everyone: staff and members alike.

This system is built around TOS infractions. Each infraction is assigned a certain number of points; small infractions such as Signature Violations are worth 1 point while more serious infractions such as Threatening Physical Violence on Another Member will be worth 5 points, etc.

The following is a list of infractions and the amount of points a member will be given for each:

Classifieds Violation - 1 point
Quoting From a Non Published Source - 1 point
Signature Rule Violation - 1 point
Avatar/Profile Picture Violation - 1 point
Soliciting Business or Posting Ads in the Discussion Forums - 2 points
Posting a Link to an Executable File (.exe file) - 2 points
Spamming/Inapropriate Advertising - 2 points
Profanity/Inappropriate Language - 2 points
Posting an Image or Document Without Permission From the Owner - 2 points
Personal/Ethical Attack Against a Business or Breeder - 3 points
Personal/Ethical Attack Against Another Member/Individual - 3 points
Antagonism Towards a Moderator or Administrator - 3 points
Incessant Harassment or Off Topic Posts aka "Trolling" - 3 points
Prejudicial Remarks or Slurs - 4 points
Posting Obscene Material, Links or Images - 5 points
Posting Under Another Member's Username/Account in a malicious manner or to purposely impersonate another member - 5 points
Threatening Another Member With Violence - 5 points
Sexual Harassment - 5 points
Registering Multiple User Accounts to Bypass a Ban - 20 points

Each infraction given will expire after 12 months.

Once a member racks up a certain amount of points, they will be suspended and/or banned.

If you accumulate 10 points - account suspended for 2 weeks
15 points - account suspended for 1 month
20 points - banned permanently

I think I have explained everything. Oh, I almost forgot... with the new system in place, everyone will start with a clean slate, so any past warnings and/or suspensions will be wiped away.

Questions about the new system are welcome.

 

[Retribution Reptiles]

Do we win back points? We have a system like this at work for attendance and such. Every 60 days if we don't occur any points or grace periods (grace time frame of 30 seconds) a point is then removed. But if we do get a grace or point the winback clock of 60 days starts over again.

It's just an idea and my own personal input.

Thanks,

Ryan

 

[OhioGecko]

Do we win back points? We have a system like this at work for attendance and such. Every 60 days if we don't occur any points or grace periods (grace time frame of 30 seconds) a point is then removed. But if we do get a grace or point the winback clock of 60 days starts over again.

It's just an idea and my own personal input.

Thanks,

Ryan

From the new rules above any infractions will be cleared after one year. Then the points from those infractions will come off. I think anything beyond that will make the system much too complicated.

 

[Retribution Reptiles]

Nothing is too complicated if it is well calculated out. Spread sheets, e-mail, 24 hour scans on the forums shared by the mods/admins. It just has to be carefully planned out. Everything is time/date stamped, you input that info into a spread sheet using different colors of lvls of how close someone is to a certain point for different punishments.

I build spread sheets like this all the time for my bosses at work. As long as you have a minor understanding of Excel w/ formulas everything else is just inputting info. Spread sheets are the best thing in the world to me anyway for keeping track of info. Xbox 360 and Microsoft Office Business Suite is the best thing to come out of Microsoft (i'm a mac man)

I would assume that there is a way to search the source code in the website for certain words that would break rules for profanity and such.

The biggest and worst thing against anyone would be how much time and dedication for doing all that. And the dedication from everyone that runs and keeps things happy is there it's more of a time issue. We all have either jobs or something that keeps us from doing more of what we want.

i'm not telling anyone how to run or how to do their job it's just friendly suggestions.

if anything is unclear of what i said please just let me know it's 4:30am and sometimes i just ramble at about this time of morning.

 

[OhioGecko]

The biggest and worst thing against anyone would be how much time and dedication for doing all that. And the dedication from everyone that runs and keeps things happy is there it's more of a time issue. We all have either jobs or something that keeps us from doing more of what we want.

I guess I should have worded that better. IMO it would complicate and require more time from the MOD's.

 

[Foreverandever]

Sounds fair. We will be pm'ed letting us know how many points we have "earned"?

 

[Mel&Keith]

Sounds fair. We will be pm'ed letting us know how many points we have "earned"?

Any time a warning is issued a pm is sent to the member explaining why the warning is being issued and what it's for. In short, a member will never get warnings that they aren't made aware of so it usually doesn't come as a surprise when they get a "time out".

 

[cwazy]

Posting Under Another Member's Username/Account - 5 points

YIKES... so if i use my wifes comp... forget to sign in under my own name and post under hers, ill get 5 points... and i gotta try not to do this 4 times with in a year... i could be in trouble :main_thumbsdown: :main_no:

then again if i just dont fess up you will never know right? :main_evilgrin:


a year seems like a long time to keep things on... but ill do my best

 

[cwazy]

also.. just so we are clear... what does this entail?

"Antagonism Towards a Moderator or Administrator - 3 points"


just so i know... i mean is it OKAY to have an oppinion that may differ from a mod and post it... not attacking, just points of views... i feel its important for people to post an opinion even if it differs from someone of a "higher power" ... can this be done safely or will i be slapped with points?

im not going against any of this posted... just tryin to understand it thats all

like some how if i screw up and sign in under my wifes name i get 5 points... but if i spam the crap out of the boards i only get 2? or post a indecent pic only 4?

*shrug* sorry just trying to get how the points were made, maybe there are higher issues with the higher point ones and thats why they are higher points??? again not saying anything negitive, just tryin to understand thats all

 

[Sunrise Reptile]

So is what constitutes each of these "infractions" explained clearly in the T.O.S.? I don't think this a very effectinve system if you don't explain clearly what is or is not allowed. And someone in violation may try to use that to change an administrator's/mod's decission. Just my thoughts. Thanks!

 

[KelliH]

YIKES... so if i use my wifes comp... forget to sign in under my own name and post under hers, ill get 5 points... and i gotta try not to do this 4 times with in a year... i could be in trouble :main_thumbsdown: :main_no:

then again if i just dont fess up you will never know right? :main_evilgrin:


a year seems like a long time to keep things on... but ill do my best

That's a good point. That particular infraction is meant for someone that purposely posts under another account in order to be malicious or to purposely impersonate another member. I will rewrite that one now to make it more clear.

 

[KelliH]

OK, that infraction is now rewritten:

Posting Under Another Member's Username/Account in a malicious manner or to purposely impersonate another member

A good example of why this particular infraction would be given is if someone's account is suspended and they log in under another member's account in order to circumvent their suspension. Accidentally logging in on your wife's account would not apply here. Does that make more sense now?

 

[Golden Gate Geckos]

If you read the FAQ/TOS it addresses each of the infractions. Antagonizm towards a MOD or ADMIN does not mean that you can't disagree or even have a heated debate when we are posting on thread topics. It means that when we are acting in the capacity of moderating the activities on this website, being harassed about it is an infraction.

 

[Mel&Keith]

Bill, every member is welcome to express their opinions in a polite and respectful way. When that opinion is expressed in a hostile and inappropriate manner then it crosses the line. For instance if a member receives a warning for posting an ad on the main board and responds with a flaming letter of curse words and insults towards the staff here then they would get warning for antagonizing a moderator. I hope that makes sense.

 

[KelliH]

also.. just so we are clear... what does this entail?

"Antagonism Towards a Moderator or Administrator - 3 points"

It's a broad definition, and it's meant to be. Basically if a mod steps into a thread and posts, "Hey Guys, everyone needs to calm down, the thread is going way off topic." and a member replies to the mod's post with something like, "whatever, kiss my butt." or "you are a horrible mod!" or "The Mods on this site suck!" well, that would fall under the definition of Antagonizing a Mod. Does that make it any easier to understand? Disagreeing with a member that is also a Mod in a discussion thread does NOT mean you will be given warning points.

 

[KelliH]

like some how if i screw up and sign in under my wifes name i get 5 points... but if i spam the crap out of the boards i only get 2? or post a indecent pic only 4?

I think I covered the issue of accidentally signing in under your wife's account, and that you would not get warning points for that. I'm not THAT much of a tyrant!

Spam in this case would entail something like an established member posting an ad for their webdesign service in several of the discussion forums at once, or posting about the newest "pyramid" scheme they are involved in and asking for people to sign up.

The other type of spam is usually posted by Spambots and they are the ads for Nokia phones and "adult" sites. Although the new version of Vb is better at keeping them out, occasionally we still get them. Those posts are deleted and the accounts banned immediately.

I think you bring up a good point about the posting of obscene material. I am changing that infraction from 4 to 5 points. :main_yes:

 

[KelliH]

*shrug* sorry just trying to get how the points were made, maybe there are higher issues with the higher point ones and thats why they are higher points??? again not saying anything negitive, just tryin to understand thats all

The infractions with higher points are more serious. For instance a signature violation is very minor and 99% of the time it is a complete oversight by the member. However, threatening another member with violence is much more serious, therefore the higher points for that infraction.

I understand that changes sometimes make people uncomfortable, that is why we have tried to keep them at a minimum since the site's inception in June of 2006. However, at this point, 2 1/2 years later, we have grown significantly and the site is much more active. This new system is really meant to make things simpler and more cut and dried for everyone, and it will. This is actually much more lenient than the way we have done things in the past. For example, before this new system was implemented, we utilized a "three strikes and you're out" system. Each time a member was warned for a TOS infraction, it counted as a "strike", no matter what the TOS violation was. With this new system, everything is laid out and explained, and minor infractions are not going to get you suspended unless you just keep making the same mistakes over and over again.

 

[KelliH]

So is what constitutes each of these "infractions" explained clearly in the T.O.S.? I don't think this a very effectinve system if you don't explain clearly what is or is not allowed. And someone in violation may try to use that to change an administrator's/mod's decission. Just my thoughts. Thanks!

Our TOS has not changed, and each "infraction" (BTW I call them that because that is what they are referred to in this program in the admin area) is explained in the TOS. Please post here and let me know if there is something in the TOS that you need further explanation on and I will be happy to do so.

 

[KelliH]

So here is a thought I am having. Maybe someone can explain this to me... Is there something about the T.O.S. here that is just really complicated or hard to understand? It seems really simple to me and I guess I am just having a hard time understanding why anyone would have trouble abiding by it. Of course stuff happens occasionally and no one is perfect all the time but seriously, what exactly is there about my T.O.S that is causing people concern? I am seriously asking, not being sarcastic at all. Thanks in advance. :banana::banana::banana:

 

[cwazy]

well first off thanks to all for the explanations... i just try to stay out of trouble here... i value this place to much to not be a part of it... and well i can have opinions that some dont agree with and flat out dont like... but i always try to post my opinion good or bad..

but i think i got it under controll... that signing in under a different name one scared me

anyways about the TOS... i think alot of us dont take the time to fully read it... i have skimmed... and because of that ive also have been warned for lil things every here and there... but the mods and admin have always been very nice about it and ive never "pitched a fit" either... knowing that if i took the time to read all of the TOS that i wouldnt of been warned in the first place...

its kind of like when you sign up for something online, or install something... you have to check the lil box that says you have read that big long thing about there licences and such... does anyone ever really read that? i think i may of skimmed a couple

so IMO... people ask cause people have not fully taken the time to read... *bows head*