Rules On Servers To Avoid Unnecessary Bans

[sometimesmanapissesmeoff 1]

Post the rules on servers.. No Cheating, No putting L tags in front of your name. This seems simple, and it would make the rules clear and having clear rules posted will help avoid convoluted situations where people could not possibly know the rules. There is a distinct effect of seeing and reading the rules and then following them. This is standard in the world. If people have no access to the rules, how are they supposed to know if they are breaking any? I think the cheating part is obvious - you know if you're hacking, because you ..well i dont know how to hack but im sure the hackers do.. BUT if you do not know that putting the clan tag in front of your name leads to INSTANT permaban, how are you supposed to if the rules are no where to be seen? This seems like a flawed rationale. After trying to point this flawed thinking out to an admin, I was referred to the forums. Hopefully this issue is as obviously important to Mana as it should be.

i am quite confident in stating no person would knowingly put the L tag in front of their name if they knew it would lead to a permaban. If that rule was posted where anyone can see, would anyone put the tag in their name?

[sometimesmanapissesmeoff 1]

Maybe you could add some of the rules to the occassional donor promotion that come up saying you could get 16 million colors.

Specifically though, that is not a clear and obvious place for people joining the servers in game to see the rules. i'm sorry you think that everyone that plays on lotus checks the forums before they play, but wouldn't it be better to broadcast the rules in order to assure that people know them? I know that there's a little message that pops up in the top right corner that says "mana is awesome" ... i would assume this is an easily programmable message display, one that could even fit the short rule list the server has.

[Mana 3,867]

I had rules on my servers prior to Lotus. No one read them.

The rules are common sense, and if you don't have that then you are going to be a problem. Rules or no rules.

Except for the L | tag rule. Which is posted in multiple places including our Steam group:

http://steamcommunity.com/groups/Lotus

"Do not use our tag without permission as that will lead to an autoban from our servers."

Do people who join that group get autobanned despite that? Yes.

[DreamLord 3]

Since I know I piss Saul off, I will interject.

Why is this such a big ordeal on your servers though. Wouldn't it make more sense to cause a 15 or 30 minute ban to occur upon detection? You would be sending a message that your clan tags have merit and wearing them will not be taken lightly. You have said numerous times that there is some form of money game in this clan, and it only hurts the potential donators (although I will agree not by much) to ban people for flipping on a tag.

Just my twenty cents. Also, I figure at the rate my posts go this should also be as good as Locking the thread.

[Gotcha 6,307]

It's common sense to not use one clans tag on their own servers... if you're actually trying to use it, you must be either a troll, incredibly stupid or one of those name change hackers, whereas the last is quite handy since they auto ban themselves that way.

[Mariposa❧ 483]

When I started playing TF2 I quickly became aware of the fact that one should not use clan tags unless it specifically said "Hey, please use our tags they are for everyone!" as it does on Free Frag Network. So yes, I agree with Krash and Mana . . .it is common sense. It is not too much to ask someone who was banned to post something on the ban forum stating why they should be unbanned and such. If it was completely accidental and the person was simply ignorant of what the tag stood for. . . then the ban should be lifted and that person now knows not to use the tag. Zero tolerance with second chances, you learn the lesson quickly that way.

[Galactic 4]

People who steal clan tags can be annoying, but a perma-ban is a bit harsh imo. A 30-minute auto-ban for anyone wearing the L or L-r tag who shouldn't be (Should be pretty easy to add members and recruits to a non-ban list, since there's only a handful of them anyway) would be just as effective in dealing with people who aren't familiar with the tagging policy without permanantly cutting off a potential revenue stream, as each person who plays is a potential donor. In this case, T2 actually was already a donor, and if people didn't tell him about appealing his ban on the forums, Lotus would have lost a donor FOREVER based on an offense that is relatively minor in the grand scheme of things.

A 3-strike policy would differentiate between people who are just ignorant of the rules and the people who are actively trying to steal the tag. 30 minute ban for strike 1, two-hour ban for strike 2, and perma-ban for strike 3. (or just cut out strike 2 altogether, 1 warning should suffice in this case.) As someone already stated, just being ignorant of the rules doesn't mean they don't apply to you, but you usually don't get life in jail on your first minor offense either. For the purposes of that analogy, hacking would be like premeditated murder, putting on a clan tag that you didn't know you weren't allowed to is like speeding in a zone with no speed limit posted.

[Super Zero! 262]

I agree with Galactic. And his avatar is a baby punching itself, making your arguments invalid.

[Mariposa❧ 483]

The baby isn't punching itself! Clearly his arms are in a defensive position to protect his adorable face.

Edited October 1, 2011 by Mariposa❧

[Super Zero! 262]

The baby isn't punching itself! Clearly his arms are in a defensive position to protect his adorable face.

The baby's right hand is clearly in the uppercut motion! While his left hand is going in for the K.O.

[Mana 3,867]

Since I know I piss Saul off, I will interject.

Why is this such a big ordeal on your servers though. Wouldn't it make more sense to cause a 15 or 30 minute ban to occur upon detection? You would be sending a message that your clan tags have merit and wearing them will not be taken lightly. You have said numerous times that there is some form of money game in this clan, and it only hurts the potential donators (although I will agree not by much) to ban people for flipping on a tag.

Just my twenty cents. Also, I figure at the rate my posts go this should also be as good as Locking the thread.

People who steal clan tags can be annoying, but a perma-ban is a bit harsh imo. A 30-minute auto-ban for anyone wearing the L or L-r tag who shouldn't be (Should be pretty easy to add members and recruits to a non-ban list, since there's only a handful of them anyway) would be just as effective in dealing with people who aren't familiar with the tagging policy without permanantly cutting off a potential revenue stream, as each person who plays is a potential donor. In this case, T2 actually was already a donor, and if people didn't tell him about appealing his ban on the forums, Lotus would have lost a donor FOREVER based on an offense that is relatively minor in the grand scheme of things.

A 3-strike policy would differentiate between people who are just ignorant of the rules and the people who are actively trying to steal the tag. 30 minute ban for strike 1, two-hour ban for strike 2, and perma-ban for strike 3. (or just cut out strike 2 altogether, 1 warning should suffice in this case.) As someone already stated, just being ignorant of the rules doesn't mean they don't apply to you, but you usually don't get life in jail on your first minor offense either. For the purposes of that analogy, hacking would be like premeditated murder, putting on a clan tag that you didn't know you weren't allowed to is like speeding in a zone with no speed limit posted.

It's an autoban and it has banned multiple donors over the years. If they posted an unban request they got unbanned (donor or not). Otherwise they are probably still on the banlist.

If you see someone with our tag, then ask first before just using it. Our tag is not shown anywhere else.

Anyway, it doesn't matter who you are. Use the tag without permission, get banned. It's been like this since 2006 and it won't change.

The best thing about this particular autoban is hackers who steal other people's names get autobanned. This is why some of the bots and the replay bot has our tag. And it obviously doesn't get banned because it's whitelisted. Like the members already are.

[DreamLord 3]

I was unaware you auto unbanned if someone made a request. This actually seems quite fair. I agree that a clan should take the tags seriously, I just figured it might leave someone with a bad taste in their mouth if they see it happen.

[Mana 3,867]

I just figured it might leave someone with a bad taste in their mouth if they see it happen.

I sure hope so. That is the whole purpose of it.

Don't use our tags without permission.

[Barbaro 466]

There are rules on the server besides the common sense? What happened to the old respect the Clan Tag rule and mind your business? ._.

I enjoy the servers with the occasional idiot or AFK nub.