[xHerobrine]

Well if you don't answer, then you're just leaving the player clueless and not letting them know that their question won't get answered. Not saying anything because you think the chat will get filled isn't a reason at all either. I mean, I doubt that would happen beyond 3-4 players saying "no idea" or "idk" and even then, so what if the chat gets filled? Youre trying help a player clear up their confusion, it's not unreasonable. No seriously, why would that be an issue at all? I'm not implying any negative tone, but what's the issue with seeing a chat get a little filled with playing responding that they don't know when the chat gets filled up with other random stuff all the time?

[Steasaur]

Well I'm one of the people who was there to listen to Neko and nothing is unfairly cropped there regardless of who did the cropping.

I can attest to the fact that the player in question was rather toxic and seemed to openly question staffs integrity and the rules they enforce to protect us all. If you would like I can post my log of the incident so you can be assured that staff were 100% correct in banning this player.

Personally I don't believe that staff need to explain every detail of why the rules are that way to a player who was clearly joining to, as he so eloquently put it, 'piss you off'. Why would staff waste their time explaining things to such a player when he openly admitted to trying to find loopholes to the rules.

If you are concerned with how many players are being banned you just have a look at the reasons why in their appeals. Xrayers, being disrespectful, greif, theft. They are all things we could do without on HomeTown, no? Simply put, the number of bans increase as the number of new players are attracted to the server.

[victorycry]

Usually I wait about 15 seconds or so before I reply with "don't know", or "not sure". I do that because I want to make sure their isn't anyone else who knows the answer, but I also hate it when I get left hanging. Sorta feels like I'm being ignored.  

So, usually I will answer if I do, or wait to see if anyone else knows for 15 seconds. And if they don't, I'll reply with, not sure.

[xHerobrine]

(04-15-2018, 10:13 PM)Steasaur Wrote: Well I'm one of the people who was there to listen to Neko and nothing is unfairly cropped there regardless of who did the cropping.

I can attest to the fact that the player in question was rather toxic and seemed to openly question staffs integrity and the rules they enforce to protect us all. If you would like I can post my log of the incident so you can be assured that staff were 100% correct in banning this player.

Personally I don't believe that staff need to explain every detail of why the rules are that way to a player who was clearly joining to, as he so eloquently put it, 'piss you off'. Why would staff waste their time explaining things to such a player when he openly admitted to trying to find loopholes to the rules.

If you are concerned with how many players are being banned you just have a look at the reasons why in their appeals. Xrayers, being disrespectful, greif, theft. They are all things we could do without on HomeTown, no? Simply put, the number of bans increase as the number of new players are attracted to the server.

Okay, now that I'm finally home for a bit and can answer with a little depth...

Your first, second, and third paragraphs aren't relevant to my point. I said that cropped images are bothersome in general, I did not say that the player in question is innocent or is justified in his actions. I don't care about him at all.

The last paragraph, I saw that a lot of the reports had to do with x-ray but I also saw a lot were for grief/stealing. Do staff members not ask the player who griefed to fix what was done, or for players to return what they stole? I get that they broke the rules, but with how many there are I'm wondering if the players were questioned at all or if they were banned right away.

For your "simply put" part... Just look at the appeals page and the dates. An entire page of appeals in the last week of the server. That isn't a case of bans increasing over time, but a lot of bans occurring recently very often which is why I'm baffled.

[victorycry]

I mean, its not like people are online 24/7. The staff can't always be on, and there the minute someone griefs. Therefore a ban is necessary. And also justified, seeing as everyone (us included) had to go through a test to play on this server. This test requires that you read all the rules, and therefore after you complete the test sets up the assumption that you know that griefing is against the rules and that griefing a persons build (regardless of whether they are active or not) is a bannable offense.

As for bans increasing over the last week, we can assume that might be because of the voting system. People are finding this server, and with that comes the trolls and the griefers, and occasionally the person who thinks they are above the rules. I Can attest that there are more people online than their were 6 months ago when I started playing on this server. And with that definitely came more bans.

If you don't want to be banned, read the rules. If you do get banned, its actually really easy to be unbanned, just make an appeal and show that you are apologetic. Unless you've been banned many times before, you'll usually get unbanned.

[frost]

We have extensive plugins to see what a player has stolen or griefed. There is little tolerance for players who grief and steal simply for malicious purposes. If a player is online and what they took is minor, they will be asked to return the items and if they do they will not be banned. The tutorial is there for a reason and explicitly says that modifying other properties that are not yours is not allowed and you will be banned for it. If you passed the tutorial and know this and still decide to steal and grief then you will simply be banned. We ban players who cannot respect others or their properties - simple as that. With nearly a hundred new players joining a day, it is normal that the bans are high. We do that to protect you guys; the players that actually want to be mature and have fun with respect towards others.

This is not something unique to this server. Every server bans countless players every single day. If they didn't then the servers would be filled with hackers, griefers, and thieves. This server is here so that you guys can play minecraft with your friends without the trouble of dealing with trollers and griefers. If a player is not capable of following some common sense rules for whatever reason then it is best that that player joins another server.

I have seen a lot of people nit picking and questioning every single pixel of the rules on here recently. I just want to remind you guys that this is just a minecraft server and that we are all on here to play this game. The rules are just general guidelines in order to allow people to play minecraft with less worry of other malicious players. It is not meant to be interpreted and questioned like lawyers and the constitution. We are all on here to have fun and play the game.

This isn't debate club or mock trial; this is a fucking minecraft server.

[xHerobrine]

Ah... right, I forgot that there's a quiz/tutorial that new players are forced to go through. I said this in chat before, but apparently I had joined this server a long time ago as I had logged on without taking the quiz and with an inventory full of items, so I never saw the quiz. I didn't even know about it until a week into the server when I heard about it in a voice call. That would help explain why bans are given pretty often along with many players joining. That's an oversight on my part.

---

Sorry this dragged on. Your point (Frost) makes a lot more sense when there is a quiz on the rules that every player is forced to take, in comparison to players just joining the server and immediately playing where theyll only see the rules if they bother doing /rules.

[AmbularD]

Just would ike to add that we just got off of spring break in the U.S., so we've had an uptick in new young players joining while they were off school, and has that probably contributed some to the unusually high ban and appeal rate as well. 

There's also been a recent uptick in griefers joining in packs (and to be clear, I am not referring to any groups who've been on the server for any length of time, here, or who have done anything constructive or tried to interact and make friends, even if some among them have had issues; I mean whole gaggles of guests who'll sign on together for no other reason except to cause damage and trouble.)  Players of that type tend not to appeal, but they definitely make for a large number of bans being announced in server chat.  Not sure what's been driving that trend, but I hope it passes quickly.

[Geckorian]

In addition to the quiz and /rules (a sign for /rules was recently added in the quiz area, if I recall properly), there is also the rules page on the forums: https://hometownmc.com/forums/showthread.php?tid=13

Grimm, I think, did a good job of trying to help players better understand what staff looks at when dealing with a rules break as well as punishment levels, and deeper explanations of some rules. Now, perhaps the severs announcement system should include a rotation that refers to this page. That might help clear up some issues. However, that still requires the player to take the action of clicking the link and reading it.

I think it might also be time to dissuade people of the illusion that the server is somehow under the same rules and guidelines set down in the Constitution of the United States. It's not. Not only is the server not hosted in the US, it can best be describe as its own online nation with the staff standing in as a governmental body. Now, you can take that however you want, but it generally means that The Founder and original staff established the rules, the existing staff are there to enforce and execute those rules. Those who willingly immigrate to the server, like immigrating to another nation, are expected to follow those rules. Those who cannot or will not get deported (banned). The server also is a open border. Everyone is free to come here. Once they do, they fall under the server rules while they are here. This is part of the reason for the tutorial, /rules, and the above forum post. People are also free to leave if they wish. Anyone who feels that they cannot follow those rules or dislikes the way the rules are enforced, need only hit escape followed by "save and quit to title."

I realize that sounds harsh, but that is the truth of the matter. I find all this squabbling over rules that have existed longer than most people have been on the server to frankly be a nuisance and waist of time. I have seen a lot of forum posts lately debating or frankly, crying, over the rules of the server or how staff implements them. While I don't want people to feel unwelcome on this server, simply put, if you can't play by our rules, then this might not be the server for you.

[Jeff]

Geckorian,

Very well put. The rules are very simple and straight forward. Break them and you get warned or banned depending on the severity. Finished.