[LauraMJ]

As some of you have noticed, we have been working on using a new infraction system in the forums for rule violations. We have been using it for several weeks now, before we made an official announcement to make sure this is a system we felt comfortable with and that we felt would work for us. We believe we've got most of the system customized now to work with TSG and are satisfied with how it is working and are now making the official announcement to let you, the membership, be aware of the change in how we will be dealing with rule violations.

The rules page has been changed to reflect this.

Infractions are points given to members for conduct and postings that are in violation of TSG’s Rules and Terms of Service. When an infraction is applied to an account, it will add a point(s) to the account, the exact number of which will depend on the seriousness of the infraction and staff discretion. Some points will eventually expire; some will remain forever, again, depending on the seriousness of the infraction. When an account receives three points, a temporary ban of one day will automatically be imposed by the system. When an account reaches five points, the temporary ban is three days. When an account reaches seven points, the ban is for seven days. When an account reaches nine points, the ban becomes permanent.

If you should receive an infraction or a warning (warnings do not carry any points, but will help the staff be aware of previous offenses) you will see a yellow notice of it on the right upper corner of your posts and in your profile page. However, ONLY you and the staff can see this. You are able to see it so there is no confusion on anyone's part, yours or the staff's, as to the amount of times there have been rule violations and how close you are to a ban or a time-out. In the past, there have been times when members have complained of being "unaware" of how much trouble they are in or how close they are to the edge........we hope this will eliminate that. Once a member has a certain amount of points, the ban is automatically applied by the system. Each member will be aware of where they are in regards to this, and can moderate their behavior accordingly.

While the system has a number of preset infractions and warnings, in order not to remove the "personal" part of TSG, there is still the ability for moderators to customize them and, of course, the moderators will still, as they have always done, look at each case individually and base their decision and actions on the situation.

As with most things, the Community forums will have a bit more leeway and a bit more individuality in what actually constitutes a problem serious enough to warrant a formal warning or infraction. Also, as always, any member is welcome to contact an Administrator (by PM or email.....NOT in the public forums) to politely contest the warning/infraction if they desire. Any contesting of a formal warning/infraction will be reviewed by the Administrators and that decision will be final.

[SIR****TMG]

I read this and never knew half of this was ever going on.I thought this was a friendly place to begin with, years ago when most of us older users started. I've met alot of good people here and even some have passed away .

[Drabdr]

Originally Posted by SIR****TMG

I thought this was a friendly place to begin with, years ago when most of us older users started. I've met alot of good people here and even some have passed away .

It still is a friendly place. You just have to have rules now and then.

Originally Posted by SIR****TMG

I read this and never knew half of this was ever going on.

If I understand Laura, the system is new. Most people listen; you let them know the first time something is not right, and they listen. However, there are those that don't seem to get the message; they continue to repeat poor decisions. In this case, they continue to break the rules.

There are soooo many people coming in and out of this forum, there is no way to remember everyone. Thus, if person X is caught, say, using foul language in a post. Is that their first time, or have they done it a number of times?? Who knows?

This is a fair/objective method of keeping track of who has been warned. Then, when the person gets a short/long term ban, they know why, and had received adequate (and objective/documented) warnings.

[LauraMJ]

Yes, basically, this is about documenting and preventing confusion and allowing the members to have more, not less, control over what happens with their account.

All along, (for years, anyway), we staff have been trying to keep track of rule violations by leaving each other notes about accounts.......but sometimes someone forgets to leave a note, sometimes notes get overlooked and the next moderator doesn't realize previous violations.......and of course, the members didn't see the notes. And while we might have a record of past problems.......often the member had either never taken into account these warnings, or had never even known they had one if they didn't return to a thread, etc.

This allows for more open information regarding any perceived problems, allows a member to know exactly what the problem is, and whether they want to contest it or not, and eliminates surprises........all with still keeping it private between the member and the staff.

And really, it will be in use far more in the tech forums.......with the community mods still having the ability to make a decision whether or not to even use the formal warning system. This is why there are community mods.......they are more familiar with the people that hang out in the community forums than some of the tech mods are and are free to decide when "enough is enough" and need to issue a formal warning/infraction.

So basically, for the community, nothing has changed as to how the members are treated.......it will simply make it more clear when there has been a serious violation and allows the member themselves to also keep track of the same things we always have in the past.

[LauraMJ]

Bumping this up.

[poochee]

An understandable set of rules.

[-Fabez-]

Agreed, sounds like it will make the rules and consequences easier to follow Out of curiosity, do the points stay after a ban or do they get removed ready to start afresh or is this up to the admin / mod team to decide individually ?

[LauraMJ]

The points stay, and accumulate, resulting in every increasing time-outs (temporary bans) and eventually a permanent ban.

[dotty999]

I hope I don't get time outs for repeated 503's

[LauraMJ]

Since trying to keep up with that would probably lock the system up, I guess we'll have to let those go, Dotty.

[dotty999]

Phew! you're a life saver!

[Cookiegal]

But we won't tolerate any more 503b's.

[Blackmirror]

Time to get my halo on

[dotty999]

Originally Posted by Cookiegal

But we won't tolerate any more 503b's.

oh my jolly goodness!

[hewee]

Originally Posted by dotty999

oh my jolly goodness!

You're so scared