FAQ ★ on Warnings, Banning, and Appeals

[Jimcloud]

Hello there! This thread is one to inform you about the warning and banning system for our forum, how it works, and how you may appeal to overturn or appeal to reduce warn level under our rules. We will also list the warning system for our discord servers, since that is a separate, connected system.​

There are five warning levels on the forum, and you will be warned for violating the rules of the forum - found here.​

-The first warning you may receive is a neutral warning. This is essentially a slap on the wrist to tell you to knock off whatever it is you're doing. You and the moderation team will be able to see these warnings permanently, and we will be looking for improvement with regards to areas of problematic behavior, please be aware.​

-The second warning you may receive comes with an accompanying day ban from the forums. This ban will also be reflected within the associated Discord servers.​

-The third warning you may receive will come with a week ban from the forums and associated Discord servers, and all of the above that applied with the day ban continues to apply. If you have reached this point, there is usually a consistent issue causing a problem. This should tell you to start working on that.​

-The fourth warning you may receive will come with a month ban from the forums and associated Discord servers. This is a lengthy period of time for a reason. If you receive this warning, you should seriously consider your behavior and what best to do to resolve it upon your return.​

-The fifth warning you receive is no longer, really, a warning. The fifth warning you receive is a permanent ban from the Nuzlocke forums and its associated Discord servers. We have only had occasion to permanently ban a few users from the forums up to now, but it is almost invariably users who have consistently made the forum environment worse for users at large.​

The moderation team now reserves the right to elevate the amount of warn level given to a user for an infraction(s). This will be applicable in cases where either
A. a user has broken multiple rules, or
B. a user has transgressed in a more extreme way than the rules account for. Examples of this include repeated bigotry, cruelty, or instances of targeted/sexual harassment.
Note that this may also apply to our Discord warn system in transgressions of its rules as well. ​

You will receive a conversation message from a moderator when you receive a warning, letting you know the circumstances and placement of the warning - keep track of this conversation, as it is your primary way of checking your warning status. We highly recommend you star conversations with warnings so you may easily locate them later, especially if you frequently recieve conversation messages. If you are ever unsure about your own personal warning status, you may ask a moderator for more information.​

 

[Jimcloud]

Before we continue here, it is important to clarify between the two types of appeals we offer on the forum: overturning a warning, and reduction of warning level. This post will address the first of these.​

Overturning a Warning​

The moderator team is very careful and considerate about when and how to issue warnings. When we do so, it is almost always because we as a team have decided there is no other recourse. However, we are not infallible. If you believe that you were unjustly warned, then you do have a right to appeal to our team to have this warning overturned. In the case of neutral warnings, overturning is usually conducted by contacting administrators (staff members here with master balls on their icons) on the forum or Discord. In the case of warnings with bans attached, appeals are often conducted by the entire team during the time the user is banned - though this is not always the case, for example with day bans which are relatively short. Here are a few things to keep in mind when arguing to overturn a warning:​

-Be timely with your appeal. We don't ask for an instantaneous request for appeal, but if you begin a request more than a week or two after the warn in question is delivered, the content is no longer fresh in the minds of the parties and thus is more difficult to argue.​

-We have the rules that we do for a reason. If you wish to argue for a change in the rules on the forum, you are welcome to do so aside from when you are banned. It's not the ideal time to protest that a rule shouldn't exist in its current implementation.​

-We are not obligated to overturn a warning to protect your feelings. The personal impact a warning had on you is irrelevant to the rules, which serve the purpose of helping and protecting the entire forum.​

-The behavior of other individuals is irrelevant to a discussion about your own behavior. We are not at liberty to discuss warnings that may be happening to other individuals for the sake of their privacy, just as we won't discuss your warning status with them. What happens to them is not important in an appeal, only what happens to you.​

-The core of your argument should be about how you did not violate a rule. We don't often overturn warnings we've made, but when we do? This is the reason why we will overturn it. If you wish to make an argument, make sure this is the argument you're making.​

-We are not obligated to argue endlessly with you. We will give you a fair chance to make your argument known, but we reserve the right to cut off an appeal to overturn if the argument is becoming circular or if no new points are being introduced. We do not conduct our debates on the basis that the side that is exhausted first loses.​

 

[Jimcloud]

Appeals for Reduction in Warn Level​

Unlike the previous appeals, wherein you contest that you did not deserve to be warned in the first place, an appeal for a reduction of your warning level is where you propose that you no longer merit the warning on account of personal change. This will show you the process for how to make this appeal.​

1. Wait at least a year since your last infraction. This includes neutral warnings and minor warnings both on the forums and on Discord. This should, ideally, be the time in which your personal change occurs.​

2. Contact a moderator or administrator through a PM on the forum about your appeal. This makes it easier for us to log and process appeals, since we will have a more permanent record of it than on Discord. If you like, you may make an argument for why your warn level should be reduced.​

From there, the moderator team will take this appeal and discuss it among ourselves. We try to have responses within three days of receiving the appeal, but real life can be difficult and it is possible your response may be delayed. When we have made a decision, an administrator will respond to your appeal either confirming or denying your appeal; in the latter case, we will try and explain our perspective and the reason we do not believe a reduction is merited at this time.​

Whether your appeal is accepted or denied, you must wait another six months before appealing again. This, of course, assumes you do not obtain another infraction in this time.​

Our criteria for lowering warning levels vary from user to user, but what we're usually looking for is an improvement in areas for which the user has previously been warned. Moderators may bring up incidents that have occurred on the forum, in the discord server, and indeed incidents in unofficial discord servers related to the Nuzlocke forum. Remember, please, that warn level reductions are a privilege, not a right, and that privilege must be earned with demonstrated improvement.​

 

[Jimcloud]

Discord Warnings​

Discord warnings work similarly to forum warnings, for the most part - but there are a few key differences.​

Our Discord servers operate under a four-warning system, separate from the forum warning system but correlated to it. These warnings are shared across all official Discord servers, as are bans.​

-The first warning you can receive is a neutral warning.​

-The second warning you can receive is a day ban from all official Discord servers, and will also result in a corresponding forum warning.​

-The third warning you can receive is a week ban from all official Discord servers.​

-The fourth and final warning you can receive is a permanent ban from all official Discord servers, and will also result in a corresponding forum warning.​

So a user who is permanently banned from Discord will accrue two forum warnings in the process. Due to how the Discord and forum warns correlate, an appeal to reduce one's warning level will also reduce a user's Discord warning level by two, given they have accrued at least two Discord warnings. This means that users who have been permabanned from Discord may appeal and be allowed to use official Discord servers once again. Aside from this critical difference, warning appeals for Discord generally function identically to warning appeals for forum warnings.​