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Staff Policy Clarification Regarding Transparency, Confidentiality, and Decision Making

+1 my friend invartal is in an infinite loop of being unable to appeal because he has no idea what it is that he did 2 years ago and you are saying he is alting without even giving him the name of the "alt" he was on? how is he meant to know, its simply unfair and increases the chances of false bans a lot. In some cases I can see why the reason shouldnt be shared, but for the most part they can atleast be told what it is that they did wrong so they dont do it again in the future
 
I appreciate the passion behind this post. You guys wouldn't hold us to the standard that you do if you didn't care about Loka. That said we have to pick apart several things going on in this thread separately.
I really care about Loka since this is by far the best server I've played on ever since I started playing on Minecraft, and I would hate to see it become dull due to some poor moderation choices.
berd is not staff, this is meaningless.
The reason I decided to include Berd in here is that he's very active with the community and is also a slicer. His quote also brings up basically how everyone perceives their conversations with mods when talking about their punishment(if they get punished).
I will admit it was an unnecessary post by me in that thread but I didn't reply for no reason. While we don't generally share reports, as most of them are benign, players will always try to control the narrative in a ban appeal (simply see the very end of this post). That report was not a harassment complaint, and so I felt was important to provide some additional context in that thread to show that it was not a one-sided situation.
I appreciate your acknowledging that the report probably didn't need to be posted. I understand your concern about players controlling the narrative in ban appeals, and I can see why you wanted to provide additional context.

My concern wasn't necessarily that you responded, but how the report was used. Even if it wasn't a harassment report, publicly sharing a player's report can discourage people from reporting issues in the future if they believe their reports might later be used in a public thread.

Regarding the reply itself, I also think the wording could have been handled differently. Asking, "Does that ideology extend to other countries?" came across as politically one-sided, even if that wasn't your intent. I understand what you were trying to convey, but I think there were better ways to make that point.
This confusion almost exclusively happens when a player who is prone to common harassment finally gets punished. Because their behavior is so commonplace, they can't think of a specific example of why they might have gotten punished which is usually a bad sign as it is. The reason we cannot (not just simple arbitrarily choose not to) always share with players why they were punished is to protect the victim. This has been our stance for the entirety of Loka's existence.

I put it to you. How can we protect a victim or even be trusted with reports of harassment if we turn right around and narc on them when the harasser asks who the victim is?
I understand the need to protect victims, but protecting them and providing meaningful context for a punishment aren't mutually exclusive.

Assuming a player "can't think of a specific example" because harassment is commonplace isn't always fair. Without enough context, players can't meaningfully understand or appeal a decision.

I'm not arguing that victims should be identified. My concern is that protecting a victim's identity doesn't require withholding all context. Players should receive enough information about the behavior that led to their punishment to make the moderation process more transparent and trustworthy.
 
we wanna know about kylaz too big C
This too.
As someone who is a minor and plays Loka, I would be very uncomfortable knowing that someone who has admitted to being attracted to minors, or who is credibly accused of predatory behavior, is allowed to remain in the community.

I'm not asking for the details of any investigation, but I do think the community deserves to know whether the allegations involving Kylaz are being taken seriously and are under review.

Loka presents itself as a PG, all-ages server. To maintain that environment and the trust of its players, especially minors, allegations of predatory behavior should be investigated thoroughly and handled with the highest priority.
 
And unrelated:

That's not why you were muted.
This is what we are talking about. I realized that i got muted I think a week later because I wasn't consistently playing so then I made a ticket to find out why and they gave me the same exact information. Yes I know I was muted for harassment and guess what I still don't know why I am muted. The Transparency caused me to think someone else muted me (Id like to say sorry to Kylaz for thinking they got me muted still find you weird)
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The reason I decided to include Berd in here is that he's very active with the community and is also a slicer. His quote also brings up basically how everyone perceives their conversations with mods when talking about their punishment(if they get punished).
yeah idk why it matters why im staff or not the statement was just mocking how theres so many appeals where ppl have no idea what they even did exactly
and saying "Because their behavior is so commonplace, they can't think of a specific example of why they might have gotten punished which is usually a bad sign as it is." is just really stupid
 
but protecting them and providing meaningful context for a punishment aren't mutually exclusive

It almost always is though. Players aren't dumb and a lot of players muted/banned for harassment already do put it together. If there's any chance that providing context to a punishment will give clues as to who "got them in trouble in the first place" then it's a literal nonstarter and betrays the entire harassment handling system.
 
It almost always is though. Players aren't dumb and a lot of players muted/banned for harassment already do put it together. If there's any chance that providing context to a punishment will give clues as to who "got them in trouble in the first place" then it's a literal nonstarter and betrays the entire harassment handling system.
I don't think anyone is arguing that staff should provide context if it would directly identify the victim. The issue is that this standard seems to be applied as an absolute, where any possibility of someone connecting the dots means no context can ever be given.

If a player is already able to figure out who reported them simply from being punished, then withholding every detail about the punishment doesn't actually protect the victim—it just leaves the punished player with less understanding of what they did wrong. There are also plenty of situations where context can be generalized enough that it explains the rule violation without pointing to a specific person. "You were punished for repeated targeted harassment in DMs" or "You continued insulting another player after being asked to stop" gives the player something meaningful to work with while still protecting identities.

The goal shouldn't be maximum secrecy at all costs; it should be minimizing the risk of exposing victims while maximizing fairness and clarity. Those objectives aren't always in conflict, and treating them as if they are means transparency is effectively impossible in every harassment case, regardless of whether it could be provided safely.
 
It almost always is though. Players aren't dumb and a lot of players muted/banned for harassment already do put it together. If there's any chance that providing context to a punishment will give clues as to who "got them in trouble in the first place" then it's a literal nonstarter and betrays the entire harassment handling system.

If the standard is "players might be able to guess who reported them," then virtually no harassment case could ever receive any meaningful explanation. That's an extremely broad standard that eliminates accountability. Many moderation systems manage to protect reporter identities while still giving users enough information to understand what rule they broke and why the evidence met the threshold for punishment.
 
It really is.
But how do you determine if behaviour is common? Is that through multiple reports you've gotten about the player? If so, then does the player get any warnings or punishments for the original report?

I'm not saying we need a first offence = 1 week mute moderation system, but I think by addressing the problem immediately and putting an end to it, behavior wouldn't need to be common which in turn would stop the possibility of a ban.
 
If so, then does the player get any warnings or punishments for the original report?
Yes. For harassment and hate speech, players first receive a warning via mail telling them that if they continue to harass other Lokans, then they will be banned. If they then continue to harass the victim, or harass other victims, they are banned.
 
Yes. For harassment and hate speech, players first receive a warning via mail telling them that if they continue to harass other Lokans, then they will be banned. If they then continue to harass the victim, or harass other victims, they are banned.
Define harassment
 
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