Since there have been numerous incidents, cases and conflicts between mods and players concerning "power abuse", I think it would be a good idea to put a new set of rules in place for the conduct of mods. The goals of these rules are: elimination of all the confusion about what mods are and are not allowed to do, providing mods with a clear guideline, and providing people with valid complaints the means to actually get something done about them. This is not an attack or allegation, so keep your flames at bay. I just want everybody's honest opinion of my proposed rules, and if you can think of suggestions they would be most welcome!
A small list of my proposed rules with a short explanation for each one:
* Mods are subject to the same rules of conduct as the players
Why: this is pretty much a no-brainer, and I think already used by precedent. But I just thought it should be mentioned so that it is absolutely clear. When mods play in a game, they qualify as players. Therefore they should not flame, leave, etcetera.
* Mods may not ban or unban without going through a banrequest procedure on the forum
- This ban or unbanrequest must be processed by another, impartial mod.
Why: this rule will end all ninja-banning and should save the mods from a lot of allegations. When a mod sees a rule being broken in a game that he/she is directly involved in, the mod no longer has the power to instantly ban or unban someone. The mod must go through the ban/unban request procedure that everybody has to go through. This to ensure that: ban policy is as unbiased as possible, mods are protected from allegations of banning unfairly, and the window of opportunity for "abuse" is as small as possible. It shouldnt be a ban mod's job to roam around the server and just ban people. Their job is to process banrequests. Ofcourse when they see a rule being broken, they can still easily get the rulebreaker banned. PD.eu chose to use this system of ban and unbanrequests. I don't see why ban mods should be above this system.
* Mods may not process a ban or unban request against themselves
- This ban or unbanrequest must be processed by another, impartial mod.
- Any defence must be made in public by the mod.
* Mods may not process a ban or unban request made by themselves
- This ban or unbanrequest must be processed by another, impartial mod.
- The prosecution must be made in public by the mod.
Why: these two rules are to insure an unbiased ban policy. Far too often Ive come across banrequests against a mod that were subsequently denied by the mod himself! Ofcourse this isnt fair to the person who made the request, and it takes away a chunk of the mod's credibility because he is denying a request for himself! So the goals of these rules are to protect the mods from allegations of unfair bans or denies, and to make it more fair for the person who thinks a mod has broken a rule and wants to see impartial justice. The mod may ofcourse present his defence or prosecution, but this must be done in public. Pm'ing the mod who is handling the case as to "settle this among friends" should be forbidden.
* Mods may never take control or ownership of a game or lobby, unless:
- The game owner leaves or drops
- The game owner specifically asks the mod to, or gives his permission
- The game owner is ruining the game with his conduct and is in violation of the rules. This must be supported by evidence.
Why: the rule to end all complaints from hosts that mods steal control of their games. When there is a lame host who is ruining the game, mods still have the right to take ownership from them. But they should be able to support that with evidence. A ban mod's job isnt to take control of games because the host forgot to !sd one player, or someone has a ping over 70. If a mod thinks the "bad host" rule applies, he/she should make a banrequest for that host, not mindlessly reap ownership away from the host for a difference in opinion, without clear evidence of rulebreaking.
* Mods may never threaten any player or host with a ban
- If a host or player is in violation of the rules, a banrequest should be posted
- Warning a host or player that their conduct is in violation of the rules is allowed, e.g. "What you are doing is against the rules" and "You know that you could be banned for this?" are allowed. "I will ban you" is not.
Why: Trying to host or play a game of dota and then suddenly being threatened with a ban, even though you have to your knowledge not broken any rules, is one of the most annoying and unsettling things that can happen on PD. I speak from personal experience here, and Im sure a lot of other players and hosts have had similar experiences. It's both indecent and unnecessary. Mods should still have the power to warn people who they think are breaking rules, but aggressively threatening to ban people should be considered intimidation and therefore forbidden. Mods have all the tools they need at their disposal to get rulebreakers banned, why threaten people?
TLDR; 6 simple rules to make sure that all mods conduct themselves fairly. They are not complicated, they are not unreasonable, they are not too demanding. I think any mod who acts with the goodwill that is expected from a mod anyway should have no problems conforming to these rules. These rules will not only guarantee that the mods act like they should be acting anyway, but also protect the mods from unbased allegations and loss of credibility in the future. Suggestions and discussion are most welcome, flames, retarded one-liners, and wall-syndrome are not.
Regards.
WiKi
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