Forums Forum Appeal

[Jxliee]

Idea
So the idea is practically a ban appeal from the server, except for forums. Simple as that.

Why?
Staff can make mistakes, it’s only natural. I understand that, and I’m sure many others do. Which is why we have appeals. But for some odd reason, if you’re banned on forums, you can’t actually appeal to be unbanned.
Basically, if you’re banned here, you can’t prove your innocence or even get a say in anything. I know you can appeal afterwards, but what good is that if you’re waiting to be unbanned for a specific period of time for something you might have never done, or had an unfair punishment. It’s not really fair to players to wait for absolutely no reason if this is the case. And what if this was a permanent ban? I know it’s less likely for someone to be mistakenly perma banned, but it’s possible.
I’ve noticed this is happening a lot right now, based off interactions I’ve had with some players, where people believe they’re unfairly banned and literally can’t do anything until it’s over. Doesn’t really make sense to me.

Information
• When you’re banned, there will be a option to make a “Forum appeal”.

• It’d be on a tab, and would be the only visible one, to the player.

• It would be the only thing visible to players that are banned, meaning they can’t access any other part of the site.

• I do believe this is necessary, as it’s clearly something you should be able to access if you believe you've been unfairly punished, as it’s a bit unfair for a player to have to deal with this, especially if it genuinely was an unfair punishment.

Example
I’m unable to provide an image example, so I’ll have to describe it.
As you can see, you have the “Home, Forums, Members” and etcetera on a blue box, this is a tab.
When a player is banned from forums, it will give them their message and recommend they appeal, “using the “”Appeal”” tab”. Which will be the only tab visible to this player. The home tab, and so on, will be gone from sight.
The layout will be the exact same to the normal server appeals/after appeal, in my eyes. Of course the layout will depend on how staff wish for it to look.

If you’re still confused about this, or the suggestion in general, I’ll explain it to you later! xo

Cons
• Many false appeals, that are clearly incorrect, and are a waste of time.
> Of course this will result in further punishment, and will happen in any type of appeal.

• Couldn’t think of anything else, from the top of my mind, I’ll update this another time.

Pros
• Players have the chance to appeal false/unfair punishments.

• Players will no longer have to wait a ridiculous amount of time, without answer to appeal.

• Players no longer have to “poke” staff just to know why they got banned and if they can get unbanned, and not have to wait a specific length of time just to receive a definite reply from the staff member, who may not even know the answer to their question.

• In my opinion, it’s a basic right to be able to appeal for your innocence without having to pay time for something you didn’t do, or were unfairly punished for.

Ideas And Suggestions
So if you have any suggestions or ideas, write them down. I will add them if needed!

• Catten suggested - An emergency alert, that allows players to see their response to the appeal. This will be the only alert that’ll be visible to them.

• Strawberry Suggested - A way to see the reason you’ve been banned, preferably in the ban message.
> My add on - Way to see who banned you as well, as you usually need that when you appeal for bans, warnings, mutes and etcetera.

I believe this was suggested before, but had gone cold, correct me if I’m wrong.​

 

[Nashi]

Players can already appeal false forum warnings, though I felt that something like this was necessary as well. I love the idea and that it'd be only visible to those who are banned, but I do have one question. I've never been banned from the forums so I have no idea how it looks when you are, though would they still be able to see their alerts? If so, it should probably hide old alerts and instead give a kind of 'emergency alerts' style thing, that would only show responses to their appeal. As well, staff members normally tell players to private message them on the forums if they have questions, though players wouldn't be able to do this. I can't really think of a way around this, beside messaging them in game, which would be problematic if they were in different timezones. Otherwise, a +1 from me!

 

[Supernqtural]

I have never been banned on the forums, but for those who have, it must have been very frustrating not being able to speak their mind about their ban. This idea is great and will help make sure all the players are treated well and have a voice! +1

 

[ABerryyy]

. I've never been banned from the forums so I have no idea how it looks when you are, though would they still be able to see their alerts?

If you're banned from the forums you'll be blocked from everything, including alerts, it just displays a message saying, "You've been banned till the this "date". Emergency alerts sounds cool.


Also when you're banned you never understand why you've been banned because forums doesn't have an option to show the reason for the ban, not completely sure if you could do something about this but if you can I'd really recommend you add the reason in the ban page.


I agree with this suggestion to the fullest extent, because those who've been unfairly banned always either have to go through the struggle of contacting a higher staff from other media's, such as discord. If you don't have discord how would they contact higher staff to prove they've been unfairly banned? There aren't even many cons to this, +1.

 

[Jxliee]

Players can already appeal false forum warnings, though I felt that something like this was necessary as well. I love the idea and that it'd be only visible to those who are banned, but I do have one question. I've never been banned from the forums so I have no idea how it looks when you are, though would they still be able to see their alerts? If so, it should probably hide old alerts and instead give a kind of 'emergency alerts' style thing, that would only show responses to their appeal. As well, staff members normally tell players to private message them on the forums if they have questions, though players wouldn't be able to do this. I can't really think of a way around this, beside messaging them in game, which would be problematic if they were in different timezones. Otherwise, a +1 from me!

Wonderful suggestion- the emergency alert.

If you're banned from the forums you'll be blocked from everything, including alerts, it just displays a message saying, "You've been banned till the this "date". Emergency alerts sounds cool.


Also when you're banned you never understand why you've been banned because forums doesn't have an option to show the reason for the ban, not completely sure if you could do something about this but if you can I'd really recommend you add the reason in the ban page.


I agree with this suggestion to the fullest extent, because those who've been unfairly banned always either have to go through the struggle of contacting a higher staff from other media's, such as discord. If you don't have discord how would they contact higher staff to prove they've been unfairly banned? There aren't even many cons to this, +1.

Thanks for telling me, I’ll add that to the “Ideas and suggestions”! xo