Why I'm shutting down the banlist.
I feel that it's the best for the mod. It's mostly my fault, allowing people to submit bans without substantial proof. I had not intended this to be as long-lasting as it was. It was meant to be a short term measure until something better could be produced. Nothing better has come of it. We now have a reliable way of identifying the people that are unfreezing blocks (AGT).
Initally I was hoping that bans would be submitted by people who had actually witnessed events. This never happened, because I wasn't giving accounts to people who were trusted to submit bans. Now, it's too late to do so. There are steamids being posted and banned with little to no evidence. I don't have the time to oversee all submissions and make sure there is actual evidence included. Nor do I have the desire to code a semi-automated system that ensures evidence is actually submitted.
In doing so, I'm putting pressure on the staff: You need a good way of handling griefers. Requiring admins on all the time is going to make this mod shrink. Of the people I've seen that started and stopped playing, they stopped playing because of the griefers. I don't have any solutions for you.
Some tips, if anyone decides to create a system like this in the future:
1) No one person has the ability to ban someone. Require everything to be approved by at least two people other then the submitter. If you get anyone disagreeing with the ban, don't ban the person.
2) Require evidence. A series of screenshots is not evidence. A demo that includes the result of the status command is evidence.
3) Provide a lot of information about being unbanned. Ideally when someone is banned they get a message telling them what to do to get the ban lifted. They get very specific instructions on what needs to be done.
4) Assuming you have some type of voting system, don't allow people to see WHO voted which way. Not even allowing them to see which way other people voted is also a good idea.
What's going to happen:
I've already revoked the ability for people to add new bans. In a few days, all the existing bans will expire. I have no intention of giving anyone else the database at this point. If anyone does start this over again, start fresh. Most of the people in this probably won't be coming back to the mod, so there is very little point in having them banned.
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