Handling Ban Appeals

Ban appeals are an integral part of enforcing our policies and punishments. As we try to be as fair and just when handling rule violations and enforcing punishments on players, the appeals process allows a formal way for punishments to be discussed and possibly overturned.

Handling the Appeal

The staff member who issued a ban is the main staff member who handles the appeal. However, certain situations may lead to a ban having other staff become involved:

• If a staff member does not feel fit to handle the appeal on their own, then they may ask another staff member to get involved (e.g. a mod would like an admin to review their ban on a player who was cheating)
• If a staff member's decision was controversial, then a higher staff member may get involved to oversee the process (e.g. an admin blacklists a player for malicious conduct, but the player appealed, so dakota may step in to provide final ruling)
• If a staff member is unable to handle the appeal in a timely manner, then another staff member may get involved (e.g. an admin bans a player for hacking but they are traveling when an appeal is made)
• The player being punished made a substantial case as to why the staff member who issued the punishment should not provide the ruling on the appeal (e.g. a player has a credible concern over staff abuse or bias)

Never post on an appeal where you were not the staff member who handled the punishment unless you are asked to do so. We try to keep the appeals process as formal and uncluttered as possible, which is why the original staff member who handled the punishment is always the first staff member to handle the appeal.

Always try to respond to an appeal within a timely manner. Preferably this is as soon as possible, within 24 hours. Purposefully delaying or avoiding ban appeals is not acceptable and damages the reputation of the staff team to be fair and just.

Possible Appeal Outcomes

There are four possible outcomes of a ban appeal:

• Appeal Denied, Ban Extended: The appeal is denied. In rare cases, if the player introduced further evidence of rule violations or attempted to blatantly lie to staff members (see Lying About Rule Breaking), the ban may be extended beyond the original punishment time.
• Appeal Denied: The appeal is denied, and the player remains banned for the original duration of the ban.
• Appeal Accepted, Ban Shortened: The appeal is accepted, and the player's ban is shortened to a time lesser than the original duration of the ban. This can occur when a player introduces evidence that minimizes the extent of the rule violation.
• Appeal Accepted, Player Unbanned: The appeal is accepted, and the player is completely unbanned.

After deciding the appropriate outcome for an appeal, make sure to update the forum post type to identify the outcome and respond to the appeal. You may then need to adjust the ban by following the guidelines given in Banning.