Hopefully, you all know where to find the Mod Box. If you don't, then it's a link on the top right corner of the page, next to messages/friends/etc. Submitting something there will send it to the Mod Box, as it suggests, where Mods can view and deal with the report.
But not all of you may know how or when to use it, which leads me to my first point...
Why this post is needed;
Over the time Ex has been open, we've been receiving numerous reports about things that should not have been reported. The mod box has a very specific reason to be there; to aid players when situations such as player conflicts, harassment, art theft and other such trouble arises.
It's for dealing with, basically, occasions where the ToS and the Chat/Forum Guidelines have been breached, or for assisting players by moving topics that were posted in the wrong board or locking them, etc.
What to Report;
To give you an idea about what should be reported to the Mod Box, I've compiled a quick (although, not complete) list of various cases in which you should file a report.
- Harassment (A player continues to message you after being asked not to, uses friends to message/pass messages to you, posts on the boards, etc. Not just messaging you every now and again. )
- Art Theft (For instance, if you see a player using art that isn't theirs for a ref, or their tag, etc. Pictures from google, for instance, normally count as art theft because they are usually copyrighted.)
- Begging (If a player messages you begging for items, money, dinosaurs and anything else. Begging is frowned upon, and we like to explain this to people ourselves, rather than let a full-scale argument erupt because of it)
- Spamming (Be it the boards or chat. If someone is continuously spamming, report it so that we can deal with it. Even if you do it by accident, send in a report and ask us to remove duplicates)
- Topic Moves/Locks (If you post a topic in the wrong board and need it moved, don't just say so on the post. We probably wont notice it there. Send in a report and ask us to move it to the correct board, and we will do so. The same applies to topics that you want locked.)
What to Include;
When sending in a report, include information. We can't do much with a report that says "omg darth kitie swore", can we? Who is this "darth kitie" and what is their ID? Where did they say this? Can you provide links or screenshots?
If someone swears, screenshot it. Then submit a report telling us where it happened, with a link if it is in a post, a screenshot and information.
If you need a post moved, provide the link to the post and state which board it needs to be moved to.
The basic point of the matter is that we can do next to nothing if we don't know what you're talking about.
What not to report;
- Questions (Questions belong on the Help board. There any plenty of members willing to help you there, and if you send in a report with a question, we'll tell you not to use the Mod Box for questions)
- Bugs (Again, there are boards to report bugs on. The moderators, in general, are not coders and have no access to the database or control panel, and can therefore do nothing about it anyway. If it is a major bug, and you are concerned about it being abused, feel free to send a Private Message (PM) to a mod.)
Abusing the Mod Box;
Abusing the Mod Box is not taken lightly. It exists to help you, as a member, so purposefully spamming it, using it for questions after previously being asked not to, etc, will not go down well.
In general, those who spam the mod box are banned. They receive a warning from a moderator to cease, and if they continue to ignore that warning, a site-wide ban on all accounts will occur. It is not something to be taken as a joke, or an empty threat. We'd prefer not to have to ban you, so please, listen to us if we are telling you to stop something.
Using it to ask questions after previous verbal warnings will also result in official warnings and/or fines. Again, take what we say into consideration, as we say it for a reason.
The Mod Box is there to help you, when you genuinely need it. So take it seriously, use it correctly, and overall..
Don't be afraid to report something.
Honestly, I'm not interested if you are complaining on the boards that someone has been harassing you and begging. If you haven't blocked them and/or reported them, then what can we do to stop it? Reporting things like that -does- help, so please, don't be afraid of using it. =)
Thanks from Kitei + the Team
Posted: 31/12/2010 @ 2:51 pm Edited on 3rd Mar 11 @ 2:29pm by Kitei
~Kitei-san~ http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a475/Nox_demon/KitiesBaby.png