As can be acknowledged by all humans with common sense, everyone has an implicit bias and some show theirs more than others. I am one of the people that have been silenced in the past- I used to think I was the only one- but I soon discovered I wasn't. I am one of the few that isn't afraid to speak up. I alone have numerous incidents where I have made extremely lengthy forum posts, reports, etc. in which they have been closed or deleted without staff even taking a moment to absorb the information.
If you feel like you have been "silenced" then go ahead and make a staff report. And of course, the burden of evidence lies on you as it is only fair. Innocent until proven guilty. Again, just because you put a lot of effort into a forum post does not mean that you will get the expected results. Also, keep in mind that the staff member that handles your posts are not the only staff members that read your posts. I can give you multiple instances of when I felt that a staff member made an unjust call on a report or an appeal and I immediately spoke up about it. But you don't see that. Sometimes I make an impact and something gets done about it, other times I am out numbered and nothing gets changed. Just because you think that a staff member didn't absorb your post does not mean that they didn't. As a forum moderator myself I will often read posts all the way through to make sure that they are appropriate. Yes, that also means player reports, staff reports, and appeals. I keep track of those tricky reports and appeals as to make sure that a fair call was made on them.
Nobody is stopping you from speaking up, by all means, go ahead. I encourage it because I do it as well on an internal level. You can ask any one of our longer standing staff members: If I see something that I don't think is fair then I will let everybody and their mother know that it isn't fair
@PMX. However, once it becomes a witch hunt, that is where the line gets drawn.
Also I notice that some staff like to target members on forums. I wont say who because I don't want to be banned- but there have been plenty of times that the second I post something it would be instantly denied or deleted.
If you feel like you are being targeted on the forums then go and make a staff report, again, with evidence. If you post something that is against our forum rules then of course it is going to get deleted and removed.
Also- the staff community needs to acknowledge that they have to work through some problems. Instead- many believe that they think they are impeccable. It often comes to bite them back once the staff has resigned and only then does everyone realize how bad they were.
Yet again you are making a claim without any substantial evidence. Most staff don't come back to the staff team not because of what they do during their time as staff but what they do AFTER they leave the staff team.
@PMX @Tj
Here is an example of one of the worst staff encounters I have had:
One time I made a report on Ja1003(when he was admin) for using admin powers to revive himself after I killed him- Knight(then a senior admin) came to take my report. He immediately came into it attacking me. I told him that a player on forums had dmed me telling me that staff often tend to abuse their powers- and he gave some pretty damning evidence. I was kind of a noob so I told Knight about this- Knight demanded that I tell him the name of the player that sent me the information or else he would permaban me for "having confidential server information". I was scared so I told the name. The next day that player was perma banned for "hacking" by Knight.
I remember this situation but I do not remember the details exactly. I suggest you make a staff report on the forums next time. A staff member can take another staff members report on a player but a staff member should not be taking a players report on another staff member unless they are SD+. It makes it easier to handle if you post it on the forums rather than in-game. As for the "evidence" if it was leaked staff information then you can imagine that you could land yourself in trouble if you don't provide where you got that information from. Just like any other company, if you come across leaked internal information and you don't provide a supplier for said information then you can imagine a lawsuit coming your way. As for perma-banning you, an SA does not have that authority. Neither do they have the authority to ban a player for hacking. Perma bans and cheating bans are ONLY issued by SD+. Sometimes a staff member can run those bans ONLY with explicit permission from SD+ and as of recent they MUST cite the SD+ that authorized the ban. There is a system in place for cheating bans and you will not be banned for cheating unless we are certain without a doubt that you are guilty of cheating. We cannot tell you the methods we use for cheat detection cause that would defeat the purpose.
Again, you claim that you are being silenced yet I see none of that. Maybe if a staff member explained better why they made a decision that would help clear up some of the confusion.
P.S. If you were being silenced then this forum post would have been yeeted half way across the moon by now. But it is still here, because you are not silenced, because we value your input until it becomes a witch hunt.
