Sanctions

[gareth66]

On 27 June Rallidae was auto-surrendered from Classicist game 63404 following two NMRs. (The second surrender to have affected this game, which for a Classicist game is very unfortunate). I PMed Rallidae that same day to ask him what happened, but as yet that PM has not been read and to my knowledge Rallidae has not been on the site since.

As I explained with the ViscountSlim situation above, we are reluctant to determine sanctions without having first heard from the player concerned, but at the same time the situation cannot remain in limbo indefinitely.

I have therefore, for the time being, listed Rallidae as a suspended Bronze member pending contact from him. However, as this player had only just (within the previous month) joined the Classicists, this suspension will be for a finite period before a permanent sanction is issued. The situation will be reviewed again on 19 July (1 month after the auto-surrender) unless he makes contact earlier.

[gareth66]

Sadly, in connection with the above post, there has still been no word from Rallidae and in fact my PM to him remains unread. Regrettably, we therefore have no option at this time but to evict Rallidae from the Classicists. Obviously we hope all is well with him and hope that he will return to the site in due course. But until that happens, he has been removed as a Bronze member.

[gareth66]

diplomat42 has been demoted to Silver membership. Re-promotion to Gold and Platinum will become possible when the criteria are met.

By way of explanation, diplomat42 is a highly valued member of the group whose contributions to the site are high-profile, but he has succumbed to an unfortunate combination of circumstances. On 15 July, he was auto-surrendered from game 63183 following 2 NMRs due to problems with internet access. This was self-reported in the forum, and rightly led to being excused with a warning by Mortiferus Rosa on 16 July. The warning made it clear that if it happened again we would have to act. Subsequently, on 23 July, he was then auto-surrendered from game 63193 following 2 NMRs. This second auto-surrender was not self-reported but was the subject of a complaint from another member of the group. After being asked about what happened diplomat42 explained that this was again due to problems with internet access.

The moderators have discussed the situation at length and have concluded that these were separate incidents and that the second one, following the warning, requires a sanction. During the discussions, one moderator observed that where there is a will, in the era of wireless and 3G technology, it really should be possible to gain some access to the site within a 4-day period.

In determining an appropriate sanction, I am mindful of diplomat42's prestige on the site, the original self-report and the difficulties that his internet access problems had caused him. Considering those factors, a demotion from Platinum all the way down to Bronze seemed excessively harsh. The demotion will therefore be to Silver, with re-promotion to Gold after 5 games with no surrenders and then to Platinum after 10 games with no surrenders. (Those figures reached on the basis of the number of additional games beyond Silver that would ordinarily be required to reach the higher levels of membership).

I firmly believe that this situation was an uncharacteristic blip, and that diplomat42 will be back to Platinum membership in not too long. Meanwhile, I thank him for his understanding in the interests of the integrity of the group.

[gareth66]

The moderators have considered the events described in this thread...

viewtopic.php?f=542&t=39774

...and have concluded that a sanction is necessary in order to make sure the situation is covered whether or not the player involved chooses to return to the site. Several aspects of what happened go completely against what the Classicists stand for, and therefore for the following reasons...:

(a) Unnacceptably abusive comments towards other players in the shoutbox of game 59846;
(b) Unnacceptable lack of respect shown towards other players by forcing game 59846 to continue in a deadlocked state for over a month;
(c) Deliberate surrender from game 59846 with no justification whatsoever

...Lucifers_Hammer has been evicted from the Classicists.

Edit: Since posting this, the player has been banned from the site in any case, for violating site rules after a warning, which makes him ineligible for membership of the Classicists at the present moment in time even in the hypothetical event of the ban being lifted.

[gareth66]

ViscountSlim was auto-surrendered from game 61948 on 19 June, following two uncharacteristic NMRs. I PMed him that day to ask about what happened, but my PM has not yet even been read, and to my knowledge ViscountSlim has not been seen on the site since.

I am therefore concerned about him, and hope he is ok. We do not, as a group of moderators, want to determine a sanction without hearing from Slim, but equally the situation cannot be left in limbo indefinitely. ViscountSlim is therefore now listed as a suspended Silver member, pending contact from him.

It is now over two months since this incident, and sadly there has still been no word from ViscountSlim and my PM to him on 19 June remains unread. With regret, the time has now come when we need to remove him from the list of members. Should he return to the site, he is very welcome to make contact so that we can come back to what happened here. However, unless and until that happens, ViscountSlim has been removed from Classicist membership.

[gareth66]

Following an unjustified surrender from game 66541 after entering and finalising deliberately self-destructive orders, PJL has tended his resignation from the Classicists in this thread:

viewtopic.php?f=118&t=40120

In the circumstances, and given that eviction may have been the outcome of an investigation in any case, I have accepted his resignation and removed him from the list of members.

[gareth66]

Between 3 October and 7 October Silver member VegaMan was auto-surrendered from two games (67603 and 68301) following successive NMRs in those games. This was self-reported to me by VegaMan by PM on 27 December.

The reason given by VegaMan for the problems he faced at that time was that he had problems with his internet access. Whilst we do sympathise with problems of this sort, the Classicists tend to take the view that with a variety of means usually available for internet access these days, over the course of two seasons of play there is usually a way of getting round these problems where there is a will. In this particular case, too, it needs to be noted that a draw proposal response was entered in one of the above games on the same day as the auto-surrender in the other. So this proves that at least sporadic access was possible. These two auto-surrenders are therefore considered unjustified, in the sense that they could have been avoided.

This means that consideration has to be given to whether the imposition of a sanction is necessary. At this point it needs to be noted that there are a few mitigating factors:
- The effect of both surrenders on other players in the games in question was negligible. All that they resulted in was VegaMan not being part of the draws that were already in proposal in both games at the time of his auto-surrenders.
- No player in either of the games in question considered it necessary to make a complaint or report about the surrenders.
- The incidents were self-reported (albeit rather belatedly). Self-reporting will always count in favour of players who do it.

Putting all these factors together, I have issued VegaMan with a warning - a future unjustified surrender will necessitate a sanction. He remains, on this occasion, a Silver member. Promotion to Gold will be possible once 15 further games have been completed without surrender.

[gareth66]

Yesterday I received a PM report of an auto-surrender by Gold member drmullets in game 76246 on 8 February, with a request to look into the implications of this surrender for Classicist membership. drmullets has given me a very prompt and detailed response to my request for an explanation. The auto-surrender occurred during the live period of a live game where the game spent over 20 minutes in the processing queue and he assumed it had crashed. It would have been better if he had self-reported this rather than have another player report it but, beyond noting that, in the circumstances I am not intending taking any further action in relation to this incident. I'd like to thank socratease for bringing it to my attention.

[gareth66]

Between 3 October and 7 October Silver member VegaMan was auto-surrendered from two games (67603 and 68301) following successive NMRs in those games. This was self-reported to me by VegaMan by PM on 27 December.

The reason given by VegaMan for the problems he faced at that time was that he had problems with his internet access. Whilst we do sympathise with problems of this sort, the Classicists tend to take the view that with a variety of means usually available for internet access these days, over the course of two seasons of play there is usually a way of getting round these problems where there is a will. In this particular case, too, it needs to be noted that a draw proposal response was entered in one of the above games on the same day as the auto-surrender in the other. So this proves that at least sporadic access was possible. These two auto-surrenders are therefore considered unjustified, in the sense that they could have been avoided.

This means that consideration has to be given to whether the imposition of a sanction is necessary. At this point it needs to be noted that there are a few mitigating factors:
- The effect of both surrenders on other players in the games in question was negligible. All that they resulted in was VegaMan not being part of the draws that were already in proposal in both games at the time of his auto-surrenders.
- No player in either of the games in question considered it necessary to make a complaint or report about the surrenders.
- The incidents were self-reported (albeit rather belatedly). Self-reporting will always count in favour of players who do it.

Putting all these factors together, I have issued VegaMan with a warning - a future unjustified surrender will necessitate a sanction. He remains, on this occasion, a Silver member. Promotion to Gold will be possible once 15 further games have been completed without surrender.

Following a further incident involving an unjustfied surrender related to internet-access issues, VegaMan has volunrarily withdrawn from the Classicists in this thread viewtopic.php?f=118&t=43700. In light of the previous warning in December, this seems the only reasonable course of action and therefore VegaMan's resignation from the group is accepted. We look forward to welcoming him back when he is ready and when he becomes re-eligible for membership.

[Mortiferus Rosa]

Tolpuddlemartyr has auto-surrendered after two consecutive NMRs in Spring of the game 88322. He has been evicted from the classicists and will be eligible to reapply once he has played 5 games without surrendering.