Hi everyone,
It's become obvious to me and various other senior admins over the past few weeks that the level of sanctioning and the manner in which admins are sanctioning are becoming a concern. As a result, our team is suffering a lack of trust within the community. Please note that I don't mean to name and shame here, but rather try to re-establish the trust that was previously here between the community and the admin team.
I'm sure you're all aware that we've recently been having multiple incidents within the community, where members of the community are disagreeing with sanctions. It's okay for them to do this - it's often healthy to criticise. However, it is not okay to sanction for someone questioning an admin's actions, nor in any shape or form is it appropriate to use admin-only commands to annoy a player. There have been multiple cases in the past few weeks where innocent, non-rulebreaking players have been kicked, orbited or smote. I will not tolerate this whatsoever from any admin, no matter the rank or role you play.
There have also been numerous incidents recently, where admins have been imposing heavier sanctions than needed. Incidents that require only a verbal warning through /say are instead being met with 15-30 minute temporary bans. Admins have also been sanctioning other users for trying out commands that are blocked for users. This is not okay either and is really not what I want to see from our team.
Another point I would like to address is grudges. Grudges also seem to be an issue within the team; whether that's holding one against your teammate, or a player. Hold as many as you want, I don't really care, but when you are sanctioning individuals please maintain clear judgement and ensure that you are not letting your emotions or subjective thoughts affect your way of administration.
I will admit to you all, I am guilty of some of the things mentioned here. However, it has come to my realisation that the community no longer trusts us as a team and instead proceeds to mock us. Sanctioning people more isn't going to help, especially when our playercount is dwindling.
If I find that any of you have been issuing sanctions, for the reasons mentioned here, I will sanction you accordingly. Thank you.