Points, Bans & Supreme Directives?

There are Rules, Guidelines, Stickies, etc. scattered all around on ECCIE but for the life of me, I can't find any solid information on the subject of this thread. So can a Mod or Admin, please post a link or links where we can find:

1. What are the point penalties for various infractions?

2. How many points can someone accumulate before they're banned? And what is the length of the ban? 90 days as some would say, or in some cases is it a perma-ban?

3. Where are the site guidelines for a Supreme Directive?

Lastly where are points shown in our profiles? Or how do we know how many we've accumulated for infractions?

Thanks for your question.

The easiest way to find the most recent and important Forum Guidelines is to look at the link to Announcements that appears at the top of each main forum page.

Right now, the Image Guideline I posted on January 1, 2019 are at the top. If you click there or on the Forum Guidelines link at the left Main Menu, you will go to these and also Announcements about Guideline in general.

Announcements and Guidelines

Regarding specific point penalties for various violations, we do not publicize those, but a few searches may give you more specifics because members are more than welcome to comment on their own points.

I will say, infractions range from 1 point to 10 points and it takes a considerable amount to reach the ban thresh hold. Different thresh holds result in bans for different lengths of bans.

Some violations may result in immediate bans. I don't think it is a secret that image violations can result in a short immediate ban. Outing will resulting in a long ban. Actual physical threats to a member will also result in a harsh penalty, while saying "You better watch your back" might result in points. Bullying and harassment are also cause for increased penalties.

It is virtually impossible to be perma banned from the site. When you see a member that has be perma banned, it is probably because it was a multiple or fake handle. OR, they did something that posed such a real and credible threat to the site and community, they were not welcome here per upper management/ownership. I can guarantee, those decisions are not made by one person or easily made.

"Supreme Directives" are rare and handled on a case by case basis. If you search, you will find members describing their own. Staff does not comment on them.

Your own infractions, if you have them, are on an Infractions Tab on your profile.

Let me make one more comment that I have never seen addressed here.

Many members complain that nothing is done to serial offenders. This is not the case. The issue is that people, like you, who follow the rules and don't get infractions, have no clue how they work or how they are applied. People who break the rules repeatedly, know EXACTLY how many points certain behavior merits and how many points it takes to get banned and when their points expire, allowing them to get more.

This is problematic because they can walk the line and it is also why you see them behave at times and be belligerent at others. They KNOW how they will be punished ahead of time. This is a good reason for staff not to publicize the point schedule.

To the critics who think nothing is done. The argument that should be made is that the point thresh hold should be lowered, not that staff does nothing. Staff are volunteers who spend an inordinate time "policing" grown people who can't seem to behave or follow rules. There is nothing worse than to spend 20, 30 40 hours of time over the course of a few days trying to "police" the forums only to be met with personal attacks and unwarranted insults.

The lack of transparency is not to protect wrongdoers, it is to keep other people from deciding that walking the line is their best course of action when it is not.

Thanks again for your questions. I am sure many people are curious as well.

Good question and a good answer. Thanks to both of you

Thanks B3, you're amazing....

You're welcome and thank you.

I also would like to add that staff goes to great lengths to not remove content except in extreme cases, like mentions of forbidden topics (medical speculation, illicit drugs, minors, outing info, etc.).

While some people think insults, etc. should always be removed, personally, I like being able to see what people have said. I consider them "self alerts."

Another question, perhaps related to pointing, etc. Under members' profiles, there is a Statistics tab and under the General category, there are Referrals. What are those?

Are they some sort of mini-penalty you get when another member clicks the RTM button on one of your posts?

No. Referrals are how many people you have invited to Eccie who have joined. On the left Main Menu, there is an Invite a Friend option. That is all that is.

Your question brings up another thing. RTMs are not penalties or necessarily bad. They are just a convenient way to notify all of the local mods of something needing their attention. Members often RTM their own posts to request an edit to an Encounter Report or Weekly Update.