Punish people for false reports

[Psychoneurotic]

For years we've seen people get fucking clapped ICly and then resort to OOC methods to get even. OOC methods including "/pm 1 see you on the forums fuckhead :DDD" or "/b [Insert discriminatory remarks here]". That itself is breaking the 6.6 rule (Players must not threaten other players or use offensive language in OOC chat or OOC context). What goes beyond threatening people with reports in the OOC chat, is actually carrying out the threat and making False reports. It wastes the staff's time and it causes discomfort and stress on the individual who's being reported.

It is understandable why the staff team hasn't decided to make false reports punishable, as it creates a grey area between what is a deliberate false report, purely made out of anger and rage to harass the victim, and what is simply just a report that got rejected because there wasn't enough evidence or the report wasn't deliberately made as a way to harass the other person. Please note that neither me or anyone else who's brought up this issue thinks people should get punished because their report got denied, that's absurd. People should get punished for using OOC means to waste staff's time and harass other players instead.

My personal suggestion is having something along the lines of the Defamation Act 2013 (Oversimplified version of defamation is "The communication of a false statement that harms the reputation of an individual."). People being innocent until proven otherwise. That means most reports that get denied won't have any affects on the person who made the report, but people who go out of their way to be an ass are going to be punished.

The example below is a clear case of someone using OOC means to harass someone, because they got clapped ICly.

Crosshair removal, Gun Licensee removal, map removal, stricter DM rules, adding food and thirst bar, they've all been grey areas and people in the staff team managed to get them to work. It's truly applaudable and I'm certain if the staff team disagrees with my method of identifying and punishing false reports, they can use their own creativity to quickly come up with a solution, as they have in the past.

[Marca]

If someone tries to report you when you did nothing wrong, you have nothing to worry about. I had people tell me they will report me and I never really cared much about it. I know I did nothing wrong, I try to explain it to them and if they feel like they still want to file a report, then go ahead. It cuts out on a lot more arguing, causes less tension and if they feel good about themselves after, good for them. Post your own story, any proof you may have, sleep like a king knowing the person who's reporting you will look like a fool and know that nothing will come out of that report.

Sometimes people may make a report when they shouldn't, but there are cases where maybe they just don't understand the rule or RP situation that well. While I do agree that making such reports is a waste of time for the reported party and staff, it can (and should) end up being a learning experience for the reporting party. In the end, it's up to staff to decide what to do and how to resolve these issues, if there even is an effective way to do that.

[gyrhnr]

6 hours ago, Marca said:

If someone tries to report you when you did nothing wrong, you have nothing to worry about. I had people tell me they will report me and I never really cared much about it. I know I did nothing wrong, I try to explain it to them and if they feel like they still want to file a report, then go ahead. It cuts out on a lot more arguing, causes less tension and if they feel good about themselves after, good for them. Post your own story, any proof you may have, sleep like a king knowing the person who's reporting you will look like a fool and know that nothing will come out of that report.

Sometimes people may make a report when they shouldn't, but there are cases where maybe they just don't understand the rule or RP situation that well. While I do agree that making such reports is a waste of time for the reported party and staff, it can (and should) end up being a learning experience for the reporting party. In the end, it's up to staff to decide what to do and how to resolve these issues, if there even is an effective way to do that.

ok, but why would you want to waste YOUR time trying to explain and get proof to prove your innocent if you are? waste of time and stressful 

[Psychoneurotic]

7 hours ago, Marca said:

If someone tries to report you when you did nothing wrong, you have nothing to worry about. I had people tell me they will report me and I never really cared much about it. I know I did nothing wrong, I try to explain it to them and if they feel like they still want to file a report, then go ahead. It cuts out on a lot more arguing, causes less tension and if they feel good about themselves after, good for them. Post your own story, any proof you may have, sleep like a king knowing the person who's reporting you will look like a fool and know that nothing will come out of that report.

Sometimes people may make a report when they shouldn't, but there are cases where maybe they just don't understand the rule or RP situation that well. While I do agree that making such reports is a waste of time for the reported party and staff, it can (and should) end up being a learning experience for the reporting party. In the end, it's up to staff to decide what to do and how to resolve these issues, if there even is an effective way to do that.

I see what you're saying and I agree with most of the things that you're saying. Maybe I wasn't clear in the first statement.

If you've done nothing wrong, the chances of you getting punished for it is close to 0% so you have nothing to worry about in that case. What people worry about, is how long their time gets wasted because someone else wants to get even with them OOCly; they'd much rather put their time to good use than waste it online. The problem is, they don't only look like a fool, they make you look like a fool by wasting your time. In my case and many other cases, who write detailed answers to reports, it takes hours to deal with a false report.

I'm glad we're on the same page regarding most of your second paragraph. Sometimes people just don't understand the rule or RP situation, and it wastes everyone's time, and it usually ends up being a learning experience for them; good for them. People who "use OOC means to create false report purely made out of anger and rage to harass the victim" don't fall into that category.

9 hours ago, Psychoneurotic said:

neither me or anyone else who's brought up this issue thinks people should get punished because their report got denied

 

[alexalex303]

False reports to just waste time are a serious issue, however when you have such a large percentage of the community doing them, including official faction members, it becomes very hard to punish without upsetting a majority of the player-base. 

[Psychoneurotic]

42 minutes ago, alexalex303 said:

False reports to just waste time are a serious issue, however when you have such a large percentage of the community doing them, including official faction members, it becomes very hard to punish without upsetting a majority of the player-base. 

Making bold decisions like "Crosshair removal, Gun Licensee removal, map removal, stricter DM rules, adding food and thirst bar" did upset a majority of the player-base but it ended up being good decisions in the long run. Personally I don't see the difference and I'd love to know your point of view on that @alexalex303

[Tomvd682]

+1 makes a lot of sense

[HaminLord]

+1

[merlius]

+1

[Catstify]

+1

[BallinByNature]

It is against the rules to post falsified player reports. If you have evidence of someone doing this, this should be reported and will be dealt with. Thank you!