The 3-Strikes Policy - Is it really a good thing?

[DreadCrow]

I've gotta admit when a lot of truth started coming out about the reasoning behind many of the warnings, I was in support of SE, and the GM(s) in question. I was saddened to see SE having to rollback the warnings, over what looks to be because of the highly public outrage. I was also amazed to see the moderators of this forum step in and stop the downward spiral that one particular thread was going in. While I may have my own criticisms of SE's enforcement of the ToS, or moderation in general, sometimes it has to be harsh to stamp out certain behaviors.

But a lot of the moderation actually weren't fair? A lot of the people hit had perfect safe venues and the idea that you can't use Party Finder's "other" section for advertising role-playing venues... Well, it's about six years to late for that since people have done it since it's introduction. And most other GMs, over the course of the game, seemed to think it's okay.

[SturmChurro]

But a lot of the moderation actually weren't fair? A lot of the people hit had perfect safe venues and the idea that you can't use Party Finder's "other" section for advertising role-playing venues... Well, it's about six years to late for that since people have done it since it's introduction. And most other GMs, over the course of the game, seemed to think it's okay.

I thought moderation in this instance was fair. As far as I am aware, most of what was received were warnings - which yes, it's a mark on their account, but it isn't a strike. I think if SE had communicated the whole issue better, it would have been more understandable and well received. Rather than warning individual players, they could have made an announcement. I can truly get behind SE trying to curate the party finder in their game. Personally, I do not think ERP has any place in it, nor RP for that matter. I feel for regular, actually innocent, rpers for the lack of proper social features.

However, as this thread is about the 3 strikes policy I should say, if they had intended to continue curating the PF, and had handled communication better, I think handing out warnings is a great way to discourage this type of behavior. Not an actual strike, but just harsh enough. Because it is known 3 strikes and your out (!), players would be more careful knowing their account was at risk. I do think that, in general, depending on severity, some strikes or warnings should go away over time, however.