Harassment Policies
Here in Desai we understand that not everyone can get along. It can be hard! When you play in a game with a lot of different sorts of people, you're bound to run into someone you're just not crazy about. However, we expect everyone to do their best to be polite to one another and show each other the respect they'd expect from others. To ensure that everyone feels safe and comfortable in this game, we've decided to write up some things to help you understand what could be considered harassment against players or moderators and what you might be able to expect as far as consequences if they happen.
What is harassment? Harassment is defined by the dictionary as a verb that means "to disturb persistently; torment, as with troubles or cares; bother continually; pester; persecute." Or "to trouble by repeated attacks, incursions, etc., as in war or hostilities; harry; raid." So you can already see why it's considered a very serious thing, no matter what the circumstances. It can make people feel targeted, which makes them anxious and uneasy about interacting with others for fear of being verbally attacked.
Please keep in mind that there is a difference between debating with someone about something with which you disagree, and harassing someone to prove your point. Even if a discussion becomes heated, you still have the opportunity to let it go for the future. If someone decides to try and let a matter drop, let them drop it. There is no need to continue trying to push your point. If you do, it might be interpreted as harassment, because that person might begin to feel as though they're under attack.
Using foul language can also be seen as overly aggressive and can put many people off, and even make tempers flare even more. There's generally a distinct difference between joking around and using language against a person angrily, but we should all try to remember that sometimes it's difficult to tell.
When someone expresses to us that someone has been harassing them, please know that we take these matters very seriously. We will look at evidence they may supply us and try to get as broad a view of the situation as possible, and then we will confront the person being accused to get a better idea of what's going on. We always try to be fair to everyone, and if all the situation requires is mediation, we will be happy to help everyone out. If we see that a person is causing problems for people repeatedly, we may take further steps to be sure it doesn't happen again.
What's considered harassment? Forms of harassment vary from things like constantly messaging a person to be derogatory to repeatedly bringing up a past situation in a particular person's presence to just being plain ugly to someone every time they interact. It basically revolves around an intent to make another person unhappy, even if it's under the guise of making sure one's point is made.
This sort of behavior can be very damaging to people, especially to those who are a bit more sensitive than others. Please remember that even "jokes" about people or scenarios can be hurtful or just plain tiring for some to hear. If you truly want to make sure a matter has been resolved, be polite. Be gentle. Be accommodating and back off if the other person seems uneasy or says they'd just like to move on. And it always helps to bring up something that made you angry or frustrated in the same way. Remember that it could be an honest mistake. It could be a miscommunication. Aggression may make new issues completely unrelated to the initial problem.
We've all had a bad day and snapped at people. We've all gotten into fights. And more often than not, we've looked back and realized that we were unnecessary. Remember that an apology goes a very long way. If you think you might've angered or upset someone, take a second and at least apologize for the way things went down. They might apologize to you too! And you can approach the situation much calmer and clearer because of it.
Remember that this applies to everyone in the game. Players, moderators, maintainers, everyone. If we hear that someone is being harassed and find supporting evidence, there will be consequences.
What happens in a case of repeated harassment? If someone harasses a person and continues to do the same thing to them and/or others after being spoken to and warned by the moderator or co-moderators, they may be subject to suspension and possibly removal of their characters from the game. If there is any form of prejudice, such as against someone's beliefs, sex or gender, race, etc., there may be call for a complete ban from the game.
We, of course, would hate to see any of you go, and we don't want to have to suspend or ban anyone, so we hope that this will help you understand what may be considered harassment and how you can avoid it.
What happens in the case of a suspension or ban? Please refer to this post for more information on this!
What is harassment? Harassment is defined by the dictionary as a verb that means "to disturb persistently; torment, as with troubles or cares; bother continually; pester; persecute." Or "to trouble by repeated attacks, incursions, etc., as in war or hostilities; harry; raid." So you can already see why it's considered a very serious thing, no matter what the circumstances. It can make people feel targeted, which makes them anxious and uneasy about interacting with others for fear of being verbally attacked.
Please keep in mind that there is a difference between debating with someone about something with which you disagree, and harassing someone to prove your point. Even if a discussion becomes heated, you still have the opportunity to let it go for the future. If someone decides to try and let a matter drop, let them drop it. There is no need to continue trying to push your point. If you do, it might be interpreted as harassment, because that person might begin to feel as though they're under attack.
Using foul language can also be seen as overly aggressive and can put many people off, and even make tempers flare even more. There's generally a distinct difference between joking around and using language against a person angrily, but we should all try to remember that sometimes it's difficult to tell.
When someone expresses to us that someone has been harassing them, please know that we take these matters very seriously. We will look at evidence they may supply us and try to get as broad a view of the situation as possible, and then we will confront the person being accused to get a better idea of what's going on. We always try to be fair to everyone, and if all the situation requires is mediation, we will be happy to help everyone out. If we see that a person is causing problems for people repeatedly, we may take further steps to be sure it doesn't happen again.
What's considered harassment? Forms of harassment vary from things like constantly messaging a person to be derogatory to repeatedly bringing up a past situation in a particular person's presence to just being plain ugly to someone every time they interact. It basically revolves around an intent to make another person unhappy, even if it's under the guise of making sure one's point is made.
This sort of behavior can be very damaging to people, especially to those who are a bit more sensitive than others. Please remember that even "jokes" about people or scenarios can be hurtful or just plain tiring for some to hear. If you truly want to make sure a matter has been resolved, be polite. Be gentle. Be accommodating and back off if the other person seems uneasy or says they'd just like to move on. And it always helps to bring up something that made you angry or frustrated in the same way. Remember that it could be an honest mistake. It could be a miscommunication. Aggression may make new issues completely unrelated to the initial problem.
We've all had a bad day and snapped at people. We've all gotten into fights. And more often than not, we've looked back and realized that we were unnecessary. Remember that an apology goes a very long way. If you think you might've angered or upset someone, take a second and at least apologize for the way things went down. They might apologize to you too! And you can approach the situation much calmer and clearer because of it.
Remember that this applies to everyone in the game. Players, moderators, maintainers, everyone. If we hear that someone is being harassed and find supporting evidence, there will be consequences.
What happens in a case of repeated harassment? If someone harasses a person and continues to do the same thing to them and/or others after being spoken to and warned by the moderator or co-moderators, they may be subject to suspension and possibly removal of their characters from the game. If there is any form of prejudice, such as against someone's beliefs, sex or gender, race, etc., there may be call for a complete ban from the game.
We, of course, would hate to see any of you go, and we don't want to have to suspend or ban anyone, so we hope that this will help you understand what may be considered harassment and how you can avoid it.
What happens in the case of a suspension or ban? Please refer to this post for more information on this!