Nexus
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Good evening Stratics users,
We've been continually working to try and make Stratics a friendly place for our users. However there are certain individuals who continually find themselves incapable of following our RoC to the detriment of the rest of the community. These users typically find themselves at some point banned from Stratics and unfortunately technology today has created a digital arms race as individuals look for means to circumvent their bans. Additionally SPAM bots are being created that are ever more proficient in bypassing registration restrictions. One of the major tools in their arsenal are VPNs (Virtual Private Networks) such as HideMyIP, Anonymizing browsers such as TOR as well as various proxy networks.
These services allow individuals to hide behind a different IP than the one assigned by their ISP, often one that changes regularly to avoid or make being blocked ineffective and/or to appear as someone different than who they actually are. While we respect the desire for privacy, a few bad apples have regretfully led us to make a decision which we have continually put off for the past year.
If we are incapable of enforcing suspensions and bans they become impotent; the risk of receiving one has no ability to influence user behavior towards the desired state of civility. It has reached a point where we've actually had community members who received short term or permanent suspensions taunting us claiming, "I'll just get around it and evade". This creates a difficult position for us and an undesirable community atmosphere when staff or community members strongly suspect a given account of being a ban evader, but we are unable to verify.
Today we installed a plugin to Xenforo that will automatically and regularly update a "block" list of known common anonymizing networks, browsers, and other suspect VPNs preventing users of them from accessing Stratics. Our intent is not to exclude individuals wishing to be productive members of the community, but to prevent those who consistently and shockingly often seem to find enjoyment in causing arguments, belittling other community members, and disrupting others from being able to easily circumvent or dismiss any of the rules and safeguards we have in place for the welfare of the entire community.
We will be monitoring and evaluating this strategy, and appreciate your understanding and cooperation as we continue to work towards and uphold the high community standards for which we strive. We will also as always explore to improve the Stratics experience.
We've been continually working to try and make Stratics a friendly place for our users. However there are certain individuals who continually find themselves incapable of following our RoC to the detriment of the rest of the community. These users typically find themselves at some point banned from Stratics and unfortunately technology today has created a digital arms race as individuals look for means to circumvent their bans. Additionally SPAM bots are being created that are ever more proficient in bypassing registration restrictions. One of the major tools in their arsenal are VPNs (Virtual Private Networks) such as HideMyIP, Anonymizing browsers such as TOR as well as various proxy networks.
These services allow individuals to hide behind a different IP than the one assigned by their ISP, often one that changes regularly to avoid or make being blocked ineffective and/or to appear as someone different than who they actually are. While we respect the desire for privacy, a few bad apples have regretfully led us to make a decision which we have continually put off for the past year.
If we are incapable of enforcing suspensions and bans they become impotent; the risk of receiving one has no ability to influence user behavior towards the desired state of civility. It has reached a point where we've actually had community members who received short term or permanent suspensions taunting us claiming, "I'll just get around it and evade". This creates a difficult position for us and an undesirable community atmosphere when staff or community members strongly suspect a given account of being a ban evader, but we are unable to verify.
Today we installed a plugin to Xenforo that will automatically and regularly update a "block" list of known common anonymizing networks, browsers, and other suspect VPNs preventing users of them from accessing Stratics. Our intent is not to exclude individuals wishing to be productive members of the community, but to prevent those who consistently and shockingly often seem to find enjoyment in causing arguments, belittling other community members, and disrupting others from being able to easily circumvent or dismiss any of the rules and safeguards we have in place for the welfare of the entire community.
We will be monitoring and evaluating this strategy, and appreciate your understanding and cooperation as we continue to work towards and uphold the high community standards for which we strive. We will also as always explore to improve the Stratics experience.