Hi,

"april fools"

Yes, it is clear that the April Fools events this year were not well received.  It is my personal hope (and mine only; this is not the opinion of the staff team as a whole) that next year the events will be less intrusive or optional in some way. April Fools 2015 events are under discussion at the moment, with plans to take comments from this years event into consideration.

"nothing can be done to penalize people who rob/vandalize"

and

"Nothing can be done to ensure that users stick to deals previously agreed upon deals."

It's mainly because off-site stuff isn't our responsibility. Penalizing people may only cause trolling; as shown by the public 'naming and shaming' club tortimer threads. The wifi system is a fair alternative that leaves the judgement upto the players who wish to play. It is then their decision to decide whether the user is trustworthy or not. The same applies for previously agreed deals.

"If the user is able to provide a picture of their town both before and after it was stolen from or ruined, it should be pretty obvious when towns are robbed or ruined."

What if a user were to destroy/vandalize their own town & blame it on a user they don't like? Most of the evidence here will be based on heresay and conjecture. There's no concrete proof which is why ACC likes to remain impartial with the rating system.

"Sometimes it is unclear with what is considered breaking a rule and will give you a notification and what won't."

The rules, unfortunately, can not cover every case so you're left to your own judgement in deciding whether it would be acceptable or not. This is how it works on many sites. When in doubt, it is best to remove it just in case. Better to be safe than sorry.

As for hacked items, that is governed by the rule 2.12 Discussing/Exchanging Items Not Available through Normal Game play. According to the rules, you must not offer to trade,sell, or buy these items nor must you discuss how to create or obtain them. You're allowed to discuss these items as long as you don't enter into conversations about how to obtain them, or asking to buy/sell/trade them.

"Sometimes, I feel that the ACC site rules are a bit too vague as to what will result in receiving a notification and what won't, and I wish that this could be fixed."

Which rules in particular do you have problems with? Sometimes, identifying the problem can help in resolving certain issues.

" There is nothing you can do to get minor notifications waived."

Notifications only get removed when there is an error in it. Minor notifications aren't anything to worry about; they only stay on record for information purposes for the modmins (I believe). You won't be held in bad light for breaking one or two rules because everyone makes small mistakes now and then. It's unfair to punish against that which is why it doesn't happen. If it helps, you can see minor violations (L0 and L1) as a 'reminder' from the modmins rather than a serious rule infraction.

Thank you FeraligatrFTW and JDC1043! However, I still need an answer to my sixth question.

Never mind.

The level of the notifications shouldn't matter. Depending on the severity of the rules broken, you can get points added to your account. When you click on your notification it should say something like, "You currently have 1 total violation points on your record."  It means you have points on your account. You get these when you break several rules over time or few higher level rules. For example, if you break five level 3 rules, you could get a point towards your account. If you break fifteen level one notifications, you could also get a point towards your account. It just depends on how many rules you break and what the severity is. I hope I helped.
(If a staff member wants to add on, feel free!)

I was talking about if I didn't have enough level 0 or level 1 notifications to get any bans or violation points.

I still need answers to all of these questions, as none of them were answered except the first one:

Do level 1 notifications take more time than level 0 to be considered irrelevant/waived? Also, I'm pretty sure that level 0 notifications do not affect possible staff placement, do level 1? And for both, if they do, how long would it take for each to not lessen your staff chances?

Although I'm not a moderator, I can chime in on the rule discussion.

Just want to add that years matter as well - if it's been several years since the said notification, then it's less likely to be an issue. This, of course, changes depending on each individual situation, and if the notification is severe enough it might not matter how long it's been; but this definitely is taken into account.

I wouldn't worry about your notification history if they consider you for staff - from personal experience, if you're what we're looking for, your notification history won't change that much.

"1. The April Fools Features are mandatory."

This isn't entirely true. I can't recall if some items could not be disabled, like the emotes, but some Staff shared how to disable the more intrusive features after a certain point into the "events" this year. They were capable of being disabled. Just keep in mind that everything was all in good fun. Some features were annoying, yes, but it's not like the site went up in flames or anything. It was a learning experience for all of us, for sure.

"3. Nothing can be done to ensure that users stick to deals previously agreed upon deals."

This is something that the Modmins have been evaluating since New Leaf is released. To be honest, it is very difficult to find a balance and a proper way to monitor the trading board. We want to make sure things are fair and going smoothly between users, but we also don't want to overstep boundaries and dictate how each and every trade/auction/sale needs to be run either.

"6. You're continually alerted of the FCR's you have until you either accept them or decline them."

Unattended FCRs expire after 14 days, I believe. When an FCR expires, its alert should go away along with it.

"Also what is the difference between Level 0 and Level 1 Notifications in terms of severity? Do level 1 notifications take more time than level 0 to be considered irrelevant/waived? Also, I'm pretty sure that level 0 notifications do not affect possible staff placement, do level 1? And for both, if they do, how long would it take for each to not lessen your staff chances?"

Try to think of level 0 violations more like notices. Most level 0 violations can be attributed to simple or little mistakes, such as posting on the wrong board. There shouldn't be any consequences associated with level 0 violations, unless it is obvious somebody is deliberately and consistently making the same violation of that caliber. Level 1 violations are a bit more serious, and can be considered a bit more as minor warnings. Take posting minor offensive language, for example. Yeah, it could be attributed as a mistake, but that's something a bit more serious than posting on the wrong board. Rack up enough level 1 violations within a period of time, and there will be consequences of some sort.

As already stated, violations on their lose precedence over time. I can guarantee you that a specific violation you received in 2012 is not going to affect you today, unless it is some really severe violation. What has more precedence is a user's point and ban history. That is really what sticks the most. If you have a large ban history under your belt, even if it's been a year or two, and you start some bad behavior up again, you'll probably have heftier consequences, or have consequences issued to you faster, than somebody that doesn't have a type of history like that. Same kind of methodology can be applied when looking at Staff candidates/nominations. Violation history is considered when looking at Staff candidates/nominations, but that is not the only thing we look at. It also depends on what kind of Staff role we are evaluating the user for. Moderator candidates obviously are going to be checked against some stricter standards.

Can the staff see content that you have edited out and notify you for it? What I am asking is, are the staff able to see stuff that you have edited out of the post? For example, if I create a post and then edit it once, can the staff still see what the post looked like before I edited it?

"Can the staff see content that you have edited out and notify you for it? What I am asking is, are the staff able to see stuff that you have edited out of the post? For example, if I create a post and then edit it once, can the staff still see what the post looked like before I edited it?"

I've asked this question a while back, and it turns out they can't see edited posts.

"'1. The April Fools Features are mandatory.'
This isn't entirely true. I can't recall if some items could not be disabled, like the emotes, but some Staff shared how to disable the more intrusive features after a certain point into the "events" this year. They were capable of being disabled. Just keep in mind that everything was all in good fun. Some features were annoying, yes, but it's not like the site went up in flames or anything. It was a learning experience for all of us, for sure."

I saw the post that Iolite made on the homepage about disabling the features, however all it said was:
[Post available to ACC Gold Members Only]
To Join ACC Gold, please contact your local moderator Kitteh.

I understand that you guys worked hard on making those features, and thank you for that. However, it was still a bit much for me, which is why I'm still not going to use ACC from March 25th to April 8th, 2015.

Pascalfan - We understand; the staff is working on tweaking April Fool's day so it's not as intrusive next year. And *coughs* that announcement that iolite made was a joke - she intentionally posted it like that so people would keep refreshing to find the fix.

"Try to think of level 0 violations more like notices. Most level 0 violations can be attributed to simple or little mistakes, such as posting on the wrong board. There shouldn't be any consequences associated with level 0 violations, unless it is obvious somebody is deliberately and consistently making the same violation of that caliber. Level 1 violations are a bit more serious, and can be considered a bit more as minor warnings. Take posting minor offensive language, for example. Yeah, it could be attributed as a mistake, but that's something a bit more serious than posting on the wrong board. Rack up enough level 1 violations within a period of time, and there will be consequences of some sort.

As already stated, violations on their lose precedence over time. I can guarantee you that a specific violation you received in 2012 is not going to affect you today, unless it is some really severe violation. What has more precedence is a user's point and ban history. That is really what sticks the most. If you have a large ban history under your belt, even if it's been a year or two, and you start some bad behavior up again, you'll probably have heftier consequences, or have consequences issued to you faster, than somebody that doesn't have a type of history like that. Same kind of methodology can be applied when looking at Staff candidates/nominations. Violation history is considered when looking at Staff candidates/nominations, but that is not the only thing we look at. It also depends on what kind of Staff role we are evaluating the user for. Moderator candidates obviously are going to be checked against some stricter standards."

My issue isn't with getting violation points or bans, as after I have broken a rule once or twice I never break it again. However, whenever my old issue gets sorted out, I always end up getting a new Level 0 or Level 1 notification for a different reason that I have never gotten before. So I guess I'm doomed to be stuck with tons of notifications forever, though I'll never have broken the same rule enough times to get any violation points or bans.

"Can the staff see content that you have edited out and notify you for it? What I am asking is, are the staff able to see stuff that you have edited out of the post? For example, if I create a post and then edit it once, can the staff still see what the post looked like before I edited it?"

Only Modmins can see the original content of a post before it is edited, under certain circumstances, and can issue violations for that content. Whether a violation is issued depends on the situation and the discretion of the Mod though. Non-Modmin Staff do not have this capability.

Now I'm trying to decide if I should keep using the site or go on a break for 2 years so that when I come back, all of my notifications will be irrelevant and then I can start fresh. What should I do?

Only you can decide that. The only person making these points a big deal is you. I'm sorry, but I don't really see how minor notifications are stopping you from using the site.

Might I also add that being making improvements on your own behavior and interactions with other community members, all while being an active member within the community, shows a lot better on yourself, compared to just vanishing and coming back after some time period. Making improvements like that shows strongly on ones character, and shows to us that the person is capable of growth and has a sense of maturity about them.

I'm saying this as, judging by some of your posts here, you seem to have at least some interest in being Staff on the site. All I can say is just be yourself, have an active presence in the community, and have competency with the Site Rules and Policies. Even if you have slip-ups, learn from those mistakes and keep moving forward. Like I just said, making improvements and showing growth isn't a bad thing.

Anyways, we're starting to derail the topic here a bit. Feel free to keep the opinions and queries about the rules coming. Otherwise, please direct other questions and concerns to the appropriate outlets, whether it be the Site Support board, Site Suggestions board, or PT with a Staff member. Thanks.

Never mind.

There is a time when Staff can see what you posted even after you have edited and that is when someone sent in a ticket before you edited the post. The original post will be in the ticket.

If someone is always getting violations and they say they didn't realize it was a rule, I always like to remind them the rules are always available to read. If you think you may be breaking a rule don't post until you have checked with a Staff member. Don't just post anyway and then wonder why you got a violation.

Is it still possible to become a member of staff with an actual point against your account? (One point) Doesn't it lose importance over time?

Points lose importance over time. That's a fact. They never disappear. Depending on the time frame between getting the point and becoming staff, plus depending on the violation, it may be very possible for a person with point/s to become staff.

That's good to know. Thank you!

-

Please, you have been asked more than once not to discuss your account status and/or points and violations on a public board but you are here posting it again. Also, a PT between you and a Mod is not a topic for discussion on a public board. Please edit your post as you are again breaking the rule so I don't have to give you a violation.

If you want to discuss a rule in general, that is one thing but you may not give any details about your account on a public board. We take confidentiality very seriously here and your account really isn't anyone else's business.

Okay, then which staff member should I PT about what I posted?

You can PT a Mod or discuss it on the ticket itself.