Regarding my server actions on September 1 - Prime Randomizer Discord

The events of the past few weeks leading up to and following Sunday's ban left me with questions and concerns over the state of things being done in the server; by far the most important of these was whether enough was being done to ensure the safety of community members from harassment, bigotry, xenophobia, and other antagonistic behavior.

During this time, I reached out to prominent members and leaders of other notable video game communities. One piece of advice I received sticks out among the rest - regardless of whether the server owner/leadership/admins are expected to have a prominent or diminished role in a given community, that is where fingers will be pointing to if there is any negligence or inaction, perceived or actual, over whether enough is being done to protect the community at large.

Lane's ban brought with it discourse that turned unproductive. The fact that this happens commonly enough during tournaments is frustrating enough, but this situation was far more serious with the allegations brought forward to the moderation team, investigated, and acted upon.

With the way things unfolded this week, I felt that intervention was necessary. I agree that my actions were extreme, drastic, even rash. In hindsight, I would have approached Wednesday's actions differently - not discussing this with Darkszero for instance was a mistake, and there is more regarding my actions with the mod team roles that are elaborated on below.

That being said, I stand by that intervention from the owner/admins, and taking measures to protect the community (as opposed to doing nothing) was the right thing to do here.

# Bans

The following users were banned on September 1:

Im_Zlow
.Sphynx
Kalibur
Venmi (this was reversed shortly afterwards)

## Im_Zlow

During community-run events that Zlow has participated in, his conduct has resulted in day-plus long arguments where otherwise productive discourse completely breaks down into ad hominems and refusal to listen or consider other perspectives. He has engaged in personal attacks both on an off the server against other community members on several occasions over the past year.

## .Sphynx001

During this year's Echoes tournament, Sphynx used ableist language and doubled down when they were told by a moderator to stay civil with her part in the discourse.

## Kalibur

Last weekend, Kalibur leaked a screenshot of a conversation between her and myself that occurred in the private staff chat. There is no explicit rule against doing this, but this established a violation of trust between her and the moderation team.

## Venmi

This ban had no concrete basis and was a reckless move on my part. It should not have happened to begin with. My apologies.

# Moderation Team

When deciding to take last night's actions, not only did I feel that it was necessary to ban the above members, but that it was necessary for them to not be up for immediate reconsideration/revocation. The most effective way to enforce this was for me to remove the role from all current moderation staff. This was by no means a fair or just action; this breaks any trust the existing team would have otherwise had in me, and leaves the team's current work unresolved.

A less extreme (while still drastic) method would have been to temporarily revoke the ban/unban permission from the moderator role, and in hindsight I would have done that instead. Removing the moderators like that makes it impossible to ignore that the action brings the optics of me having no confidence in the team. The way I handled this was ultimately reckless and avoidable, and I sincerely apologize for not taking a better option here.

After discussing this with Darkszero, the existing moderation team will be restored.

# Moving Forward

Administrators need to have a more engaged role in the leadership of this server. That being said, a way to establish checks between both admins and mods, and a method to facilitate clear communication between these teams, is also necessary. I will be speaking more with Darkszero and the moderation team as how to best accomplish this. The current server rules and related processes will also be discussed between the two teams, with the intention of providing clarity in roles, processes, expectations, and community standards.