I have already attempted an appeal, this is not an appeal, I accepted the punishment. This is merely asking for headmins and policy makers to consider the following:
TL:DR - It is a mistake to allow people with power to take part in (or frankly even look at outside of the most problematic instances) polcon. People often cannot handle the difficulty of remaining unbiased and professional in the face of their own beliefs. It is not a failing of the moderators, it's just what happens, but to avoid people being put down over silly disagreements, losing long time players over nonsensical pixel-people discussions over the internet, then measures should be put in place to avoid this.
Now for the long 'My reasoning' version in ad nauseum.
This particular complaint is about Discord moderation for TG. I have never really had an issue with in-game administration besides occasional culture clashes between MRP and LRP admins. I want to first express that I absolutely love the TG community, and am sad to see it shrink over time. While what I am formally complaining about here today is likely a tiny part of that problem, I still believe it is a problem that should be looked at with unbiased heads.
I was banned from the discord twice now, which is not a secret, the reasons for the first ban I disagreed with, the second ban is a result of the first ban. The reasoning for that first ban is explicitly due to the nature of Polcon and moderators that participate in it. I understand that MSO is the primary reason why Polcon exists, but I have no issue with people debating. I have never personally had any issue with people disagreeing with me, or having even extreme views. The internet is a fascinating visage into the expanse of the human mind and all of the failures of logic that go into it. I believe it important for people to be confronted with opposing views that challenge, even if those opposing views are nonsensical, it is still an exercise in strengthening your own stance. Weak foundations break under scrutiny, and one must always reinforce their own basis.
So that argument is entirely for Polcon, however what I disagree with is people who hold power debating in this channel. In my experience on the internet, it is extraordinarily rare to find people who can separate their own biases from their duties. It is difficult, very much so, and I do not necessarily blame people who use that power to put down those they disagree with, for that is simply the human condition.
I have, from the time I have been on the TG discord, witnessed a great deal of 'baiting' into disastrous arguments that ultimately end with people being dejected, insulted, or banned. I myself was pushed into an uncomfortable situation when I recalled historical happenings with regard to modern happenings, as a method of drawing some form of connection that provides cause/effect understanding. With regards to the current conflict in the middle east, I drew upon past human tendencies for genocide (thousands of years ago) and the effects of what happens as a result. A discord moderator then pushed me into an uncomfortable situation in an attempt to force me to generate an moral stance on something which had happened millennia prior. I do not like viewing history through a modern moral lens, I have over the years established a very cold unbiased approach to what has happened in the past, in the sense that I cannot change it, and that my opinion may have been different had I lived in that era. I do not have enough tears to shed for every atrocity that has happened in our collective existence.
So as a result of this moderator taking a personal biased stance against me, and pushing me into a direction I did not want to go, I was entrapped in a lose-lose scenario where no matter what I was being painted as something evil, as if I condoned said atrocities, when all I was doing was making unopinionated connections. This was a firsthand experience of the notorious ban baiting that occurs in Polcon. Most TG veterans who frequent that discord will tell you to never go to polcon, I naively didn't know this.
So immediately you have an issue where people with power have personal stakes within highly controversial discussions that cause anger. We are all human, and anger gets to the best of us. I try to be unbiased but even I get frustrated and lash out. Though I would never engage any form of authority to destroy someone, as my stances should be capable of standing without the need of action behind them. I am not accusing the discord moderation team of incompetence, but simply being human. As said, it is immensely difficult not to want to use your power to smite those who you despise or disagree with, and in all of my time on the internet I have only seen a handful of people who can.
In the SS13 community I have witnessed this very often, on multiple servers. Goon, for example, has its own political channel on discord which has led to disastrous consequences as they do not even have a discord-game separation clause. It is no secret of mine that I was banned from Goon's discord and the game forever, simply because I suggested that the admins went too far with someone over their stupid beliefs, to the extent of pure vicious and malicious hatred. I received the same treatment as he did, lumped into the same 'dangerous opinion bucket' as he, all due to my polite suggestion that they were abusing power.
This is the danger that I see as a possibility in the TG community, as the way I was treated in my initial ban rhymed with the way that one goon admin was treating people there. Though not quite as severe or overt.
I can feel TG's community shrinking just by the discord activity, and I always seem to wonder where people go as I miss them. I wondered where Moocow went, and he recently confided in me about his ban-bait and treatment in polcon, and in his own words should you not believe me (He gave me permission to post them here):
In finality - It is apparent to me that Polcon is a cesspit, and an echo chamber. I do not feel moderators should be taking part or promoting this. It's dangerous to the community, as you have already seen people leaving, when their beliefs no matter how foolish are attacked by people with authority. I mean no insult to any parties involved, I have calmed down since the appeal and accepted it, so this is not out of anger, but concern.
I am unsure of how discord moderators are picked, but it does not feel to be nearly as transparent as the headmin elections, or even the trialmin case. It always feels like I see the same moderators, and I hope it is not something that is entrenched, for the elections and down to earth nature of the normal admins are why I feel comfortable with them in the game.
