Board Thread:Wiki Discussion/@comment-5172448-20180512204912

I am calling a discussion and vote on Sporewiki Rule 8, i.e. "SporeWiki ban = Discord ban", which stipulates "If you are banned on the wiki, you are banned on the Discord and vice-versa. Use alternative means to appeal your ban."

To my understanding, this rule was based on the assumption that there would be a central Sporewiki server which the entire community would use and the admin team would mediate. However, with the emergence of the hub and spoke model which the administrative team has created, I would argue this ruling to be obsolete. My rationale is as follows:

1 - It is entirely possible for people who would otherwise have argued harshly/flamed on the previous server to otherwise not interact with one another. We can argue that fragmentary and dividing as it sounds, the wiki can be broken down into cliques wherein the various members of each, if restricted to interacting amongst themselves, would not get into said ban-inducing arguments. I'd argue that as time goes on, the various satellite Discords will approach a state wherein severe arguments decline as people find others with like minds. This is not necessarily good or bad, but is merely a consequence of the new hub and spoke model in which people are free to interact with a variety of (sometimes) disjoint communities.

TL;DR It is entirely possible for someone to avoid ban-worthy arguments (which are arguably a function of both the server environment and the person) by avoiding a server.

2 - Given the current state of the Wiki-system, the function of the Discord is to serve as a coordination, communication and chatting medium for various groups. While technically the Wiki does serve these functions as well, it is also used for content management/hosting (Discord does not serve this function).

TL;DR There are critical things you can do on wiki that you can't on Discord.

3 - Given 1 and 2, it is currently possible for someone to get banned from the Wiki itself (and thus losing all content management/hosting capability) due to getting on an argument on a server that sooner or later, that someone could have left. The very fact that said ban could be indefinite exacerbates the severity of this problem. Of course this flies in the face of the obvious solution wherein said user can disengage from said server and find a place wherein he fits in more.

TL;DR If you are banned from a certain Discord, conflict with said Discord will not reoccur. It seems extreme that a large disagreement with a certain group should preclude one from being able to use the wiki. Especially if one's wiki involvement is completely incapable of provoking conflict. (If it does however, the normal rules of wiki-ban should apply)

I argue for a system wherein a user who gets involved on ban-inducing arguments on the hub-server but after, relegates himself/herself to a spoke should still be able to use the content management/hosting function of the wiki (even if he/she no longer goes to the hub-server. Said person should not be deprived of the wiki's functionality due to a disagreement with a certain party (which won't re-occur if Discord servers change).

TL;DR a Discord Ban shouldn't necessitate a Sporewiki Ban. 