Hi @thrax ,
This definitely looks like only one small part of the story, including messages taken out of context (I do have the full conversation, it’s in the file). But to address your concerns-
We did try to weigh if this was conflict avoidance in play when reviewing Kahula’s situation. The problem with that is, she had a no contact order elsewhere on her by the player, and she obfuscated who she was across two games and discord, and SOUGHT OUT rp with that player specifically.
I don’t know about you, but if I tell someone that we aren’t good company for each other, and then find out months later that they hid who they were, on multiple platforms, and intentionally befriended me across multiple games, I would consider that some major red flag behavior and not an attempt to avoid conflict. It flirts with stalking territory frankly.
I don’t really think harrassment in any form is okay. Including outside the game. But it would be unrealistic to expect staff to address harrassment outside of the scope of the game. We do however address it in the game and take all tickets regarding it very serious, and the player harrassing her, was also banned at the same time for their own hosts of reasons.
Even with what I’ve shared here , it was only a part of the picture on why we reached the decision we did. Bannings are a laborous process, we often spend days if not weeks discussing and reviewing the material we have, and weigh the decision against the good of the community as a whole.
I understand many people use this hobby as a way to escape or cope with their own mental health struggles, and/or the world at large. I have in fact built my sphere and how we approach things with mental health in mind, we often can accomadate for ADHD, Anxiety, Depression and other mental health issues by adjusting stories, engagement, and how information is shared. But it is important to remember that neither the staff nor the playerbase are trained therapists and should not be held to the expectation of fulfilling that function.
So in summary, we absolutely took into account the reasons she might have hid who she was, the idea it was conflict avoidance unfortunately didn’t hold up to scrutiny. Hope that clarity helps.
P.S. I don’t know the policy here, but many places it’s poor form to offer up someone’s discord without permission.