While we attempt to keep Wintreath as informal and lenient as possible and of course I encourage discussion and debate, recent events have led me to conclude that we need a guide for how to deal with cat-fighting, arguing, and the drama that goes along with it. While we're also working on more long-term solutions for this problem, following this guide will both make it easier on us and allow your dispute to be resolved with minimal hassle and drama.
Remember, your interactions and disputes with others are your responsibility. Administrators are only here to keep the peace and maintain a sexy channel for us all to enjoy.
1) Take the issue out of the pubilc area.If an argument breaks out in a public Wintreath area such as the forums or Discord, take it elsewhere or attempt to resolve it with the other person in private. You may be surprised at how much easier it is to resolve disputes without a captive audience hanging on every word said to each other. Even if you can't resolve the initial dispute with the other people involved, at least attempt to come to an agreement to either ignore or act in a civil manner toward each other in public areas. Ultimately, you are responsible for your own conduct, so doing so will not only save the admins time and drama of having to deal with the matter themselves, it may save you and the other parties from their resulting wrath.
2) Seek third-party mediation.If you are unable to come to a resolution with each other, it may be helpful to seek out someone else to help you resolve your dispute, preferably in private. You may ask for help from an administrator or from anyone else that's around and willing to help. While waiting for mediation, do not continue the argument or bring it back up again. This will not only create harsher feelings and make it more difficult for a mediator to help resolve your dispute, you risk earning wrath from the admins who will have to deal with the resulting flare-up. Attempt to either ignore or act civilly toward the other parties in the channel while you wait for mediation.
3) Ignore the offending user.If all else fails, ignore the person that is causing problems, either by simply not responding or adding them to your ignore list if the area you are in has that feature. If you feel that someone is crossing the line, harassing you, or making you feel uncomfortable, and they continue after you have stopped interacting with them, report it to an admin for that area and they will handle the matter. Don't take it into your own hands. It will only make the situation worse.
In the same vain, do not attempt to moderate the matter yourself or tell someone that they need to do something in regards to the dispute, even if it's repeating what an admin has already said. This can easily be seen as baiting someone who is already upset, and it is not productive. Please let the admins handle this, since it's their job.
4) Cooperate with the admins.If a dispute has got out of hand and admins have had to step in, cooperate with them and follow their directions. They will be trying to end the altercation and it's not helpful to argue with them or challenge them...either is an easy way to earn a warning and time out (read: temp-ban).
I hope this will help keep our community the lovely, sexy, accepting, and open place that makes it so wonderful! Thank you for your help in keeping our community beautiful.
