questions

They aren't supposed to affect your ability to communicate outside of public forums, right?

Hardly an expert here... but I did notice my bot also couldn't send botmails. That didn't seem right. Want to believe I also couldn't post on clan forum.

Obviously you can use other bots to get around that... but game does message you that you're in danger of having all your stuff deleted if you try to circumvent the forum ban and such (which I kinda ignored insofar as botmails and such were concerned, being confident a forum mute wasn't really trying to discourage stuff like private botmails, but happen to know Zal was less confident and didn't want to "risk it").

Haven't heard from Zal yet or anything... but immediately did think that that issue I noticed before might want some clarification, and possibly fixing, here.

So, like, if someone was banned from participating in public forums... we agree they are still allowed (or should be allowed, even if a particular bot is still going to be prevented) to send botmails and/or post in any clan forums... right? No danger of even further punishment for actions unrelated to trying to post on public forum, correct?

...just think a certain person may need assurance here and possible future persons might benefit, were they ever just temp-banned or whatever. Of course, current issues probably do help discourage anyone immediately trying to message Ender upon any sorta ban and changing the way it currently works would almost certainly be an increased hassle there - but I still think it is overall beneficial at this point to at least, hopefully, offer a bit of a clarification. Thanks.

"Is a forum mute exclusive to only the public forum?" Is essentially what you're asking right?

but I did notice my bot also couldn't send botmails

There is a 10 minute period after a bot is created that it can't use workshop settings or use forums/bmail. If you had a mute before and are referring to how it behaved with that, then I'm unsure.

That mighta been when I saw whatever auto-reply that game sends you.

But definitely know it wasn't very clear in that trying to simply send a botmail wasn't verboden and can appreciate how someone might take it as a warning against trying to communicate at all with anyone in game... as it does seem very threatening and suggests all your bots could be locked/deleted.

But, yeah...

Very simply: Being forum-muted doesn't disallow anyone from trying communicate with people outside of public forum, correct?

Like, if Zal is reading this... it's okay for him to botmail me or post in a clan forum or something, correct? Again, thank you.

Based on section 5 of the new CoC it does sound like mutes are applied across the board, including bmail etc. The old rules appear to imply the same. I do agree getting definitive clarity on that detail from Ed is a good idea though.

That's a fair question and I'm happy to give clarity. The short answer: Mutes only apply to the public forums. It doesn't restrict bmail or clan forum posting. I'll update the CoC to make this more clear.

Note: Up until a few weeks ago, mutes also blocked bmail access. I'd actually forgotten that was the case until Zal pointed this out to me. It was a remnant of a very old anti-spam measure from 2011, so I'd removed this restriction.

That said, while mutes are currently limited to only public forums, if other channels like bmail and clan forums are used to continue harassment or circumvent the spirit of the CoC, I reserve the right to revisit this policy. My primary goal is to curb toxicity, wherever it occurs.

Also, please don't ever be worried about messaging me after a moderation action asking for clarification. A good-faith question about rules sent to me privately is totally fine. I'm committed to being reasonable.

Finally, to keep this thread productive, it should remain focused on clarifying moderation details. It's not the place to debate the recent permanent mute or what the rules should be. If the thread devolves into that, I'll have to lock it.