Moderation & Rule Enforcement Standard

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Moderation & Rule Enforcement Standard
Organization-Wide Moderation Framework
Public GGU moderation documentation — subject to revision as rules and server procedures change.

Public Enforcement Standard:
GGU publishes its moderation framework so players can understand how enforcement is expected to work. Specific evidence, private reports, personnel notes, and security-sensitive records may remain restricted.

This standard defines organization-wide moderation principles used across GGU game servers, the Forums, Discord, TeamSpeak, and other community platforms. Game-specific procedures define the exact rule-to-punishment mappings unique to each game or server.

 

Purpose

• Create consistent moderation expectations across GGU.
• Define who may take which types of action.
• Standardize evidence and documentation.
• Provide a predictable review and escalation path.
• Allow reasonable discretion without making enforcement arbitrary.

 

Leadership & Review Structure

Current GGU ranks and role holders are maintained at https://gguclan.com/ranks-and-roster/.

• Moderator — routine enforcement and temporary action within the applicable procedure.
• Staff — review Moderator actions, process bans, handle escalated moderation, and provide coaching.
• Manager — oversees the Game Team, serious disputes, exceptions, abuse reports, and final team-level decisions.
• Senior Manager — reviews unresolved Manager-level escalations and broader cross-team concerns.
• Operations Leader — handles organization-wide operational escalations and oversight of Senior Managers.
• Community Leader / Owner — reserved for major organization-wide disputes, serious leadership allegations, policy matters, or issues beyond delegated authority.

 

Core Enforcement Principles

• Stop the violation.
• Protect players, services, and the community.
• Use the least severe action that reasonably addresses the situation.
• Apply similar rules consistently while still considering context.
• Preserve evidence for review.
• Escalate when authority, evidence, or impartiality is insufficient.
• Keep enforcement professional and avoid public arguments.

 

Definitions

• Warning — formal or informal notice that behavior violates a rule.
• Mute / Gag / Silence — communication restriction according to platform capability.
• Kick — immediate removal from a server without an ongoing ban.
• Temporary Ban — time-limited removal pending expiration or review.
• Permanent Ban — indefinite removal subject to the applicable review or appeal process.
• Evasion — attempting to avoid an active punishment using alternate accounts, identities, connections, or methods.
• Evidence — screenshots, video/demos, logs, IDs, platform records, or other reliable records showing relevant conduct.

 

Evidence Standard

• Capture enough context to understand what happened.
• Use evidence appropriate to the rule and platform.
• Preserve player/account identifiers where needed.
• Do not fabricate, selectively edit, or misleadingly crop evidence.
• Keep sensitive evidence private when public sharing would expose personal or security-sensitive information.
• More evidence is not automatically better; collect what is reasonably necessary.

 

Moderator Temporary Ban Workflow

Unless a current Game Team procedure explicitly states otherwise, Moderator-issued bans should be temporary and reviewed by Staff or higher Leadership.

1. Confirm the player identity.
2. Confirm the applicable rule.
3. Collect the required evidence.
4. Issue the temporary ban according to current Game Team procedure.
5. Notify Staff or use the designated ban-review workflow.
6. Staff reviews identity, evidence, rule, history where applicable, and final duration.

 

Discretion

Enforcement procedures are intended to create consistency, not eliminate judgment. A reasonable deviation may be appropriate when severity, intent, scale, technical limitations, history, or immediate risk materially changes the situation.

Discretion Standard:
A meaningful deviation from the normal progression should be explainable, proportionate, and reviewable. Discretion is not permission to ignore procedure because a Moderator dislikes or favors someone.

 

Emergency Enforcement

Immediate temporary action outside the normal progression may be used to stop active cheating, exploitation, malicious links, severe harassment, doxxing, DDoS threats, security risk, ban evasion, or large-scale disruption.

 

Repeat Offenses

Game-specific procedures should state when repeated violations increase punishment. Prior history should only affect the decision when the applicable procedure allows it.

 

Punishment Evasion

Attempts to evade an active punishment may justify additional enforcement. Preserve evidence linking the identities where practical.

 

Cross-Game-Team Authority

Authority in one Game Team does not automatically grant authority in another. Urgent concerns should be reported to the affected Game Team or higher GGU Leadership.

 

Conflicts of Interest

Moderators and Leaders should not control the review of their own disputed conduct when an independent reviewer is available. Personal disputes, close relationships, or direct involvement may require recusal.

 

Appeals & Corrections

• Appeals should be reviewed by someone with appropriate authority.
• The original Moderator may provide evidence and context.
• Do not argue publicly over appeals.
• Correct demonstrably wrong actions without treating correction as a personal attack.
• A reasonable mistake is not automatically misconduct; repeated disregard, dishonesty, or abuse is more serious.

 

Documentation

Moderation records should allow another authorized reviewer to determine who acted, what rule applied, what evidence existed, and what action was taken.

 

Prohibited Moderator Conduct

• Using moderation powers for personal disputes.
• Targeting disliked players or protecting friends.
• Falsifying evidence.
• Publicly arguing with players after an action.
• Mass punishment where individual enforcement is practical.
• Using administrative commands for harassment or disruption.
• Concealing mistakes or deleting evidence to avoid review.

 

Consistent process first; game-specific penalties second.