Counter Strike Confederation

6:13 PM

Why do you want to be an Arbiter? To continue to maintain the high standard of moderation in our league, making sure everyone has a fair chance. What experience do you have, if any, that would help you in the position of Arbiter?

 As an arbiter I have helped hear many cases, while communicating both with the appellant and moderators. Prior to being elected as Arbiter I served as Admin of CSC, and familiarized myself with the inner workings of CSC. I have also been on Rules committee both when I was an admin and committee head. Being on RC gives me a unique perspective to apply said rules in arbiter cases.

If Player A is struck for being rude (Rule 10) to Player B, but claims that it was a joke, how would you rule this case and why?

 As an Arbiter I have seen cases very similar to this (obviously I won't share anything from those cases). Rule 10 comes down to a few things:

- the content of the message 
- the context of the message 
- the relationship of the individuals

First the content obviously needs to clearly apply to rule 10. If nothing disrespectful/rude/toxic was said, then it would be overturned. This also extends to the context of a message, which must be considered to determine it's nature. Finally the relationship of the individuals involved is important. Friendly banter between teammates is very different from a new member being suddenly hostile. For this it may be useful to reach out to the person who originally reported the message. 

Here are two examples of how this case could go:

A. The two individuals are teammates, and were bantering in chat. One piece of this banter is struck for rule 10. After this the person struck did not send anything else, as they genuinely were joking and did not mean to upset the other person. In this scenario I would set it reasonable to overturn the strike.

B. One individual continually pings another with an image of them doing bad in a game. These two did not know each other before,  and the person pinged is not okay with this type of harassment. In this scenario the appeal would be rejected, as even meant as a joke the behavior still clearly violated rule 10 in context.

Staff Nominator: @AVI | Fuffy 🏆

@AVI | Fuffy 🏆

+rep fuffy. We were both arbiters at the same time and i feel like he did a good job.

ty freeman, you were also a great arbiter ❤️

Plus rep Fuffy he’s always great and level headed in evaluating appeals worked alongside him

Fun fact: Arbiters have 7 days to make a decision once the appealant has made their initial claims, however time sensitive punishments like mutes and MD bans can affect a players ability to play in matches and events. With that in mind, there can be some pressure to make decisions faster than others may feel comfortable doing so. How confident are you in your abilities to analyze and address provided evidence in a timely manner while still feeling that enough due diligence was done?

As a former arbiter, I understand that there are times where the mods and admins might disagree with how the arbiters are approaching a case. If elected, do you plan on finding ways to better meet in the middle with the other parties or do you want to stick to your own opinions on cases? Are you wanting to find ways bolster the arbiter's abilities and suggest changes to the committee and/or the mods' behavior guidelines since you rule based on those guidelines?

COW | Saunce

Fun fact: Arbiters have 7 days to make a decision once the appealant has made their initial claims, however time sensitive punishments like mutes and MD bans can affect a players ability to play in matches and events. With that in mind, there can be some pressure to make decisions faster than others may feel comfortable doing so. How confident are you in your abilities to analyze and address provided evidence in a timely manner while still feeling that enough due diligence was done?

As an Arbiter I have both seen cases where an appelant was disappointed because we couldn't rule fast enough before their punishment ended, and other times where we have reduced someone's punishment before it ends. I believe that getting it right the first time is what is most important, and will often take extra time if needed to make a decision (most time is spent discussing between arbiters). That being said, I am also ready to act quickly once we decide. No technicality should hold someone from playing because of a punishment they didn't deserve. I would never want to rush other arbiters, but for most cases I personally am ready to decide quickly.

ATL | omA 🏆

As a former arbiter, I understand that there are times where the mods and admins might disagree with how the arbiters are approaching a case. If elected, do you plan on finding ways to better meet in the middle with the other parties or do you want to stick to your own opinions on cases? Are you wanting to find ways bolster the arbiter's abilities and suggest changes to the committee and/or the mods' behavior guidelines since you rule based on those guidelines?

As an arbiter there are times where behavior guidelines get confusing, so I would be happy to suggest/ask for clarifications. This being said an arbiter's job is not to make the rules. As for your question on mods/admins disagreeing with arbiter decisions, I believe that no arbiter should change their mind just because others disagree. I'm always happy to discuss with/lean on the knowledge of mods/admins, but in the end arbiters exist as a third party to review punishments given out. Because of this they should stay neutral.

AVI | Fuffy 🏆

As an arbiter there are times where behavior guidelines get confusing, so I would be happy to suggest/ask for clarifications. This being said an arbiter's job is not to make the rules. As for your question on mods/admins disagreeing with arbiter decisions, I believe that no arbiter should change their mind just because others disagree. I'm always happy to discuss with/lean on the knowledge of mods/admins, but in the end arbiters exist as a third party to review punishments given out. Because of this they should stay neutral.

In my initial question i mentioned the possibility of arbiters bolstering or changing their abilities within the server- could you share your thoughts on this?

Honestly, I think arbiters are in a good spot right now. My only concerns would be with the fact that the arbiters, created as a check to mods, are technically under the mods' control. This being said I trust the mods and admins to make the right decisions, as the two groups can work together but remain seperate. I know arbiters have taken on both mod punishment and admin punishment appeals. Right now I don't see a need for much more. That being said if the need arises I am 100% open to arbiters taking on more responsibility, but only if the community/those affected want it. Right now I can't think of where arbiters would even expand to.