I've seen increasing signs of bureaucratic grandstanding and abuse in Lichess, but I always assumed that they were flukes. I am talking about forum posts deleted and people posting them added to secret lists that change how the site sees them. And it's inevitable that some people, mistaking moderator responsibility with personal power, are going to abuse the system from time to time.
But lately this has become the norm, it seems to me. Please make it stop!
If you are going to take unilateral action about some person or behavior, be transparent about it. Warn them first, record and publish it somewhere so people can see what happened and why. It makes little sense to punish behaviors (some that were previously allowed) with no explanation, visibility or accountability.
This is how today a friend tried to challenge me to a match and I didn't see anything. I tried to challenge him and he didn't see anything. Not a warning, not a "this happened because", just silence. And this is not related to something public, but a simple chess game between friends. This is not the only case, but I found it particularly disturbing because it was all hidden. In the darkness anything can happen.
So consider this a plea to bring all of these actions to light. If they are justified, then this will help everybody: people will easily find out why they were targeted and others will see what they should avoid in the future. If they are not justified, then we will be able to avoid the rot that has consumed other gaming forums and servers by exposing power hungry psychos hiding amongst chess enthusiasts.
Thank you!
But lately this has become the norm, it seems to me. Please make it stop!
If you are going to take unilateral action about some person or behavior, be transparent about it. Warn them first, record and publish it somewhere so people can see what happened and why. It makes little sense to punish behaviors (some that were previously allowed) with no explanation, visibility or accountability.
This is how today a friend tried to challenge me to a match and I didn't see anything. I tried to challenge him and he didn't see anything. Not a warning, not a "this happened because", just silence. And this is not related to something public, but a simple chess game between friends. This is not the only case, but I found it particularly disturbing because it was all hidden. In the darkness anything can happen.
So consider this a plea to bring all of these actions to light. If they are justified, then this will help everybody: people will easily find out why they were targeted and others will see what they should avoid in the future. If they are not justified, then we will be able to avoid the rot that has consumed other gaming forums and servers by exposing power hungry psychos hiding amongst chess enthusiasts.
Thank you!