Ahh ok, I think we’re moving closer to an understanding then
No, not really. Without going into details or drawing precise lines, we look at context, intent and previous history before take action against a person. If we don’t agree there’s cause for action we don’t take any. And to iterate we have a warning system we use way more than the ban button. We try to be aware of major fault lines between cultures that meet in our game as best we can, but that’s never not gonna be complicated.
We have all kinds of internal guidelines, we also have a lot of very experienced staff and low turnover, and our overall goal is to guide rather than to punish…which I think is pretty important in all of this.
There’s also the fact that if you get a warning and don’t understand why, our Gamemasters are always available to discuss that with you up to a point.
Finally regarding the fact about EVE being a harsh game where people can be mean to each other historically, that’s true in a sense…but we’ve always had strict rules against the kinds of behavior listed in this blog as our EULA and ToS show. We’ve been dishing out warnings to nasty verbal assaults since I started working as a GM back in 2003. There’s plenty of game mechanics that allow you to be mean to someone without breaking the rules 