Sanctions and appeals

Southland publishes its rules, gives the subject a reason for a formal sanction, and provides private human review. It does not adjudicate individual cases in public or publish a sanction log.

Following a staff instruction during a live scene does not waive your right to appeal. Use the review route afterward rather than prolonging the disruption.

What counts as a formal sanction

Formal sanctions include:

  • a warning;
  • a moderation mute or admin jail;
  • a kick used as a moderation consequence;
  • a temporary or permanent game ban;
  • a Discord or forum timeout, channel restriction, removal, or ban;
  • removal for an age or safeguarding finding; and
  • conduct-based removal of community access.

A technical disconnect, anti-cheat correction or session containment, scene pause, staff spectate, evidence preservation, or ordinary IC consequence is not a formal sanction by itself. If staff impose a moderation consequence after reviewing the incident, that consequence receives its own sanction reference.

Character-kill decisions, faction discipline, criminal charges, fines, licences, and corrections sentences use their own IC or policy review routes. A separate staff sanction arising from the same conduct remains appealable here.

The notice you receive

A formal sanction identifies:

  • the policy version and rule applied;
  • a factual reason;
  • the restriction and duration, if any;
  • a stable reference beginning SAN-;
  • the private Discord and forum appeal routes; and
  • where it can be delivered safely, a private one-time forum verification code.

The reason must be specific enough to understand the finding. Staff may withhold reporter identities, private logs, safeguarding material, anti-cheat thresholds, or details that would expose another person. Withholding private evidence does not remove the duty to identify the rule and explain the finding.

The sanction reference is not secret. The forum code is secret: do not post it in a public thread, send it to another player, or give it to someone claiming to be staff outside the official route.

If a disconnect or closed direct messages prevented delivery, use the main Discord route when available. Otherwise open a private appeal-forum thread and ask for identity recovery. Staff will not ask for a password, login code, exact client serial, payment information, or identity document. Recovery for a serious sanction requires two distinct current Management approvals before a new forum code is issued.

Case summaries and factual correction

A staff investigation that results in a warning, sanction, gameplay restriction, instruction, or recovery also provides each affected subject a private summary under a CASE- reference. The summary explains the finding and outcome without exposing internal notes, reporters, witnesses, private messages, detection thresholds, or other subjects. It is available only through the linked account’s private Discord interaction; an in-game notice shows the reference and route, not the case content.

You may submit one factual-correction request for your summary within 30 days of its first availability through private Discord /case-correct. Identify a concrete factual error and the correction you want. A different Management reviewer from the case lead and summary author reviews it. Accepted corrections append a new summary version; the original is retained rather than silently rewritten. Use /case-summary to retrieve your current private summary.

This correction route does not pause a sanction, consume the sanction’s one ordinary appeal, or replace the no-deadline appeal process. Use the CASE- correction for an error in the case summary and the SAN- appeal when you want a formal sanction reviewed.

Do not contest sanctions in public

Do not derail an active scene, public chat, Discord channel, forum section, or another player’s messages to argue a sanction. Do not contact the reporter, pressure a witness, campaign for a result, or repeatedly approach staff members. Follow immediate containment instructions, preserve your own evidence, and use the private route.

An honest appeal is protected even when it is unsuccessful. Disagreement, criticism, or asking for review is not misconduct. Threats, doxxing, fabricated evidence, witness pressure, or harassment remain separate conduct and may lead to a separate sanction with its own notice and appeal.

Appeal through Discord

If you can use the main Southland Discord, submit the private appeal command with the exact SAN- reference. Vouched status is not required for a linked member to appeal their own sanction.

The bot shows only your sanction and asks:

  • what finding or outcome you dispute;
  • what correction you want; and
  • what evidence or context reviewers should consider.

Do not repost unrelated personal information or material you do not have the right to share. Refer to evidence already submitted privately when possible. The bot returns an APL- appeal reference after the case is recorded.

Appeal through the private forum

Use the moderated private appeal forum when you cannot access the main Discord. Create one thread using the published template. Include the sanction reference, one-time verification code, claimed account/Discord identity, appeal basis, requested outcome, and relevant evidence.

Your private thread is visible only to your forum account and authorized appeal staff. A forum account is not proof of game-account ownership. Staff validate and consume the one-time code before linking the thread to the sanction. An invalid code or identity claim receives no sanction details.

Community removal does not make the private appeal forum public and does not normally remove access to it. Abuse inside an appeal thread may lead to bounded posting restrictions, but staff preserve a private route for the case.

No filing deadline

A formal sanction may be appealed whether it is active, expired, or old. There is no filing deadline.

Each sanction receives one ordinary appeal. Withdrawing or receiving a decision uses that appeal. Management may reopen it later only for material new evidence that was not available during review or a proven authority, process, or data error. Repeating the same argument, staff shopping, or disagreeing with the result is not new evidence.

Submitting an appeal does not pause the sanction. The existing effect remains until a checked decision modifies or overturns it.

Independent human review

The staff member who issued the sanction cannot decide its appeal. A reviewer with personal involvement or another conflict must recuse.

One eligible Management reviewer decides an ordinary appeal. Two distinct eligible Management reviewers must agree for:

  • a permanent game ban;
  • a game ban of 30 days or more;
  • removal or ban from the main Discord;
  • an age or safeguarding removal; or
  • another indefinite community removal.

A split serious-case decision goes to another eligible reviewer. Staff aim to acknowledge an appeal within 72 hours and decide it within 14 days. These are service targets, not automatic outcomes; delay does not silently uphold or overturn a sanction.

Reviewers consider the rule in force when the sanction was issued, the factual basis, reliable evidence, your submission, proportionality, consistency, staff authority, and material process failures. A later policy change does not erase the old policy, but reviewers may apply a more lenient outcome where justified.

Possible outcomes

An appeal may be:

  • upheld: the finding and effective sanction remain;
  • modified: the sanction is shortened, narrowed, reduced, or ended; or
  • overturned: the finding is not sustained and its active effect is removed.

An appeal cannot make the sanction harsher. Separate misconduct discovered during review requires a new sanction and new appeal reference.

The outcome explains the policy basis, factual finding, and effective change. Removing a restriction may depend on Discord or forum reconciliation. Staff do not report restoration complete until the exact platform change is confirmed. A newer unrelated restriction remains in force.

An overturned warning, kick, or expired sanction stays in immutable history but is labelled overturned and is not treated as a current finding. Southland does not delete the original record or pretend the action never happened.

Privacy and retention

Appeals are private. Appellants do not receive reporter identities, private evidence they are not entitled to see, staff discussion, reviewer identities, or enforcement thresholds. Reporters do not receive the appellant’s submission or individualized punishment details.

Sanction records, appeal decisions, private Discord/forum discussions, attachments, and evidence are retained indefinitely under the selected V1 policy. Retention does not authorize public disclosure, unrelated staff browsing, personal copies, training use, or publication. Access is limited to staff who need it for moderation, review, safeguarding, security, or an approved reopening, and case access is audited.

Do not copy or disclose private case material obtained through an appeal. If you believe case access has been misused, report that through the private safety route and identify the APL- reference.

The roleplay charter and community-safety policy define the conduct standards. The character-death policy owns CK review and archival. Public support guidance explains how to report an active incident. This policy owns review of formal staff sanctions, not ordinary IC adjudication.