This document outlines the standardized steps and subsequent responsibilities for dealing with player toxicity, and should make it easier for a wider audience to understand the League’s rules. Any clarifications one may need after reading this document should be addressed with the Head Mods/Board by submitting a ticket in the Dash League Discord Server.
Captains
Captains will be expected to take a proactive role in addressing player toxicity by:
- Assisting in resolving issues within their team.
- Retaining evidence of any corrective action or conversations had with the player in question.
- Engaging with Head Mods if disputes arise.
By becoming a captain, a captain agrees to do everything in their power to ensure their competitors follow League rules. When competitors fail to follow League rules and their captains are neglectful in their duty to correct them, these captains will be considered in violation of their captain duties.
A captain who has been found to be purposefully neglectful of their captain duties or unwilling to make corrections the Board has had to ask for over and over, this captain will be barred from being a captain, either permanently or temporarily, depending on League impact, which the Board will determine.
Decision Tree
Player Toxicity
The following are the steps we will expect people to take when reporting toxic behavior:
- Identify the Offender
- If the toxic player is not a current or former competitor, report it to the game developers or the official Hyper Dash Discord moderators.
- If the toxic player is a current or previous competitor, proceed to the next step.
- Gather Evidence
- When you suspect you may need to report an event, always consider what evidence you can gather to support your claim. Claims with no evidence may be dismissed outright.
- When gathering video evidence from within the game, make sure to capture the offending player’s Gamer ID by clicking “Report” on the player’s name from the in game server menu.
- Speak with the Team Captain(s)
- Before escalating the issue, engage with the toxic player’s team captain(s) to resolve the problem amicably.
- Before escalating the issue, engage with the toxic player’s team captain(s) to resolve the problem amicably.
- Evaluate the Outcome
- If you are satisfied with the resolution, after speaking to the captain(s), move on.
- If not, proceed to file a formal complaint.
- Filing a Complaint
- Navigate to the ticket channel in the League’s server and choose “Open A Ticket.”
- Provide comprehensive evidence, including screenshots for Discord issues or video recordings for in-game problems.
- Detail the context, timing, location, and potential triggers for the toxic behavior.
- Do not misrepresent what a player said or did, by omitting context or by any other means to spin what was said or done, in an effort to get them in trouble.
After submitting a ticket, the Head Mods will review the evidence and determine if consequences are necessary. Consequences follow a progression based on the severity of the infraction. This includes warnings, mutes, suspensions, and bans. The Head Mods will decide the appropriate action based on various factors, including history of previous behavior and severity of the behavior reported.
Resolving a Report of Toxicity
When a ticket is opened, the Head Mods will discuss with the issue with the reporting person. If the Head Mods feel the claim may be legitimate, they will approach the Captain(s) of the reported player in question. After assessing the positions of both sides of the dispute, if the Head Mods determine disciplinary action is in order, they first will inform the reported player’s captain(s) that action must be taken. The captain(s) then have two options.
- Option 1: Correcting the issue internally
- First Infraction: Captains should take a consultative approach with the reported player, explain the rules, and warn them against future incidents. Keep records of these attempts.
- Repeated Infractions: Captains should clarify with the a Head Mod where their player is in the Consequence Progression and choose to apply the appropriate penalty to their player themselves, or else allow the Head Mods, without dispute, to apply the necessary penalty.
- Captains should keep records of any internal disciplinary actions taken in order to prove they have made adequate attempts at correcting behavior internally
- Note: Captains of teams found to have recurring toxicity issues who continually dispute reports the Head Mods or Board find to be legitimate, and fail to address the toxicity within their team by refusing to make attempts or only making inadequately weak “for show” attempts to address issues will risk forfeiting their captaincy in the League. Captains found to be the source of toxicity or other rule breaking behaviors also risk the loss of their captaincy. Continuous refusal to abide by Head Mod or Board direction in matters such as these is a pathway to banishment.
- Option 2: Disputing the Issue
- When a player reports a fellow player’s behavior to that player’s captain(s), the captain(s) may choose to dispute the reported behavior should result in disciplinary action or that the reported behavior happened at all.
- The reporting player may then open a ticket to involve the Head Mods, who will factor into their decision the positions of those on both sides of the dispute when determining whether action needs to be taken.
Consequence Progression
Long periods of good behavior after advancing up the consequence progression does not reset or rollback a person’s progress. The Head Mods will determine whether someone has truly changed their behavior over time in such a way that justifies rolling back their advancement up the consequence progression to some extent.
Discord Toxicity
- 1st infraction – Player will be warned and the player’s team captain(s) informed of the warning.
- 2nd infraction – 1 day mute in DL server
- 3rd infraction – 3 day mute in DL server
- 4th infraction – 1-2 week mute in DL server
- 5th infraction – 1 month mute in DL server and the person put on final warning
- 6th infraction – Season long ban from DL server and league play at minimum. Permanent ban from DL server and league play at maximum.
Note: Depending on the severity of an infraction, suspensions may be given along with mutes.
In Game Toxicity
- 1st infraction – Player will be warned and the player’s team captain(s) informed of the warning.
- 2nd infraction – 1-2 match suspension
- 3rd infraction – 2-6 match suspension
- 4th infraction – Full season suspension. If this suspension occurs during playoffs, this suspension will include the next season as well.
- 5th infraction – Permanent ban from DL server and league play.
Toxicity Involving Racism, Homophobia/Transphobia and/or Targeted Bullying
- 1st infraction – 1-3 match suspension with server mute for the duration
- 2nd infraction – Half or full season ban with DL server mute for the duration
- 3rd infraction – Full season or permanent ban with DL server mute for the duration
- 4th infraction – If not already permanently banned on the 3rd infraction, a permanent ban from League play and the DL Discord.