Does every ban require an explanation?

[Rem 8]

I don't think explaining a ban is ever necessary. It's the staff team's job to ensure a ban is warranted, and if it is, someone seriously questioning it would imply to me that they don't trust the judgment of my team.
I don't explain bans, but if someone is still active I will tell them directly they're about to be banned and then carry it out. I've also post-leave banned people. Zero guilt. Never feel bad about protecting your community, and you don't owe explanations to anyone.

[August. 1]

No, I don't think so. Typically, if someone has behavior bad enough to be banned, I feel like they know it and shouldn't be surprised. If they have questions, they are welcome to ask. 

[Hades101 10]

Short answer: Nope. 

 

There are times where the user may be courteously provided that explanation, but these are rarer circumstances in my experience as an admin. Most times a ban comes from truly intense situations that need an immediate response without explanation. Even still, at times I did bother to explain, I found myself feeling as though I needed to defend the protection of a community. 

[Hitokuchi Roleplay 3]

To be honest, I think every warning should come with an explanation. It's your duty as an admin to educate your members and by doing so you're teaching them to be better members for other sites they end up on. We admins gotta stick together and think of the bigger picture!

[Kitsufox 6]

In the case you've described I wouldn't contact the player in question. They have chosen to part ways with the game, and the staff has chosen not to accept them back under that identity. The situation is closed on both ends and needs not proceed unless the player tries to come back and reaches out to you for some reason. At that point you'll have to address it with them, and even then they may make a puppet account and try to come back in secret.

[multiplicity! 11]

No. Absolutely not. No explanation needs to be given for any reason as it is your game. You do what you need to to keep the community healthy and happy. If that means banning someone, you don't owe anyone anything or an explanation. At the end of the day, do what's best for you and your game; don't worry about the feelings of someone who didn't care about anyone else's.

[Camy 4]

The only time I explain a ban to someone is if they will react with maturity.  A lot of people sadly do not show this, especially when they treat people like shit usually or just treat a public area with a venting channel (now deleted) their entire vent room. 

 

I've had someone do this recently in a video game server.  It was to contain it in our Discord and they kept going outside of it with guilt trips of no one joining their vcs to sing, being rude to people who tried to comfort them, and more.   These types of people I do not contact on why they were banned.  One of my fellow mods messaged them after on why and it made them more upset which I foresaw thanks to experience in dealing with people like this in the past.  Wish I didn't.  This person was an adult, mind you.  The mod said it was the right thing to do [to msg them on way] but it made it worse due to their mental health.  They have this idea that I was the villain and my friend/mod was the messenger when I fact I didn't want to msg them on why. They wished bad things to happen to my moderator which was shocking to see, as were others on the team when they saw the screenshots.

 

No one is professionally trained to deal with certain people and it shouldn't be required to explain why they were banned.  Especially when the rules are clear.  They are responsible for reading those.  The same person said we broke our own rules when I had implemented a rule before they even joined that in severe cases, there would be no three strikes or warnings before being banned immediately.  This was one of those cases.

 

Edited November 26, 2023 by Camy

[Cheeco 7]

No, I do not believe all bans require an explantion. There is far too much hate in this world to have to deal with it in our hobby. Sometimes it is best to just ban the person and help your members recover. ❤️

[divabeq 1]

I agree that no explanation is required.  I think mostly when a person gets to the point of being banned, they probably know why it is.

[Lost Boy 18]

required now. Have one prepared? definitely. Sometimes people don't take kindly to being banned and will make up stories, twist facts, leave out context, and you can find yourself on the bad end of a smear campaign. So just having it prepared can be smart.