You can report players who breach FAF rules in-game by finding the game in recent replays, right clicking on their name, and using the report player option. Alternatively, you can use the Moderation reports menu (click on your username in the top-right of the client to find this menu). For more details on the reporting and appeals system see below.
As members of the Forged Alliance Forever community, we are all responsible for creating a positive community. For this reason, all members are required to follow the FAF Code of Conduct. Members may file a report against another member if they observe one or multiple rules in this Code of Conduct to be violated. Reports will be processed by the moderation team, who will review the reports, provide feedback, and assign penalties. Members who have received a penalty may file an appeal with the moderation team if they believe their judgment is in error.
This page will explain how to file a report and how the moderation team processes these reports. It also discusses common reasons for why you may file a report, and some examples of behavior that is commonly reported but is not against the FAF Code of Conduct. Lastly, the appeal system will be discussed.
Depending on the place of the offense, there are different methods of filing a report. The moderation team manages all official aspects of the FAF environment. This includes all games hosted through the FAF client, the FAF client chats, the FAF forums, and the official FAF Discord.
The FAF client has a dedicated menu to allow you to file a report. This menu can be accessed through several ways:
When filing a report for an action that happened during a game, it is critical that all fields of the report form are filled in. Without a valid replayID, a clear description, and an accurate timestamp your report cannot be processed. Such reports will be dismissed with a message asking you to resubmit your report. Reports for offenses that happen in the FAF IRC channels naturally do not come with a replayID, in which case you may leave this field empty.
Individual posts can be reported by clicking the ‘⋮’ symbol on the bottom right of a post. The menu that pops up will have the option to ‘Flag this post’ or ‘Flag this user’. Either option will report the post.
Offenses occurring in the FAF Discord may be flagged for moderators by either:
While pinging the moderators is public, moderation tickets are private conversations only visible to you and the moderation team. The ‘moderation-support’ channel includes instructions on how to open a new ticket.
We encourage you to report players who are behaving disrespectfully. However, submitting false reports with the intent of unfairly restricting another player's gameplay is unacceptable and may result in penalties to your account.
Reports must be filed in English. Reports filed in a language other than English may be discarded with a request to resubmit the report in English.
Depending on the offense and the place in which it occurred, you may be asked to provide evidence. In many cases, such as reports on in-game behaviour involving verbal abuse, griefing, or harassment a replayID and time of offence will be sufficient. The replayID will allow the moderation team to review the chat and event logs, which contain enough information to confirm if the offense has occurred.
In some cases, you may want to provide screenshots. Examples include harassment in the lobby chat, or inappropriate or offensive kick-messages, as these are not contained in a replay’s log files. As the report form does not allow you to upload screenshots, we ask you to choose either of the following:
Once a report has been received, a moderator will review your report as soon as possible. Depending on the report, a moderator will review chat logs, watch the replay of the reported game, or review other information available to moderators. The description of the report will be verified, and if confirmed that the described actions occurred and are against the FAF Code of Conduct will lead to penalties to the offending player.
For most reports, a single moderator will handle the review and the assignment of penalties. In more complex cases, another moderator may be asked to provide a second opinion. Some cases will be brought up for discussion with the whole moderator team. This can result in some reports taking longer to process than others.
For reports filed through the FAF client, the reporting player may check the status of their ticket through the ‘Moderation Reports’ menu. This menu may be opened by clicking your username at the top right of the FAF launcher, which will show a drop-down menu containing the option ‘Moderation Reports’.
All reports are confidential and will be treated as such with regards to your and the reported player’s privacy. We do not comment on moderation decisions in public, except in some exceptional circumstances. We similarly do not generally share the exact penalty applied to a reported player. This includes sharing such information with the reporting player.
While we consider context and may adjust penalties based on mitigating factors, each player is ultimately responsible for their own actions. Another player's behavior does not justify violating the Code of Conduct.
Taking revenge against offending players, such as griefing or responding to verbal abuse with more abuse, typically worsens the situation and may lead to penalties against you as well. Instead, we encourage you to continue the game as best you can. If that becomes impossible, you may leave the game and report the issue.
After reviewing reports, the moderator(s) who handled the report may take action against a user without prior warning or notice. The moderation team makes the final decision on whether a rule was broken and what, if any, penalty will be given.
If a ban is applied for in-game offenses, it will result in the reported player not being able to log into their account, play games, talk in the IRC channels, or watch replays during the duration of their ban. Reports for the FAF forums or the FAF Discord may similarly result in a temporary ban on either of those services.
We maintain records of applied penalties for each user. This record includes previous bans, as well as references to reports that were not considered to be worth a short term ban on their own. Bans are cumulative, and while first-time penalties for less severe rule breaches are often no longer than one or several days, repeat offenders may find that subsequent penalties will double with each new infraction, leading to their access to FAF services being denied for weeks or months. The moderators have some leeway in assigning the duration of penalty, taking into account its severity, context, and the time since the last penalty applied to that player, if any.
In a minority of cases, a permanent ban may be considered. This penalty is reserved for repeat offenders (for example, users who have received long temporary bans and continue to breach the rules), severe breaches (cheating software, attacking FAF services, etc.), secondary accounts (i.e. the secondary account receives a permanent ban), or for other exceptional offenses. As permanent bans are considered a severe penalty, they are generally preceded by a vote by the moderation team.
All penalties may be appealed, regardless of duration or moderation history. See the detailed explanation for the appeal system below.
If you receive a penalty and wish to inquire about the reason, you are always free to contact the moderation team through the Discord moderation ticket system, which you can access through the ‘moderation-support’ Discord channel. While we are happy to answer questions and explain our reasoning for your ban, we will not engage in a debate on the matter. If you still think you should not have received a ban, or the length should have been shorter, you can file an appeal.
As stated in the FAF Code of Conduct, you are not allowed to discuss specific moderation cases in public. However, you are allowed to provide feedback or discuss the moderation system or the FAF Code of Conduct in public channels, as long as this discussion pertains to the general system rather than a specific case. It is recommended to host such discussions on the FAF forums, as Discord conversations are generally less productive and may not be able to be addressed by the moderation team or other relevant teams.
If you believe you have been unfairly penalized, you may file an appeal. An appeal is a formal request to re-evaluate your case. During an appeal, you will be asked to provide reasons why you believe your penalty should be reduced or revoked. Your case will then be discussed by the moderation team, and a judgment rendered.
As a rule, your appeal will be reviewed by at least two moderators. To ensure fairness, at least one moderator who has not previously been involved with the particular case will be included. The moderator who initially handled your report will be invited to provide their arguments and reasons for why a penalty was applied, but will not be making the final decision on whether or not your appeal will be accepted.
A successful appeal will lead to a reduction or revocation of your penalty. Additionally, your personal records will be rectified, which will impact any future bans. Unless you grossly abuse the appeal system or commit further offenses during your appeal, such as engaging in verbal abuse, an appeal will not lead to an increase in your penalty.
Once an appeal has been received, you will receive a confirmation of receipt. If you have filed your appeal through the Discord ticket system, you may expect your appeal to be resolved within one week. Appeals filed by email may take several weeks to complete.
For the fastest response, we request that you file your appeal through the FAF Discord, by creating a moderation appeal ticket. Alternatively, those who are unable or unwilling to contact us through Discord may file an appeal by writing an email to [email protected].
To be accepted, an appeal has to include at least the following:
Examples of reasons for which you may want to file an appeal include:
Understand that an appeal is a chance to convince the moderation team that they’ve made a mistake, did not have all the facts, or should be lenient. Appeals are most effective when they are polite, are convincing, and show that you take the case seriously. Incomplete, insulting, or low-effort appeals may be dismissed without further consideration.
How do I know what I have been banned for, and how long my ban will last?
What should I do when I believe my ban is unfair?
Why was my report dismissed?
Why is my ban much longer than another player’s, even though they committed the same offense?
Why was I banned for more than a few days even though this was my first offense?
Does reporting a player guarantee that they will be penalized?
I accidentally disconnected from the game, will I be banned?
Will I be penalized for accidentally killing a team member?
I reclaimed engineers from my teammates, because they were taking my reclaim/mass extractor spots. Why was I banned?
I reported my teammate for taking all the available mass extractors. Why was my report dismissed?
Why is destroying my own base (base CTRL-K’ing), especially in full-share games, against the rules?
I have destroyed my base because I want to force my team to give up. The game is lost and I want to play a new game. Why was I banned?
Why was my report about my teammate not playing properly dismissed?
I have been banned for smurfing, but I do not own a second account. What do I do?
