Guild Wars Wiki:Appealing a block

The purpose of this guideline is twofold- to proscribe a reasonable course of action to a user who has been blocked, and to provide a simple framework for a sysop who wishes to respectfully review another sysop's block. This guideline does not break any new ground; this is intentional. Instead, it details what already occurs on GWW in the best possible situation, and makes it something to strive for.

Determining action
Sysops on Guild Wars Wiki are appointed by the community and are inherently trusted by the community to act in its best interests, as dictated by consensus as well as by common sense. Sysops may exercise discretion in acting toward that goal, including but not limited to removing users' editing, e-mailing, and/or account creating privileges for a definite or indefinite duration, with or without warning. This restriction is known as a block.

If a user has been blocked, chances are it was for a good reason. A blocked user should look over his recent contributions and read any warnings and block rationale. He should ask himself a few questions:
 * Do I understand why the sysop blocked me?
 * Do I consider my own actions to be block-worthy?
 * Would I consider those actions to be block-worthy if someone else did it?
 * Does the community in general consider my actions to be block-worthy even if I personally do not?

If the answer to any of these questions is yes, then the best course of action is to wait out the duration of the block, and resolve to no longer act in the way that caused the block.

However, sysops are not infallible, and they have many different viewpoints and personal agendas. They are not unknown to occasional poor judgment and mistakes. Thus, if a user truly believes that he has done no wrong, or not enough wrong to warrant a block, then he may choose to pursue a block appeal. Keep in mind that users are never obligated to appeal a block. Waiting out an erroneous block and discussing it afterward is by no means discouraged.

Appealing a block
A user wishing to have his or any other block reviewed may choose to contact any member or members of the administrative team that he desires, including the sysop who enacted the block. While of course a blocked user cannot edit these administrators' talk pages, most sysops have alternate convenient methods of contact, such as enabled wiki-mail, IRC, or instant messaging programs. Although it can be frustrating to be blocked, a user seeking an appeal should remain polite and courteous in his communication. Remember that earnest reasoning is more convincing than indignant fury.

In keeping with their position as community-trusted administrators, contacted sysops are free to accept, refuse, or ignore an appeal request at their own discretion. If all requests for an appeal are refused or ignored, the blocked user is expected to act as a mature member of the community by accepting the sysops' decision and graciously waiting out the remainder of the block.

Block appeal process
A sysop who decides to accept a block appeal is expected to do the following before taking any action (although unique mitigating circumstances may allow exceptions):
 * Review the user's contributions that led to the block, as well as any relevant warnings and discussions by the blocking sysop.
 * Contact the blocking sysop to discuss the user's block, his request to have that block reviewed, and the case for and against revising the block.
 * Contact and discuss the case with enough other users, particularly various uninvolved sysops. There is no specific advisable number of contacts, but it should be enough that the acting sysop is reasonably confident that he has a good overview of the opinions and positions of the administrators and community.

These contacts may all take place on or off the wiki. The acting sysop may choose to create a centralized page for discussion if he so wishes, but it is by no means required. The sysop is expected to take into consideration the opinions of all the users he chooses to involve in the process. The original blocking sysop's opinion naturally carries great weight, but if a significant number of sysops are opposed to to his position, he is expected to gracefully yield to consensus.

Once the acting sysop has carefully reviewed all the facts and viewpoints of the case and made a decision that he feels will be supported by the administrative team and the community as a whole, he is free to modify the block duration or conditions, remove the block entirely, or conclude that it is best to leave the block in its current state.