This thread is going out of focus.
GMs do police themselves and they talk things over among themselves.
Especially in cases where there is a grey area.
They have ZERO obligation to expose those discussions and every good reason NOT to do so.
As a player it is NONE OF MY BUSINESS why "tom" was jailed or punished in some way.
Let me repeat that:
it is NONE OF MY BUSINESS why "tom" was jailed or punished in some way
Rule #1 for GMs: wrote:
1. A gamemaster has to treat everybody equally. He shall not have enemies or friends in the game.
And that's got to be a hard one. BUT if GM Bob is seen treating "Sam", an old friend, favourably I'm sure the other GM's would check in!
Rule #2 for GM:
2. A gamemaster has to keep secrets within the team, if he got to know these secrets while working.
This actually applies to ALL moderators of all forums everywhere, whether game related or not. However, for a gaming forum, if during an investigation a group of GMs find out HOW 'Tom' broke a rule via a bug - the entire team has to be made aware of it so that can stop people from using it until it is fixed, and then not say anything about the details as it might lead to other ways to abuse the game.
As a player we have 2 options:
1. play by the rules and enjoy the game, or
2. if you don't like the rules, leave the game and play another.
People that break the rules, get caught and pay the price get no sympathy from me.
I do however feel sorry for the GM/Admin team that have to put up with petty attempts to disrupt the game and or very well organized controlled methods to abuse the game. Sometimes the investigations can take months or longer. It wears them down.
Help a GM: Play by the Rules!