The Elder Scrolls Mods Wiki
Register
Advertisement
Local Policies
Consensus
Deletion policy
Image policy
Forum policy
Manual of Style
Sockpuppet policy
Guides
Request for Deletion
User rights
Sysop & Bureaucrat
Rollback
Please note this document is NOT a policy, they are merely guidelines. If the guidelines below restrict something that these guidelines weren't intended to restrict, the document should be updated

This is the wiki's policy regarding sockpuppets.

Background[]

Generally speaking, sockpuppets are accounts created by users who have either been chat-banned or blocked from editing the wiki. The purpose of sockpuppets are to evade these blocks in order to continue editing or disrupting the wiki as a whole. Please note that there are legitimate reasons for having alternate accounts and they are explained later.

Grounds for sockpuppet blocks[]

Please note the following:

  • If you are either chat-banned or blocked from editing the wiki, creating accounts to evade the blocks are not allowed. The point of a block is to let you be aware that you've violated some policies on the site multiple times and ignored warnings by the community to stop and simply creating accounts to evade those blocks will be considered disruptive and result in longer blocks being applied. The sysops of the wiki may decide to extend the block on the original account if deemed appropriate.
  • The use of sockpuppets to create the impression that multiple users support a single user's views will result in the sockpuppet username being permanently blocked and the original user warned. Persistent use of such sockpuppets may be considered disruptive behaviour similar to vandalism, however.
  • Encouraging friends or online associates to create new user accounts in order to bolster support in a vote or discussion is also heavily discouraged. Users tempted to do this should be aware that if these new users use the same computer or even ISP, they may be found to share an IP address. In this situation, regardless of who is behind the account in reality, it is difficult to tell such new users from sockpuppets of the original user.

Acceptable sockpuppet use[]

If a user wishes to run helpful bots, this is a perfectly valid use of having a sockpuppet and this is necessary so an accidentally out-of-control bot can be blocked while the user is still allowed to edit and so that the bot can be given a bot flag to hide its edits from the recent changes feed. However, the identity of the main user must be specified, and the secondary account cannot be used to vote separately in discussions.

If a user who has a bot attempts to use it for anything beyond the intended purpose, it will be considered an alternate account and blocked per the above.

Advertisement