This does happen a lot I've also told both to stop once but they did not care, im friends with them but the demo is quite clear itself, my comment is not usefull in any ways I'm just saying that this isn't the first time and for people to understand bans should last longer
This report thread may or may not be the appropriate place for a discussion.(I notably didn't see any mention about not doing so in the pinned posts on the report thread, though keeping discussions out of report threads isn't uncommon.) So I'd like to go ahead and make my perspective known.
I've too have mentioned the blocking rule to both of them previously. If I recall correctly- at one point Ducky's responses was "I'll stop when i get banned for it." However, in contrast- I don't expect the default first offence ban duration of 1 day to change and I also think that it's unreasonable to expect it to as both of our testimonies regarding having mentioned it to them come without evidence or staff presence at the time. Thus acting on here-say alone would be inappropriate. Furthermore IMHO there's nothing wrong with Blackwonder's typical ban durations regarding this rule as a 1 day ban duration for first offenses takes into account the possibility of someone being previously unaware of the rule or otherwise simply making a mistake. Progressively longer ban durations leading up to a permanent ban for repeated violations of the same rule means that by the time someone gets a permanent ban for repeated violations- they've truely earned it by being both aware of the rule and actively choosing to ignore it regardless of the consequences. With that in mind I personally do not feel that the ban durations need to change and am perfectly okay with the default 1-day ban while knowing that these two players are both likely to be repeat offenders.
My only concern is that blocking seems to be more and more frequent as it's not being dealt with very often and as players don't see others being punished for it- they tend to think it's okay for them to do as well. I attribute part of that to lack of admin presence and the other part of it to lack of awareness regarding the !calladmin command. (Something i've only recently become aware of.) The latter should be changed but perhaps that's a topic for the suggestions sub-forum.
Furthermore, before it becomes a topic of discussion- I'd like to address the difference between CQC and blocking.(Something I'm sure Dex is well aware of.) CQC(or Close Quarters Combat) is inherently a part of the dodgeball game mode. Something I personally don't like or enjoy and am notably quite terrible at- especially on BW servers where infinite bounce means I can't just downspike someone to death if they insist on forcing me into CQC. With that said, it's still a part of the game and there are players- Thimble for example, who clearly enjoy CQC- and often do so. Not only is he quite good at it, i've never once seen him block while doing so. so CQC itself isn't blocking and I feel it's important to make that distinction. to better clarify- Blackwonder defines the blocking rule as:
Do not block other players
Do not stand close enough to enemy players to immediately reflect rockets they airblast.
So by my understanding this includes but is not limited to bodyblocking(preventing player movement) but also encompasses an area around the player as well as intention. It's entirely possible to be near an enemy player without attempting to instantly airblast the rocket they've just reflected with the intention of killing them with it before their airblast is off of cooldown. It's also entirely possible to do the opposite and approach an enemy player with the intention and attempt to do just that which is exactly what isn't ok. It takes no skill (and is quite lame) to predict just one airblast's timing and kill a player that way, and that's exactly what the rule seems to be attempting to prevent. It's also a rule I personally happen to agree with.
Edited for clarity.
