I hate to be saying this to all of you, but I want to address this issue while it's still small, isolated, and contained. A lot of great communities that have thrived along the years commonly face one enemy: toxicity. Our already-overwhelmed staff has been trying to combat this issue for the past 4 months where HC has experienced steady growth, and thankfully, the issue is not too big.
As the leader of this community, I want to kill this issue from its roots before it grows big. I want to ingrain in you guys that I and the staff team take toxicity very seriously as to preserve the laid-back and relaxing environment that HearthCraft has had. All toxicity will lead to a mute and/or a ban like it always has.
First, I want to make everyone in the community involved in this. Not just the staff team. You guys have the duty to report any issues regarding this, or even not regarding this and just rule-breaking in general, to the staff team. Even if you think it's a small, minor inconvenience, REPORT IT TO THE STAFF TEAM. Talk to us. Open a ticket. Even if you're not sure whether it's even toxicity at all, TELL US. Telling us will not hurt and will prevent the downfall of our server.
If you've been complaining about any issue on the server, especially toxicity, but have stayed silent and haven't told the staff team about your concerns, I apologize for how stern this may sound, but you have failed your common duty as a member of the HearthCraft community. This goes the same for any community you are part in. Complaining or even talking about toxicity is not enough, please take the time to discuss it to us in order to help us combat this issue. If you are only comfortable with some staff members, message them privately.
I know that toxicity isn't yet a rampant issue, but I feel the need to act on this right now. A lot of communities go down, shatter, and fall apart because of toxicity, and I believe it is because of the members' failure to tackle it early.
Apologies if this message sounds stern, but I stand that this is a necessary step to prevent HearthCraft from falling.