Disclaimer: This thread has some sarcasm. I do not support hacking on any servers. Also, this is a suggestion to revamp the punishment system again, this time combining some of the old with the new.
For reference, the old rules can be found here:
https://www.cubecraft.net/threads/official-rules.41864/
Another hot thread talking about the current system found here:
https://www.cubecraft.net/threads/unplayable.139347/
I have not seen too many threads talking about changing the punishment system again and most of the recent punishments here have been made too lenient than those on other servers. For example, hacking is now a 1 week ban, but before, it was a 1 year ban. Elsewhere, hacking ranges from a 1 month ban to a permanent ban. The current punishment system is quite "effective," as we can see here. Let's see what happens when people break the rules:
-Teaming: 1 day ban. Previously on Cube: kick. Elsewhere: ban (some do a week ban at least)
-Hacking/cheating: 7 day ban. Previously on Cube: 1 year ban. Elsewhere: permanent or temporary (1 month or longer) ban
-DDoS Threats: 30 day mute. Previously on Cube: permanent ban, according to the old rules Elsewhere: Ban/very long mute.
-Chat offenses (disrespect/rudeness, etc.): I don't know. I'll assume it's a few hours or a day mute. Previously: 1 month or longer mute. Elsewhere: varies. 15 minutes-couple hours.
TheJeroen pointed out how inefficient and weak the current punishment system is, as quoted here from the first page of the "Unplayable" thread:
The results as of the new change:
-Hackers everywhere on the network now. Before this new change, I saw only 1 or 2 occasional hackers in games, but now almost every game has at least 1 hacker, if not 2.
-More teaming
-More rage.
All in all, more people leave games in frustration.
Solution
Why not keep the old punishments from the old rules and change some of the new punishments? For example, keep the 1 year ban for hacking from the old rules, but extend the ban time for teaming from 1 day to a week?
If all else fails, then why not allow hacking, teaming, and all the chat offenses? It would do much better since the ban times are too short. Hey, it's much easier, is it? Just kidding. A 7 day ban is almost nothing for a hacker, as all he would need to do is create a new alt or, as quoted above, wait the short 7 days before hacking and getting banned for another week again.
Bottom line: The current punishment system is too weak to combat rule-breakers, cheaters in particular. When it came out, I knew the server would become a 2nd hacker-infested server, much to my dismay.
TL;DR: Cube weakened since the new punishment system went into effect.