How not to get banned.
- Thread starter Evil Smurf
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If I was going to do that, why would I post my master plan on a thread relevantly titled "How not to get banned"?Evil Smurf said:
Come on, guys.
Because absolutely no-one would take you serious and upon execution you could point at this thread and claim: "You were warned".SL33TBL1ND said:
considering that there have been three people suspended so far, why would we believe you were joking?SL33TBL1ND said:
Seriously? What are these people doing? Intentionally breaking the rules in this thread?Evil Smurf said:
EDIT: Apparently they are. Man, these guys are dumb. Carry on with your scepticism, then. It's clearly needed.
I've never been banned, or warned. I don't think it's that hard to do though, people do sometimes just annoy you, and you get the urge to lash out. But seeing as I'm such a level, and lovely person, I just direct the hate at myself, then don't reply do biggoted, purposly confrontaitional or rude things, and just move on. Now if I could only do this in reality....
To help people be nicer to each other, I think we should be forced to post a happy, nice picture at the end of our posts, to make people calmer and happier before replying. Like so:
To help people be nicer to each other, I think we should be forced to post a happy, nice picture at the end of our posts, to make people calmer and happier before replying. Like so:
Did you click it? GOOD. Now OBEY MY COMMANDS. FOLLOW THESE RULES OF HOW NOT TO BE BANNED, AND WE SHALL RULE THE WORLD! Or at least the escapist. MUHAHAHAH.
yeah but it's still not really fair is it, i mean, he just said the name of his favorite game. that's not a reason to get a warning.Aylaine said:Low content post. He could elaborate on why he said Skyrim for example. That way his post promotes further discussion whereas the single worded reply does not.talker said:
I probably don't qualify as a "good escapist", but I have learned to at least be more subtle before it was too late and I got banned from here. Still I will never bow my head down meekly. If there's something I have to say to the face of great stupidity and injustice I will say it, come what may. But there is a "correct" way to do that or it's useless. Another topic for another day, maybe.Evil Smurf said:
Also the relation between mods and banned-to-be is not unlike the relation between a computer illiterate and a techie in a support center. The aggravation from both side is far from being entirely unjustified.
Here is how I see it:
After reading the OP, with my comments on your own "how to" below.
1.Be a decent human being (ie: the opposite of an arsehole)
1.1.Remember that behind each post is another human being, the default attitude should be to treat him/her like someone that is in front of you, and that you want to appreciate despite his or her minor flaws. That is, the same way you would like to be treated. May require some practice.
1.2.Be polite. For example, actually say it if you are not interested in what someone is saying to you.
1.3.Do not use threats or otherwise bully (alone or in groups) someone for any reasons.
1.4.Do not willingly or gratuitously insult others in absolutely any way.
1.5.Do not use sarcasm directly on the ones you are arguing against. Or do it in a non insulting/aggressive way that will be obvious in context, if that is possible.
2.Know your place.
Yes mods and some users enjoy impunity on some points, and yes that is disgusting. Just treat short, out of topic, and mean posts as sort of shallow privilege you can easily do without. On the plus side that does not mean you are a lesser being, whatever those "premium" posters think. If you cannot defend yourself against such abuse without getting banned then this forum is just not worth your time.
2.1.Respect the policy of a site, even if it is hypocritical (ex: give even legal torrent links on a gaming site, or admit to using an ad-blocker when you never ever clicked on an ad anyway). However you should be able to argue against that policy, or the forum is not worth your time.
2.2.If you get a warning, even an unfair one, try to understand why (often it is because of some kind of unwritten rule). So as not to repeat the "mistake". Or your chances of getting more warnings and a ban will grow exponentially.
3.Always remain calm.
This will be hard and requires practice, but is really worth the effort. Study critical thinking and scientific reasoning and you will always have to upper hand against someone who may seek to provoke you.
4.Think before you type, be productive.
4.1.Expose the stupidity and lack of reasoning, while still observing rule 1. at least before you stop answering. Additionally you should post only if you have something new to say.
4.2.Do not forget or ignore the main point of the discussion, even and especially just to raise your post count.
4.3.Don't be pointlessDo not provoke the mods by denouncing an imaginary injustice, or by assuming that they never read your posts in person.
5.Respect decency and humanity.
5.1.Do not defend any kind of violence or abuse. Unless a certain behavior, considered abuse by most, may not be truly abuse. In which case you should think long and hard about your arguments, and accept the risk of a quick permaban.
5.2.Do not defend or admit unlawful behavior without good reasons for disagreeing with the status quo. If you still get banned using the most solid arguments the forum is not worth your time.
With all this in mind the "READ THIS BEFORE YOU POST" threads can all be safely and satisfyingly ignored
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Its actually: don't be an arsehole to the wrong person.
Some escapists and escapist mods have been incredible areholes toward me with no consequences, simply because I'm not the popular kind.
Trolling implies that you enjoy provoking or bullying someone, that's just being an arsehole actually. Trolling is nothing more that a glorified form of bullying, that's a word I won't regret if it ever falls into disuse.
Or perhaps you mean "don't appear to be an arsehole to the mods who often don't bother about context and work with keywords".
More than a way to avoid a ban it's a very good exercise in self control, also asking yourself in what ways the insults might be justified is a very good exercise in self criticism. It toughen your skin, and helps make your arguments closer to the truth.
That way the arsehole's flaws become very obvious, and it's easier to stay nice. However I've discovered that staying nice no matter what infuriates some people even more, so it may be advisable not to be too nice in those cases. While still taking care in not being cold or insulting in some other way.
That is a very improductive and somewhat dishonest attitude. Though if you haven't mastered the art of staying nice it may be the lesser of two evils.
The one best way to shut up a troll or bastard is to calmly expose the flaws in their reasoning. Even if their arguments hold some truth, courageously taking it in and showing a superior ability for critical though may help some regain faith in humanity. As well some will to not be a bastard. Something a warning or ban or ignore list will never do.
I've seen mods post very short and/or out of topic post regularly, so again it's just something you don't do if you don't have impunity.
For "piracy" that depends on the forum and it's more like "don't encourage breaking the law".
I don't quite understand the hate on adblockers when the ones who use them never click on ads anyway. Maybe it's because of a panic reaction from the advertisers who threaten the site in turn. Websites can survive quite comfortably with just donations and premium users. It may be less profits, but if it just so happens your userbase hates publicity more than they enjoy your site deal with it or die.
you can fuse that with "don't be an arsehole".
I wish more people would heed that one.
I bring you back to what I said on rule n°3, you could fuse the two.
Additionally trying to solve a disagreement, while staying nice of course, is always enlightening and potentially very interesting. One of the original purposes of a forum that gets forgotten way too often.
This is just "don't be an arsehole" again.
And all religions are a lie, but that's a discussion for another day maybe
It's true, but there is just no really polite way to say it to someone who dedicated his life to a religion or who have his whole social life depend on it.
(also notice the nice smiley)
The best way is to just be sarcastic about someone else while being sure the one you're talking to will get it. Otherwise it's "don't be an arsehole" once again.
This is the source of much of the aggravation toward mods. Mods should keep in mind that they are only increasing the amount of bile they'll have to fend off in the future by acting that way. A minority of mods really do enjoy using their power on "wretches too dumb to deserve any better", but even the fairest mods have this tendency. A shame when a minimum of comprehension and dialogue would be so much more effective in eliminating stupidity.
Again, "don't be an arsehole".
"don't be an arsehole"
Justified for a permaban, if you do not treat this as a chance to behave better perhaps mods could use this opportunity to fix the bad behavior with reasonable conversation rather than ineffective force.
"don't provoke the mods for nothing" or perhaps just "think before you type". Admittedly harder when you are young and lack experience, something mods ought to keep in mind.
"don't be an arsehole"
"don't be an arsehole"
Sometime I think the "don't be a jerk" rule needs some more...specificity. I've seen mods give warnings/ban for the most bullshit stuff, while some pretty rude shit goes unpunished. It all seems like selective justice. Or rather, random justice.
I think a few weeks ago I saw a guy get banned for saying he thought Grey Carter ought to be fired. Now, I happen to like Grey (as a comic writer, at least), but ffs, you should be able to say stuff like that.
I think a few weeks ago I saw a guy get banned for saying he thought Grey Carter ought to be fired. Now, I happen to like Grey (as a comic writer, at least), but ffs, you should be able to say stuff like that.
I would add that if you are unsure if someone is actually insulting of you, and not just messing with you, like sending a link to your account, and offending you, don't automatically report them, send them a message on their account saying you were offended.
I did this once to someone who added me as a friend and I stumbled across a forum with them sending a unnamed link to my account and making fun of me. Instead of reporting them I sent them a message that I was not happy being made fun of and why they said it. I got a message a little later with them apologizing.
I did this once to someone who added me as a friend and I stumbled across a forum with them sending a unnamed link to my account and making fun of me. Instead of reporting them I sent them a message that I was not happy being made fun of and why they said it. I got a message a little later with them apologizing.
Don't lock it.Evil Smurf said:
I'm following the thread and learning things. I didn't know about the injunction against mentioning Ad Blockers. I've studied the guidelines before but that one never registered with me. Big surprise. And it's good to know. Maybe they specified it since I last looked, though it's more likely it just never...clicked, I suppose.
As for people getting themselves banned or suspended on this thread...well, at least one of the posts was so vulgar and pointless I suspected the poster was being 'tongue in cheek'...I'll drop it there like a hot potato, though.
Captcha: plain sailing
That's the idea, Captcha
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EDIT:
Evil Smurf said:
To me, this is sort of an analysis of the Code of Conduct in practice, where we can see how the rules are implemented and to better understand them. And also to see if we can detect patterns in the moderation that can lead us to, again, better understanding of the rules (like the insulting binaries, which I didn't pick up on until quite recently).Copper Zen said:
I have one more thing I would like to add to the "How to not be a jerk"-clause, which is that you should avoid throwing too many thinly veiled personal attacks around in a single post/thread (yes, I know this one was kinda obvious). I can't think of good way to sum that up though in one sentence (probably because it is pretty late here in Sweden).
I would say though that in general, when you focus on the subject of debate you are almost always on safe footing, but if you focus on attacking the poster (or if the poster is the subject of debate) you will be on much thinner ice.
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Overall I think we have covered the "Don't be a jerk" part fairly well, but on the other hand I think we have neglected the part about how to adress the staff, contributors, and the mods in a proper, polite, and (preferably) pleasant fashion.
Hah, yep, I know that I called him report-happy at one point. "Debating" him was always fun, even if it got...strange after two or three replies, without fail, every single time.shrekfan246 said:
What happened to DragonLord? There have been some silly bans/suspensions over the years, for sure.
Oh, it was an earlier post in this thread. He was throwing around a lot of... rather harsh language in a manner that could be taken as highly offensive, though I imagine he was mostly joking around. Obviously I don't know, because I don't know him and it's all just conjecture on my part.chadachada123 said: