I'm actually kind of scared to post here, on account of all the bans.

[Yopaz]

I actually lurked on the forum for a few years before posting because I thought that people would be mean and yell at me D:. Not really because of the mods though.

It's actually not quite as bad as you make it sound. The low content rule is a bit strange, almost as if it's an arbitrary /5char check. Which means it's rather difficult to agree with someone. So most of the replies you will get are people disagreeing with you. Unless they want to expand on your post, which is rarer. Which brings you to my problem, see?

The low content post is actually not that bad. It's completely possible to agree with someone and add something of your own. It also makes sense if you have seen other forums where there are several posters who have posted one word or something similar. It adds nothing to the discussion, it's basically as useless as the thumbs up/ yhimbs down system on Youtube. I like that a forum intended for discussion encourages discussion.

As for the rest you said that's pretty straightforward. Don't be a dick and you won't get banned.

My advice is to take a break whenever you get your third warning. If I remember correctly the 4th is the point of no return to a squeaky clean record and if you have a clean record you have to do more than actually blurt out an insult in the heat of the moment to get banned.

 

[MeisterKleister]

As far as I can tell, the rules are designed to ensure a pleasant environment for civil discussions and that posts have content and are pleasant to read. The rules are fair in my opinion, and most forums I've seen actually have a very similar set. But what I think makes these forums here rather unique is that these rules are consistently and strictly enforced by a large group of competent moderators.

From my experience on other forums, the troublemakers are often the ones who have difficulties expressing their opinions and disagreement in a civil manner without using insults or inflammatory language. They often do not seem to realize that by joining and using a forum, they have entered an agreement to abide by the forum rules. So when these troublemakers receive some form of warning for an inflammatory post, I have seen some of them try to invoke their "right to freedom of speech" or throw out accusations of "censorship", which only served to show me that they do not understand what they have done wrong, what freedom of speech is, what censorship is or what an online forum is.

 

[Caiphus]

It does seem pretty ironic when you point it out. You can get banned for acting immature and yet we give them that permabaned avatar sort of like saying "don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out". It is satisfying to see on an extremely ban-worthy post though. Though I never really noticed Vault101's posts so I never understood all the hubub when she was banned just that people didn't like it

This is true, it is nice to see nasty people get what's coming to them. But that probably makes me one of them, so there you have it. You have to take the good with the bad though. I'm still not a fan.

Vault101 was nice enough. She did tend to add fuel to fires when she disagreed with people. And I mainly noticed her because she had a poor grasp of the English language. Anyway, shouldn't talk about someone posthumously. In any case, she made friends. It's never great when someone who is mostly positive gets kicked out, but every one of her punishments was deserved.

The low content post is actually not that bad. It's completely possible to agree with someone and add something of your own. It also makes sense if you have seen other forums where there are several posters who have posted one word or something similar. It adds nothing to the discussion, it's basically as useless as the thumbs up/ yhimbs down system on Youtube. I like that a forum intended for discussion encourages discussion.

As for the rest you said that's pretty straightforward. Don't be a dick and you won't get banned.

My advice is to take a break whenever you get your third warning. If I remember correctly the 4th is the point of no return to a squeaky clean record and if you have a clean record you have to do more than actually blurt out an insult in the heat of the moment to get banned.

Yes, it's not difficult to avoid the banhammer. People are running around with 20,000 posts, can't be that tough. And I can't remember the last time I saw a warning that was unfair.

My main concern was with the side effects of some of the rules. Again, those effects (like the passive-aggressive tendencies of the forum) are usually better than the alternative (which would be pure aggression). I can't think of any way to change the rules that would result in a net benefit to the forum.

And is that true that there is a point of no return? I haven't studied the cooldown period, so you might be right. I was under the impression that all warnings could eventually disappear as long as you didn't get banned.

...

I just checked and you are correct, although it might be the 5th warning that crosses the line, i.e. you are allowed four warnings that can be taken back for good behaviour.

 

[Yopaz]

Yes, it's not difficult to avoid the banhammer. People are running around with 20,000 posts, can't be that tough. And I can't remember the last time I saw a warning that was unfair.

My main concern was with the side effects of some of the rules. Again, those effects (like the passive-aggressive tendencies of the forum) are usually better than the alternative (which would be pure aggression). I can't think of any way to change the rules that would result in a net benefit to the forum.

And is that true that there is a point of no return? I haven't studied the cooldown period, so you might be right. I was under the impression that all warnings could eventually disappear as long as you didn't get banned.

...

I just checked and you are correct, although it might be the 5th warning that crosses the line, i.e. you are allowed four warnings that can be taken back for good behaviour.

It used to be possible to lose 7 warnings and end up squeaky clean, but they changed it for some reason. They reorganized the entire system 2 years back to make it more consistent. That's when they got rid of the probation and I think they got a little more strict about bans, but I'm not sure.

Edit: Good to know about the 5 warnings though. I just knew you'll be stuck on 4 after passing the point of no return. That means I can insult 5 people rather than 4.

 

[lacktheknack]

There's no way this isn't an alt-account made by someone who's not very good at disguise.

Anyways, I've not seen an unjustifiable random ban... in years. I'm going to need to see some links.

 

[Eclectic Dreck]

I've made thousands of posts over a period of many years often in threads covering highly controversial topics have never even received so much as a warning. All it takes to avoid a ban is to always speak from a position of civility. It is certainly no less effective than going for the inflammatory angle and isn't any more difficult compose.

And, if you have any doubt about how your post will be interpreted - just read it again. If you still don't know, close the tab and move on and try again later.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Er, it's not really that big of a deal.

OTOH, I could post something deliberately inflammatory, such as "people who are on unemployment benefits for more than 5 years should have their organs harvested", and the people who call me a terrible person would be the ones getting modded.

And the low content rules strikes me as foolish, as simply adding more words without more information gets around it.

No it doesn't get you around it, there's a famous example somewhere that I've lost the link for, but a 2 word post followed by "now to add words to pad it out to avoid moderation" will almost certainly be hammered.

If you acknowledge that is what you are doing, of course it won't work.

But instead of saying "^^This", you can say something like "I believe this to be a good explanation of the issue" or somesuch.

 

[major_chaos]

Although I have seen a few totally bullshit bans, really isn't that hard to stay within the rules. Only advice I have is to remember rule #1: Staff and contributors are always right, never say anything bad about them.

 

[Eri]

Never been a huge fan of how it's moderated myself but not like anyone cares what I think. So I don't post nearly as much as I used to.

 

[Drathnoxis]

I do think that moderation on this site is a little harsh, and that low content posts should not be a bannable offense. Also the code of conduct needs to be more specific, there seem to be some unwritten rules that get modded. Example: apparently a post not being super special nice to transsexuals is deserving mod wrath. In one of those Yahtzee transsexual threads I saw a user get suspended for saying that post-op male to female transsexuals were men with massive amounts of plastic surgery and who may or may not have taken hormone supplements. Yeah, it's not the nicest way of putting it, but it's not exactly untrue either.

 

[Scarim Coral]

Honestly it's not that hard to not get banned. As long you put effort into your comment (not shot and it is related to the topic), check the post date so you don't necro it and most importantly stayed polite to others (which it seen some people can't). Sure you are allowed to argue with other just as long you stayed civil about it (no calling the other person names or offences stuff).

 

[Eleuthera]

In 2 days I'll have been here 5 years. Only the last 6 months of that as a mod, and I've never even gotten as much as a warning. It's really not that difficult not to get banned (or warned even), actually it's rather hard to get banned outright, you have to consistently not pay attention to the rules at least 8 times in a 2 year time span.

I can imagine people who are used to different boards/communities to get a warning (or maybe even 2) for low content when they just start out here. But really after getting those warning you ought to get the hint ans start paying attention to what you post.

 

[SquidSponge]

Yah, honestly I lurked for a long time before creating an account and posting, and yes, it was mostly because of the seemingly large numbers of heads on pikes banned users. But TBH I think the mods have gotten a bit less strict in the last year and they give newbies a bit of slack. Mostly, stick with a "no insults" policy and I think you'll be fine. The rules are mostly fair, the only one that raises my eyebrow is the low-content posts rule, seems a bit harsh but I see why it's there and I guess it stops some spam, makes sure some thought goes into every post, and makes it take longer so people have a chance to reconsider questioning others' genealogy and/or personal hygiene habits.

Sorta-unrelated:
I think the strict moderation is one of the reasons we (thankfully) don't see much txtspk or 13375p34k 'round here. More than 10% of the population of this forum has a primary- (elementary-) school level of literacy and some of us even know the difference between "its" and "it's" or "there", "their" and "they're"! This is, therefore, possibly the best forum on all the interwebs. Which is kinda depressing.

Short version:
It's not as bad as you think. Just know the rules, write at least a paragraph per post and don't rise to anyone baiting you.

 

[The White Hunter]

Er, it's not really that big of a deal.

OTOH, I could post something deliberately inflammatory, such as "people who are on unemployment benefits for more than 5 years should have their organs harvested", and the people who call me a terrible person would be the ones getting modded.

And the low content rules strikes me as foolish, as simply adding more words without more information gets around it.

No it doesn't get you around it, there's a famous example somewhere that I've lost the link for, but a 2 word post followed by "now to add words to pad it out to avoid moderation" will almost certainly be hammered.

If you acknowledge that is what you are doing, of course it won't work.

But instead of saying "^^This", you can say something like "I believe this to be a good explanation of the issue" or somesuch.

You can but then that depends on the person you quote to not be in a bad mood for filling their inbox with low content.

It's not hard to add in your own points after expressing agreement.

 

[neoontime]

I only got one warning here and that's for something I regret anyways. Plus I think your bar goes back in a year so, just be extra careful when that happens. It's easy to remember how to not get banned everyone:
[HEADING=2]DON'T BE A DICK![/HEADING]

 

[Goofguy]

It's pretty easy not to get banned. Contribute meaningfully to the discussions (unless it's Forum Games where anything goes, really) and don't be a dick.

The way I see it, it may seem strict but at least it keeps the ridiculous riff raff out. Honestly, there are many occasions where I thought I deserved a warning and yet here I am... almost three years later and I have a clean record.

 

[Victim of Progress]

I gotta agree with OP here. The average escapist forum experience can be summed up in this image

 

[Ticklefist]

My simple rules for posting:

1. Do not be direct and to the point. Say what you gotta say then pad it out with mundane details. Otherwise you get a low content warning.

2. Don't be politically incorrect. Be completely passive. I have received a warning for telling a German guy off after he pulled some unprovoked "haha you dumb Americans" BS.

3. Do not disagree with the majority no matter how irrational they're being. Mods fall victim to mob mentality just as easily as their sheep.

4. Don't become a regular on these forums. Too many ridiculous threads anyways.