Poll: Injustice of the Permaban

[major_chaos]

Aww. :/

Well when you put it like that I feel bad -_- although I kinda assumed you had me on ignore anyway. Nothing personal though, I just disagree with some post you have made, and I feel at least one would have gotten a warning for anyone else.

 

[Marter]

Well when you put it like that I feel bad -_- although I kinda assumed you had me on ignore anyway. Nothing personal though, I just disagree with some post you have made, and I feel at least one would have gotten a warning for anyone else.

I don't have anyone on ignore.

And it's cool. I can be condescending and a bit smug/prickly (though I do try not to be). You're not necessarily wrong. I try to be fun most of the time. That likely doesn't come across on the forums all that often anymore. You should've been in here in 2010. =D

 

[Darks63]

The system is much better that it used to be I lurked here from 2008 till 2010. When i finally joined up one of the reasons i delurked was because it got much better.

 

[CardinalPiggles]

Really you don't just accidentally make 8 low-content posts. One or two before you understand the rules, maybe.

I can vouch for this.

One low content post and one sassy and unjustified response was enough for me to learn the freakin rules.

2500 or so posts later and I have a clean record. It's not difficult.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

I believe, and see no reason to believe otherwise, that if the appeal is successful the time until the next period of amnesty would remain the same, just like if you hadn't gotten the wrath at all.

Any way you can tell me what the delay until my next "amnesty" is?

Aww. :/

If it helps, I've never found you smug nor prickish in the slightest.

Indeed, thanks to your old avatar I spent a few months picturing you as Anna Kendrick. =\

Loved you in 50/50.

 

[Marter]

Any way you can tell me what the delay until my next "amnesty" is? Just under a month and a half, assuming my math is right.

If it helps, I've never found you smug nor prickish in the slightest.

Indeed, thanks to your old avatar I spent a few months picturing you as Anna Kendrick. =\

Loved you in 50/50.

Lol! I wish I was Anna Kendrick.

 

[Pebkio]

I've cussed, ranted, poked fun at the Escapist's sponsors, spoke ill of their features, mentioned naught things, and briefly spoke of pirating in a positive light (not that I've done it, just that I can understand why it' done). I've only ever been slapped with a warning:

When I outright insulted a fellow forum member. Not insinuated, I actually called him an insulting label. That's it.

---

I also understand that admitting or boasting of illegal activity is another thing for which to be slapped. Unclever trolling and harrasing I'll wager gets you flying up the forum meter. Yadda yadda.

This board, to me, has been quite lenient. I was once on a forum that got up in arms because I didn't cite a source for something as innocuous as "more people pirate movies than books". I certainly don't post as often as some of the regulars, but if you happen to think the most interesting people are the people getting punished, then maybe you're on the wrong forum. Even if I did post 100 times a day, I'd avoid a lot of mod ire because of one simple, last-second-before-I-push-post, edit: "Does this piece of hate really need to be said publicly?" If the post would get me in trouble, the answer is usually no.

...except that one time because the guy really was .

 

[FalloutJack]

I'm going to say yes. The fact of the matter is that the mods are passionate people about what irks them, not coldly logical. they might hold on over what doesn't directly affect them and punish normally (maybe), but then you take an incident where thery go and take it personally and it gets blown out of proportion. The reason why is simple: They're human. They'll try to justify that it was the right action, because humans do that, but LIKE humans...they also have a big problem with admittance of a flaw in their actions. This is a severe problem with people in power.

So, there was an incident where I received a hefty punishment that seemed too strong for the issue involved (because by god I don't like the new site layout, but oh shame they can't take a tomato to the face like everyone else), and I had a 3-day suspension. Top this off with the fact that the editor called me a dick, and you can see where passion played into the thing. But hey, it doesn't end there. Fast forward to my communicating with one of the most decent users on the forum and he getting grumbled at with veiled threats when he tried to help me, and THEN I found out that a random user - nobody I knew, just one of you random guys out there - defended me and got banned.

This all happened, and you can make the argument that I might've deserved punishment if you like...but the name-calling, the threats to someone trying to help me, and the banning of an innocent is NOT right. That's needless colateral. Hardly any of my anger gets poured into the internet. I can't get more than mildly irritated at the goings-on of a forum unless I spent time getting invested in the lives of the people I talk to on a personal level. So, to put that in perspective, I will NEVER forget those who were shot in the head when they tried to help another. Never...

 

[Canadamus Prime]

Forgive the dead horse I'm about to brutally chainsaw but as stated by several mods and Susan in this thread, if you don't learn your lesson after 8 (!) opportunities then it's not our fault you can't follow the rules which are always available to read under the 'Forums' drop down menu above.

That's great and all, but some of us weren't given the benefit of the same 8 chances that everyone else was (yes, still bitter and very angry about that).

EDIT: No rudeness or jerkishness intended.

 

[Eri]

Honestly, the infraction bar has only made me post less, not magically make more "polite" posts.

If I have something to say such as calling a poster a complete moron, because, they clearly are, I just won't post anything despite the fact what I would post would be wholly true. Being rude doesn't make something less true.

A common argument used against being abrasive is that there is no reason for it, but nor is there reason to act like a moron/idiot/bigot etc and yet people do. So why is it allowable to act like a dumb ass?

A, perhaps, perfect example is in the Chinese man-rape thread. A poster, whose name I shan't type, was spouting blatantly wrong things disprovable by science in every regard. Despite this, it still would not have been allowed to call him "a total fucking idiot". Again, despite all evidence to support this accusation.

Another issue is the complete lack of consistency across the mod-team-board. But alas.

 

[zehydra]

No. Permabanning after several warnings is justified.

Ultimately, this is a totally voluntary website to begin with, and not a place that someone is entitled to. If moderation sees it fit to remove a member they deem offending, then so be it. "Justice" is not part of this equation at all.

 

[BathorysGraveland2]

I think the moderation is mostly fine. The only glaring problem I have with it is the "perma-banned" avatar. It just reeks of a juvenile "ha, you're in trouble" remark. It seems a little hypocritical to me that users cannot insult one another (for good reason), yet mods can insult the banned users with that avatar.

 

[GrimTuesday]

I think that the health bar is a good thing because you know exactly where you stand and what you will get if you step out of line. Of course, it can also lead to you getting screwed over by a bunch of little things.

I think that the moderation in R&P, while better, still needs to be refined. I've said from the beginning there should be more leeway within the context of discussing issues due to the level of passion these subjects bring out in people. I'd rather it be abused than lose a quality voice in the discussions.

 

[SL33TBL1ND]

Every warning, probation, and suspension I've gotten over the years have been completely deserved.

And totally worth it.

 

[V da Mighty Taco]

I do think that the mods get a little too ban-happy from time to time (especially the past 2 months or so) and that people should be allowed to discuss piracy so long as they're civil about it, especially given how much it affects the gaming industry as a whole. I also heavily agree with those that say that the "don't be rude" rule is much too vague as well as those who think that Vault's banning post was tame and shouldn't have been grounds for said banning.

With that said, this site is easily one of the most civil message boards out there, and the mods are undoubtedly a big reason for that. Some mods - such as Spidermod - are also both likable and hilarious, with them being as much a member of the community as the likes of Daystar or the aforementioned Vault. They definitely have a lot of issues, but they're still far better than just about any other forum's mods that I've come across. After all, I've never heard of someone here being banned for nothing more than letting it be known that they're a part of a fandom. *coughnotsosubtlejabat4chancough*

Now if only the woman / man / anthromorphic penguin known as Spidermod would explain who their avatar is... >

 

[DudeistBelieve]

It's ridiculously easy to avoid mod wrath, just don't be a dick. Don't call people names. Be ambiguous if you're a recreational drug user. I've been on forums with terrible moderation, any of you ever post on Gamefaqs? The moderators there are right cunts. These people here are good folk.

Although I do have a funny mod story of asking about posting video reviews in the user review section. One of the non-marter mods was all like "Fuck no! You can't even use your youtube account there." and I had to be all "Uh... but the rules for the section said that we can." and a giant misunderstanding because apparently no one knew what was going on in that section of the site except for Marter... and I was pretty much told the rules were under review and not to post anymore videos in there.

Couple months later....... I mean, I haven't checked but I'm fairly certain we still can post youtube reviews there still. *shrug*

I think the moderation is mostly fine. The only glaring problem I have with it is the "perma-banned" avatar. It just reeks of a juvenile "ha, you're in trouble" remark. It seems a little hypocritical to me that users cannot insult one another (for good reason), yet mods can insult the banned users with that avatar.

Really? I kinda like it. A final "fuck you" to whoever's been a an asshole enough to get banned.

 

[zefiris]

How can you manage to get this many strikes? Not even I manage this, and I'm quite abrasive.

It's certainly not unjust.

 

[incal11]

How can you manage to get this many strikes? Not even I manage this, and I'm quite abrasive.

It's certainly not unjust.

At one point I got strikes for low content very regularly, and I see mods doing the exact same kind of short posts all the time with no consequences whatsoever. Curiously, this tends to happen when I'm having an unpopular opinion, but never in more "neutral" threads.

I think the moderation is mostly fine. The only glaring problem I have with it is the "perma-banned" avatar. It just reeks of a juvenile "ha, you're in trouble" remark. It seems a little hypocritical to me that users cannot insult one another (for good reason), yet mods can insult the banned users with that avatar.

Really? I kinda like it. A final "fuck you" to whoever's been a an asshole enough to get banned.

I think he has a point. That perma-banned avatar may feel justified, but it is still nothing more than a juvenile power trip.
Although it may be some kind of default feature that appear when someone gets perma-banned. And normal mods may have no control over it.

The concept of perma-ban itself is flawed too. A long term ban of perhaps one year would be enough. It's enough time for people to grow up and change, or just loose interest in the forum completely anyway. That way less people would be tempted to ban-jump too.

Ideally all mods should see "dickish" behavior as the lack of experience and maturity it really is, and not feel the need for some payback. Or even for perma-banning.

 

[Signa]

I am impressed with the efficiency of the moderation, but I am absolutely dissatisfied with the unyielding coldness of some of the more controversial moderation decisions. And I'm speaking as someone with a clean record.