Poll: Is it just me or is it too easy to get banned here?

[LawlessSquirrel]

It doesn't seem like it to me...I've not even gotten a warning in my 1000+ posts here so far. Is it really so hard for people to just be level-headed and polite on a forum?

If I were 10 years younger, I'd probably get myself a few warnings, maybe a suspension by now, but it's really not difficult to be a little considerate. Just stop and think 'Is this post going to be insulting?' before responding to someone and you'll be fine. A forum is a place for debate and a sharing of opinions; it only turns ugly if you start attacking people.

 

[CM156_v1legacy]

I will say this. Before the removal of the *Unkind word ommited* Queen Scarlet, TSE was very banhammer happy. At least here you are allowed to disagree and state "That last episode was not very good and here is why" without being banhammered.

 

[The_Evermind]

Personally I love these forums and have never had a problem with the mods (runs off to knock on wood) so I don't think they are "to" harsh.

On the other hand I have seen some low content warnings when people are, in my opinion, just answering the ops question. So I guess a lot of it depends on the individual mods.

 

[6_Qubed]

If you feel it's too easy to get banned on these forums, there's always 4Chan.

You need to be some kind of banning athlete to get banned there.

 

[Erana]

Well, a big part of people getting "Banned too easily" is because people mistake privately owned virtual space for flesh-and-blood public ones.

Freedom of speech does work the same way when you're in someone else's territory. If Boy Scouts can discriminate against openly gay people, then certainly no one's going to fight for the privilege of random people on the internet to be disrespectful.

There's also this misconception that I see floating around on the internet where people mistake being opinionated with insulting things they don't like. You know, the whole "I think Pepsi is shit" instead of phrasing it as, "I really don't like the taste of Pepsi."
If there's no way to phrase what you're trying to say politely, then don't post.

Of course, the big thing that gets many people with minor infractions is that, when you're in a bad mood, don't post. I get the PMS from Hell, and I try to keep to myself, or warn those I'm around when I feel a certain way. Same goes for the internet.
Just because things feel like they're one way or the other doesn't mean your perception isn't being affected by your mood.

But yeah, the mods are a big part of what make the Escapist what it is. If this isn't the place for you, then there's somewhere on the internet that suits you better. There is no point in sticking around on a site that you are not enjoying.

Not saying, "GTFO," mind you. Whether or not we're truely happy somewhere is a question we should all ask ourselves from time to time.

Personally I love these forums and have never had a problem with the mods (runs off to knock on wood) so I don't think they are "to" harsh.

On the other hand I have seen some low content warnings when people are, in my opinion, just answering the ops question. So I guess a lot of it depends on the individual mods.

"Low Content Posts
This could be anything from answering a question to posting LOL. These forums are used for discussion and low content posts halts discussion."

It says right there in the rules that they will moderate low-content posts, even if its the response to a question.
There is always something to elaborate on.
If not, then it probably isn't worth posting.

 

[OrokuSaki]

You know, I wasn't intending to post because I figured there was nothing to really say about the strictness of the mods, but now I've had a strange thought. Does anyone find it suspect that we escape to the internet to avoid the rules and conventions of modern society just to conform to the "internet rules"?

It kinda seems like you stepped out of the frying pan and into the cooking pot. (Not the fire, fire would be worse, but the cooking pot is equally hot and slightly more oppressive.)

But generally on-topic, I think that the health bar thing is cute in a gimmicky "We're totally gamers" sort of way, but I think that the low content warnings are just stupid. I mean, sometimes things just don't deserve a multi-word answer. Sometimes "Wow" is sufficient. I also sometimes find myself typing needless filler paragraphs to hide the fact that my reply to a thread is sometimes only one word and I find it needlessly annoying to extend it.

In one word:
Yes.

 

[Naeo]

It doesn't seem any harder to get banned/suspended here than on any other large (i.e. thousands or more members) forum where the mods actively attempt to enforce the rules. Do they always do the right thing? Probably not. But again, having been on a few other large forums in my time, it's no worse here than anywhere else. Places where you don't have a lot of visible moderator activity usually don't have much moderator activity at all, and so no action is ever taken.

 

[Xpwn3ntial]

Not so much easy as easy to avoid if you know how. Don't flame, don't spam, don't admit to piracy, etc. and you'll be fine.

 

[Norendithas]

I don't feel it's too easy to get banned on the Escapist. Then again however, I do lurk in the Forum Games & RP section.. I do see plenty of people with warnings though who I'd never have guessed would do anything wrong, so maybe just a bit.

 

[Ilyak1986]

IMO it is a bit easy. For instance, if somebody asks a yes/no question, and you answer "no", you get warned. I remember once someone asking "what is partial nudity" and I received a warning for answering "Felicia" (aka the catgirl from the vampire series & MVC3) (because much of it had already been explained so I felt adding an example might help more than rehashing already stated items).

Furthermore, I really resent the idea that people cannot defend P2P file-sharing (or what often receives a negative connotation as the dreaded word "piracy") and often times, whether true or not, people might have to say "well, I'm playing devil's advocate here, but...".

IMO we should be allowed to discuss topics such as adblocker, piracy, and other controversial topics without fear of having the mods come down with a warning/banhammer on us. I realize that the escapist isn't the U.S. government, and it's their house, their rules, but in terms of discussing controversial topics, wouldn't it be better to have a discussion, rather than just to squelch users with mod action?

 

[Arsen]

1. No one cares about reading the rules. We're on this forum because of a fast talking Brit who makes funny, slapstick videos. No one should have to give a damn what the "forum rules" are. If we all of a sudden have to care...then it means there's an issue with the rules themselves. Everything should be basic, down to earth, common knowledge. Which leads me to my next point...

2. I was banned for three days for "supporting piracy" when I merely opened up a topic to discuss the finer points of it. I guess the Escapist wants to appear politically correct in the eyes of the gaming community. Gotta have something for the jobless to do eh? After all, they wanna "make it big" in the gaming world. Too bad the only thing they have going for themselves is the person from number one. Even then it's technically censorship of what people wish to say.

3. Yes. It is ridiculously easy to get banned or suspended here.

 

[Ilyak1986]

1. No one cares about reading the rules. We're on this forum because of a fast talking Brit who makes funny, slapstick videos.

2. I was banned for three days for "supporting piracy" when I merely opened up a topic to discuss the finer points of it. I guess the Escapist wants to appear politically correct in the eyes of the gaming community. Gotta have something for the jobless to do eh? After all, they wanna "make it big" in the gaming world. Too bad the only thing they have going for themselves is the person from number one. Even then it's technically censorship of what people wish to say.

3. Yes. It is ridiculously easy to get banned or suspended here.

1. Or a cartoon guy in green talking in a chipmunk voice. (Seriously, if not for Yahtzee and Extra Credits, I'm wondering what the escapist's audience would be...I come here just for EC, because I liked Daniel Floyd's stuff on youtube and wanted more of it--and the only other thing I do is go on the forums)

2. I agree upon this point as well.

3. Agreed.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

well clearly max was breaking the rule about being a jerk to the quoter.

As is it easy? Most of the times I've seen somoene banned, they did someting intentionally dumb to get banned. Like, blatant violating of the rules. so I would say no to getting banned.

Though, it has become... not easier, but more common to be given a warning or suspension since the rule change.

Maybe he did more in the past IDK, but I don't think getting permanently banned for calling him captain obvious should equal being "banned for this post.(Permanent)"

He definitely had a history of moderation. The guy was pretty constantly in trouble with the mods, to the point that it wasn't a question of whether he would get banned so much as when. Heck, even his avatar was banhammer bait -- it's the logo for a well known warez site. Considering The Escapist's policy on piracy, it wasn't exactly the brightest choice of avatar.

As for whether or not he should have been banned, well, it's the way the new moderation system works; you have a certain number of strikes, one of which will go away after six months, and all of which will go away if you don't get any modwrath for a full year. Maxpowers666 went over the limit, and he got banned. While this may sound harsh, it's actually much better than the previous system, which allowed the moderators to hand out bans much more quickly. This time last year, users could and frequently did get banned after only two or three cases of moderation. These days, it's a longer process.

In other words, no, the mods aren't ban-happy -- at least compared to how they used to be.

 

[Havoc Himself]

I have a flag for something along the lines of using gay as a derogatory term... feel like 2 months later it should be gone by now.

... also BANNED?!?!
MaxPowers666:
I prefer dubbed all the way. I dont understand how anybody can actually prefer the subtitles. You will have a better chance of getting the characters portraying the proper emotions and feeling from a dub then subtitles.

Also I find most japanese voice acting annoying as hell. Half of it sounds like a 5year old with a rediculously high pitched voice screaming all the lines.

other nameless dude:
That's just your onion.

MaxPowers666:
Thank you captain obvious. Did you not read what I said or do you just like point out the extremely obvious. I used the words "I DONT" and "I FIND". These words are used to represent the speaker, as in he is only talking about himself and not anybody else. Was there really a point to such a stupid post like yours.

User was banned for this post.(Permanent)

Max Powers did pretty much explode over a random person's comment, and that person was actually agreeing with him. You never mentioned if he had a previous infraction either, if he had a serious one then that I think that definitely would have led to a perma-ban.

 

[FuktLogik]

I got warned for making a sexist comment that makes Yahtzee's look tame, and when I mentioned that to the mod he said that Yahtzee can do whatever he pleases because he makes money for the site. Nice double standard, eh?

I also got warned for answering a question with only one word.

In addition, I got warned for using a picture (SFW) to respond to a thread.

So yeah, the mods go nuts with warnings and bans around here. I've seen some really absurd perma bans for things that weren't even against the rules and couldn't even be considered rude.

 

[MaVeN1337]

>> Follow Rules
>> Be Respectful
>> Never Get Banned

Doesn't seem hard.

Someone get this man a medal!

 

[Deef]

Oh this is going to end well. I guess I just have to post it.

That is all.

This is the exact gif that started the 60s Spider-man thread that didn't get locked for 3 days. Beware.

 

[Canid117]

Oh this is going to end well. I guess I just have to post it.

That is all.

This is the exact gif that started the 60s Spider-man thread that didn't get locked for 3 days. Beware.

Another chance to get 60s spiderman images? Hell yes!