To the moderators of the Escapist:

[Haliwali]

Add me to the list.
A particular bit of recurring in justice is brought to my attention quite often. The "TL;DR" response. For those who don't know, it stands for "Too long; didn't read," and I see it all the freaking time. Now, what bothers me is that about a year back, I was banned for posting "That's a lot of words." I got banned for a month. This was back before probation, a long time ago when quotes didn't link and the search bar wasn't necessary. I had to appeal to Joe (who left before unbanning me.) Now TL;DR is popping up like dandelions. Grr.

 

[Gxas]

Hmmm, this is actually the first that I'd heard about Empyrean, Mobius and The Necroswanson getting themselves banned. I guess it shows how much time I've been spending on the forum lately, I don't recognize half of you anymore...

I feel the same way.

I used to come here and see a whole bunch of people I recognized instantly, now I just feel as if the "party" has become a little too crowded for the house we're in.

I mean, entering any thread used to, for me anyway, be like saying hey to a bunch of friends. A simple nod to TaxiDriver and Jim_Doki. Or a wave to Shivari and SpartanBannana.

I feel as though this site has grown too fast in such a short time. With this growth I feel that moderation has slipped in some areas and been beefed in others. I mean, I have been posting at the same frequency I have always done. I look at some people who started their account two months ago who already have 1500+ posts.

I am not so sure that all 1500 of these users posts could have been in compliance with forum guidelines. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that all of my posts have followed the rules either (One week-long probation and one three-day ban), but many of them have been in compliance. I still to this day see "lolwut" posts and people starting six threads at a time that all have been done in the past week. The banning on these sorts of things (repeat threads, one word responses) has been, from my viewpoint, significantly lessened.

Now, I see more older members getting banned for one or two-time things. Maybe this is a "straw-breaking-the-camels-back" thing, but still, I feel as though you expect the older members to set an example for the newer ones. Sort of an "elder sibling" role, if you will. As I read this thread, I see so many members with 500 or more posts who have no idea who these older members are. If you didn't grow up knowing your older brother, how can he be a role-model for you?

What I am saying is that the thrill of visiting this site has gone down for me due to the necessity to accommodate newer members. I wish for the moderation to be as it was in the past and have newcomers learn from their mistakes. If more newcomers would just take the time to:

-Read the forum guidelines
and
-Use common sense

This place would be much better.

 

[Spirultima]

I agree, like in the case of Necro, he just made a single bad post, why not just a suspension, for 2-3 days? perma-ban seemed a bit harsh.

I'd like my name added to that list as well.

He had been suspended in the past and when he did it I believe he was on probation. It wasn't just once, it was the case of the straw that broke the camels back, except in this case it was a sack of potatoes.

So? i was put on probation for commenting on one of Yazhee's videos, no idea why, all i put was "Ahaha, Yazhee strikes again" as in commenting to a reference to star wars. In any case, it should work like that, if on probation and does something stupid, fair enough, if constantly wrecks havoc, fair enough, makes one bad post, just no.

 

[New Troll]

This is only an on-line forum community. One of hundreds. Not the end of the world to any of these peoples. Though I personally never had a problem with Mobius, Necro, and Empyrean and would even go so far as to say I enjoyed thier presence on these boards, I am also very new and have no clue about thier prior discretions.

The mods and admins on the other hand have been here for a very long time and have to put the forums as a whole over thier own personal opinions and those of any groupings and especially individuals. I trust in thier decisions and if one day that means I get The Ban then so be it. There's plenty of more homes to find on-line, even if they don't have everything this one does.

 

[scotth266]

Ok then: I just woke up, this got turned into it's own thread, I got about 30 PMs, and I need to look over 6 pages of material. Please give me about 10 minutes, m'kay?

 

[Kogarian]

For me, anyway, looking at the posts that got Necro and Mobius banned, the bannings are pretty well justified. Just because they're well-known, long-time users doesn't mean they should be immune to the consequences of their actions.

Pretty much what he just said.

 

[Ultrajoe]

*Puffs Ultrapipe*

Seems to me, you silly bunch, that you're only so passionate about the issue because you care so damn much about the community and the people in it. This is great, this is fantastic, a community like that is a dream for any administrator or company, and you users are right to want to defend it, and to take pride in it.

It just seems that this pride and awesomeness might stem from the very things you see as wrong. Perhaps, says the tin-can, this forum is the way it is because it is the way it is. And threads like this show that the ways things are is obviously not all that bad, because it's made you care. I know I care, and I only care about two other thing, my Dog and my Ginger Beer.

And when I find out a way to combine all three, the world will tremble.

 

[Ultrajoe]

Oh and another one, Darth Empyrean asked to be perma-banned, so why wasn't she?

Rule one of the internet (based on comon sense, not urbandictionary) is: 'Dont feed the troll'.
Rule 1a is: 'Dont validate the martyr'.

 

[thebobmaster_v1legacy]

P.S Sorry for hijacking this thread Krunk. Hopefully things will sort themselves out soon.

Also, as Fire Daemon said: sorry Krunk, that this has sort of hijacked your thread.

That's absolutely fine; you were being on-topic and I'd like a few answers too.

As for what you're talking about: Mobius got banned? I mean, this is like the fifth time he's 'left us', so I guess it's about time people shoved him out the door. I'm not surprised that he did receive a ban though; I'm more surprised that Cheeze_Pavillion didn't get banned first.

Mind you, both he and Empyrean had personal vendettas against thebobmaster and Cheeze_Pavillion.

He had a vendetta against me still? Hmm...

 

[scotth266]

Alrighty then. Now that I'm all caught up:

To the folks saying that the mods shouldn't explain themselves, while I certainly understand that point of view, I'm personally very much in favor of transparency. People seem fond of believing mods and admins to be some Big Brothery overseer that acts on a whim -- far more difficult to uphold that view when we're perfectly happy to explain the rationale behind any decision. When folks understand, they're more content. I don't see a down side in that.

I have no qualms about explaining any decision I've made to anyone who asks -- but what I will not do is make a public spectacle of it. It's not productive, helpful, or necessary, and usually just stirs up more chaos than it prevents.

This is exactly what I'm looking for. Nilcypher, Alex_P, and (on occasion) Wilson all typically tend to stick reasons up for the various things they do, even when it's not entirely necessary.

When it comes to probations and suspensions, most of the time people are willing to turn a blind eye: odds are the user got what he/she deserved. When it comes to the Bans though, a little more detail is in order, given the severity of the punishment. I would be perfectly content if the mods would just stick up a line or two containing various reasons for the bannings on the ban post: that helps the community understand what has happened, and gets us to move onward instead of having lingering questions about it.

There's also a slight matter of thread-locking inconsistency that I'm curious about. Around the same time every night, I'll see a whole load of lock-worthy threads pop up, but these will tend to stay open for baffling amounts of time. Another small issue is what threads deserve to be locked. Aren't threads of a sexual nature against the Guidelines? Then why does stuff like this [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.120471?page=1] slip through the net?

On that note: I thank the various members of the Escapist staff/moderation crew who have taken the time to answer the questions of the community. You have allowed us to open a discourse despite the touchy subject at hand (something that not all forums would allow), and I am grateful.

 

[Ultrajoe]

There's also a slight matter of thread-locking inconsistency that I'm curious about. Around the same time every night, I'll see a whole load of lock-worthy threads pop up, but these will tend to stay open for baffling amounts of time. Another small issue is what threads deserve to be locked. Aren't threads of a sexual nature against the Guidelines? Then why does stuff like this [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.120471?page=1] slip through the net?

I'm not a mod, but i'd guess they just weren't aware of it, or weren't awake/online.

 

[KaiRai]

=snip=

every now and then ill see someone on probation or 3, 5, 7 day ban, click on the link to see what post got him banned and simply see no reason for it. however, i trust that the mods had a good reason for it, maybe he got banned for something else, they just picked the first post they bumped into to link the ban to, i dont know, either way if you're a decent character you wont have issues w/ the mods, i know i havent.

Same, I have no qualms with them, although there has been times I've checked probations like "They got probationed for THAT!?"

 

[Samurai Goomba]

Hey, another topic discussing moderation! And it actually has useful information! Yay! Next to Krunk's Banhammer thread, this is probably the most helpful thread I've seen on the subject.

I definitely support transparency for bans, especially with a long-time member. Even if it's one sentence written at the end of one of their posts (doesn't have to be the offending post, if that one is too vulgar and merits deletion,) it's nice to have something to look at. Obviously the mods don't have to give any explanation for anything they do (this is NOT a democracy), but I'm just saying it shows a lot of caring for the community when they do provide a reason somewhere (which has happened multiple times, I was especially grateful for the explanation at the end of one of Mr. Groovy Pants' posts).

Honestly, I think I'm kinda in favor of Necro's banning. I haven't been around here that long compared to some, but I've seen enough to know that Necro was often toeing the line with flames, insults and the like.

The Darths I'm not so familiar with, so I can't really form an opinion. I'll just trust that the mods knew what they were doing with that situation.

 

[scotth266]

Hey, another topic discussing moderation! And it actually has useful information! Yay! Next to Krunk's Banhammer thread, this is probably the most helpful thread I've seen on the subject.

The irony is striking, seeing how this started out in Lord Krunk's thread before beeing moved out into its own thread (while I was asleep ). I'm glad that you approve.

I'm not a mod, but i'd guess they just weren't aware of it, or weren't awake/online.

Perhaps a call for a midnight moderator is in order then?