The Banhammer and You: A User's Guide to the Forums

Lord Krunk

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Pi_Fighter said:
Lord Krunk said:
Zeeky_Santos said:
p.s. removing the possibility removes all hope after the first wrath, thus removing incentive to stop repeat offenses, the mods may need to take this into account.
Which is half the reason everyone believed that it was just a 'Get Banned, Start Again' type of deal. While I too think that that is the better option, the staff did clarify that there are no second chances.
Not true.
In some cases, usually months after any offences, a mod may take the liberty of removing all mod wrath from a user's history. Success depends on which moderator is asked and how nicely the user asks.
I know that is the case, but Wilson is the only person ever to make a concession, and that was once to my memory.

As such, I'm not counting on it that everyone can get a second/third/umpteenth chance. Not to mention that for me to say so would cause the Mods' inboxes to explode.
 

wilsonscrazybed

thinking about your ugly face
Dec 16, 2007
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Lord Krunk said:
I know that is the case, but Wilson is the only person ever to make a concession, and that was once to my memory.

As such, I'm not counting on it that everyone can get a second/third/umpteenth chance. Not to mention that for me to say so would cause the Mods' inboxes to explode.
The only time I've ever done that was for a very minor infraction months after it had been issued and the user demonstrated that he understood what he did wrong and stopped doing it.
 

Ginnipe

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Escapist moderators post these threads and a good amount of people listen to them (including me)yet i still find many people posting random threads or replies as if they want to be suspended/on probation/banned, it still perplexes me.
 

Lord Krunk

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Ginnipe said:
Escapist moderators post these threads and a good amount of people listen to them (including me)yet i still find many people posting random threads or replies as if they want to be suspended/on probation/banned, it still perplexes me.
It's an issue that will always plague us; some people just refuse to read the Guidelines, or are merely trolls. There are always some, but the majority of us are better than that.

In other news: 19/6/09: Changed link to Ban example in memory of The Necroswanson, and also in response to people wondering about Eggo.

R.I.P. Necro, it's a shame to see such a great guy leave us. That said, with that post you made, you sorta deserved it.
 

Shapsters

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Lord Krunk said:
Ginnipe said:
Escapist moderators post these threads and a good amount of people listen to them (including me)yet i still find many people posting random threads or replies as if they want to be suspended/on probation/banned, it still perplexes me.
It's an issue that will always plague us; some people just refuse to read the Guidelines, or are merely trolls. There are always some, but the majority of us are better than that.

In other news: 19/6/09: Changed link to Ban example in memory of The Necroswanson, and also in response to people wondering about Eggo.

R.I.P. Necro, it's a shame to see such a great guy leave us. That said, with that post you made, you sorta deserved it.
I can't say I agree with you, I really don't feel he deserved to be banned. Sure his post was a little out of line, and extremely ranty, but banned?! I have seen considerably worse and no bans. I don't want this to sound like I have a problem with the mods but I feel that they going rather crazy with suspending/probations. People are getting punished when they shouldn't be, and people that should be punished aren't.

Anyways, very nice guide, lots of useful tips and should be read by all members before posting. Its good to not have to learn these kinds of things the hard way.
 

Lord Krunk

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Shapsters said:
I can't say I agree with you, I really don't feel he deserved to be banned. Sure his post was a little out of line, and extremely ranty, but banned?! I have seen considerably worse and no bans. I don't want this to sound like I have a problem with the mods but I feel that they going rather crazy with suspending/probations. People are getting punished when they shouldn't be, and people that should be punished aren't.
Being from 2007, Necroswanson actually has quite a big Ban record, not to mention that he only just got out of a suspension (for getting into a flame war with Cheeze_Pavillion) to post that. If I were a Mod, I wouldn't be too impressed either.

And then he said that '[murder] is as natural as breathing'. And he wasn't saying it in jest.

Several members who wouldn't normally be banned have been for outbursts like that, see Pie and Fish Food Carl for examples (I can't think of any others at the moment).

All that said, I agree with you. I really didn't expect Necroswanson to be banned; he was a great member and I'll miss him.
 

Legion

Were it so easy
Oct 2, 2008
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Chiddy said:
Is there a thread with all the badges listed?
Indeed there is:

[link]http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.84454#1204277[/link]

Lord Krunk said:

Epic Poster: Known to many as 'Morpheus' for obvious reasons, this badge requires that you must make 1000 posts without incurring moderator wrath. This badge will only be available 2 months after you join.
*sighs* Still waiting to be awarded this one. 1000+ posts with no ban history (according to the Mods) and no badge as of yet...
 

Chiddy

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Jun 18, 2009
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Machines Are Us said:
Chiddy said:
Is there a thread with all the badges listed?
Indeed there is:

[link]http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.84454#1204277[/link]
Thanks for that ive been lookign for one for a while
also ive got a thread with over 50 comments, yet no badge??? nvm its up now thx
 

Fire Daemon

Quoth the Daemon
Dec 18, 2007
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I still can't get over TheNecroswanson's banning. It is no lie that he was a big part of the community in the early days (that being late 07 which isn't really that early) and the hole left by his departure will never be filled. I would like for his ban to be lifted but I know that will never happen. Judging by the manner of his departure I doubt he would want to come back if he was allowed.

I'm finding it harder to judge the reactions of moderators recently, especially since it seems that Escapist employees have taken up the banhammer (let us not forget March Mayhem). It was easy when it was just Wilsoncrazybed and Nilcypher and even easier when it was just Joe but now we have three Red Guards (Alex_P has been doing a great job, don't get me wrong) and the possibility of any staff member taking up the moderation call. It doesn't seem fair that the users don't completely understand what is ban worthy and what isn't it. The excuse that the moderators can't see everything and that the report function isn't being used is not one I believe anymore. I have seen plenty of people get away with bad posts, bad posts I'm sure must have been reported at least twice. Then we have things like the TheNecroswanson incident in which he was banned before anybody could have commented in his thread. I don't know, it just seems unlikely that TheNecroswanson could be banned for something so quickly. It might have just been timing and an attention grabbing title but still... it seems strange. Anyway, the lines between ban-worthy and not seem to be fading these days. I think something should be done to fix that, what I'm not sure, but something. Maybe restrict moderation to the moderators so that a more stable standard can be maintained? This thread certainly helps explain things but it doesn't tell us when a particular mod is in a bad mood and out for blood.

Anyway, this thread is really helpful. I'm glad someone made it and even gladder it was stickied. Well done Krunk.
 

Therumancer

Citation Needed
Nov 28, 2007
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Well Simulord, I've gotten nailed on Gamefaqs for talking about how politics have influanced games, and once for posting an obvious satirization of the Resident Evil 5 racism contreversy (at a time when it seemed people were calling EVERY game racist, and not just that one, just to get attention). Never in serious trouble though.

Simply saying that you planned to vote Conservative however does seem rather off topic.

Speaking theoretically however, I do not think that moderators should have any authority to do anything to a post that is on topic for the board at hand, no matter what it says, how it says it, or whom it may offend. I see this as part of free speech. If they create a forum dedicated to a subject that can be viewed publically (totally sealed forums being something else IMO) they should have to allow totally free discussion as long as it stays on that subject or flows a discussion on it.

I say this not because I've been banned a lot (only two places have ever banned me, neither of which had a good or fair reason, but that is other stories), or even suspended all that often (Gamefaqs is the only site that has ever suspended me, once for no fair reason, and once when I was admittedly pushing the envelope to make what I saw as a nessicary point).

My concern overall is free speech in general, and internet forums are actually only a tiny portion of it. See the idea in our country was to limit the abillity of anyone to control what anyone else wants to say (within certain VERY loose guidelines). The laws as written assumed that only the goverment would have the motivation, and abillity to actually censor the people.

However nowadays in "the information age" most communication platforms are privatly owned. The people running them have the abillity to very tightly control who gets to speak, and what they are allowed to say. This can range from someone loading a political discussion by only allowing morons to speak on the side the platform doesn't agree with, to just not allowing certain people or group the abillity to speak at all.

I have a certain issue with guys like Ted Turner, or some random forum mod, being able to control what I'm allowed to say to others due to their "private" stauts, when elected officials cannot do the same thing. I believe someone should be able to create a private platform, and keep things on subject, but should not be allowed to control the content.

I know to many his makes me a jerk, and I admit it's an extreme position (and one I haven't always held) but over the years I've come to the conclusion that private owenership rights of communication platforms have lead to incredible amounts of censorship, political bias, discrimination, and even negative effects on free expression in our culture when it comes to groups like the ESRB being able to "label" games and thus determine when and where they are sold and to whom. Makers of movies and TV shows being afraid to do what they want for fear of not being able to find a platform if they "do it right" or don't wind up retroactively inserting unneeded elements or characters to make it "politically correct" or whatever.

Truthfully, I see internet forums as being very minor in this equasion (I'm mostly concerned about larger networks and such), mostly included on theory. However when you see posts like this it simply reminds me of the greater issues.

In the end the bottom line is that if you annoy the people running a private platform they can kick you off, no matter what it was for. No court of recourse, no appeal. The goverment can't practically force a website to give you access. Guidelines are just that, not laws.

I understand why things are like that, but morally I find it wrong, and I find it mildly disturbing to even have a conversation like this.

>>>----Therumancer--->
 

megapenguinx

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A thing I wonder (and still slightly bothers me) is when I was suspended for asking a (really stupid question on my part) in the WarCry forums, after I appealed it I was still suspended over there but not here. From my understanding, any mod wrath gained in those forums is just the same as any here at the Escapist. I kind of find it strange I was not suspended from here as well.
 

Chiddy

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Jun 18, 2009
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Hey, um ive got a thread with 1233 views, and no badge? i know my views dont count, but I havent viewed it 233 times ???
 

Lord Krunk

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megapenguinx said:
A thing I wonder (and still slightly bothers me) is when I was suspended for asking a (really stupid question on my part) in the WarCry forums, after I appealed it I was still suspended over there but not here. From my understanding, any mod wrath gained in those forums is just the same as any here at the Escapist. I kind of find it strange I was not suspended from here as well.
The WarCry forums aren't the Escapist forums. Different rules, different topics, different mods and a different community. As far as I know, a probation/suspension over there won't affect you over here and vice-versa.

Of course, I could be wrong.
Chiddy said:
Hey, um ive got a thread with 1233 views, and no badge? i know my views dont count, but I havent viewed it 233 times ???
As far as I know (again), badges are released at particular times. This sounds more likely to be a glitch though; ask a staff member to get a bit more info.
 

megapenguinx

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Chiddy said:
Hey, um ive got a thread with 1233 views, and no badge? i know my views dont count, but I havent viewed it 233 times ???
Badges are given at 10am (can't remember the time zone though) the next day. So if it's from today you should be getting it tomorrow. If it's been a few days, yeah you might want to ask someone.
 

KingPiccolOwned

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Jan 12, 2009
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I still want to know what the exact definition of a troll is. Because people have reffered to me as that before, but I just thought I was being opinionated.
 

Berethond

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KingPiccolOwned said:
I still want to know what the exact definition of a troll is. Because people have reffered to me as that before, but I just thought I was being opinionated.
Google says

"
One who purposely and deliberately (that purpose usually being self-amusement) starts an argument in a manner which attacks others on a forum without in any way listening to the arguments proposed by his or her peers. He will spark of such an argument via the use of ad hominem attacks (i.e. 'you're nothing but a fanboy' is a popular phrase) with no substance or relevence to back them up as well as straw man arguments, which he uses to simply avoid addressing the essence of the issue.
"
 

KingPiccolOwned

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berethond said:
Google says

"
One who purposely and deliberately (that purpose usually being self-amusement) starts an argument in a manner which attacks others on a forum without in any way listening to the arguments proposed by his or her peers. He will spark of such an argument via the use of ad hominem attacks (i.e. 'you're nothing but a fanboy' is a popular phrase) with no substance or relevence to back them up as well as straw man arguments, which he uses to simply avoid addressing the essence of the issue.
"
Well I don't think I did that, as I recall I was expressing my genuine opinions on the subject, not necessarily with the intention of starting any manner of argument. Although I guess that those kind of responses kind of come with the territory of questioning the quality of turn based gameplay, and the Final Fantasy series.