What's wrong with these forums?

[Wile E]

green paint and jumper cables

[qubit]

I sometimes see people banned that I have found to be interesting contributors. However, there's often no obvious reason that I can find, which is quite frustrating and I feel other members have a right to know.

I think either or both options should be allowed:

1 The reason for the ban be explained, perhaps in the visitor's messages of the banned user's profile and for how long the ban is for. If there are sensitive details, by all means they should not be made public, but the general idea given

2 Allow people to discuss why particular people were banned

I favour allowing option 1 mainly.

Who's with me?

[twilyth]

If you're talking about PT, Dan said he was banned for 2 years. I think some of the references he was making once the ban Mussels had imposed expired were either offensive or inappropriate, although honestly, I have no idea what was being referenced.

I don't think it's appropriate to have a debate on these sorts of things unless it's obvious that the mods and admins are clearly out of control. And I don't think that can be argued here. The reason being that they are usually privy to more information that is publicly available in the the form of private communications, deleted posts, etc.

If you don't trust the staff to use their power judiciously and appropriately, at least on the whole, then there are bigger things to worry about.

JMHO though.

[jmcslob]

Someone mops up a lot...
***just saying***
knock it off with the Jedi BS
I see what you're doing...
I see...
even what you don't think I know, I do..
LuLzzz...

[entropy13]

Originally Posted by twilyth

JMHO though.

Juice My Hot Oranges?

[qubit]

Originally Posted by twilyth

If you're talking about PT, Dan said he was banned for 2 years. I think some of the references he was making once the ban Mussels had imposed expired were either offensive or inappropriate, although honestly, I have no idea what was being referenced.

I don't think it's appropriate to have a debate on these sorts of things unless it's obvious that the mods and admins are clearly out of control. And I don't think that can be argued here. The reason being that they are usually privy to more information that is publicly available in the the form of private communications, deleted posts, etc.

If you don't trust the staff to use their power judiciously and appropriately, at least on the whole, then there are bigger things to worry about.

JMHO though.

It's not a matter of not trusting, I just think it's fair that other members should know, as I explained. And no, it's not about PT, because we know why he was banned. More than once I've seen people banned now who seemed ok to me and couldn't find the reason for it by searching the forum, so I wondered what the hell happened to cause this. I think a brief explanation is right and fair.

[Frick]

Originally Posted by qubit

It's not a matter of not trusting, I just think it's fair that other members should know, as I explained. And no, it's not about PT, because we know why he was banned. More than once I've seen people banned now who seemed ok to me and couldn't find the reason for it by searching the forum, so I wondered what the hell happened to cause this. I think a brief explanation is right and fair.

I've said the same on TPU for ages (as the posts are often removed), but always got a firm No.

One thing I don't like about this forum is the Hot Girl thread. Poeple should go elsewhere for their porn, becuase mostly it is porn.

[qubit]

Originally Posted by Frick

I've said the same on TPU for ages (as the posts are often removed), but always got a firm No.

Thanks for your support, Frick. As GN has more relaxed rules, there might actually be a hope in hell of this happening...

Think about it, when a member is banned, there's a negative knock-on effect on hundreds of other forum members who followed that member and especially ones that were on their friends list. It's just a matter of common courtesy to let them have an idea of what happened.

For example, over at TPU, eric_on_web got banned a while back. I had no problem with him and had several pleasant conversations with him and didn't notice anything wrong with him. Again, searching the forum didn't reveal the reason for the ban, so I'd sure like to know why he was banned. If a mod would like to explain this ban here, I'd be very grateful.

[Triprift]

I think differently on bannings. I really dont want to know why a particular member was banned and see it as something between the mods and the member at hand.

[Bundy]

I agree with Qubit. It is clear this forum is not obliged to demonstrate transparency but I think it would be better for it. e.g. A thread that lists all ban rulings, by whom, for how long etc., ... so that members don't just disappear into the night. It is supposed to be a social forum isn't it?

[entropy13]

Originally Posted by Frick

One thing I don't like about this forum is the Hot Girl thread. Poeple should go elsewhere for their porn, becuase mostly it is porn.

Almost all of the pics I post are by girls of my age, or are younger than me. They're called "gravure idols." They aren't "porn stars" (for obvious reasons), and they start as young as 15. Some of the pictures I have posted there are of ramp/commercial models too.

Of the other posters there, well your criticism would become valid...

[twilyth]

Originally Posted by qubit

It's not a matter of not trusting, I just think it's fair that other members should know, as I explained. And no, it's not about PT, because we know why he was banned. More than once I've seen people banned now who seemed ok to me and couldn't find the reason for it by searching the forum, so I wondered what the hell happened to cause this. I think a brief explanation is right and fair.

I've found that if you are really interested, if you write a respectful PM inquiring into the reasons without being argumentative or judgmental, you will usually get a response that largely satisfies your curiosity.

Remember, there may have been private communications between the staff and the banned person which cannot be revealed and which may have played an important role in the banning. However I think it is likely that you will be given enough information to at least partially answer your questions.

I think the problem often is that people approach the issue more from the point of view of 'why the fuck did you ban my friend shithead'. And obviously that is much less likely to elicit a helpful response.

[erocker]

Originally Posted by qubit

I sometimes see people banned that I have found to be interesting contributors. However, there's often no obvious reason that I can find, which is quite frustrating and I feel other members have a right to know.

I think either or both options should be allowed:

1 The reason for the ban be explained, perhaps in the visitor's messages of the banned user's profile and for how long the ban is for. If there are sensitive details, by all means they should not be made public, but the general idea given

2 Allow people to discuss why particular people were banned

I favour allowing option 1 mainly.

Who's with me?

I'm not trying to be offensive or anything but it's none of your business. It's between the staff and the person that is banned. Then again this is General Nonsense where drama is looked upon with wonder and bewilderment. Then again on "serious subjects" pertaining to the forum itself and one's ability to post here could just lead to more work from the staff in having to clean up petty arguments over the issue. Extra work = bad. Twylith does bring up an excellent point, I mean.. we aren't all assholes.

Now on a bit of a lighter, yet similar subject I would like to introduce the idea of a "time-out" button. This could be a button used by the staff or it could possibly be based of some sort of tallying system where if enough people hit the "time-out" button on an individual, their avatar would change to a picture of a mentally-challenged person wearing a dunce cap and any posts they make would just read "I am dumb" (or something of the sort) for an hour. Of course, staff would not have these "time-out" buttons on their posts for the simple reason of because it is possible for us not to have them and agreeable to us this way.

[WhiteLotus]

I dislike that TPU staff are automatically GN staff. Or so it seems, correct me if i'm wrong. I also dislike the ends of bread, and I really don't like hot clamy sticky weather.

[erocker]

I secretly dislike all of you, hence why I am here.

God bless.

[twilyth]

Originally Posted by WhiteLotus

I dislike that TPU staff are automatically GN staff. Or so it seems, correct me if i'm wrong. I also dislike the ends of bread, and I really don't like hot clamy sticky weather.

Ah, you've obviously never had good sour dough bread - the ends are the best part.

[erocker]

Originally Posted by twilyth

Ah, you've obviously never had good sour dough bread - the ends are the best part.

A thank you for 100% legitimacy.

[WhiteLotus]

Originally Posted by twilyth

Ah, you've obviously never had good sour dough bread - the ends are the best part.

really? Sour dough you say...

To the shops!

[jmcslob]

Originally Posted by WhiteLotus

I dislike that TPU staff are automatically GN staff. Or so it seems, correct me if i'm wrong.

What did you mean by this? just curious.

[Damn_Smooth]

Originally Posted by erocker

I secretly dislike all of you, hence why I am here.

God bless.

Reported for an over-abundance of negativity.

[qubit]

Originally Posted by erocker

I'm not trying to be offensive or anything but it's none of your business. It's between the staff and the person that is banned. Then again this is General Nonsense where drama is looked upon with wonder and bewilderment. Then again on "serious subjects" pertaining to the forum itself and one's ability to post here could just lead to more work from the staff in having to clean up petty arguments over the issue. Extra work = bad. Twylith does bring up an excellent point, I mean.. we aren't all assholes.

Now on a bit of a lighter, yet similar subject I would like to introduce the idea of a "time-out" button. This could be a button used by the staff or it could possibly be based of some sort of tallying system where if enough people hit the "time-out" button on an individual, their avatar would change to a picture of a mentally-challenged person wearing a dunce cap and any posts they make would just read "I am dumb" (or something of the sort) for an hour. Of course, staff would not have these "time-out" buttons on their posts for the simple reason of because it is possible for us not to have them and agreeable to us this way.

Well, actually I think it is collectively our business and just shows respect to the rest of the members, as they have been affected by this too. You've just said it yourself, it's simply more convenient for the mods this way. Seems selfish to me. And no, I don't think everyone is an asshole, either. Please note, this is not a hidden dig at you or anyone!

What I've said in my request is reasonable. However, it's obvious that the power structure here ain't gonna change it's mind, coz they like it easy.

The dunce avatar thing? Not sure. Tell me, if a poster has the dunce avatar, will their post simply be appended with the "I'm dumb" phrase, or is that all that will appear? I think the appending option is the better one, otherwise it amounts to a one hour ban. Or maybe the whole idea is off. I'm really not sure on this one and would be interested to hear more feedback on it from everyone.

[twilyth]

Let's say that you have a public explanation for why someone was banned? Does it stop there? Very unlikely. Then you get everyone chiming in as to whether the decision was right or wrong and why and that creates even more arguing and potentially flaming.

But let's say a good argument could be made for doing something like that. What about the rights of the person who was banned? What if the explanation is at odds with how they saw things? What if the reason as explained by staff is something they find embarrassing - if not now then perhaps at some point in the future? What if they use the same user id on other forums and now their problems on this forum become public knowledge to every user on every forum?

This is why if you are indeed curious and really are interested in what happened, a PM is the best and really only fair way to proceed.

[qubit]

Originally Posted by twilyth

Let's say that you have a public explanation for why someone was banned? Does it stop there? Very unlikely. Then you get everyone chiming in as to whether the decision was right or wrong and why and that creates even more arguing and potentially flaming.

But let's say a good argument could be made for doing something like that. What about the rights of the person who was banned? What if the explanation is at odds with how they saw things? What if the reason as explained by staff is something they find embarrassing - if not now then perhaps at some point in the future? What if they use the same user id on other forums and now their problems on this forum become public knowledge to every user on every forum?

This is why if you are indeed curious and really are interested in what happened, a PM is the best and really only fair way to proceed.

I had preferred the explanation discretely in the profile, which would hopefully reduce any potential unpleasantness in the forum. But...

Hmmm, ok. It's the bold bit that's swung it. That's a terribly good point, T. With today's uber connected internet, it's probably fairer not to have the reason published anywhere.

I'm not sure mods like to be PM'd about it, either. Only they can answer this one properly.

[CyberDruid]

The problem with this forum is too much Specific Nonsense and not enough General Nonsense.

[Bundy]

A nonsensical statement on specificity