It could well be :D

Ha! Nice...

Lol I read some interesting threads today that had a lot of bans handed out in them. They were pretty comical....I remember my first infraction...well actually I dont...I just have what I wrote in a p.m. from a mod. Dont remember who it was directed at though..damn vodka!!

Maybe I shouldn't ask, but I am genuinely concerned, why did Tumor get banned?

It's a three-day ban, she'll be back in no time.

I've never had an infraction, and I've never been banned (except for the time when I asked to be). So just, what's the deal? Why is it that some people get infractions and bans all of the time? I don't get it.

Uh, because they break the rules?

Call me a retarded rectum... I dare ya.


I DOUBLE DARE YA.


Also, the reason WHY Tumor was banned was most likely for saying the N word for no reason in shoutbox.

She was banned for insulting a moderator if everyone must know. Nothing to do with the N word.

So was tumor given an infraction for arguing with me, and then insulted a mod and got a ban?

Transparency is a nice thing. Sure you don't have to tell us every inner workings of the mod mystery but it's nice to know every now and then when certain people get banned and why.

^ Don't agree with that. It's up to the mods when they feel necessary to use their powers, they don't have to explain their every move to us: If a thread is locked, you say why. If you're giving someone a ban or an infraction you tell them why they're getting it, so they have the chance to change their behaviour. But I don't think we as normal users have the right to a) demand information on someone else because we're nosey or b) impinge on the privacy of the members involved: Part of being a mod is knowing when to be discreet, it's up to each user (in my opinion) if they want to let everyone know why they were banned.

did you read my second sentence before typing this whole thing up?

I pretty much said some of that but just not in great detail like you did with examples.

Yes, I did. You said "sure you don't have to tell us everything, but we'd still like to know whatever we ask you about", essentially. When you are claiming the right to ask about who was banned and why, you aren't exactly leaving many stones unturned.

You have selective reading skills or something. I did say the word "certain" and the second sentence explains that I don't want to know why every single person is banned but it's nice to know when CERTAIN members are banned.

Especially if you are away from the boards for a few days and come back to see a friend of yours banned. You'd like to know what they did at least to deserve it. Sure the mods have the right to not tell us **** but that's when the peasants start to get touchy and end up creating a thread asking why a certain person was banned. It happens all of the time.

Yeah, and that's when the peasants can sit the **** down and stop expecting to have everything they want. If you wanna know why your friend was banned, ask your friend. I'm sorry if you think otherwise, but maintaining the right to ask when "certain" members are banned is equivalent to saying maintaining the right to ask when ANY member is banned, which is equivalent to wanting to know whatever you want about bans and infractions. The fact that you are only wishing to ask about specific members doesn't change that.

I'm not saying it's our right to know. I'm just saying that it would be a nice thing like a small bread crumb to throw to the peasants, when you are in a leadership position there are things that you can do to make the whole situation run more smoothly if you choose not to do them then that's on you.

Bingo.

I definitely support transparency to an extent. I don't mind telling you guys anything you want to know about why we make certain decisions. The only things I personally hold back are things that can be exploited by members, to negative ends. Thankfully, there are very few exploits, so if you ask me something regarding modding, it's a very high probability that you will get an honest answer.

What Freebase said.

The only thing we really ask of you guys is that you remember we really take every decision seriously, and it is discussed extensively until a decision is reached. We take into account every concern you guys bring up here. If a mod goes rogue and starts banning with no mod team consultation, we get upset.

With this zoo full of *******s, I'd suggest saying very little.

Personally, I believe it's nobody's business except the moderators' and the banned user's. The user in question may not want this information made public, and I think they have the right to that privacy. If that user makes it clear that they don't mind the release of that information, then I see no problem with sharing it publicly. Until then, I will be selective about what I share. I don't believe in naming-and-shaming.

This is exactly right. If the banned person chooses to share why they were banned, then so be it. It's improper and indiscreet for the mods to provide this info to the entire forum.

Yes, exactly. If the member in question wants to parade that information around, then so be it. If they would rather it be kept quiet, that's fine. Or if they don't want the info shared on the forums but instead want to discuss the issue with a few select members only, through PM or whatever, then they're ultimately responsible for any details that get out. You can't trust anybody to hold a secret forever.

Realistically, there are usually multiple people who witness the ban-worthy event go down, and it spreads anyway. After all, most folks get banned for something they do in public view of the community. But yea, if it's some kind of private thing, I'd keep it private unless otherwise requested.

I was speaking more about policy and addressing complaints.

I used to be a member on a forum where people were often banned secretly for unknown reasons and no one was allowed to ask about it. As a result I think I have a bit of a different viewpoint than the other mods on this. I'm more than happy to provide reasons for a ban if people want to know, at least in a general sense.

That sounds like it was some sort of fascist regime.

Haha. Pretty much. It wasn't that way when I first joined but it slowly evolved in that direction.

That's pretty much all I was saying, we don't need to know the very specific details but just a general idea of how long the ban is and when they will be back type of stuff.

I definitely support that. I think we had that discussion in this thread, if I'm not mistaken, and most folks agreed that it's pretty much common courtesy to let folks know when to expect their peers back.

I do find the whole 'why were they banned' scenario akin to a classroom full of kids at times all pointing at the naughty person and getting off on it.

Not always but why people get banned should remain within the mods lounge most of the time unless they have done something that has seriously impinged upon the forum as a whole and dragging peoples names up whilst they are not around to defend themselves is a little unfair.

There's nothing more annoying and time wasting as having to explain to another curious member why someone gets banned.
There is no reason not to have every faith in the mods here. Decisions aren't made lightly.
When a decision is made you can guarantee it's for a very good reason, without question.
Believe me, there are enough mods here to call out another if they think another mod is out of line.

Nobody is more in touch with what goes on in the forum than a moderator. It goes with the territory.

RT, that's not the point of me mentioning transparency.

I wasn't trying to say that the mods aren't doing a good job. I'm sure there is like a little council or w/e that goes on behind the scenes and several mods agree and maybe a few might disagree with the ban but it's not taken lightly at all.

If a mod finds it annoying to explain to a member why someone was banned then they can just say piss off.

There are other mods that would be more willing to talk about it as long as it doesn't discuss every single detail of it and it's handled in a diplomatic manner.

Majority of the time when people want to know why they got banned it's more to hear about the time length of the ban so that they know when a favorite poster of theirs will be back.

Yes some like to know what they did to receive it but that's completely up to the parties involved and certain mods discretion if they'd like to share that information or not.

In that case then, the issue was addressed immediately, as requested, in an appropriate fashion.

Last night I only read this page. Namely, jackhammer's post and my remarks were aimed at no one in particular.

Why doesn't someone make a thread/post/feature that shows members that are currently banned, the length of the ban, and the reasoning behind it?

Call it the "Penalty Box" and make it a sticky.

"The Hall of Shame".

yes The Hall of Shame is a great name!

Why?

It just gives them more attention & notoriety, which is what most of them want.
The quieter they're dispatched from the forum with the minimum of fuss the better.

Yeah, I will never agree to such a thing.

I am happy to answer you as to exactly when someone will be back, which is really all you need to know most of the time.