A Ban list thread in Site Feedback?

[starlifter]

There simply needs to be an info page explaining about bans, including

1. a list of some (but not all) bannable offenses and general ban times
2. what is expected of a person who is banned
3. what a banned person can/cannnot do (e.g., PM, surf as guest, etc.)
4. appeals/dispute timeline and process (method)
5. CFC's view of the banned (e.g., they are welcome back with no prejudice, but the offense should not be repeated)

------------------

Naturally, it should be encumbent upon the Mod and/or Admin to clearly contact the banee via a PM, e-mail, and/or chat (e.g., AOL, yahoo, ICQ):

1. what the ban was for
2. who did the banning
3. the duration of the ban
4. what the CFC'er can do (and not do) during the ban (e.g., Use PM & site feedback, no whining but can make appeal, etc.).

Also, state in the thread in question exactly what the ban was for and the duration (e.g., insulting a mod, posting porn links, refusal to follow CFC rule ____ , violating the forum-specific rules, etc.).

I cannot imagine a mod being unable (or unwilling) to clearly do the above notifications as a minimum. but if not, the Admin should.

So FWIW, I'm in the minority with AOA et. al. that does not favor a central public "list" of banees, though I think it should be available privately to the CFC staff.

 

[Dell19]

Do people get sent emails now when they are banned? Back in the good old days no one contacted me when I was banned so I had to find out myself. Basically if they do get emails now, the abnning thread would just be to inform other posters really.

 

[Magnus]

Normally I do not post on any threads that have anything to do with banning - but I shall make an exception here.

In my opinion you want to bring as little attention as possible to banning at all. If someone screws up, you immediately remove their posting privilages for one day, that way they can't spam anymore and the mods and administrator have 24 hours to figure out what to do with the person (definitely PM the person and tell them this, but DON'T post it in the forum - simply delete the offending post/thread and then move on). The thing is, the ban happens and the only person notified is Thunderfall, the Mods and the offender, there is no public reference to the banning at all; its all kept private and low key - and professional. The more attention brought to offenders the more it (spamming) will happen, because ultimately they spam because they crave attention, so in a twisted way, these public battles are exactly what they desire! If the situation is handled away from the public eye, the site will stay more focused as a community. I say keep it undercover.

EDIT: additionally, any mod should never have to explain his/her actions to anyone besides Thunderfall. This isn't a democracy, it never was and never will be. The mods have a hard anough time keeping this site clean and focused without having to spend pointless time debating with spammers (which also fuels their lust for attention).

 

[SunTzu]

Magnus you da man! *thumbs up* thanks for backing the mods

 

[SunTzu]

Arioch...you know what you need to do? Quit whining ya newbie!
You dare to tell the great and not so honorable() AoA what to?!
For such a vile act a 4 week ban and may God have mercy on your soul.

PS. I can't ban you cause i really don't want to and there's no reason, idon't think TF would let me
But for future reference, just post, us mods have eough things to do, so we don't need to listen to whining on how we do our duties....

 

[Alcibiaties of Athenae]

Some good points are touched on by many, but from my point of view I don't mind explaining why I have banned any poster, I have here many times.
I DO mind being second guessed by people who don't have all the facts at hand, or personaly insulted.

I have also stated why a public list is bad for the site in my opinion, and as the second half of the thread shows, I'm far from alone in this, and I truly suspect not in the minority either.

I will also say that a lot of people who caused trouble in the past and got punished for it improved greatly and became the real strengths of the site, only one or two were childish and resentful.

The truth is, I take ZERO pleasure in warning and banning anybody, and that banning is my last resort, BUT I am comitted to maintaining order on the site, as was seen, without such order the site degrades in quality and enjoyment for the majority of the posters.

I can cut up and fool around and spam better then anybody, ask Ming, we go to sites were we can say whatever we want to relax, but on this type of site, a certain decorum is needed and is enforced.

It's also my experience that many complaint threads are started by people with axes to grind against certain moderators, myself being a prime target in that I don't get pushed around by anybody, and that annoys some people, so in the end such threads are highly counter-productive.

Be that as it may, I STILL don't object to them, and I do answer in them.

But this concept in bad for the POSTERS, and just adds more work and more second guessing of the staff, for ZERO gain.

 

[damunzy]

I think the point that a lot of people are still missing is that Moderators have real lives also. Why do we need to go around contacting people that break the rules? I normally post an explaination in the thread that the person commited the offense in...I would say always but nothing is ever always....90% of the time I do inform. Why is it bad for the person that is doing wrong to hunt down the reason they were punished?

 

[AVN]

AoA, PH76,
I believe you are whining now.
Please stop doing that.
Both of you are doing a great "job" as a mod.
Please continue moderating.

 

[damunzy]

Thanks for the compliment?

 

[ainwood]

Originally posted by PaleHorse76
I think the point that a lot of people are still missing is that Moderators have real lives also.

You DO?

I always had the impression that your sole function in life was to pander to the every need of the posters, 24 hours a day.

God knows, you seem to be here 24/7.

 

[Knight-Dragon]

After reading thru the posts, maybe the idea isn't that bright anymore. Since the bannings are being justified internally within the Staff forums and to TF, I guess so long as the bannee is being told thru some medium, it doesn't really matter to inform the rest of us. None of our business.

 

[spycatcher34]

Hey smash you stole my avator!

oops uh delete this Please.

 

[floppa21]

Yah, I agree with Knight Dragon, although the idea of projectile vegetables at one in stocks sounds nice... Send the bannee an email explaining it clearly and hope they aren't a jackass.

 

[Dell19]

Another reason for not having it, is that it generally gets posted a few times about why they were banned and its not too difficult to find out.

 

[Knight-Dragon]

Problem is in the process of finding out, some posters get too agigated and begin to form into mobs. We average posters don't always know the full story behind every banning and at times it may look as if the mod in question has over-reacted or something. Then will come the big huhhah and banging and counter-banging betw posters, mods and so on, creating in the end a bad feeling to the whole atmosphere. Which is the last thing we want here.

The basic idea behind this proposed list is simply to inform ppl why bannings take place, before the whole thing gets blown out of proportion. Although has had already been pointed out, this method too has its own disadvantages.

 

[Kev]

The only pro's that I can see to a "Sticky" list of banned (which I would assume to be a single post that would be edited when someone new was banned or someone was "unbanned") are:

Those newer to the site could see very specific instances of things that can/will result in a ban.

Those of us who play in the Democracy Game, GOTM, or succession games could know if one of their members has been banned. In our Democracy Game, we were about to replace anarchywrksbest as a governor until we found out he had not been by because of a banning.

(This does not take into account the "train wreck" voyeuristic part of me either )

I don't include the concept that people can go there to find out the reason for their own banning. I still think that sould have been explained to the poster at the time of banning by PM or email. I know that the mods are busy, I totally respect that, but I can't imagine that there are so many bannings in a given day that a note couldn't be sent to the offender.

In any case, I think the pro's that I mention could be dealt with in other ways. I think that the idea of a sticky or something in Site Feedback just listing the bannable offenses (possibly even examples WITHOUT the name of the person who did that deed) could be a good idea.

For the Democracy, GOTM, and succession games, I think that if someone has seemed to have gone missing then the moderator of that forum could check the list in that the Mods keep and let the other players know.

So, in my usual lengthy way, I don't think that a public list provides something so useful so as to outweigh the negatives involved. Keep the status quo.

 

[gonzo_for_civ]

Now I think that it should just be chosen one way or the other. Either there should be a public current ban thread or else people should be contacted.

TF, is there a way to send a pm to someone when they have been put in the ban group automatically. Maybe some sort of hack? A "welcome to the ban group" pm?

 

[damunzy]

Originally posted by Kev
I don't include the concept that people can go there to find out the reason for their own banning. I still think that sould have been explained to the poster at the time of banning by PM or email. I know that the mods are busy, I totally respect that, but I can't imagine that there are so many bannings in a given day that a note couldn't be sent to the offender.

And I think the poster should not do stuff to get banned. But banning is not the only thing we do. I try to go thru every thread (which is impossible in all the Civ3 fora) and read for offensive comments and stuff that is posted to derail the discussion. I also deal with user requests to move threads, rename threads, and delete posts (these don't take up much time but they do suck up some). The most time consuming for me is banning some one, posting in Staff Forum about it providing links to the offensive post/posts, and explaining why this is justified to TF.

I am not about to waste more of my time justifying it to the poster that went on a cursing spree, decided to ignore my warnings about talking offsubject constantly (two warnings, one being directed to the poster that was banned is more than enough), or posting porno links.

Everyone step back for a moment and think about this....as I said before, we do have lives and would like to browse the BB also...not just the places where we are to moderate. This board is better maintained then 90% out there as far as keeping it civil. It will be less so if we have to waste more of our time making peopel that are butting their noses in feel better.

 

[gonzo_for_civ]

WTG PH!!!!



A truly inspired post!

The moral: STOP YOUR WHINING!!!!!

 

[Rodgers]

So are we going to see a conclusion here or will this thread go on for ever?

*cringing in expectation of severe ticking off*

Any chance of a VOTE??