New Profile Category?

[Ideal Maxima]

Originally Posted by dragon wench

Oh Maxi, just give it a rest already, would you!

1. Stop attempting to be a mod, no doubt if the mods have any guesses that a member is actually an alter ego they will check the IP adresses.

2. If you had paid any attention to writing styles you would notice that Cuchulain's is entirely different to either Wrath's or Fwel's. It was fairly obvious that both of those individuals were not native English speakers. It is equally apparent that Cuchulain is, or at the very least, s/he has an excellent grasp of the English language.

... I wasn't trying to be a mod...
... I just took a guess, and I said don't take it into offense, didn't I?

But seriously, it seems pretty coincidencal that this guy starts about bannings in one of his first threads.... I didn't even know about being banned when I first came here. And I wouldn't have (or don't know anybody who has) enough patiance to just read what people write, and not say something myself.

But I can see DW (and other SYMians) is angered with me... for trying to be a mod or something. Even though my intentions weren't so, I think you guys would rather me not post as much as I have... oh well, I think you guys would rather enjoy a while without me, so bye.

[Weasel]

My opinion ( Like anyone cares, but this has never stopped me before ) is it leads to less trouble to get on with the posting, rather than dwell on the past. Most (yes there are exceptions ) have friends here who they would defend in case of a banning. Allowing this would just lead to more bannings. All are given the rules, some disregard them at times, some go over the limit and take the walk.

[Xandax]

Originally Posted by Cuchulain82

I do understand why there is no rationale posted behind any given user's getting banned- it is easier just to say banned, and leave that at that. However, whenever I stumble on an exalted member who's been banned, especially one with thousands of posts, it makes me wonder what happened to that person- they obviously understood the rules of the forum well enough for the first 2500 posts, so what happened on post 2501 that got them in trouble?<snip>

Posting a lot is not neasecarily the same as understanding the rules.
One can post a lot - while being within the rules, but still have neither read them nor understood them.

[C Elegans]

Originally Posted by Cuchulain82

Also, I don't want to step on anyone's toes here (in fact, I was unsure about posting this thread at all), and avoiding other's mistakes is always a good thing. It just seems like the spectres of past users are still hanging around, and all of us are familiar enough with fantasy to know that the first thing anyone wants to know from a ghost is what the ghost did to become a ghost...

Whereas I understand your curiosity, I actually don't think very much can be learned from the particular instances of banning of a member, since each instance I know of, has been very, very clear violation of forum rules, and the forum rules can be read here. Members, also old members with many posts, have been banned for instance for flaming of other members and use of more than one alias.

[frogus23]

Originally Posted by Vicsun

*SPAP*

This is for attempting to armchair moderate.

*SLAP*

This is for attempting to armchair moderate a moderator.

*SLAP*

This is just for good measure.

Dude, how d'you manage to misspell
'spap' twice in one post?

[Vicsun]

Gah beaten at my own game. I'll now edit the embarrassing typos.

[Cuchulain82]

Originally Posted by dragon wench


Oh Maxi, just give it a rest already, would you!

1. Stop attempting to be a mod, no doubt if the mods have any guesses that a member is actually an alter ego they will check the IP adresses.

2. If you had paid any attention to writing styles you would notice that Cuchulain's is entirely different to either Wrath's or Fwel's. It was fairly obvious that both of those individuals were not native English speakers. It is equally apparent that Cuchulain is, or at the very least, s/he has an excellent grasp of the English language.

I'm definitely from the good ol' US of A (see my profile; Gotham= NYC) and I haven't ever been a member of GameBanshee before, so please don't stay awake nights worrying about former members coming back for cyberspace revenge in the form of a mildly inquisitive thread

As far as I can tell it is pretty hard not to find banned members (see sticky thread- "Updated Anatomy of GameBanshee Members"). Should I list members who aren't here anymore, just to prove a point? I don't really think that is necessary, so just look at some of the older threads and see what names turn up.

Many cultures are defined by what they do with their dead, and if GameBanshee is it's own little culture (I would say it is) then the question is applicable- what about banned members? I don't have an answer, or even a good suggestion beyond what I have already put forth, but I did think the problem was worth consideration. This is, essentially, a place where people who like fantasy can interact with each other, and what makes for a better story than the former members of the proverbial tribe who have been cast out of the group? Whether this new category were to say something as simple as "Banned-Flaming" or as complicated as a 500 word summary of the events leading up the the banning is up to someone other than me; in any case though, there is the potential for both closure and dramatic storytelling, and that is what originally grabbed my attention.

Re: Xandax, C Elegans, and Weasel
I kind of imagined that the events leading up to individual bannings were relatively mundane, and that some users knew what they were doing, but what about the atypical cases of truly spectacular fireworks? Can't you just envisions a category saying "Banned- Over the Line" or somesuch?

Re: Ideal Maxima
I don't take offense, but you certainly could have been more subtle. I hope you don't react to every member who asks a tough question in a similar fashion. I don't know who Wrath or Fwel are.

If anyone has anything else to say about this I would love to hear it, but I will understand if people want to put it to bed. I thought the question was at least worth asking...

[Weasel]

Originally Posted by Cuchulain82

I thought the question was at least worth asking...

The best way I can put it... (to somewhat quote Fable) Imagine you are a guest of Buck and he asked you nicely to not discuss a certain subject in his house. I have followed this as close as I can. Knowing why a friend was banned will not bring them back. The same with a ..... (need a word here to describe a waste of space)

[Minerva]

Okay, here are some of the main reasons of banning.

A: Persistent discriminatory remarks, such as religion, culture, and race.

B: Persistent use of offensive words.

In both cases, "persistent" is the key word. If anyone make one remark, the member will get warning or caution from moderators first.

C: Use forums for their advertisement.

There are people who join here just to put ads on. For example, have a membership, post in the every forum available about his/her website, especially the site similar to GB, then leave.

It is allowed put ads in our sig, but Buck does not allow (and rightly so) the forum to be used as advertisement board. It is different from suggesting other sites' addresses, ie. mods sites for certain games.

D: Persistent use of alter-egos.

When this site was much younger, there was a time some members had alter-egos for fun. Regulars knew whose alter-egos, and took them on for laughs. However, as it often the case, some people use it wrong way, ie post more offensive comments and aggregate others with different id to avoid getting him/herself cautioned or banned. Hence, Buck decided enough was enough and all alter-egos were forbidden.
Anyone who created alter-egos after that were banned, including their main ID.
In case anyone needed to make a new id (such as lost id), contact Buck.


From top of my head, those were the main reason of the banning order. As everyone should know, they are in the forum rules, still, people always get curious to know these things, I suppose.

There are a few cases of uncategorized reasons, but those are rare and not particularly nice to talk about, not to mention it'll be long, long stories. Just think, if the above reasons were not enough, it must be something really wrong.

[CM]

Originally Posted by Vicsun

*SPAP*

This is for attempting to armchair moderate.

*SPAP*

This is for attempting to armchair moderate a moderator.

*SPAP*

This is just for good measure.

*SPAP*

This is just for good measure from me. I have discussed arm chair moderating with you in the past.

[dragon wench]

Originally Posted by Cuchulain82

I'm definitely from the good ol' US of A (see my profile; Gotham= NYC) and I haven't ever been a member of GameBanshee before, so please don't stay awake nights worrying about former members coming back for cyberspace revenge in the form of a mildly inquisitive thread

As far as I can tell it is pretty hard not to find banned members (see sticky thread- "Updated Anatomy of GameBanshee Members"). Should I list members who aren't here anymore, just to prove a point? I don't really think that is necessary, so just look at some of the older threads and see what names turn up.

Many cultures are defined by what they do with their dead, and if GameBanshee is it's own little culture (I would say it is) then the question is applicable- what about banned members? I don't have an answer, or even a good suggestion beyond what I have already put forth, but I did think the problem was worth consideration. This is, essentially, a place where people who like fantasy can interact with each other, and what makes for a better story than the former members of the proverbial tribe who have been cast out of the group? Whether this new category were to say something as simple as "Banned-Flaming" or as complicated as a 500 word summary of the events leading up the the banning is up to someone other than me; in any case though, there is the potential for both closure and dramatic storytelling, and that is what originally grabbed my attention.

lol! No worries, I didn't think you were a spectre from the past

Regarding the whole subject of discussing bannings, you are very right in your observation that Game Banshee, especially SYM, is its own culture. Indeed, perhaps even more than that, it is a quite a tightly-woven community, with all the tensions and alliances inherant to such a community.

Because it has long been quite a closely-knit community, basically since its inception, the friendships are often very real. So when somebody gets banned, the topic is an extremely sensitive one to the person's friends (and enemies), which makes for a very volatile situation, one in which tempers can rapidly flare or spiral out of control. Reasonably enough, Buck wants to avoid such a situation. Also, sometimes bannings can be very complicated... and have painful implications to real lives, so again there is potential for real upset and hurt.

In the case of people who are barely known, especially those that become members only to post porn links or something, I think generally nobody really cares one way or the other. Such individuals are quickly dismissed as idiots, and the board moves on.

I have to admit, though, the storytelling idea did give me a chuckle As I mention above, however, where banning is concerned I think it is perhaps best to "let sleeping dogs lie."

P.S. And you are welcome regarding the backup