[starman]

I was recently banned from a certain gaming forum.

For what you ask?

Simply stating that the facts listed in someone's posts was incorrect, and showed links stating such. I wasn't confrontational, I simply said "In fact, blah blah blah". An hour later, "You have been banned. You do not need to prove someone wrong".

I realize people are passionate here, but trust me when I tell you, we have it DAMN good here. Well, other places too. I found that the forum I was banned from has a history of *sshole mods.

[ghporter]

Thanks for noticing. And I'm sorry that your other forum was less reasonable than we are. Pointing out a logical fallacy or lack of fact checking is not in itself confrontational. In fact, it's often helpful—if the other party is open minded enough to be able to appreciate your help. On the other hand, as we've seen here, it's possible to be very confrontational on just about anything. It's all in the delivery.

[Ω]

Create another user. Fight the holy fight.

[starman]

Originally Posted by Ω 

Create another user. Fight the holy fight.

Oh, believe me, I will. I don't know if they IP banned me though. I've never done the whole proxy thing, it always seemed like too much work for so little.

[subego]

If you have a dynamic IP, all you have to do is reboot your modem.

If they dropped your whole netblock, then I agree, it's too much work.

[Chuckit]

I doubt whether somebody like that would ban a whole IP block. With how quick they apparently are to ban, they'd have the whole Internet shut out by this point.

[starman]

Originally Posted by subego 

If you have a dynamic IP, all you have to do is reboot your modem.

If they dropped your whole netblock, then I agree, it's too much work.

Comcast hasn't given me a new IP in a long time. My last IP was the same even after a year or two.

[brassplayersrock²]

On a forum I frequent, I've received infractions for off topic conversation when my reply has been one to a sub topic of the thread. Oh well. Some mods are more p(r)icky then others.

[Laminar]

Originally Posted by brassplayersrock² 

On a forum I frequent, I've received infractions for off topic conversation when my reply has been one to a sub topic of the thread. Oh well. Some mods are more p(r)icky then others.

[turtle777]

Originally Posted by starman 

I realize people are passionate here, but trust me when I tell you, we have it DAMN good here. Well, other places too. I found that the forum I was banned from has a history of *sshole mods.

Sorry, nothing against MacNN, I do like it.

However, similarly dumb bans have been handed out here as well. It could be a bad mod, a mod who misunderstood something, a mod overreacting, you'll never know.

MacNN is not exempt from weird bans.

-t

[Laminar]

If starman acts on the other board the same way he acts here, I can say with a fair amount of confidence that no one on this board has been straight-up banned for acting like that. No one. It's possible that a misunderstanding led to an infraction that added up to a ban for a user, and it's possible that mods took a person's attitude and actions in past instances into account when determining the proper course of action, but I can't IMAGINE someone with his reputation here being flat-out banned.

[ghporter]

Originally Posted by Laminar 

He's right. Being a mod doesn't mean you're perfect, just that you have a certain amount of authority on some specific forum. And some mods are indeed prickly or just plain cactus-like. If you're suggesting that BPR was talking about OUR mods, then you're reading his post differently from the way I am.

Now, brassplayersrock², don't go proving me wrong here!

[ghporter]

Originally Posted by turtle777 

Sorry, nothing against MacNN, I do like it.

However, similarly dumb bans have been handed out here as well. It could be a bad mod, a mod who misunderstood something, a mod overreacting, you'll never know.

MacNN is not exempt from weird bans.

-t

We haven't permanently banned someone for posting a disagreeing point of view, or any of the other odd issues mentioned in this thread. And often when we do ban a regular member for a while, the "precipitating event" is not just one or two posts, but a long litany of posts that show that they just don't seem to want to behave in an adult manner in one way or another. And they usually figure out that it wasn't really calling someone a cretin that got them banned, it was calling so many people cretins for so long...

While there have been instances where the staff wasn't completely coordinated on some issues (like the one you seem to still be nursing a grudge about), we work hard to make sure that these don't happen anymore. We've been a lot more consistent in the past year or so than in the rest of the time I've been on staff, and that has been helped by increasing the staff and doing lots of communicating before we act on a regular member. And for this, we sometimes get griped at for being slow to "do something about" a member...

[brassplayersrock²]

Originally Posted by ghporter 

He's right. Being a mod doesn't mean you're perfect, just that you have a certain amount of authority on some specific forum. And some mods are indeed prickly or just plain cactus-like. If you're suggesting that BPR was talking about OUR mods, then you're reading his post differently from the way I am.

Now, brassplayersrock², don't go proving me wrong here!

*hides cash bribe under my coat* I, uh, don't know what you're talking about Glenn. Ahem, I'm going to go home now to count my.... to do my hair.

[Timothy Leary's brain]

Originally Posted by starman 

I was recently banned from a certain gaming forum.

For what you ask?

Simply stating that the facts listed in someone's posts was incorrect, and showed links stating such. I wasn't confrontational, I simply said "In fact, blah blah blah". An hour later, "You have been banned. You do not need to prove someone wrong".

I realize people are passionate here, but trust me when I tell you, we have it DAMN good here. Well, other places too. I found that the forum I was banned from has a history of *sshole mods.

I'm thinking bullsheet. There's always two sides and I believe you're not stating the full issue. We're taking the word of an internet user!?

Link please.

[Laminar]

Originally Posted by Timothy Leary's brain 

I'm thinking bullsheet. There's always two sides and I believe you're not stating the full issue. We're taking the word of an internet user!?

Link please.

Well, his reputation here is not a bad one, so I think many will give him the benefit of the doubt.

[starman]

Originally Posted by Timothy Leary's brain 

I'm thinking bullsheet. There's always two sides and I believe you're not stating the full issue. We're taking the word of an internet user!?

Link please.

Right, because in the 8 years and 12000 posts I've made here, I've done nothing but lie.

I don't need to prove anything to YOU. The only other time I've been banned from an internet forum was way back when Spiderman was getting ready to come out on DVD and I voiced my opinion about keeping the original teaser trailer with the World Trade Center on the DVD. That was hometheaterforum.com and I was banned for three days for that because I called the entire community out on going back on the whole POINT of the community which was to preserve anything and everything ever placed on film. We spent years on alt.video.laserdisc asking studios to keep trailers on their laserdiscs and to excise it from a DVD for "political reasons" was pure bullsh*t.

And the thing is, I do have the original text I wrote at home. I could post it if I wanted to, but the people here know my rep and know that I don't have an agenda. The point in making this thread was to show that there are places much worse than here.

EDIT: I also want to make another point about being a good mod. One thing I've noticed at the forum I mentioned was that mods misinterpret criticism as an attack on the game. You can criticize anything; how else would you know that there's a problem with your product? However, the mods, IMO, have overreacted terribly in the last few weeks. There aren't as many locked threads as there used to be, probably because they banned all the "troublemakers", but people would post very good points and say "look, we're just trying to make this better". LOCK! BAN!

I'm sorry if you think there's "more to the story", but there really isn't.

[Dakar V]

starman killed my father and raped my mother.

[Railroader]

... and made me buy a firewireless MacBook.

[Dakar V]

starman singlehandedly caused the mortgage crisis.

[Dakar V]

starman is the real father of Bristol Palin's baby.

[ThinkInsane]

Originally Posted by Timothy Leary's brain 

We're taking the word of an internet user!?.

There are plenty around here whose word I wouldn't take with a grain of salt the size of Mount McKinley when they complained about an unfair ban. Starman is not one of those people, and I base that on how he has behaved here for many years. No link needed.

[Oisín]

Originally Posted by Timothy Leary's brain 

I'm thinking bullsheet. There's always two sides and I believe you're not stating the full issue. We're taking the word of an internet user!?

Link please.

Hey, I’ve been banned (permabanned, complete with network IP bans and everything) from a forum for ‘being antagonistic’ and ‘stirring up trouble’ (yeah, I know, I’m such a rebel). It happens. Some people just can’t handle the power of being a mod.

I’ve yet to encounter anything to suggest that any of our mods here fall into that category.

[turtle777]

Originally Posted by ghporter 

We haven't permanently banned someone for posting a disagreeing point of view, or any of the other odd issues mentioned in this thread.

Yes, you are right, these weren't perma bans, just temp bans.

I don't know what kind of ban starman got. Probably a perma ban, since temp bans seem to be more a 'NN speciality.

-t

[Railroader]

Originally Posted by Oisín 

Hey, I’ve been banned (permabanned, complete with network IP bans and everything) from a forum for ‘being antagonistic’ and ‘stirring up trouble’ (yeah, I know, I’m such a rebel). It happens. Some people just can’t handle the power of being a mod.

I’ve yet to encounter anything to suggest that any of our mods here fall into that category.

That place didn't deserve you! And what are you doing cheating on us with another forum anyway?!?! You should be banned for that!

[starman]

Originally Posted by turtle777 

Yes, you are right, these weren't perma bans, just temp bans.

I don't know what kind of ban starman got. Probably a perma ban, since temp bans seem to be more a 'NN speciality.

-t

I should have mentioned that. One month.

A _MONTH_

[Doofy]

Originally Posted by Timothy Leary's brain 

I'm thinking bullsheet. There's always two sides and I believe you're not stating the full issue. We're taking the word of an internet user!?

Starman's word's been good on this frontier a long time before you got here.

[Oisín]

Originally Posted by Railroader 

That place didn't deserve you! And what are you doing cheating on us with another forum anyway?!?! You should be banned for that!

(This was actually back some time around 2003 or 2004, I think—so before I even knew MacNN existed. Back when my sole exposure to Macs was my dad’s “Ah, that Mac rubbish” comments)

[analogika]

Originally Posted by Dakar V 

starman is the real father of Bristol Palin's baby.

starman is Luke and Leia's father, too.

[Railroader]

Originally Posted by Oisín 

(This was actually back some time around 2003 or 2004, I think—so before I even knew MacNN existed. Back when my sole exposure to Macs was my dad’s “Ah, that Mac rubbish” comments)

Great. So now you are saying you were with another forum before you came here. I feel slightly unclean now.

[Laminar]

Originally Posted by starman 

Oh, believe me, I will. I don't know if they IP banned me though. I've never done the whole proxy thing, it always seemed like too much work for so little.

Tell them to get raped.

[starman]

Originally Posted by Laminar 

Tell them to get raped.

Good one

[Oisín]

Originally Posted by Railroader 

Great. So now you are saying you were with another forum before you came here. I feel slightly unclean now.

I admit it, I was not virginally pure at my first tryst with MacNN. I didn’t think to mention it, though, MacNN being the cheap tart it is.

[Railroader]

Touche'

[starman]

Well, I've been perusing that board for a few days and found that others have been banned and IP banned as well.

I haven't tried creating a new account myself. In the offchance I want to actually use their forums again someday I don't want to screw myself.

And this quote from a user today:

"I've been using forums for years, and never got a warning until I came here"

Not trying to beat a dead horse, just keeping that one person in this thread that might care up to date.

[turtle777]

So, what's that said gaming forum ?

Just so I know where I should never go.

-t

[Peter]

yeah whatever you suck

[Oisín]

^ Uhh, you realise that he’s talking about a forum dedicated to games, but unrelated to MacNN, right? Not the MacNN Gaming subforum.

[Laminar]

Excellent job reading the thread.

[Big Mac]

I think Peter was joking.

[turtle777]

Originally Posted by Big Mac 

I think Peter was joking.

Don't think so, looks he really got confused

-t

[brassplayersrock²]

wouldn't be the first time.

[Peter]

Originally Posted by Oisín 

^ Uhh, you realise that he’s talking about a forum dedicated to games, but unrelated to MacNN, right? Not the MacNN Gaming subforum.

oh
awkward ...

[Peter]

I literally blushed and wanted to cry when I read my post.
awkkkward
just getting my feelings out there, you know?

[turtle777]

-t