How are the rules enforced?

[The Black Wolf]

I'm confused about how the rules are enforced on this forum. There are two scenarios I will use to show my confusion.

Scenario #1:
A member comes into a thread and says something very offensive. It's not a flame, but it could inflict harm on a person in real life. That member receives a warning. Then, that member repeats that behavior within that same week or so. You report it and silence ensues. You expect that person to get another warning or maybe an infraction but nothing seems to happen.

My question about this scenario is: Is there something going on behind the scenes members can't see? Is it possible that not all infractions are posted in the infraction section or something? Now, the member's part is to report it, but when that member does it again, it makes the member who reported it wonder if anything was done at all.

Scenario #2:
A members comes into a thread and blatantly flames people. He and others continue to flame members causing the staff to issue 2 warnings in the whole thread, telling them to stop flaming people. Posts are deleted.

My question about this scenario is: Why were 2 warnings issued? I mean, wasn't the first warning and posts deleted enough to signal it's time for infractions? I'm not critisizing staff, I'm just confused. Is it two strikes and you're out or something?

And asking these questions is not in no way to critisize staff. I think staff here do a good job. I'm just confused.

Thank you.

[Ghost-Rhayne]

When a post is reported, the staff use a magic 8 ball to decide the outcome. It's a tried and tested method that has worked flawlessly each time...except once....

[DeviousOne]

When a post is reported, the staff use a magic 8 ball to decide the outcome. It's a tried and tested method that has worked flawlessly each time...except once....

I too imagine this is how it goes...lmao jk

All infractions are up to the staff as far as us member all we can do is report them as they instruct us to do.

You may see it as an infraction however they may not all decisions are up to the moderation team.

[Fijiandoce]

i think the staff try to allow threads to flow.

ie, not be all Gestapo and come down heavy on every single member.

i personally like that they allow the members to decide their fate
it also helps us know that they're actively monitoring situations

[Chille]

They pm someone saying I AM THE LAWWWW
and things fix themselves

[Blacksite]

I am going to assume, with your first scenario, that you were talking about the report you made the other day. We don't always give out infractions. Sometimes we simply edit/delete a post because it doesn't contribute to the thread. In your case, we didn't feel as though the user was insulting anyone.

As for your second scenario, I should mention that the staff don't follow a point system anymore. At least that's what Cuguy mentioned a while back. We look at the member's past behavior and use it to decide how severely said member should be punished. However, you will only see one warning being handed out before it comes time to actually infract someone.

I hope that answers your question.

[The Black Wolf]

I am going to assume, with your first scenario, that you were talking about the report you made the other day. We don't always give out infractions. Sometimes we simply edit/delete a post because it doesn't contribute to the thread. In your case, we didn't feel as though the user was insulting anyone.

As for your second scenario, I should mention that the staff don't follow a point system anymore. At least that's what Cuguy mentioned a while back. We look at the member's past behavior and use it to decide how severely said member should be punished. However, you will only see one warning being handed out before it comes time to actually infract someone.

I hope that answers your question.

In both scenarios, those answers don't make sense.

First scenario, that member made a similar comment to another member in another thread. They ended up with a warning. So when they make another comment like that, it's nothing bad? I do hope staff knows if a member actually goes out and kills themselves, there's a slight chance this forum could be held liable? If I had a son or daughter who saw that message and was so depressed they went out and took their own life, I would look into into it too, just like parents contact schools when that happens. That should be treated very serious and it would look bad on this forum if someone did harm themselves.

Second scenario, that wasn't the case and that's what I thought. After the first warning, I thought infractions should have went out or at least that's what I've seen on other forums. Instead another warning was issued and posts deleted.

[Silver_Knight]

When a post is reported, the staff use a magic 8 ball to decide the outcome. It's a tried and tested method that has worked flawlessly each time...except once....

Every time i come into a thread and i have something funny to say there's a member, Ghost-Rhayne, who's already first in the thread and he's already done it. Thus i'm left with nothing to say.

[Yuuichi]

Every time i come into a thread and i have something funny to say there's a member, Ghost-Rhayne, who's already first in the thread and he's already done it. Thus i'm left with nothing to say.

He is funny. Even in threads when we disagree on something I can not help but to laugh at the threads he posted with sarcasm.


On topic: I am curious myself because over the past year I have seen post that should warrant something but get nothing, and some that I wouldn't think would get an infraction get one.

[Ixion]

It's simple. For every report, we secretly ask F34R what to do.

But now that he's supposedly gone, we'll just have to ask ourselves WWFD.....What Would F34R Do?

[Blacksite]

First scenario, that member made a similar comment to another member in another thread. They ended up with a warning. So when they make another comment like that, it's nothing bad? I do hope staff knows if a member actually goes out and kills themselves, there's a slight chance this forum could be held liable? If I had a son or daughter who saw that message and was so depressed they went out and took their own life, I would look into into it too, just like parents contact schools when that happens. That should be treated very serious and it would look bad on this forum if someone did harm themselves.

Did I say it was nothing bad? The post was deleted.

But now that I think about it, I regret the fact that a moderator had to delete it since the post was tongue-in-cheek. That much was implied as it was followed up with a smiley face and snicker emoticon. Everyone else ignored it.

Second scenario, that wasn't the case and that's what I thought. After the first warning, I thought infractions should have went out or at least that's what I've seen on other forums. Instead another warning was issued and posts deleted.

Infractions should have went out for what? Please elaborate.

[The Black Wolf]

Did I say it was nothing bad? The post was deleted.

But now that I think about it, I regret that a moderator deleted it since the post was tongue-in-cheek. That much was implied since it was followed up with a smiley face and snicker emoticon. Everyone else ignored it.

I didn't say you said nothing was bad.

That member posted the same way the first time and even a staff member stated there were members who had a problem with it.

And even if it was just me who ignored it, what if someone even more sensitive had received the same treatment? I was actually was on a forum in which a member committed suicide. This is more serious than you think.

Infractions should have went out for what? Please elaborate.

Member: *flames left and right*
Staff member: Stop that flaming!
Member: *Comes right back into the thread and continues to flame*
Staff: *Deletes posts and issues another warning*

On the third step, that member would have been banned on certain other forums.

[Blacksite]

I didn't say you said nothing was bad.

"So when they make another comment like that, it's nothing bad?"

Anyways...

That member posted the same way the first time and even a staff member stated there were members who had a problem with it.

I am talking about the second time it was posted, hence the reason I brought up the emoticons because the first time he didn't and no one could tell if he was being serious. So it was a humorous but ultimately lame post.

And even if it was just me who ignored it, what if someone even more sensitive had received the same treatment? I was actually was on a forum in which a member committed suicide. This is more serious than you think.

No, it really isn't. If someone's self-esteem is so low that they commit suicide because they can't differentiate between something that's serious and something that isn't no one here will be held responsible.

Member: *flames left and right*
Staff member: Stop that flaming!
Member: *Comes right back into the thread and continues to flame*
Staff: *Deletes posts and issues another warning*

On the third step, that member would have been banned on certain other forums.

Please link me to the thread, The Black Wolf.

[Kuro]

To me it seems like baseball 3 strikes your out.

[Fenix]

You also have to remember this isnt (insert other forum), each forum has there own general rules and way they do things

[T0PGUN]

1. Depends who you are and how awesome you are.

*pro-tip* ; don't be so touchy on the internet.

(do i insert a snicker here just to clarify the unseriousness of this post?)

fuck it, here it is

[The Black Wolf]

"So when they make another comment like that, it's nothing bad?"

Anyways...

I still didn't say you said nothing was bad. I didn't even post that you thought nothing was bad.

I am talking about the second time it was posted, hence the reason I brought up the emoticons because the first time he didn't and no one could tell if he was being serious. So it was a humorous but ultimately lame post.

Now I do agree at the least it's inappropriate.

No, it really isn't. If someone's self-esteem is so low that they commit suicide because they can't differentiate between something that's serious and something that isn't no one here will be held responsible.

Okay, if that's the forum's stance then that's just the forum's stance.

Please link me to the thread, The Black Wolf.

The thread is locked and the posts deleted. Why do you want a link?

I know this is a totally different forum, but I was trying to understand and get a feel for the rules being enforced because it's a bit confusing.

I got my answer, whether it was good answers or bad answers or the answers I didn't expect to hear.

[Cuguy]

I will drop my 2 cents in here as well.

The rules in forums have exactly two ways they can be handled. Either we infract people blindly for each and every post that even remotely breaks a rule, thus taking out the human element and turning us into other sites (like N4g) OR we can let our mod teams use their judgement and apply rules as needed.

We have always let the human element in on this. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. It all comes down to how that staffer is feeling that day.

Some days I would ban a member at a whim because what they did was so A. stupid or B. a repeat offense. Other days, I would do as you have seen, issue a warning or send a PM letting that person know they are treading a thin line.

What is really important for members to know is that staff has a large forum where they discuss infractions and bans. Often, we discuss a report and decide nothing is to be done. You, as a reported may or may not see the outcome because it was all handled within our forums. Some have asked us to PM them about reports, but you can imagine we can't MAKE a staffer do this, as we have no way to check. With all my internet powers on the forum BWAHAHAHAHAHHA, even I cannot see PM's. They are literally private.

[x6Teen]

inb4 the 'list'

[squirrelbo1]

Everything is down to the individual staff member. When I was on it I was always really reluctant to suggest posters receive infractions for offences (because we were still running the points system then) and I knew if they got an infraction for x reason they could be gone for another small misdemeanor which seemed overly harsh to me.

You have to remember that staff want members on the forum and as such are likely to do all they reasonably can to keep things civil without resorting to bannings.

Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2

[Agriel]

I still didn't say you said nothing was bad. I didn't even post that you thought nothing was bad.



Now I do agree at the least it's inappropriate.



Okay, if that's the forum's stance then that's just the forum's stance.



The thread is locked and the posts deleted. Why do you want a link?

I know this is a totally different forum, but I was trying to understand and get a feel for the rules being enforced because it's a bit confusing.

I got my answer, whether it was good answers or bad answers or the answers I didn't expect to hear.

I think you should look at the report system like this, its a suggestion box, and thats it. You can report people all day long and we might not infraction any of them. The reason being that we don't always agree with what you say. You might see something that you think is offensive, and in turn I might see your reports as being overly sensitive about a subject.

I don't think we want a system in place where every tiny action is put under a microscope and over analyzed, that sucks and its completely pointless. I personally would rather one person get away with some stupid small troll post, then anyone get in trouble over basically nothing.

On the subject of people on this forum that might take their life over a forums post that was insulting. No offence but if a person kills them self over something they read on a gaming forum, then there are thing far more wrong in their life then being overly sensitive to an insult. Most likely they have suffered far worse in their life if things have come to that point. And while we wish the very best for ever single member on this forum, we are still just normal people and do not have the ability to control what every single member posts at any given time.

[RaY_210]

inb4 the 'list'

*is curious about this "list".

[DeviousOne]

*is curious about this "list".

You want the list? YOU CANT HANDLE THE LIST!!! Lol

I personally don't see a problem the way the team handles its moderation. They allow things to play out and if it gets outta hand like it has they will step in. Like a previous member said they allow you to choose your own fate.

When I report its always just spam I see from spambots there has been maybe one time I reported a member in a thread that got outta control most of the time Ill just address the member directly.

People just need to understand the rules and not be sensitive.

[Lethal_NFS]

We have rules? Oh crap, someone has been slacking......

[djpenny]

It's simple. For every report, we secretly ask F34R what to do.

But now that he's supposedly gone, we'll just have to ask ourselves WWFD.....What Would F34R Do?

banned everyone?