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Re: Forum Bans

Is there any way of finding out why you've been banned from the forums?

I tried to email the given address for information and the email returned a delivery failure four times.

I asked why I was banned in the chat (where I always thought such inquiries were to be made) and was kicked from the chat without answer.

I asked again and several moderators threatened to kick me again. One mentioned that it should be done via PM, but neither informed me of how to do that nor who to PM.

One moderator made a snide reference to Rule #15, which made no sense, because my question has nothing to do with that rule. I had no intention of challenging any decision. I was simply asking what content a decision was made over.

One moderator was kind enough to PM me and inform me repeatedly the the email address I had 4 delivery failures sending to was "valid." He gave me an alternate email address.

So I sent a very brief email simply asking what I had posted which supposedly violated the forum rules.

There has been no reply.

Is this such an unreasonable question? I ask because it's clear that there's absolutely no way I can get the simple answer to this simple question via the official channels.

Of course I'm not presuming that some juvenile moderator made a decision he'd be too embarrassed to stand behind now. But, precisely because I have such faith in the mature and professional conduct of IC's moderators, I'm baffled by this refusal/inability to respond to my simple inquiry. I only want to better myself and avoid such an infraction in the future, but I can't do this because I've never been informed of what my infraction was.

[I wish I could obey forum rules]

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Re: Forum Bans

Treat the mods like you would Ron Paul and you probably would get further.

Everything bad in the economy is now Obama's fault. Every job lost, all the debt, all the lost retirement funds. All Obama. Are you happy now? We all get to blame Obama!
Kemp currently not being responded to until he makes CONCISE posts.
Avogardo and Noir ignored by me for life so people know why I do not respond to them. (Informational)

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Re: Forum Bans

13. Do not make public accusations of rule breaking and do not discuss certain blocks in the forum
To improve the mood in the forums, public discussions of the above are not allowed. Issues and questions regarding rule breaking and blocks should be addressed to the moderators (ways to contact mods are listed in the FAQ).

Moderator action: Public threads on these issues will be removed and a moderator will be alerted to the issue.

15. The moderator's decision is final
The Imperial Conflict moderators have the authority to use their discretion and common sense on a case by case basis on moderating these forums and punishments for violating any of these rules. In special cases, moderators may delete posts deemed highly offensive to themselves or posts which contain a security risk.

................

In short, you can't really create this thread. The only way I can think of is to go into #mod, find a mod that is online and pm them asking for a review of the decision.

Insanity and genius are closely related!
*** Eltie for mod! ***
Failing Lemming of Teachings and Australian Cop Orgies: Gwynedd

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4 Reply by V. Kemp (edited by V. Kemp 10-Aug-2012 09:34:15)

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Re: Forum Bans

Yes, rule #13 certainly technically applies to some of the content of this thread.

But I'm simply posting here because all of the official channels (and more) are broken or nonexistent, Gwynedd. I went to #mod and they kicked me and referenced rules which didn't apply and vaguely suggested incomplete procedure (PMing a mod, who knows which) which did not answer my simple question either (one eventually PMed me, though it didn't help).

I understand that decisions cannot be challenged, regardless of merits or lackthereof. And I understand that such content as this is not supposed to be posted to the forums--but included in rule #13 is referenced the FAQ and methods of contacting mods, all of which have failed to answer my simple and reasonable question in this case.

Just as parts of this thread aren't technically supposed to be here, mods are technically supposed to give reasonable information, not kick people for asking reasonable questions, or spam them with nonsensical (irrelevant) references and snide remarks. Included in the rules is also mod contact information. I've tried what's listed in the FAQ only to be spammed and harassed. I've tried the email address given with the ban and the additional one I acquired from #mod, after being harassed, only to be ignored.

I just wanted to know what content was judged in violation of the rules. That's it.

I understand that I cannot post anything about my judgement of this decision to the forums. I'm not objecting to that.

It's not a lot to ask. I can hardly be expected to avoid future violations when I honestly have no idea what was judged objectionable in this instance. What I'm asking is simply the means to avoid such infractions in the future. Surely this is desirable, yet my simple question remains unanswered.

Completely refusing to even tell me what supposedly violated the rules isn't just bizarre, it's a de-facto statement that all rules and judgements are [and are intended to be] completely arbitrary. I presume that this is not intended to be the case, thus the opening question in my original post: Is there any way of finding out why you've been banned from the forums? This question does not violate rule #13, and can be answered without any references to this individual case (which can be edited out). This thread has a legitimate question and purpose outside of any violations of rule #13.

I've tried all the official channels listed in the rules and the FAQ they reference. I've tried two email addresses on top of this. There are no more official channels to exhaust, so I posted here. If the answer to my question here is "No, there's no way for you to know what was judged objectionable," and the answer to my original question is "Who cares what violated what, we just do whatever we want," this thread's lock/deletion and continued silence in response will answer all of my questions, albeit indirectly, soon enough.

[I wish I could obey forum rules]

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Re: Forum Bans

Have a look at your recent posts/threads. The offending post/thread will likley have been edited or closed. It should be fairly apparent which post is the initiating offence. Have a look in that thread, mods/fmods normally put warnings in such as (this is spam) or (language) or whatever. If that's not the case have a look at the last edited by, that will give you who edited it to ask them personally.

Insanity and genius are closely related!
*** Eltie for mod! ***
Failing Lemming of Teachings and Australian Cop Orgies: Gwynedd

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Re: Forum Bans

8 paragraphs to say:

Yeah probable is against the rules but I tried emailing them, then I tried IRC where I feel I was harrassed, a mod then gave me some info that failed to help me find out why I was forum banned, and so here I am seeking knowledge.

Everything bad in the economy is now Obama's fault. Every job lost, all the debt, all the lost retirement funds. All Obama. Are you happy now? We all get to blame Obama!
Kemp currently not being responded to until he makes CONCISE posts.
Avogardo and Noir ignored by me for life so people know why I do not respond to them. (Informational)

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Re: Forum Bans

If the ban was from the 6th/7th to the 10th of August I would suggest it is most likely for re-opening a thread on the same topic as a closed thread.

Insanity and genius are closely related!
*** Eltie for mod! ***
Failing Lemming of Teachings and Australian Cop Orgies: Gwynedd

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Re: Forum Bans

Banns can not be discussed at forum

closing topic ..

~" Peace can only grow where blood flows "~

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Re: Forum Bans

Spock, this thread is closed now so you won't be able to respond, but for what it's worth I don't think it is unreasonable to want to know why you were banned, but unfortunately the systems in place don't allow that to happen very easily.

I don't think it is the mods' or forum mods' fault.  From what I can tell, it sounds like most are simply acting by the guidelines mentioned so far.  That is, they know the rules forbid the public discussion of these issues so they tell you such, and then when you continue to discuss it they punish you for continued public inquiry.

The #mod topic is "Mods are the ones with the & or Green dot (this channel only) Forum mods have the % next to their name  -  Type /query [ModName] to contact us!"

This should be sufficient instruction to contact a mod or fmod.  Personally though, I think it is not necessarily ideal that we rely on a chat system for communication of this sort.  To me, these things should be handled via the website.  It is a ban on a feature of the website after all, so why not contest it through the same medium the offense happened on?

Unfortunately, that is easier said than done.

The mods and forum mods are doing the best they can with what tools they have.  It is regrettable that the tools they have are in some cases (such as this one) insufficient, so problems and miscommunications like what you are experiencing are bound to happen.  That best we can all do is try to maintain a positive attitude.

So on that note, I appreciate you bringing this issue to light.  I'm in no position to speak on behalf of any of the mod team, but if I could recommend anything it would be to simply hang out in #mod and keep an eye out for people with operator or halfop status.  When you see any of those people, politely ask if you can know why you were banned so you can know what got you in trouble, so you can know how to better behave in the future.

As far as official communication channels being broken, that is noted and I/we will look into ways to improve this.  We shouldn't take any opportunity for miscommunication lightly.

Again though, please don't blame the mods or fmods.  They are all working hard around the clock to keep things running here.  Blame the system in place, and we will do what we can to improve it.

Got a few bucks?  The Imperial Tip Jar is accepting contributions!

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