Should persistant offenders be banned?

[Turnarcades]

I've noticed more and more there are several members hell-bent on insulting or starting arguments with other BYOAC members or creating topics to fire aggravated responses. As a long-time member and regular contributor to these forums I find it annoying when a sensible topic is thrown right off by an off-topic remark or subtle dig at someone's opinion.

Whilst it's good to raise normal or even strong objections or the occasional joke, flaming is still flaming regardless of how it's masked. Observing a member's profile to see how many times they're ignored is a good indication of when someone has genuinely been offended, and I've found several members have more than a few 'ignore' flags.

What I'm trying to say is that I think it spoils the general experience for positive contributors and stops many people reading the whole threads; particularly the less verbally articulate who don't want to waste time reading that rubbish or trying to defend themselves against a verbal assault on a comment they made. As BYOAC is the prominent site of it's kind on the 'net, maybe it's about time these flamers were tagged and gagged.

Saint you do a great job regulating topics but I thought I'd mention this to the whole community so you can see a few responses and give it some thought. After all the occasional sarcastic joke or friendly banter adds character, but 3-page threads of a two-way argument really gives me ball-ache if I feel I could be making a valid point to the original poster. 

[CheffoJeffo]

* CheffoJeffo runs to check how many members are ignoring him

FWIW, I think that saint and the mods do a good job keeping the peace -- sometimes folks step over the line (myself included), but then come back and contribute in a positive fashion (I keep meaning to get to that part).

[NoOne=NBA=]

I find it annoying when a sensible topic is thrown right off by an off-topic remark or subtle dig at someone's opinion.

Have you ever considered that maybe everyone else finds your opinions stupid? 

Sorry, that wasn't very subtle, but I couldn't resist. 

I used emoticons though, so it's OK because everyone knows I was joking now. 

[ark_ader]

I say lets find them, get them into a pickup truck.

Drive way out of town near some big trees, get some rope and hang em high!

That will teach those no good posters.   

There is nothing more exciting than a mob.

Lets go get them! 

While you are digesting that can I ask you to view this image:



This picture is a famous optical illusion, but makes my point exactly.

When does a point of view or a comment become offensive?

Isn't there always two sides to a story? 

If you wrote a letter or email, making a comment funny without putting a smiley at the end, would  the recipient laugh or be insulted?  The above comment is very true.  How would we know?

Attacking someone with racist or any slanderous remarks that breach the rules of the board, including swear words or picking a fight is a no no.  Laughing at ones misfortunes is just bad taste or poor judgment.

I don't think you nor I have the answer on banning, except the moderators.

They have the ultimate answer.   


BTW should this be on the Forum Discussion area...? 


Edit: Just changed some wording to make my post make more sense.........

[erictrumpet]

This forum is a lot more civil and under control than most.
The mods do a good job letting the animals roam but keeping them fenced in (or put down) when absolutely necessary.
It's not hard to figure out who the a-holes are, then you just ignore them.
I've found that most derailed threads can be brought back on track with a topical post that simply ignores whatever volatile/trolling remarks may have been made. It's when the well-meaning among us attempt to "right the wrong" in a thread at all costs. The cost is almost always that the thread never recovers. So just ignore the a-hole remarks and stay on topic. If it really bugs you, take it up with the person via PM or private email or a midnight fight to the death at an agreed-upon rendezvous point, what-the-fk-ever, just keep it off the forum.

Eric.

[CheffoJeffo]

I just realized that I forgot the obligatory "If someone is doing something bad, use the Report To Moderator" link at the bottom of every post.


Psst -- saint, do you think we could turn those off for my posts ?

[saint]

Psst -- saint, do you think we could turn those off for my posts ?

Heh...

No.

[protokatie]

My ignore count is two, but I think both of them are Turnarcade   
Anyways, of pretty much any forum I have been to, this is by far the most tame. P&R isnt, but then again that was why PNR was set up, to help keep that sort of posting in one place so it isnt all over the board.

[rrcade]

No I say we kill them...then we hang them.....then we tattoo them!

[surface tension]

It's a Internet forum and to be honest, a forum with fairly minimal drama. People have to vent now and again and they WILL get shot down for either being wrong, unpopular or both.

I'd never looked at the ignore count, but scrolled down the page to correctly find the most-likely candidate 

Anyway, you'll have a disagreement with a member in one thread, then they'll help you fix your trackball in another. (Most of the time). Balance restored 

People like drama. Haven't you noticed how everyone piles in to have their say when they usually wouldn't?

This thread is rubbish and you should be banned 

[ChadTower]

I just realized that I forgot the obligatory "If someone is doing something bad, use the Report To Moderator" link at the bottom of every post.


Psst -- saint, do you think we could turn those off for my posts ?

Some of us already consider Cheffo a turnoff.   

[FrizzleFried]

Holy crap...ProtoKatyie has two people ignoring her and I have NONE?!?!?!?  I must be doing something wrong!   

Turncades... first off bro,  nothing personal.  This isn't a PERSONAL attack... just a general one... so please... don't get offended and becoming my first Ignore.

But the bottom line is that if you don't like how this place is being run,  you're more than welcome to put up your own forum and rule it with an iron fist.   This place is one of the more civil ones I'm on.   Couple that with the fact that a bitchfest every once in a while is actually adds to the atmosphere and keeps my interest,  and well,  you can see where I fall in regards to you opinion.

Now,  what I find annoying here is every once in a while someone feels they can be a better moderator than Saint and post these useless little diatribes about how this person is ruining the forum,  or how that person is causing trouble and should be banned....

Bottom line bro...

[TPB]

Wow, Frizzle, that's an amazing contraption.  Reminds me of the "Mouse Trap" game I used to love when I was a kid.   

Turnarcades, as a vendor, surely your time would be better spent making cab's, than examining the "ignore counts" of every member ?  To each his own, I guess.

BTW, you make nice cabs, for a value-for-money price.   

Given you've raised the subject though, you aroused my curiosity ... I notice one poster in this thread has an ignore count of about 6.  I find that member's posts to be quite insightful on many occasions, so I've nothing against them.  That count could have been manipulated by someone holding a grudge against them ... someone could have created a handful of "ghost" profiles in addition to their regular profile, then "ignore" that member with each of their "ghost" profiles, to artificially boost their ignore count.  Far fetched perhaps, but anything's possible.

Personally, I don't use that ignore feature.  Nor do most other members, from what I suspect.

Everyone has gripes with the odd member from time to time, myself included, but that's life.  We're all big enough to handle it.  And these things are quickly forgotten ... often you're on the "best of terms" with that person a few months down the track.  What's the point of holding grudges ?

If a member chooses to permanently ignore someone, they've chosen to maintain a permanent grudge against them.  That's a dummy spit.

Just my 2 cents.

[CheffoJeffo]

Everyone has gripes with the odd member from time to time, myself included, but that's life.  We're all big enough to handle it.  And these things are quickly forgotten ... often you're on the "best of terms" with that person a few months down the track.  What's the point of holding grudges ?

I can't recall any two active members having a bigger spat than I had with Frizzle a ways back (which was totally my fault with respect to initiation) and we get along just fine now, even if he does have an odd member (courtesy of suits00).

 

[HaRuMaN]

I can't recall any two active members having a bigger spat than I had with Frizzle a ways back (which was totally my fault with respect to initiation) and we get along just fine now, even if he does have an odd member (courtesy of suits00).

 

Hahaha...

I say we ban persistant whiners instead. 

[AtomSmasher]

Given you've raised the subject though, you aroused my curiosity ... I notice one poster in this thread has an ignore count of about 6.  I find that member's posts to be quite insightful on many occasions, so I've nothing against them.  That count could have been manipulated by someone holding a grudge against them ... someone could have created a handful of "ghost" profiles in addition to their regular profile, then "ignore" that member with each of their "ghost" profiles, to artificially boost their ignore count.  Far fetched perhaps, but anything's possible.

I assume your talking about ark_ader, and I'll say that I doubt it's a fabricated ignore count because he's been stirring up a fair amount of trouble in the EE section (specifically the "robbed" thread).  I know I temporarily added him to my ignore list (first person I ever added to it) because he seemed to be doing exactly what the original post was talking about and was even warned by the admins to stop.  That's the great thing about the ignore feature, when your tired of hearing someone speak, you can just shut them out for a while.

Overall I think the admins do a pretty good job here.  For the most part they'll just shut down a thread if it starts spiraling toward the toilet, but I have seen them ban a number of trouble makers over the years on the rare occasion it was required.  It just takes an awful lot to get permanently banned, which is how it should be.

[Thenasty]

" I didn't do it"   

[ChadTower]

It ain't broke.  Don't fix it.  The amount of infighting here has actually gone pretty far down compared to what it was a couple years ago.

[erictrumpet]

I never even knew there was an ignore feature. Doesn't that make it sort of confusing to read certain threads, with a bunch of posts missing? And can't you see the ignored person's words anyway when another user (who you are not ignoring) quotes them? If an ignored person starts a thread, will you even see that thread at all, or just the replies from non-ignored people? I personally prefer to use the ignore function in my head: I remember So-and-so is a jerk, and I just skim or skip their posts. Works great

Eric.

[pinballwizard79]

First rule about fight club..............there is no fight club.

[grantspain]

i don't think this forum is too bad compared to some others,you will always get a few tits so its best to ignore them
another forum which i mod has had a couple of big flare ups,one i dealt with as it was in the tech section(basically ban threats) and another that ended up in a innocent party leaving
funny how grown men resort to childish bickering on the internet,or is it that they know that the other person is not in striking distance

[FrizzleFried]

Everyone has gripes with the odd member from time to time, myself included, but that's life.  We're all big enough to handle it.  And these things are quickly forgotten ... often you're on the "best of terms" with that person a few months down the track.  What's the point of holding grudges ?

I can't recall any two active members having a bigger spat than I had with Frizzle a ways back (which was totally my fault with respect to initiation) and we get along just fine now, even if he does have an odd member (courtesy of suits00).

 

Hehehe...it wasn't THAT big of a spat.  Not like I had to pull out the yo-momma snaps or anything.

Hows this for Irony - No one is ignoring me,  but Turncades has one.  Does that mean he's a bigger troublemaker than I am?  Say it isn't so!   

[SavannahLion]

I never even knew there was an ignore feature. Doesn't that make it sort of confusing to read certain threads, with a bunch of posts missing? And can't you see the ignored person's words anyway when another user (who you are not ignoring) quotes them? If an ignored person starts a thread, will you even see that thread at all, or just the replies from non-ignored people? I personally prefer to use the ignore function in my head: I remember So-and-so is a jerk, and I just skim or skip their posts. Works great

Eric.

You still see their posts and their threads. Whatever text they write is replaced with, "This user is ignored."

There is an option to click to temporarily see whatever it is they wrote in a particular post and another to remove the ignore.

With exception to quotes, for the most part it works out pretty well. I find it's easier to let the computer filter the crap out and let me choose to see it than it is to have the computer show me everything and for me to filter the crap.

One thing I would like to see is an option to selectively filter out users Avatars. For the most part, everyones avatars is pretty decent, but once in a while, an avatar comes up that is NSFW or just damn right annoying. I have general purpose filters with my browser and OS that filters that crap out but it's a mishmash of solutions and somewhat tedious to configure.

[whammoed]

Uh, what should we do with members who post threads in the wrong forum? 

Forum/Website Discussion

[HaRuMaN]

Uh, what should we do with members who post threads in the wrong forum? 

Forum/Website Discussion

   Beat them severely about the head and neck?

50 lashes with a wet noodle?

[ark_ader]

Given you've raised the subject though, you aroused my curiosity ... I notice one poster in this thread has an ignore count of about 6.  I find that member's posts to be quite insightful on many occasions, so I've nothing against them.  That count could have been manipulated by someone holding a grudge against them ... someone could have created a handful of "ghost" profiles in addition to their regular profile, then "ignore" that member with each of their "ghost" profiles, to artificially boost their ignore count.  Far fetched perhaps, but anything's possible.

I assume your talking about ark_ader, and I'll say that I doubt it's a fabricated ignore count because he's been stirring up a fair amount of trouble in the EE section (specifically the "robbed" thread).  I know I temporarily added him to my ignore list (first person I ever added to it) because he seemed to be doing exactly what the original post was talking about and was even warned by the admins to stop.  That's the great thing about the ignore feature, when your tired of hearing someone speak, you can just shut them out for a while.

Overall I think the admins do a pretty good job here.  For the most part they'll just shut down a thread if it starts spiraling toward the toilet, but I have seen them ban a number of trouble makers over the years on the rare occasion it was required.  It just takes an awful lot to get permanently banned, which is how it should be.

I'm not bothered about those who put me on ignore, its the ones that don't which have the most to say about me, and keep me in check.  Yes I can be a jerk, tool, (fill in here), but I can also be someone of help when they need it or compassion when I see or feel the need to give it.

You think I'm doing a bad job on making my point, then PM me with your view and I will respond in a civil manner, just don't make me apologise for something I believe in.  It is not going to happen.

I can give you a handful of members here that still owe me apologies for speaking obscenely and negatively, but when I'm caught bickering I do try to repent.  Banning people who have an opinion (granted not a nice one at the time) for something that is trivial to them is petty.  Now if I went and did something that would get me sued, well all the fool me.

Turncades needs to understand that he is a member/vendor who is (IMHO) making a negative comment and challenging Saint's rules on a message board that generates interest in his trade and possibly sales.  I do not sell online like he does so I can afford to throw my views into the mix.  People seem to buy my sub mini cabs, but it doesn't give me license to be an arse on Saint's site.  On the contrary I make quite a few friends here too. 

Its my perception of life and making comments that are not always PC with you guys that gets you all fired up.  You make an assumption that its ok to post something personal, but reels in horror when someone pokes at their situation with a stick.  The better the devil you know than the devil you don't.  It applies to so many here, that I dare not touch the ignore button ever again.

One thing I would like to see is an option to selectively filter out users Avatars. For the most part, everyones avatars is pretty decent, but once in a while, an avatar comes up that is NSFW or just damn right annoying. I have general purpose filters with my browser and OS that filters that crap out but it's a mishmash of solutions and somewhat tedious to configure.

You know I have the same feeling about some others who use that damn flashing spider avatar.  That thing really wierds me out.  And I've said it before - but the Dr. Shipman Avatar has to go bye bye.

On that note I think I will go bye bye too.  So see ya on EE in a few months.   

[AtomSmasher]

I was bored, so I decided to see what you said in this thread.

Laughing at ones misfortunes is just bad taste or poor judgment.

Said by the guy who found another forum member being robbed so hilarious that he had to tell his friends, so that they could laugh at him together.  No, I don't think what you said in the other thread should be a bannable offense, but, as you say here, it was in very bad taste.

[Turnarcades]

Must just be me then; seems not many are bothered by it all. Since my life-changing illness last year I've just got a different outlook on life and wish everyone could be nice to each other all the time. Idealistic I know, but you can't shoot a guy for wishing for a better world.

Personally I have never set a member to ignore, though a couple have mentioned it here - I've never felt the need to bother as I know it does no good and if I can't stand someone that much I can just turn off my PC and go back to the real world, which some people don't. I've always just been the type of person to speak up for those who can't or wont stick up for themselves for whatever reason, and a few friends had passed comments to me about the forum so I thought I'd raise it as I'm frequently here.

Last thing to mention is that I know I'm a vendor and they aren't generally big participants here unless they're selling something or defending a product of theirs, but I was contributing here long before business took off because I'm an enthusiast. I always point customers in this direction and encourage people to have a go themselves first and do my best not to sound like I'm peddling my wares most of the time (I have a specific thread  for that!). Not trying to come off as a moaner with this thread, but hopefully it shows I care about more than just the business side of gaming!

Thanks for everyone's comments on this by the way - at least I know how the land lies and maybe at least I've inclined some of those spoilers to hold back a bit at least.

Back to arcade comments now I guess.......anyone know if the mini-wheel attachment for the turbo-twist spinner is any good?.................. 

[ArtsNFartsNCrafts]

I say lets find them, get them into a pickup truck.

Drive way out of town near some big trees, get some rope and hang em high!

That will teach those no good posters.   

There is nothing more exciting than a mob.

Lets go get them! 

While you are digesting that can I ask you to view this image:



This picture is a famous optical illusion, but makes my point exactly.

From one angle, it's a lovely woman...from another angle....Jumpman.

[NoOne=NBA=]

Hows this for Irony - No one is ignoring me

I am NOT, you big fat liar!!!!   

[protokatie]

Personally I have never set a member to ignore, though a couple have mentioned it here

The mystery just got a bit deeper... For the life of me, I can't fathom who would ignore me, as you are the only one I ever had "words" with on this forum.... Time to put on the detective hat, I guess...

[extendedplayarcade]

Must just be me then; seems not many are bothered by it all. Since my life-changing illness last year I've just got a different outlook on life and wish everyone could be nice to each other all the time. Idealistic I know, but you can't shoot a guy for wishing for a better world.

Personally I have never set a member to ignore, though a couple have mentioned it here - I've never felt the need to bother as I know it does no good and if I can't stand someone that much I can just turn off my PC and go back to the real world, which some people don't. I've always just been the type of person to speak up for those who can't or wont stick up for themselves for whatever reason, and a few friends had passed comments to me about the forum so I thought I'd raise it as I'm frequently here.

Last thing to mention is that I know I'm a vendor and they aren't generally big participants here unless they're selling something or defending a product of theirs, but I was contributing here long before business took off because I'm an enthusiast. I always point customers in this direction and encourage people to have a go themselves first and do my best not to sound like I'm peddling my wares most of the time (I have a specific thread  for that!). Not trying to come off as a moaner with this thread, but hopefully it shows I care about more than just the business side of gaming!

Thanks for everyone's comments on this by the way - at least I know how the land lies and maybe at least I've inclined some of those spoilers to hold back a bit at least.

Back to arcade comments now I guess.......anyone know if the mini-wheel attachment for the turbo-twist spinner is any good?.................. 

Is it rude to ask what your life changing illness was?  I hope you are feeling better now and I mean that with the utmost respect.

I do find the older I get the more I wish people could see both sides where people are coming from but yet again if we force people to do thing we are just killing the whole part of what makes life so interesting.

If we where all the same then what would we all talk about.  Variety is the spice of life.  

Only thing I could suggest that would help is put everyone's age up.  Most comments that sound ignorent are from people that haven't experience it.  I know age isn't a major indication of intelligence but i never heard anyone say "listen to the young wise man".  or something like that.  I know I read something in a fortune cookie that was very wise and it had to do with an old man.

What do i know.  I just want to build some cool mame stuff and have fun.  

Brent
www.extendedplayarcade.com

[TPB]

My ignore count is two, but I think both of them are Turnarcade   

Personally I have never set a member to ignore

The mystery just got a bit deeper... For the life of me, I can't fathom who would ignore me, as you are the only one I ever had "words" with on this forum.... Time to put on the detective hat, I guess...

We live in mysterious times.

Protokatie, you said your ignore count was 2 yesterday ?  It's now risen to 3 !!

What the hell ?!?   

I swear, someone's playing silly buggers with these ignore counts.

They're not worth the paper they're written on  (or "the pixels they're written with").

[Spaced Ace]

Hehehe...it wasn't THAT big of a spat.  Not like I had to pull out the yo-momma snaps or anything.

Hows this for Irony - No one is ignoring me,  but Turncades has one.  Does that mean he's a bigger troublemaker than I am?  Say it isn't so!   

Personally Frizzle, you come off as a straight out butthole and you talk down to people, HOWEVER, I find what you say, most times, invaluable, very helpful and extremely informal, I just don't like your delivery system is all.  Other than that, I don't see anything wrong with the forums, IMO.  You are one of the guys I would definatly come to and ask, "How the Hell do I install this thing?" without a second of thought, despite our personal spat we had.

[fjl]

I bet I'm part of the reason why this thread was created. 

Rock on people! 

[protokatie]

My ignore count is two, but I think both of them are Turnarcade   

Personally I have never set a member to ignore

The mystery just got a bit deeper... For the life of me, I can't fathom who would ignore me, as you are the only one I ever had "words" with on this forum.... Time to put on the detective hat, I guess...

We live in mysterious times.

Protokatie, you said your ignore count was 2 yesterday ?  It's now risen to 3 !!

What the hell ?!?   

I swear, someone's playing silly buggers with these ignore counts.

They're not worth the paper they're written on  (or "the pixels they're written with").

Wow, that is strange. It is like some people will ignore someone just to bring the count up. In fact, the first two ignores I got happened mere minutes after I posted that I had no ignores (this was like a few months ago). Now just after me stating I had 2 ignores, someone else ignores me. I seriously think that some people here have multiple accounts, and are abusing the system....

Maybe Saint should remove the display of how many people are ignoring a user, as it seems to have become some sort of game (and as such could be slanderous, esp to those on here who sell items EG DM, theNasty etc if someone where to sabatage their reputation by giving "fake" ignores)

[surface tension]

I bet I'm part of the reason why this thread was created. 

Rock on people! 

Ignores == 0.
You must work harder 

[CheffoJeffo]

I swear, someone's playing silly buggers with these ignore counts.

Now who would do such a thing ? 

Someone who would play with those settings for their own amusement should be REPORTED and BANNED with a side of PM SENT !

wait a minute ... saint did say that he can't tell who is doing the ignoring, right ?

[ChadTower]

Must just be me then; seems not many are bothered by it all. Since my life-changing illness last year I've just got a different outlook on life and wish everyone could be nice to each other all the time. Idealistic I know, but you can't shoot a guy for wishing for a better world.

You want to make a better world by exiling people you don't agree with?  Those are the types of good intentions that pave the road to hell, bro.

[polaris]

. Idealistic I know, but you can't shoot a guy for wishing for a better world.

tell that to JFK and martin luther king

[fjl]

I bet I'm part of the reason why this thread was created. 

Rock on people! 

Ignores == 0.
You must work harder 

No, I got 1 now. Happened after posting in this thread. 

[ahofle]

Wow, it actually let me ignore saint.   

[Dartful Dodger]

Protokatie, you said your ignore count was 2 yesterday ?  It's now risen to 3 !!

My count would go up and down.  I assumed it was because someone would ignore me out of principle, but then un-ignore me to see what I wrote, then ignore me again.

Maybe Saint should remove the display of how many people are ignoring a user, as it seems to have become some sort of game

I’d rather go the other way and have a high score list.

By checking the usual suspects I’m in the lead.

[CheffoJeffo]

By checking the usual suspects I’m in the lead.

Nuh uh ...

[pinballwizard79]

I ignore Cheffo just because he is Canadian 

[Havok]

Lemon Curry?