I have banned Castle.

Discussion in 'Shelter Releases' started by Ancalagon, Aug 4, 2014.

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  1. Ancalagon

    Ancalagon Scalawag Administrator Formerly Important

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    First off, could you people that handle making sure stuff works, please double check that I did it correctly.

    Secondly, here is my warning to him, please be sure to read his threat. He made other threats against the board and it's membership as well, but I just grabbed the first I saw when I had the time to go back and look for it and respond:
    http://wordforge.net/index.php?posts/2636742/

    I feel that threatening to take down the board and to post the private information of the boards members by a known troll and someone who has already been banned for exposing personal information of members is a credible threat and have taken preemptive action against it.

    What do you all think?
    • Agree Agree x 1
  2. shootER

    shootER Insubordinate...and churlish Administrator

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    I know Wordforge isn't a "banning" type of board, but if I'd bought the place a year ago when Lanzman approached me, Castle (along with a few others) would've been gone within minutes of the announcement.

    The signal to noise ratio there is so out of whack it's not funny. I'm not even sure there is a signal most of the time.

    Just not worth it to keep his ass around other than as a punching bag. Some people seem to get a kick out of that, but as an observer I find it tedious as hell.
    Last edited: Aug 4, 2014
    • Agree Agree x 6
  3. Amaris

    Amaris Guest

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    Yeah, looks like you did it correctly, Anc. As for John Castle himself, he can be a lot of fun, but in this case I agree he went over the line. I figure some time off will get him to cool down. I don't think he's a bad guy, but he just let his temper get away from him this time. Just my two bits, of course.
  4. Bickendan

    Bickendan Custom Title Administrator Faceless Mook Writer

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    I don't see it that way, and would strongly recommend rescinding the ban and downgrading it to a warning (which I also think is excessive given it was in the Red Room). But I will defer to the ownership's joint decision, and that includes @gul @evenflow @Tex
  5. Amaris

    Amaris Guest

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    I don't know, I think a day or two to cool down would be good, that is, if he really was intending to do what he said. I know over at TBBS, Bonz doesn't play around either. Start throwing around words like "lawsuit" and implying that hacking or major disruption to the board will happen, and she'll toss you out on your ass. As much as I like John Castle, directly threatening the board ownership with hacking the board, or getting someone (or someones) to do so is a foolish move to make, Red Room or not.
    • Agree Agree x 1
  6. Tuckerfan

    Tuckerfan BMF

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    Well, just because its Wordforge, someone will bitch abut it, but every other board I've ever been a member of has banned people for threatening lawsuits or saying they're going to hack the board.
  7. gul

    gul Revolting Beer Drinker Administrator Formerly Important

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    I support this decision. I almost banned him myself last night after he made the post. He has been in full melt down mode for quite a while now, he needs a break to cool off. I'm completely open to him coming back, but some time off right now is a good idea. If people are concerned about rationale, it's no different from the rationale applied to Skrain -- spamming the shit out of multiple threads.
  8. evenflow

    evenflow Lofty Administrator

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    I support this decision.
  9. Lanzman

    Lanzman Vast, Cool and Unsympathetic Formerly Important

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    :jayzus:
    • Agree Agree x 2
  10. foil1212

    foil1212 Jose "Mom Fan" Alvarez Staff Member Moderator

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    Are you actually afraid of Castle's threats or did you ban him because you don't like him?
    • Agree Agree x 1
  11. Aurora

    Aurora VincerĂ²!

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    As much as I dislike the idiot, I don't think the threat is credible. This guy gets off on telling the whole world how great he is - a clear sign that really he's not. Anyway, maybe banning him for a few is a good idea just to show him there are boundaries. Yes, just like you do with kids. Because most of the time he behaves like one.
  12. gul

    gul Revolting Beer Drinker Administrator Formerly Important

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    That's the thing right there. Castle usually knows where to stop, but the past few weeks he has demonstrated an inability to figure it out. To my knowledge, he always followed the rules outside the Red Room, but lately he hasn't been. That's a discouraging change, and he earned a time out. The threat was pretty much the last straw, not so much a big deal of its own.
  13. Lanzman

    Lanzman Vast, Cool and Unsympathetic Formerly Important

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    Does it enter in to your calculations that he's got his little cheering section following him around the board and shitting things up whenever he posts?
    • Agree Agree x 2
  14. Tamar Garish

    Tamar Garish Wanna Snuggle? Deceased Member

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    Word.

    If you are going to start giving vacations for immature and aggravating behavior then you need to toss out Ten Lubek, garamet, Liet, El Chup and most especially that doofus Chardman. Especially since they stalk him talking shots outside the Red Room.

    Until today, the unwritten threat rule has been used once. It is supposed to be a credible threat. It was used on Borgs and it was because we had public posts on another board he had made lying about WF and asking VB to pull our license. That is a clear and credible threat to the board. A troll running his mouth...especially a troll as ineffectual as Danny who would never get rid of WF even if he could because he has nowhere else to go.

    I also can't emphasize how bad it looks that only a few weeks ago Anc made a passionate post how he would be rid of Castle, Dayton and garamet if only he could get away with it without the membership chewing him up alive over it. The whole thing reeks of looking for an excuse to bounce Castle, whether it is or not.
    • Agree Agree x 4
  15. The Exception

    The Exception The One Who Will Be Administrator Super Moderator

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    Same.
  16. The Exception

    The Exception The One Who Will Be Administrator Super Moderator

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    I have no issue with this decision. Its one that should have happened a year ago when he threatened to sue the board over his avatar nonsense.
    • Agree Agree x 2
  17. Tamar Garish

    Tamar Garish Wanna Snuggle? Deceased Member

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    Oh come on! I didn't ban him then because those threats are not remotely credible in the least. Not even a tiny bit.

    This is clearly and obviously getting rid of an unsavory element that is unpopular and annoying. Exactly what WF was not supposed to be about.

    The owners can do as they want...it has always been thus...but let's not insult anyone's intelligence and pretend some poor, would-be writer living off the government is a mortal threat to Wordforge or anyone posting here.
    • Agree Agree x 3
  18. gul

    gul Revolting Beer Drinker Administrator Formerly Important

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    If it was a matter of not liking him, I'm pretty sure we'd have done as shootER recommends. That he has lasted this long is a pretty good indication that we don't ban people for being complete dipshits. Was it a credible threat? Probably not, but there was a lot of other shit going on in my opinion. He had become a bit too loose with the personal info rules for one thing. But the really serious issue I have with his recent behavior is his admission that he has been using the RedRoom as a place to test out characters for his writing. When such testing involves poking and prodding a user base that didn't consent to be guinea pigs when they signed up, that's really taking it too far.
  19. Tamar Garish

    Tamar Garish Wanna Snuggle? Deceased Member

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    :lol:

    You believe that crap? It's lies.

    And there isn't a single person on WF who is unaware that being here means you are going to be trolled day and night on some level. He doesn't poke and prod any more or less than any other troll does.
  20. gul

    gul Revolting Beer Drinker Administrator Formerly Important

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    I don't think it's a lie that he's using the RedRoom to test characters. That's about the one thing I do see as a likely truth from him.
  21. shootER

    shootER Insubordinate...and churlish Administrator

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    I don't dislike Castle when he's not shit-stirring. My problem is that's what he does about 99% of the time.

    Too much noise, not enough signal IMHO.

    If the noise were entertaining, that'd be one thing, but it usually isn't and has become less and less so over time.
    • Agree Agree x 2
  22. The Exception

    The Exception The One Who Will Be Administrator Super Moderator

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    Doesn't really matter, you don't come into someone else's house and then threaten to burn it down, it doesn't matter how serious you are on carrying it out.

    People get plenty of leeway for their actions on this board. I don't think threatening to take it down, no matter how serious you are, is something that should be tolerated.
    • Agree Agree x 1
  23. The Exception

    The Exception The One Who Will Be Administrator Super Moderator

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    Only 99%?
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  24. Lanzman

    Lanzman Vast, Cool and Unsympathetic Formerly Important

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    Say, anybody notice Face is avatar-trolling Castle while he's not here?
    • Agree Agree x 2
  25. Volpone

    Volpone Zombie Hunter

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    Well given that he has a 187 IQ, his threats should be taken seriously. What? You don't believe he has a 187 IQ? Then why do you believe his threats?:marathon:

    That said, I don't care. Keep him banned. Or don't. It doesn't matter.
  26. gul

    gul Revolting Beer Drinker Administrator Formerly Important

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    Is that an unauthorized image of a current Wordforge member? I'll be honest here, and say that I don't recall very well why we have that rule, aside from Castle having had a shit fit about it. Maybe it's time to re-assess.
  27. Lanzman

    Lanzman Vast, Cool and Unsympathetic Formerly Important

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    We've always treated such things as verboten. If you lot want to change that, it's up to you of course. Interesting that it becomes acceptable when it's Castle, tho . . . :chris:
    • Agree Agree x 3
  28. Tamar Garish

    Tamar Garish Wanna Snuggle? Deceased Member

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    Because it's trolling all over the board, that's why.

    People can play with pictures in the Red Room, putting it in avatars is a nono...plus you that looks good to people who might join? Would you want your picture as a mocking avatar?
  29. gul

    gul Revolting Beer Drinker Administrator Formerly Important

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    I'm legitimately asking why. That doesn't mean I think we should necessarily change the rule, I just want to know more about the logic behind it.
  30. Tamar Garish

    Tamar Garish Wanna Snuggle? Deceased Member

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    I believe the #1 reason is trolling all over the board. You can't turn it off outside the RR so you end up breaking the rules continually.

    With some people they feel it's an abuse of personal information and it can sow confusion...much the way NotDayton is really good at. Plus, there is no good non-trolling reason to allow it..unless you can think of one we missed.
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