Serious thread about abuse of Mod powers.

Ancalagon has been unbanned and informed by e-mail.

This was not a fun time to come home to, guys.

While what Paladin did was not on, it really sucks when you abuse board functions to troll. Let's not play the lawyerball game...just please try to restrain yourselves to good faith reports of problems with the report function. This shouldn't even need to be a rule on a board full of adults. There are plenty of other ways to torment each other without involving board functions.

Thank you!

On a board I used to post at, we had two really big issues where posters became completely unhinged. In one, the thread title was something like "Do You Guys See What You Made Me Do Now!" People opened the thread expecting to find a humorous post, and instead were greeted with photos of the poster's slashed wrists and a comment about how her kid didn't understand why mommy was crying. It was a nightmare for the staff and posters to try and track down someone who could help. (The situation got even more fucked up when they did contact the poster's husband, but that's another story.)

The second poster was sort of a high functioning baba, who posted insightful comments mixed into a kind of oddball word salad. One day he starts a thread saying, "I Found Out Why I've Been Having Seizures," in reading the thread, you find out that he had discovered that he had a brain tumor. The solution, he said, was "automotive decompression." Again, mad panic to get contact info and send help. In the end, it turned out that the poster wasn't serious about killing himself, he was just depressed over his recent divorce.

No one knew that, of course, and making posters afraid to use the "report" function is a bad idea since one of these days, it'll probably used for something serious.

:ibtl:

Nah, more like one form of childish trolling has been replaced by another.

Don't get me wrong, I think both are entertaining in their own way, but let's not pretend that it's any different here since the board has supposedly gotten "better".

Thank you, Tamar, for unbanning Ancalagon.

I CAN PRETEND WHATEVER I WANT.

JUSTICE!:happythanksgiving:

There has been no justice. Paladin hasn't been tarred and feathered properly.

Less BS /= No BS.

And thanks Tamar for cleaning this mess up.

Maybe if the Mods are having to spend countless hours a day following up on suspected violations of the rules, it is time to reconsider the convoluted and backasswards policy instead of punishing people for trying to help the staff enforce the convoluted and backasswards policy.

Just a thought.

Look, Paladin isn't prone to doing stuff like this very often. I'm not sure why this time it apparently hit the wrong nerve, but essentially there was no real harm done and everyone fucks up sometimes. I don't think he needs tarring and feathering for that.

Besides, I'm sure Lanzman will have a few choice words when he finds out about this situation. Audience with the Teal Overlord will probably be punishment enough.

Shit, I think you guys should ban Ankles for a week for not being sufficiently ingratiating about having his ban lifted.

I mean shit, he has been the #1 cheerleader for permabanning Tasvir, and now that the shoe is on the other foot he is not only pissy about being unbanned, he's demanding repercussions. Or some shit.

If the stress of modding such an intense board like WF is getting to the poor guy, maybe he should step down. It's only a volunteer position, and one can never be too careful with their health. Is he predisposed to heart disease?

If he does make the wise decision I nominate Gul or Evenflow as a suitable replacement.

Don't forget the observers. There's a reason we elected them, after all.

I'd demand that Paladin return all his Forgies for Best Mod! Well I would demand it if I thought I was the runner-up.

So far I haven't even won the Forgie for Best Poster named Clyde.

Really? A single bad day and one or two bad decisions and he should leave after years of doing it well...so well he is consistently nominated for best Mod and often wins it?

Don't you think that is over-reaction on par with his?

Hey, if he wants to run his health further into the ground that is his choice. I'm just here as friend to point out that there is no real reason to hang on the position if it is getting to him so strongly. By suggesting gul and evenflow I was pointing out that there people that could shoulder the burden when he decides its time to take a rest.

Also, Paladin should be stripped of his Forgies and made to return the associated prize money.

Yeah I already tried, it's not happening.

*kicks rock*

I prefer drawn & quartering myself...

"He's nothing but a low-down, double-dealing, backstabbing, larcenous perverted worm! Hanging's too good for him. Burning's too good for him! He should be torn into little bitsy pieces and buried alive!"

The best poster named Clyde is Packard. You'll have to ban him if you want to win that award.

"Looks can be deceiving."
"Not as deceivin' as a low-down, dirty... deceiver."

Remember [GOOGLE]Match Game[/GOOGLE] with Gene Rayburn? How about [GOOGLE]Mad Libs[/GOOGLE]?

Banning Packard is simply not possible. Might as well try banning ________ from _________ !


That said, without Packard, I think evenflow would probably win the Best Poster named Clyde Forgie.

If only this were true. When my initial were posted there wasn't even a hint of a warning. Tamar's usual consistency in terms of wherever the wind is blowing at the time.

Having been a mod (and having been released from said modship for arguing with Mewa rather than actually making decision's like Paladin's), there are two things that occur to me. Firstly this decision is unlikely to just be Paladin's alone. The fact that it still stood hours later means that it is likely to have been discssed in the mod only forum, where all reported posts appear. So there is a chance that the other mods, and possibly Lanz, think that the ban of Anc should stand, irrespective of what may be said out here and it's only the shitstorm that appears to have gotten it lifted.

Secondly, that the rules can basically be determined behind closed doors and away from members. The number one fact about WF is whether or not a member is seen as a friend or troublemaker. Obiously the latter is often in the eye of the beholder since one person may have an issue with a member that another may not. But, if you are a friend you get preferrential treatment. If you are seen as a troublemaker by a certain crowsd, or by one or more of the mods, the rules are invented off the cuff to penalise you, while other's get off scott free.

How can it be that others in the past have gotten off scott free for posting personal info, yet Anc gets a ban for doing just about nothing at all? That is modding madness. If that doesn't raise a case for an occasional refreshing of the mods, what will? When was there last a change of mods? There years ago? They have become a rule unto themselves.

As for whether or not it was known that I am or am not Tim Robbins, some would say that "only an idiot knows that Chup is not Tim Robbins". Whilst I am obviously not Tim Robbins, the fact that I may actually resemble Tim Robbins, means that Mewa is actually released a limited form of personal information by suggesting that I do. Now, I have posted a picture of myself on here many years ago, so it's not information I consider unknwon by everyone so it's not something I would seek to get Mewa warned about. But Anc isn't to know that and may not have seen that picture from years ago. So I'm not convinced it is cut and dried that he wasn't reporting a violation of personal information. For that reason the ban is an utter nonsense.

If a soldier does 10 years of great service and then goes apeshit and kills a civilian, should he avoid court martial?

Let's face it. You all want the status quo to remain so that you can all him behind your fake internet powers. It's like watching lame duck politcians desperately trying to cling onto power.

Very good post.

Unfortunately, there are people here who would happily torment such individuals, irrespective of what was going on in their personal lives. That's where the real harm comes in. Not so much the report post function.

If we need to tone down the bullshit and potential harm then that can only come from a rule change, through the report post function. That's why the report post function musn't be impaired by mods while the rules are loose.

New Mexico

Maybe we should get rid of moderators for a time, say 6 months, and see how it goes?

Surely it will be bring civility back to WordForge.

First, the statement that abuse of the reporting system would result in a ban and the ban of Ancalagon were decisions undertaken by me and me alone. No one else was consulted and there were no internal discussions beforehand.

Second, although the rest of the staff saw my point, they were almost universal in believing the ban to be excessive.

Third, I was away for most of the day yesterday, during which time the staff wanted to discuss the matter with me and I was unavailable to do so. It was decided among the staff present to overturn the ban.

I strongly believe (1) the reporting system should not be abused and (2) false claims of personal information release should not be tolerated. I intend to propose a specific rule along those lines shortly.

I disagree, North Dakota.