Spate of bannings recently...why?

[MrWhereItsAt]

Recently both GodKing and UnOrthOdOx, crucial members of various Democracy Games I am involved in (some involving representing the site amongst many others) were banned for some time. Neither of them know why.

So what's up? Has there been a rule change that has led to these bannings, and if so, what is it so we can make sure we aren't inadvertently breaking the new rules? We're really puzzled, and although we haven't had anyone disappear at a really inopportune time yet, I fear it being only a matter of time before all the C3C IDG turnplayers are banned at once without anyone knowing why, as an example.

Please tell us what's going on.

Cheers.

[alva]

Upload feature again maybe?

[MrWhereItsAt]

If that is so could we please have some further clarification as to exactly what is considered 'civ-related'? Images and saves from the games covered on this site are included in this definition I know, but with Democracy Games in particular the newspapers and roleplay threads tend to rely on other (what I would call) civ-related images that may not specifically be from any of the games.

At the very least, if the Admins will not make any concessions for Democracy Gamers (when they have always seemed happy to allow our reasonable requests before, including creation of new forums, granting and changing of limited mod powers, putting our news on the site news section, maintenance of the DG private forums etc), can you at least please consider giving out warnings before banning people? The rules are surely to prevent site abuse, and I think we DGers have in general been a pretty well-behaved lot. We are not intentional rule-breakers and just like to keep on with our own fun, making the site a more interesting and diverse place at the same time, so could it be possible for us to please continue doing what we have been until now without the shock and possible great inconvenience for all of a sudden unwarned banning? Those who intentionally break (IMO) much clearer rules about flaming, swearing or spamming get warnings, so can we at least have the same, and the chance to correct anything that is objected to?

I hope it can be agreed that spot-banning someone, and then having them need to find someone active to PM just to try to find out what they've done wrong is hardly the most effective way of going about preventing rules violations in the future.

Cheers.

[Ming]

First... the typical restriction for an upload violation is usually 24 hours. In many cases, people don't even realize they had been restricted

Second... yeah, a PM explaining the situation would be nice, but you have to understand the system. In most cases, MANY people are caught by the sweeps the owners do when they are looking for violations. If it was only one person at a time, that would be one thing... but it's usually a very long list, and frankly, the owners have better things to do than send PM's to all the rule breakers.

Third, this is not the first time they have done so... this is a regular and ongoing process. If you have any thought that your files may not be considered "games covered by this site related", send a PM to DanQ and MarkG explaining the nature of your uploads and why they dont' violate site policy. In MOST cases, this solves the problem. For you, it's two simple PMs and will save you any potential problem.

And to be honest with you... the spot banning system they use is VERY effective for preventing future rules violations... it does get peoples attention. Most people here don't even bother to read the FAQ or take the time to familiarize themselves with the site upload policy. After a spot ban, they are less likely to violate the policy in the future

[Master Zen]

Yep, they won't violate the policy any more... and they probably also stop writing some of the very interesting on-topic posts and threads which have given the demogames like the PTWDG new breath after months of public inactivity.

[Ming]

Originally posted by Master Zen
Yep, they won't violate the policy any more... and they probably also stop writing some of the very interesting on-topic posts and threads which have given the demogames like the PTWDG new breath after months of public inactivity.

Possible... but again, there have to be some priorities in place for the good of the OVERALL site. Remember that this is a hobby site, and that the owners put in a lot of time and effort so that we as a community can better enjoy the games we play.

The rule is in place for a reason... The rule has to be enforced. It takes the owners a lot of their own personal time to check the files and make the restrictions. To add on having to send a PM to each individual that has broken the rules is asking a lot. The problem lies with the rule breakers.

Again... if you have questions about an upload, or think your files may come under question, send the owners a PM with an explaination. It's a lot easier for individuals to do so, than for the owners to have to be "polite" to people who are breaking the rules of this privately owned site.

It seems like people are picking on the owners for not being polite to people who are breaking the rules

[GhengisFarbâ„¢]

On the one hand, as a recipient of one of these 24 hour bannings I sympathize with the victims.

But, as Ming said its only 24 hours and I survived it with only a few therapy sessions to get me through. A lot of people have been labeling MarkG and DanQ as "nazi"ish for these actions, but it is their site and if you don't like it you can always flee to Switzerland.

Heil Apolyton!

[Ming]

[Master Zen]

And how many PTWDG threads have you started since, GF?

[Theben]

The obvious answer is: don't use the upload feature.

[Snowflake]

I have a suggestion. Would it be possible if somebody could write a script associated with the illegal banning action so that whenever somebody was banned a simple standard message was sent to that person, with something like "You have been banned for 24 hours due to violation of the upload feature", or something like that. This way at least people will know why and be more receptible. It will not cause any more trouble to MarkG and DanQ (except for the adding of the script of course), but it will ensure that this kind of complain will not rise again.

[Ming]

If somebody wrote a script, I'm sure they would consider using it... For them, it's not a high priority. Because face it... if their choice is to work on the site, or be nice to rule breakers... they will work on the site

[Theben]

photobucket

[Skanky Burns]

Originally posted by Ming
First... the typical restriction for an upload violation is usually 24 hours. In many cases, people don't even realize they had been restricted

So Mark and Dan spend a fair portion of their time doing a sweep for upload violations, spend more time banning people for these violations and the people in question don't even realise they have been punished?

Gee, that sounds effective to me.

[Last Conformist]

I like Hongflake's idea. Unfortunately, I don't have any script-writing abilities.