Spate of bannings recently...why?

[GhengisFarb™]

Originally posted by Master Zen
And how many PTWDG threads have you started since, GF?

None, but then I got bored with the PTWDG at that point as I don't have anything to do.

That, and we're not allowed to taunt the other teams anymore.

[Ming]

Originally posted by GhengisFarb
That, and we're not allowed to taunt the other teams anymore.

And for the record, since the 24 hour bannings have been instituted, there have been less and less violations found on each sweep. So it must be working REAL well

[DanQ]

Originally posted by 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.

If someone would be willing to write such a script, or can find it otherwise written or even implemented, let us know and we will seriously consider/look into it.

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Dan; Apolyton CS

[DrGerry]

I was banned 24 hours time ago becuse of I had uploaded some civ sounds.

Well, these were farts, but to replace the "fidget" ones

[Last Conformist]

Is DanQ a bureaucrat of some sort? He certainly writes like one ...

[GhengisFarb™]

Originally posted by Gerar Dean
I was banned 24 hours time ago becuse of I had uploaded some civ sounds.

Well, these were farts, but to replace the "fidget" ones

Where can I download those?

[DrGerry]

Take a mic, plug into your sound card an the other....

[alva]

Couldn't you just upload them Gerar Dean?

[Last Conformist]

He should make a dedicated website for them.

[asleepathewheel]

I was banned briefly for a bad email, which is a hotmail account I've used here forever.

Thanks to whomever got that fixed quickly

[DanQ]

Originally posted by Last Conformist
Is DanQ a bureaucrat of some sort? He certainly writes like one ...

Half of my undergrad degree is law, so...

I'll rephrase, and even elaborate: if someone can write a script or finds a script 'in action' that could let users know when they have been banned for any reason by PM, contact us and we'll discuss it. If that works out, we can go from there and look into making these messages more specific (e.g. "You have been banned for violating Apolyton's upload policy").

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Dan; Apolyton CS

[Solver]

Dan, we'll know you're having a bad case of studying law when you start ending all your posts with a disclaimer .

[MrWhereItsAt]

Originally posted by Ming

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.

And for the record, since the 24 hour bannings have been instituted, there have been less and less violations found on each sweep. So it must be working REAL well.

Methinks you're obfuscating here. Less and less people caught out but still MANY. Although these aren't mutually incompatible statements it looks a bit sus to me.

I maintain it would be the work of minutes to copy/paste a standard PM/email to those who have been deemed to have violated this site rule without knowing it - said people should easily be able to get added to a list during sweeps and then have an email sent out in bulk rather than one at a time. After all isn't that what happens with site news updates? I also don't think a warning is too lenient since it is clear the specifics of the rule are not easily understood.

Anyway, I can't say I'm happy at all, but thanks Ming and Dan for responding.

[Snowflake]

Originally posted by DanQ

if someone can write a script or finds a script 'in action' that could let users know when they have been banned for any reason by PM, contact us and we'll discuss it. If that works out, we can go from there and look into making these messages more specific (e.g. "You have been banned for violating Apolyton's upload policy").

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Dan; Apolyton CS

Thanks Dan, for considering this. I've seen asp scripts where batch emails can be sent out if triggered by an event. So I imagine for somebody who is familiar with the Poly system it might be possible to write such a script.

[Ming]

Originally posted by MrWhereItsAt
Methinks you're obfuscating here. Less and less people caught out but still MANY. Although these aren't mutually incompatible statements it looks a bit sus to me.

Sus... Nahhhh...
At first, the list was REALLY REALLY long... And while many people are still being caught, it's getting less and less everytime they do a sweep. It does seem to be effective. We usually don't see any repeat offenders

I maintain it would be the work of minutes to copy/paste a standard PM/email to those who have been deemed to have violated this site rule without knowing it - said people should easily be able to get added to a list during sweeps and then have an email sent out in bulk rather than one at a time. After all isn't that what happens with site news updates?

Even if it is just a matter of "minutes", that's still time that is being taken away from their personal time. They already put in a lot of time to make this a place we all want to come to... The less time they spend dealing with rule breakers... the better. Remember, they are only enforcing the rules of the site they own. They don't owe an explaination to rule breakers... It's the members responsiblity to know the rules and not violate them. And again, if you think one of your files might be considered questionable, you can spend the "minute" to send a PM to make sure they understand about a file.

I also don't think a warning is too lenient since it is clear the specifics of the rule are not easily understood.

I send out many warnings for rules violations... and many people ignore them... A restriction gets people's attention... and usually means better compliance in the future.

And again, in MOST cases, it's a 24 hour restriction. That's pretty lenient.

Anyway, I can't say I'm happy at all, but thanks Ming and Dan for responding.

I understand... most people aren't happy when they get restricted for rules violations. And in your case, you probably feel it was unfair...

So in the future, if you have any doubt... send a PM with an explaination

And thank you for being civil about it... many people aren't when they get restricted