Internet forums these days...

[Bad^Hat]

No, hunter deserved it. They didn't just permban him to 'make an example'.

 

[CrazyHarij]

No, hunter deserved it. They didn't just permban him to 'make an example'.

He deserved it, yes. What you don't realise is the nature of punishing.
Why do you ban someone? To "pay back"?

No, you do it to stop the individual from doing it again, and to make sure others don't do it.

Banning isn't "You did something bad so I ban you", it's "You did something bad and to stop you from doing more of it, I ban you." If you did it just to pay back at someone, why would you even do it? You can't go back in time to stop it, what's done is done, the "art" of punishing and prohibiting is to prevent the same mistake or event from happening again.

Stepping over the lines/breaking the rules makes a person unreliable, you can't trust him. It doesn't matter if he say he'll do it again or not because he has drawn his line, that line is not in accordance with the line of the rules, so you show him the door and prohibit him from coming back.

You ban a cheater to prevent him from cheating again. You ban a spoilerposter to prevent him from posting spoilers again. You can't turn back the clock, all you can do is to prepare and learn from mistakes.

And when you ban this person, you draw a line for others to see, so they will reconsider before cheating or posting spoilers.
If there was no consequence, why would anyone regard the rules and terms of a site or server?

It's all a matter of preparing for the future, this is how the human mind works.

 

[Baal]

This is the most civalized forum I've ever been to...People are just so normal, and very little hate goes on.

Maybe it's because of the small box for posts...any hate posts are so small no one pays attention to them!

Or not..

 

[moppe]

This is the most civalized forum I've ever been to...People are just so normal, and very little hate goes on.

Maybe it's because of the small box for posts...any hate posts are so small no one pays attention to them!

Or not..

Well, I've got some personal problems with one moderator, and I'm sure that he knows who he is. Otherwise, this is a odd forum I'd say.

I've never seen such a mix between both friendly people, and the pure "white trash".

I like it here in Off-Topic though.

 

[Shadowlands5325]

Banning people from forums is not as fun and satisfactory as it may seem. It's a matter of "taking out the trash", no one really wants to do it but it must be done, just because you need to maintain the standard of a forum and draw lines all the time to prevent the forum from reaching new lows and anarchy to break through.

It's horrible having to permban someone who has been a great member and a good friend from a forum just because of reasons such as behaving bad in a certain situation or breaking a rule, just to "state an example" to prevent others from breaking the rules.
There are many human factors you have to look aside from all the time and act superhumanly, since people notice when you don't.


Then, there's the complaining. People complain at you constantly, for everything and for nothing. I once got some guys grouping up and blaming me for everything that has went wrong in the forum i was at and how an opinion I had which they didn't agree with hurt their "deepest thoughts and inner feelings", comparing me to Hitler and stuff.
It's hard staying in a positive mood when constantly being called a nazi just because of something you have to do while browsing a forum you like.

You can't say shit either because every word you say will be taken as a collective opinion of the crew and will be used against you constantly. You have to stay neutral all the time and watch your words like an eagle.

I don't know what other people who moderate alot think about what they do, but so far these are my personal experiences and opinions about it.

Of course, there are good parts about it. It's easy to get new friends, but then again you have to watch out for greedy asskissers who want to become part of the crew, just because of their insatiable hunger of authority and having the ability to ban someone they don't like. Although, the bond within the crew becomes very strong and you become close friends with almost every one of them. You feel you're doing a good thing cleaning up and keeping the forum at a high standard, and among all the idiots there are people who actually like your work.

Being a member has many advantages. You can say whatever you like as long as it's within the rules, your opinion won't be questioned by everyone and not being looked upon as an authorative entity is great fun, people actually like you for who you are then.

Having that said, I don't really know what this posts purpose is, perhaps to try and convince all asshats out there that moderating isn't all fun and glorious. And people who constantly complain about "evil" moderators and call them nazi's and ban-machines need to try and look at it from the other sides perspective aswell..

Too much time on your hands?

 

[Axyon]

Yeah, there are bad forums out there, but they're only shooting themselves in the foot by having staff that act like that. The community is a site's lifeline, and if it's made unpopular by staff that can't even follow their own basic rules, then they've got no chance of developing further.

Well, while we're on this subject: Shadowlands5325, reduce your signature to 4 lines please.