Has this ever happened? I was browsing some old threads with the likes of the prolific Diogenes and the crazed gonzomax posting in them, and it occurred to me that in some ways, I miss those guys.
But the question I thought of was: has anyone that’s ever been banned been allowed back?
It’s happened a few times, yes.
Which leads to my next question: did any of those folks end up getting banned again?
My initial curiosity was wondering if someone had acted boorishly and had received a ban but came back to the mods, hat in hand and mitigating circumstances at the ready, mods conferenced, poster gets one, very last get out of jail free card…
I suspect Marley is referring to the incident, which I sadly missed, in which he banned the entire board for a short while. I don’t know if there are any ‘proper’ answers to your question but I suspect not.
Ha, I forgot about that. No Marley, I don’t mean inadvertent bannings.
There was a poster a few years ago who was banned and then brought back. His name started with a C I think. By my memory he was a poster that was extremely informed on some issues and brought a lot to discussions about his area of expertise, but he was kind of a jerk a lot. Sorry I can’t remember more but it was a few years ago.
That would be downright misleading of me. I was referring to the situation FoieGrasIsEvil asked about: individual users being banned for rules violations (as opposed to an accidental IP address ban) and being allowed back later. This guy was one example. He registered in 2004 and was quickly banned for jerkish behavior. Years later he asked for another shot and we gave him one. He did not stay on the board very long, but he posted without incident and would be welcome back any time. lissener might be a better known example. He was banned in 2004 and was reinstated about a year later. He was not banned again, but received some warnings over the years and was suspended at one point. He continued posting until mid-2010 before leaving the board.
This has happened a few times. In most cases, the person gets banned again (I always vote for termination with extreme prejudice, and I always get overruled). In a few cases, the poster is able to restrain him/herself, and not get banned again.
However, bans are generally regarded as permanent. When we (mod staff) discuss a banning, we don’t discuss a temporary banning, we intend for the ban to be in place forever. A temporary ban would actually be a suspension, not a ban.
That was Collounsbury. The Middle East / North Africa region was his specialty.
If I recall correctly, you were only overruled because in most cases it would involve crossing state lines, which would bring in the F.B.I.
This used to happen occasionally back a long time ago when banning was the only option we used, before we started using temporary suspensions as the last step before instituting a permanent ban. A few banned posters came back suitably contrite and asked for reinstatement. In general it didn’t work out too well, and most returnees ended up being banned again for the same type of offenses as before.
Now that we usually suspend a long-term member before banning them, that gives them a “last chance” to change their behavior. There’s little reason to expect that someone who has been banned under the present system would abide by the rules if they were let back in.
I’m still waiting for them to lift the ban on Satan. I miss him.
Also, if I’m not mistaken, my buddy Demo at one point decided he was done with the board and posted something highly inflammatory just to get banned; then thought better of it. I can’t remember if it went down precisely like that, but I think he did get the ban-hammer for about a day or two.
Of course once he was reinstated he didn’t hardly post anymore. I miss him too. Not that I don’t see him on Facebook and Steam, but that’s not the point. People are automatically cooler when they post here.
mswas also committed suicide by mod.
There was a bunch of people who got banned for arguing with Ed Zotti over changes to the board rules. Most of them were allowed back, but one created a sock puppet, and was banned permanently.
Only if they promise not to capitalize every word in their thread titles.
Pardon the brief hijack, but, don’t banned posters still post, or are their posts retroactively branded?
They’re retroactively branded. What would be the point of banning someone, if they could still post?
Once you’re banned, you can’t post anymore. And your username has the word “BANNED” underneath it.
For a while, I was bland. Then I was un-bland for a spell, but then I got bland again.
So we’re assuming that was inadvertent, are we? 