People getting banned

Hey, my first new thread! Not a very interesting topic. I’ll do better next time, I promise.

I noticed this guy “Plasmic Fantastic” was recently banned. Out of curiousity, I went back to read some of his posts to see why he got banned. While some of his posts did seem a bit… off, they didn’t strike me as anything getting kicked out worthy.

But I did notice in one of the threads that other people were suggesting that they knew who this guy was. My guess is that this is some jerk who keeps showing up under different names and causing trouble.

Someone wanna fill us newbies in on the sordid details? Who is this guy? And how did you know who he was from the few posts he put up as Plasmic Fantastic?

– Dave

I don’t know that specific poster but from your description it sounds like a poster called Mark Serlin.

http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=44858 Should tell you some things about his past / present.

Actually it could be concrete aswell. He’s a guy who just will not go away.

These guys are just best dodged. The more you read them the easier it is to spot them. I’m not searching them coz I’m really bored with them now.

That’s odd. I just read the same thing about Yojimbo.

What am I to do. I wont be able to sleep now. :rolleyes:

Sigh. I knew answering this was a bad idea. You live and learn.

Look up.

Honest questions deserve honest answers.

Most folks here are bright, inquisitive, mostly-polite people. Just like any worthwhile party/concert/whatever, jerks act out and threaten the whole shebang.

Dunno about the specifics on the latest example, but the volunteer caretakers of this quality asylum are very canny. People don’t get banned lightly, so don’t sweat small stuff.

The give-and-take can get rowdy, but the rules are broadly drawn and generously interpreted. Don’t know what you’re referring to, but it takes repeated, flagrant jerkiness to get banned.

Good riddance to stinking garbage.

Veb

I don’t know about the recent people who got banned, but could they have been sockpuppets? Alot of the really rude, “I’m just trying to grab as much attention as possible” people maintain sockpuppets to back up their main persona when people start criticizing them.

Your guess is right. There are a couple of jerks who are responsible for the majority of the banned screen names. So it’s not that there’s a lot of people getting banned, it’s only a couple of idjits who have absolutely NO life doing this to get attention.

Lynn
Administrator
For the Straight Dope

Well, yojimbo was right – 'sconcrete*. He reappeared as Thief per Chief Beer, and, what’s his story?

Of course, I shoulda said Uncle, not Chief Beer. Sorry, Uncle… :o

Thanks for the info, guys. Guess by posting this thread, I gave him exactly what he wanted, attention.

Won’t happen again.

Everything I’ve wanted to know about sockpuppetting but was afraid to ask:

  1. Does it only work for those with registered multiple identity disorders? When I tried it once I may as well have been Madeleine Albright gatecrashing the Eyes Wide Shut masked orgy. I didn’t stand a chance. But some people must last forever.

  2. Why is a secret change of username not considered to be as dodgy as sockpuppetting?

  3. What about a list right here of those who have either changed their usernames or added (puppetted) to them?

I used my brother’s name a couple of times. Never again.

G.Nome/Authentium

Any others?

Never sockpuppetted. Too lazy to fill out the form again.

Registered multiple identity disorder is intended to refer here to someone with an authentic fragmented personality. I wasn’t talking about compulsive registerers of usernames. Sorry.