Why would anyone bet on a dead Shetland?
This was a good OP, and a good decision. Thank you.
If a new poster showed up and posted like that, they would be banned pretty quickly. With good reason.
We apparently can’t link directly but 7 gave a full explanation on the “splinter board” that he administrates.
That’s a fair enough comment, but there is quite a range between a new poster, and one who has been around for 10 years or whatever with many thousands of posts. And it doesn’t really resolve the broader issue, in my opinion.
All of the information that Sapo needed to form an opinion was there for everyone to read whether we agree with the opinion or not.
I’m happy with the decision that was made to change the banning. Thanks, Skip.
Won’t somebody please think of the $children!
And for once, they did.
Good to see logic prevail.
Win, place or glue?
So to clarify:
-Seven status has been changed to: “Suspended for complaining too much”.
Now, is there a ratio of complaints/ other subjects I should adhere to to avoid banning? Like, only a 25% or so of the messages should be complaints? And, will any complaint be considered a bannable offense, regardless of how constructive they are?
I’ll be grateful for an answer.
You have an odd definition of “damned near every active poster,” and there’s only one board that matters here, not four.
And think about what you said. SkipMagic explained that the banning was done without all of the mods and admins having a chance to weigh in, and he told you exactly what happened. And you’re complaining that he didn’t make another hasty decision? The mods and admins here are part-time volunteers. We’re not all available every single day at the same fixed hours.
Skip and Tuba gave all of us a chance to participate in the decision to reverse the ban, we talked about it, made the decision you wanted in the first place, and you’re complaining about it? That’s it, featherlou. You have to buy the Cuban cigars and anejo tequila for the next secret mod conclave. And we’re not saving you any dessert.
Gee willikers! Would you look at that! They changed their minds! Oh, truly the dope mods are kindness and mercy personified. I swoon at their very presence. Seven should never have been banned in the first place and the fact that it took a day of incredulity from the masses to get you to change it to a suspension says a lot about you guys. I strongly suggest that the next time you ban someone, have a reason.
May I suggest that when giving a Warning in PM or in a Forum, the Mod or Administrator describe the behavior of the Doper rather than her or his motives? “You are complaining too much” describes behavior. That’s better*…
Of course it leaves all sorts of questions in its wake.
And some of us never promised that we wouldn’t be annoying. I checked the opt out clause when I signed the contract. It has been worth every penny I paid not to be held to the “Do Not Annoy When Offering Constructive Hints” Standard.
You’re welcome.
Most of those comments mentioned that a suspension would have been *less *unjust, yes. It doesn’t follow that they were agreeing that they would have greeted news of a suspension with a ‘that’s fair’. Suspending a longstanding poster on such flimsy evidence would still have been hugely controversial, IMO.
That said, I am of course pleased that TPTB listened to the feedback presented and reconsidered the ban. I now hope that some of the suggestions raised in the banning thread are taken forward as a means of preventing such incidents in the future. If nothing else, I echo Giraffe’s request for a mod historian to now gather ALL the rules into a sticky in ATMB where everyone can see them. No more of this ‘oh, it IS a rule but we haven’t enforced it in five years - still, rules is rules and you broke it so you’ll be reprimanded’. I’m not really a favour of a board with endless rules, but if people are going to be punished for breaking them, let’s all be able to see them.
I always kinda liked the overarching rule of the board -
Don’t be a Jerk,
We don’t know what a jerk is, but we sure know it when we see it.
I don’t think 7 was being a jerk, but YMMV.
What I would dearly love to see now is a comment from TubaDiva on the whole furore. I think her PM was jerkish and uncalled for. But again YMMV.
Oh. Well, suspend her for at least two weeks, then. Excessive hyperbole. Or the old "Don’t be a figurative speaker"rule. Or something else. Be creative.
Although I still disagree with even a 30-day time out, you haven’t addressed the wrongness of the insta-ban, or why in the name of the sweet baby Jesus, someone sane didn’t intervene to tell you (or whoever it was that pulled the ban-gun) “No, Skippy, just put that thing down. We don’t ban people because they made us lose control of our bowel functions. We just clean up the mess, get a new pair of underpants, and deal with the problem like grownups. Because when we need to apologize for overreacting, sincerely and profusely, in a few days, we need to look good and smell sweet.”
Now, let the “sincerely and profusely” part begin. Thank you.
Oh, yeah. I also think it was bullshit* to open up a new thread and close the old one down. This wouldn’t be about avoiding a very long, very critical thread and letting it die a quick death off the front page or anything, would it?
*Tom-approved word of polite critical dissent
Oh, for pity’s sake.
Y’all made the right choice second time around, I think. Some folks need to figure out how to unlock their pit-bull jaws. Thanks for your service to the board, and I hope you’re able to let the yappers roll off your back, to mix metaphors.
Seconded. I would also like to know what the official policy is on revealing the content of a Private Message.
To the staff: Thank-you for making this modification. 
To those who initially decided it should be a ban: Over-zealous protection of the feelings of staff members has resulted in two massive furors within the last five months. Those who referee activity like this need to be able to disengage their personal feelings about a situation, much as a referee in a game has to ignore the catcalls from the audience and not get mad when a player protests. In short, stop getting your knickers in a bunch and reacting as a result, please.
To the admins: There should be a specific set of guidelines establishing exactly what sort of behavior will result in a ban, what will result in a suspension, and what will result in a warning. It’s perfectly fine for the boundaries of what behavior will be addressed to be somewhat amorpous (“don’t be a jerk”), but the process needs to be a well-defined one, to ensure fairness of application (which didn’t happen here).
As an example, as a teacher I may have a rule phrased “Respect your teacher,” which can certainly cover a lot of ground. But my discipline procedure is precisely spelled out, so that every student knows how they will be treated once they step across the line.