# The moderation here is getting ridiculously heavy handed **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [July 23, 2014, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-moderation-here-is-getting-ridiculously-heavy-handed/693869 "2014-07-23T19:46:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-moderation-here-is-getting-ridiculously-heavy-handed/693869/161 "2014-07-24T13:54:13Z")
\*\*Irishman \*\*has a good read on everything. Specifically, though I was certainly amused by the OP in that Pit thread - my “Fucking Brilliant” comment, as illustrated by what I quoted and bolded, was to show specific amusement at the cleverness of that single line. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-moderation-here-is-getting-ridiculously-heavy-handed/693869/162 "2014-07-24T13:58:08Z")
> [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](#): > > Saying “Poster X gets special breaks because …” needs to be reworded as “The Mods favor Poster X because…” and then forumlated so it’s not insulting to anyone, and is ATMB material about moderator action. The particular thread under discussion was NOT just about that topic, but was a not-so-thinly disguised comment on moderator actions, and as such was a rules violation. How would you reword it so it is not insulting to anyone? I don’t see how that is possible. If I allege “Poster X gets special breaks from the Mods because he used to be a Mod. Here are two examples of his junior modding.” AFAICT that would be personally insulting to Poster X. So it can’t be in ATMB. But it can’t be in the Pit because it is about mod actions. And just saying “Poster X gets special breaks because…” isn’t allowed until it is reworded to include a reference to the mods, and may not include any personal insults. Saying “Poster X gets special breaks” is a personal insult. So you can’t say “Poster X gets special breaks” outside the Pit, and you can’t say "Poster X gets special breaks from the mods’ anywhere but ATMB. So you can’t say A outside the Pit, and you can’t say B anywhere except ATMB, and if you say A, it has to be reworded to include B so that it can’t be said in either ATMB or the Pit. If that is not accurate, then I would welcome an example of how to say “Poster X gets special breaks from the mods because he used to be a mod” that is not personally insulting to Poster X and where examples of the special breaks he gets do not constitute a pile-on or disguised Pitting or whatever you like to call it. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Trom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@Trom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trom)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-moderation-here-is-getting-ridiculously-heavy-handed/693869/163 "2014-07-24T14:09:59Z")
This whole thing reminds me of third grade when the teacher left the room and the class monitor wrote the bad kids names on the chalkboard. But with 50 year olds. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-moderation-here-is-getting-ridiculously-heavy-handed/693869/164 "2014-07-24T14:16:05Z")
Does not. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-moderation-here-is-getting-ridiculously-heavy-handed/693869/165 "2014-07-24T14:37:48Z")
Thanks Dex. 🙂 Now, I need a beer. ---
**Author:** ![tim314](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim314/32/3468_2.png) [@tim314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim314)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-moderation-here-is-getting-ridiculously-heavy-handed/693869/166 "2014-07-24T15:08:39Z")
> [@GrandWino](#): > > \*\*Irishman \*\*has a good read on everything. > > Specifically, though I was certainly amused by the OP in that Pit thread - my “Fucking Brilliant” comment, as illustrated by what I quoted and bolded, was to show specific amusement at the cleverness of that single line. I, too, mostly agree with **Irishman** ’s take on things. I would add that I think that in the original Pit thread it was meant to be obvious that the mods were being referred too. That is, it was a moderation complaint posted in the wrong forum – and so, perhaps, worthy of a warning – but not a serious attempt to outsmart the mods and get away with breaking the rules (which is how I think **Marley** read it). I think reading it that way might lead to a more charitable take on the subsequent posts, which were more “ha ha, good joke” than actual participation in an attempt at secret mod bashing. I will say that when the mods here misread a poster’s intent and come down too hard, they usually seem to end up correcting it later – as **Dex** has already demonstrated in this thread. So hopefully that’s what will happen here. **To clarify:** I think the OP of the Pit thread was genuinely _complaining_, but that the attempt to _conceal_ the complaint was done in jest, not seriously. And the responses were appreciating that jest. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-moderation-here-is-getting-ridiculously-heavy-handed/693869/167 "2014-07-24T15:54:37Z")
The best way to prevent arguments like this would be to simply ban everyone. ---
**Author:** ![Bozuit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/edb3f5/32.png) [@Bozuit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bozuit)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-moderation-here-is-getting-ridiculously-heavy-handed/693869/168 "2014-07-24T16:07:25Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Let me guess: Television Without Pity? Nope, never been there actually. You will almost certainly not know the forum as it was the unofficial discussion board for a nerdy text and numbers online game from the late 90s called Utopia. The game is actually still alive, but it’s been effectively on life support and fed through a tube for years now. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-moderation-here-is-getting-ridiculously-heavy-handed/693869/169 "2014-07-24T16:09:48Z")
> [@Darth\_Panda](#): > > The best way to prevent arguments like this would be to simply ban everyone. As mentioned previously (by **Clockwork Jackal** and **samclem** ), Marley tried that before. It didn’t work. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-moderation-here-is-getting-ridiculously-heavy-handed/693869/170 "2014-07-24T16:11:40Z")
After review and discussion with the rest of the mods, I’ve reversed the warnings to **faithfool** , **GrandWino** , **Fenris** and **Dallas Jones**. I did interpret those as attempts to get around the Pit rule against complaining about moderation, but like I said in my edited mod note, that’s not the only way to read them - they can also be read as expounding on jokes by the OP or other posters or as jokes about posters, which is of course allowed in the Pit. The warning against **Blank Slate** stands. I think **Blank Slate** understands this and I don’t expect him to do it again. That also goes for everybody else. If you want to Pit another poster, as **Blank Slate** did in roughly the first half of his OP, you can do that in whatever direct or indirect form you like. But complaining about moderation - either decisions by the mods, or, say, how we deal with a specific poster - that goes in ATMB. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-moderation-here-is-getting-ridiculously-heavy-handed/693869/171 "2014-07-24T16:13:46Z")
\*cues Kumbaya. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-moderation-here-is-getting-ridiculously-heavy-handed/693869/172 "2014-07-24T16:22:14Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > After review and discussion with the rest of the mods, I’ve reversed the warnings to **faithfool** , **GrandWino** , **Fenris** and **Dallas Jones**. I did interpret those as attempts to get around the Pit rule against complaining about moderation, but like I said in my edited mod note, that’s not the only way to read them - they can also be read as expounding on jokes by the OP or other posters or as jokes about posters, which is of course allowed in the Pit. The warning against **Blank Slate** stands. I think **Blank Slate** understands this and I don’t expect him to do it again. That also goes for everybody else. If you want to Pit another poster, as **Blank Slate** did in roughly the first half of his OP, you can do that in whatever direct or indirect form you like. But complaining about moderation - either decisions by the mods, or, say, how we deal with a specific poster - that goes in ATMB. Thank you for reversing the Pit warning. What about my ATMB warning for questioning that action? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-moderation-here-is-getting-ridiculously-heavy-handed/693869/173 "2014-07-24T16:30:00Z")
> [@GrandWino](#): > > Thank you for reversing the Pit warning. What about my ATMB warning for questioning that action? Yes. Now remember, you only have one wish left. Can I suggest something that rhymes with “erld peace?” ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-moderation-here-is-getting-ridiculously-heavy-handed/693869/174 "2014-07-24T16:32:23Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Yes. Now remember, you only have one wish left. Can I suggest something that rhymes with “erld peace?” You mean [this stuff](http://www.ballpoint.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/whirled-peas.jpg)? ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-moderation-here-is-getting-ridiculously-heavy-handed/693869/175 "2014-07-24T16:33:27Z")
Thank you, **Marley** , I appreciate your level-headedness and being open to changing your mind. Good job. However, do you guys sell Straight Dope frames? I’ve never been warned (or Warned, either) before and I’d like to print that puppy out and hang it on the wall in all its glory. Show off my rebel nature to all my skeptics. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-moderation-here-is-getting-ridiculously-heavy-handed/693869/176 "2014-07-24T16:44:16Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Yes. Now remember, you only have one wish left. Can I suggest something that rhymes with “erld peace?” More Wishes, duh. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-moderation-here-is-getting-ridiculously-heavy-handed/693869/177 "2014-07-24T16:46:50Z")
> [@GrandWino](#): > > More Wishes, duh. [Come on now.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qr2bKXBV67o) ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-moderation-here-is-getting-ridiculously-heavy-handed/693869/178 "2014-07-24T16:48:15Z")
Thanks all involved for discussing and revisiting these decisions. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-moderation-here-is-getting-ridiculously-heavy-handed/693869/179 "2014-07-24T16:50:11Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > [Come on now.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qr2bKXBV67o) 'Kay, then more genies. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-moderation-here-is-getting-ridiculously-heavy-handed/693869/180 "2014-07-24T16:55:05Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > After review and discussion with the rest of the mods, I’ve reversed the warnings to **faithfool** , **GrandWino** , **Fenris** and **Dallas Jones**. I did interpret those as attempts to get around the Pit rule against complaining about moderation, but like I said in my edited mod note, that’s not the only way to read them - they can also be read as expounding on jokes by the OP or other posters or as jokes about posters, which is of course allowed in the Pit. The warning against **Blank Slate** stands. I think **Blank Slate** understands this and I don’t expect him to do it again. That also goes for everybody else. If you want to Pit another poster, as **Blank Slate** did in roughly the first half of his OP, you can do that in whatever direct or indirect form you like. But complaining about moderation - either decisions by the mods, or, say, how we deal with a specific poster - that goes in ATMB. Thank you. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-moderation-here-is-getting-ridiculously-heavy-handed/693869.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-moderation-here-is-getting-ridiculously-heavy-handed/693869.md?page=10)