# WTF? Otto was just banned by Ed. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 10, 2008, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-otto-was-just-banned-by-ed/462971 "2008-09-10T18:35:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 17
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2008, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-otto-was-just-banned-by-ed/462971/321 "2008-09-10T23:45:00Z")
> [@mr.jp](#): > > Not “being rude to”. “Saying rude things about.” There is a difference to me. Alrighty then. Please show me in **Otto** ’s post where he said rude things about anyone. > [@](#): > > And I don’t accept your evidence. 😛 Why not, praytell? A mere 14 posts after the rule is posted, he is banned for violating it. What else do you need? ---
**Author:** ![Omegaman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e480ec/32.png) [@Omegaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omegaman)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2008, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-otto-was-just-banned-by-ed/462971/322 "2008-09-10T23:45:49Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > As happens often, I don’t understand you very well. I think we speak a different language. > > I was just pointing out the fact that Frank was no longer a Mod. No comment on what that meant. Then I posted why I disagree with **Frank**. Just my opinion. Doesn’t mean I don’t have respect for you, just that **Frank** has given me wise advice before. I would like to think I speak the language of the hard, as it is how I live my life. This very afternoon I had to call an ignorant fuck to the mat. Best for both of us he decided to play dead, otherwise we might have both lost blood. Him lots more than me, I assure you, as he choked like a little chicken. Fucking Bitch. Is this language you can understand? ---
**Author:** ![NineToTheSky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5a626/32.png) [@NineToTheSky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NineToTheSky)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2008, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-otto-was-just-banned-by-ed/462971/323 "2008-09-10T23:46:17Z")
> [@mutantmoose](#): > > Because it’s another question with no real answer. Oh - that question. I do think that a leader with ‘vision’ (a goal, an aim) would have an answer. There are all sorts of message boards out there. If you’re in control, you should know where you’re going. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2008, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-otto-was-just-banned-by-ed/462971/324 "2008-09-10T23:47:09Z")
This ban was completely out of line. I’ll be checking to see how this will unfold and if \*\* Otto \*\* is reinstated. Meanwhile, I need extended vacations away from the Dope. It seems like it’s the right moment for that. ---
**Author:** ![mutantmoose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a87d85/32.png) [@mutantmoose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mutantmoose)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2008, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-otto-was-just-banned-by-ed/462971/325 "2008-09-10T23:47:27Z")
It’s a fucking message board. What do you think it’s going to turn into? A unicorn? ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2008, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-otto-was-just-banned-by-ed/462971/326 "2008-09-10T23:49:37Z")
> [@mutantmoose](#): > > It’s a fucking message board. What do you think it’s going to turn into? A unicorn? A unicorn would be nice. I like unicorns. ---
**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:** [September 10, 2008, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-otto-was-just-banned-by-ed/462971/327 "2008-09-10T23:49:38Z")
> [@Contrapuntal](#): > > That was not the stated reason for the banning. He was clearly banned for violating the newly minted “Don’t be snarky to mods and admins” rule. > [@mr. jp](#): > > You mean the “don’t make rude remarks about the mods and admins” rule? Because those two things are not really the same to me. Exactly. There wasn’t any rule that states **Don’t ask snarky questions**. That’s not whining, nor is it making rude remarks _about_ mods. **Ed** might choose to interpret it that way, but it’s not fair to expect **Otto** to _know_ it would be interpreted that way. Certainly most of us seem to have been surprised by that interpretation. If **Ed** had said “For future refernece, **Otto** , asking snarky questions with _implied_ criticism of administrative policies will be treated as whining” and then banned **Otto** for a repeat performance, that would be fair. Still an ill-advised rule(\*) to have, IMO, but at least a fair application of said rule. (\*) Again, I’m talking about the rule as _applied_. The rule as _stated_ seems totally reasonable, and indeed not much different than the previous rule. But having admins policing a poster’s _tone_ or _implications_ is just begging for inconsistent, capricious moderating and a lack of understanding by the members of what is or isn’t allowed. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2008, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-otto-was-just-banned-by-ed/462971/328 "2008-09-10T23:51:26Z")
> [@Antinor01](#): > > A unicorn would be nice. I like unicorns. You’re out of luck. They only approach virgins. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![mr.jp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/48db29/32.png) [@mr.jp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mr.jp)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2008, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-otto-was-just-banned-by-ed/462971/329 "2008-09-10T23:51:41Z")
> [@Contrapuntal](#): > > Alrighty then. Please show me in **Otto** ’s post where he said rude things about anyone. > > Why not, praytell? A mere 14 posts after the rule is posted, he is banned for violating it. What else do you need? That’s exactly the point. He didn’t actually break the rule that Ed had set up in that thread. ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2008, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-otto-was-just-banned-by-ed/462971/330 "2008-09-10T23:51:41Z")
> [@mutantmoose](#): > > It’s a fucking message board. What do you think it’s going to turn into? A unicorn? Fuck this whole **Ed** business, i’ve got a serious question to ask; Is that a single unicorn for the entire board, or one each? ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2008, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-otto-was-just-banned-by-ed/462971/331 "2008-09-10T23:53:55Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > You’re out of luck. They only approach virgins. > > 😃 There is always that. Well, maybe just a regular pony then. Ohh, a pegasus. I don’t think they have a problem with..umm, erm, non-virgins such as myself. ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2008, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-otto-was-just-banned-by-ed/462971/332 "2008-09-10T23:55:15Z")
> [@Contrapuntal](#): > > I hate that I have to keep saying this, but the “rule” he broke specifically said that offenders will be banned without warning. Previous behavior has fuck-all to do with it. Well, that’s a bit of a point, isn’t it. If you go to a club that has a set of rules: 1. Don’t piss in the punch 2. Don’t start fist fights 3. Don’t look funny at the bartender and you break #s 1 and 2 again and again it should come as no shocker when you get bounced for breaking #3 despite it’s rather nebulous definition. **Otto** acted like a jerk all over the damn place, again and again and again. He had multiple warnings. So Ed, who’s obviously stressed to the max, sick of all the obnoxious shit in is book forum, and tired of all the people bitching at poor Jerry who’s trying to improve the functioning of the board, tells people to cut it the hell out and **Otto** decides to act like a prick about it. You know what - I bet if I had asked the question I wouldn’t be banned because I don’t have a reputation for being a whiney bitch. **Otto** does. Again, rule or no rule, don’t act like a shithead to the owner of the site when he’s having a bad day. That seems quite simple to me. ---
**Author:** ![NineToTheSky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5a626/32.png) [@NineToTheSky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NineToTheSky)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2008, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-otto-was-just-banned-by-ed/462971/333 "2008-09-10T23:57:09Z")
> [@Revenant\_Threshold](#): > > Fuck this whole **Ed** business, i’ve got a serious question to ask; > > Is that a single unicorn for the entire board, or one each? There’s been a mutant deer with a single, central horn. [http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/06/11/unicorn-deer-italy.html](http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/06/11/unicorn-deer-italy.html). So unicorns do exist. See? So the Straight Dope can turn into a unicorn. OK? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2008, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-otto-was-just-banned-by-ed/462971/334 "2008-09-10T23:59:05Z")
> [@Revenant\_Threshold](#): > > Is that a single unicorn for the entire board, or one each? That’s snarky, you know. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-otto-was-just-banned-by-ed/462971/335 "2008-09-11T00:00:49Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > …Shout out to the folks I liked while I was here…reasonable dude from some cold state, signs as Jim), … I’m gonna choose to believe you mean me. Well. nice to make a new friend in a trainwreck. 😛 Banning Otto sucks. Vote for Quimby! ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-otto-was-just-banned-by-ed/462971/336 "2008-09-11T00:00:56Z")
[QUOTE=Really Not All That Bright] That’s snarky, you know. [/QUOTE] I prefer to think of it more as frabjous. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-otto-was-just-banned-by-ed/462971/337 "2008-09-11T00:05:19Z")
> [@tim314](#): > > Exactly. There wasn’t any rule that states **Don’t ask snarky questions**. That’s not whining, nor is it making rude remarks _about_ mods. **Ed** might choose to interpret it that way, but it’s not fair to expect **Otto** to _know_ it would be interpreted that way. Certainly most of us seem to have been surprised by that interpretation. > > If **Ed** had said “For future refernece, **Otto** , asking snarky questions with _implied_ criticism of administrative policies will be treated as whining” and then banned **Otto** for a repeat performance, that would be fair. Still an ill-advised rule(\*) to have, IMO, but at least a fair application of said rule. > > (\*) Again, I’m talking about the rule as _applied_. The rule as _stated_ seems totally reasonable, and indeed not much different than the previous rule. But having admins policing a poster’s _tone_ or _implications_ is just begging for inconsistent, capricious moderating and a lack of understanding by the members of what is or isn’t allowed. That’s just fucking idiotic. Everybody knows what Ed meant. I chafe under the rules sometimes just as much as anyone else does, but if I’m going to go rules-lawyering every slight little fucking mirandized issue, it’s going to be over some brilliant, scintillating, subtle, spectacular piece of snark. Not “Oh, you said no touching, but I didn’t really touch, I just jabbed my finger in your nose and then pulled it back really quickly!” Dumbfuck. If Otto was your co-worker, you’d have wiped boogers in his coffee cup by now. Somehow by being a petty smart-ass on a message board he’s suddenly become Mumia Abu-Jamal. Jesus, this is stupid. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-otto-was-just-banned-by-ed/462971/338 "2008-09-11T00:06:25Z")
> [@alice\_in\_wonderland](#): > > Well, that’s a bit of a point, isn’t it. > > If you go to a club that has a set of rules: > > 1. Don’t piss in the punch > 2. Don’t start fist fights > 3. Don’t look funny at the bartender > > and you break #s 1 and 2 again and again it should come as no shocker when you get bounced for breaking #3 despite it’s rather nebulous definition. If he was never kicked out for violating #1 and #2, then obviously “again and again” is an insufficient number of violations, and should have no bearing whether he violated a rule that requires no previous warnings. > [@](#): > > **Otto** acted like a jerk all over the damn place, again and again and again. He had multiple warnings. So Ed, who’s obviously stressed to the max, sick of all the obnoxious shit in is book forum, and tired of all the people bitching at poor Jerry who’s trying to improve the functioning of the board, tells people to cut it the hell out and **Otto** decides to act like a prick about it. Fine. Then that’s what he should have been banned for. Not for violating a rule that requires no warnings. > [@](#): > > You know what - I bet if I had asked the question I wouldn’t be banned because I don’t have a reputation for being a whiney bitch. **Otto** does. Which, if true, makes the very first application of the newest rule even more capricious and uncalled for. > [@](#): > > Again, rule or no rule, don’t act like a shithead to the owner of the site when he’s having a bad day. That seems quite simple to me. If you call that “acting like a shithead” then your skin must be as thin as Ed’s. Watch out you don’t explode the next time you try to stifle a fart. ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-otto-was-just-banned-by-ed/462971/339 "2008-09-11T00:07:27Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > If \*\*Otto \*\*goes, how many more are then on the cut list? He picked a piss poor time and location to post a bitchy question, but it did not deserve the nuclear option. That is the crux of the issue for me. The guy couldn’t manage to refrain from posting a bitchy question about the staff in a thread titled **WARNING - stop whining** and contained, in the OP, the statement _“Although we welcome constructive comments, anyone making rude remarks about the staff from here on out will be banned without further notice”_. And that’s what happened, he was banned. I have no problem with that at all. Really, **Otto** couldn’t resist the urge to post that snarky reply? He’s pissed and moaned with the best of them, and that post was classic **Otto** whining. If the thread title was **Kittens and Unicorns for EVERYONE!,** you would have a good point, but cripes, it was spelled out for all and sundry. ---
**Author:** ![Geek\_Mecha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecae2f/32.png) [@Geek\_Mecha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geek_Mecha)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-otto-was-just-banned-by-ed/462971/340 "2008-09-11T00:07:31Z")
I’m trying to be sympathetic, but it’s not really coming. It seems to me that if you are going to post what is truly just an innocent question in a thread started by an admin that has the word WARNING in capital letters and says you’ll be banned if you’re rude, you would phrase it in such a way that it could not be construed as sarcastic or rude or snarky or anything other than sincerely just a question. Especially if you are already on the admins’ radars from having been issued warnings in the past. Regardless of the role of snark on these boards or Cecil’s books. Given the topic and tone of Ed’s thread and recent events, I think Otto poorly chose the time and tone to ask his question. I’m surprised the banhammer fell as quickly as it did, but not surprised that it fell. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-otto-was-just-banned-by-ed/462971.md?page=16) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-otto-was-just-banned-by-ed/462971.md?page=18)