# 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:** 18
**Author:** ![bdgr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a87d85/32.png) [@bdgr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bdgr)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-otto-was-just-banned-by-ed/462971/341 "2008-09-11T00:09:21Z")
what if the unicorn was tied up by a virgin so it couldn’t get away from the rest of us… ---
**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, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-otto-was-just-banned-by-ed/462971/342 "2008-09-11T00:09:33Z")
> [@delphica](#): > > 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”_. Please explain how **Otto** ’s question constitutes " making rude remarks about the staff." ---
**Author:** ![howye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9adbd/32.png) [@howye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/howye)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-otto-was-just-banned-by-ed/462971/343 "2008-09-11T00:10:58Z")
Someone upthread opined that there is something more going on here. I have come to the conclusion that I agree. Ed has either personal or professional issues at the moment. Unfortunately, he has made the unprofessional move of letting his issues impact his work. Normally I don’t think an outburst such as this should be a career limiting event, but Ed has driven away paying (subscriptions and ad viewers) customers today. He has also wounded a unique culture that may not survive. I had recently come to the conclusion that I should post more, and become part of a community that I had sat on the edge of for so long. After today I will let me subscription lapse and contribute no longer. I will continue to read, and be logged in, for some time but I will fade back into the background. Ed- I doubt you are reading this, but if you are: apologize and throw yourself on the mercy of the court. You were wrong, you know it. Perhaps it is time for you to take a break yourself or move on. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-otto-was-just-banned-by-ed/462971/344 "2008-09-11T00:10:59Z")
I’m not sympathetic at all and agree fully with **Frank** , **alice** , and the others who say it was a well-deserved banning. ---
**Author:** ![howye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9adbd/32.png) [@howye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/howye)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-otto-was-just-banned-by-ed/462971/345 "2008-09-11T00:12:02Z")
> [@Contrapuntal](#): > > Please explain how **Otto** ’s question constitutes " making rude remarks about the staff." Yes please do. I thought it was a legitimate question, but nobody in charge seems to believe in answering questions anymore. ---
**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, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-otto-was-just-banned-by-ed/462971/346 "2008-09-11T00:12:43Z")
> [@Cosmic Relief](#): > > 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… This is America! Fortunes have been made and lost over the misplacement of commas in legislation. We are a nation of nit-pickers. Why do you hate America? ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-otto-was-just-banned-by-ed/462971/347 "2008-09-11T00:12:59Z")
I’m still not sure on my position of the banning v. suspension argument. I posted that I wasn’t upset, but I’m not exactly thrilled. As far as reasons for previous warnings and final warnings, I’d equate it to the 3 strikes rule. If you get convicted of stealing cars twice, then get convicted of robbing a bank, you’re still out even though the first 2 don’t relate to the third. (Other than theft, but I’m simplifying.) ---
**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 11, 2008, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-otto-was-just-banned-by-ed/462971/348 "2008-09-11T00:14:03Z")
> [@Cosmic Relief](#): > > 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. Really? You think “being snarky to staff” and “making rude comments about the staff” are so similar that it doesn’t merit mentioning? ---
**Author:** ![Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleeps_With_Butterflies)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-otto-was-just-banned-by-ed/462971/349 "2008-09-11T00:14:25Z")
> [@mutantmoose](#): > > He asked a question that has an obvious answer. No, moderators are not going to be fired for rudeness. > > Incidentally, can anyone cite an example of a moderator being rude to someone? I don’t think I’ve ever seen it. > > It was a stupid fucking question. There was a case of an admin who broke the law by linking people to a member’s listing on a sexual predator site. The law says those sites cannot be used for the purpose of harassing an individual. She posted a direct link to his information which identified him as a sex offender. For that she only got a month’s break. Not a banning, not firing, but a month off. Luckily for her Ed wasn’t in a bad mood that day, she might have lost her head. ---
**Author:** ![JimOfAllTrades](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@JimOfAllTrades](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JimOfAllTrades)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-otto-was-just-banned-by-ed/462971/350 "2008-09-11T00:15:32Z")
> [@alice\_in\_wonderland](#): > > There’s more than one business that gets rid of ‘customers’ that take too much of the staff’s time - when people post about such businesses here they get cheered and yet **Otto** broke rules all over the place, recieved multiple warnings and yet had to poke the tiger. Really stupid. > > Like I said at the beginning - I just can’t manage any outrage. It would be cool of **Otto** returns but people flouncing out of here because the owner of the club bounced an annoying patron, despite the cover charge the patron paid, are being completely absurd. > [@Contrapuntal](#): > > No rule \*lettered \*that way, true. In _spirit_ things are different. Clearly the rule can be applied that way. So, to clarify, the rule about being rude to mods and admins includes asking snarky questions. I cite the very first application by it’s creator as evidence. I agree pretty much completely with **alice\_in\_wonderland** and **Contrapuntal** here. Did anyone over the age of five (but WHY dad?) really misunderstand Ed’s post? Does anyone really think **otto** wasn’t deliberately being snarky, and that he wasn’t just playing jailhouse lawyer to see how much he could stick it to Ed and show how much he thought Ed (and the rest of the staff) are just useless hypocrites? It seemed absolutely 100% obvious to me. I don’t care if otto comes back or not, I read his posts here and there, but what the hell. He did something deliberately stupid _immediately_ after being told not too, and paid the price. I’d have banned his ass too. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-otto-was-just-banned-by-ed/462971/351 "2008-09-11T00:16:44Z")
> [@Antinor01](#): > > A unicorn would be nice. I like unicorns. Plus, the rules about how not to get gored by a unicorn are clear. ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-otto-was-just-banned-by-ed/462971/352 "2008-09-11T00:19:11Z")
Fuck it. The more I think of **Otto** ’s comment to me the more I get pissed. Chalk me up as 100% supportive of the ban. Call it petty, but the comment/wish was totally uncalled for from someone that purported to respect differing opinions. Keep in mind, I offered my vote against the SSM ban in ND when it was on the ballot. I tried. ---
**Author:** ![JimOfAllTrades](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@JimOfAllTrades](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JimOfAllTrades)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-otto-was-just-banned-by-ed/462971/353 "2008-09-11T00:19:19Z")
> [@mr.jp](#): > > Really? You think “being snarky to staff” and “making rude comments about the staff” are so similar that it doesn’t merit mentioning? In this case, absolutely yes. I think the intent of STFU about the staff and upgrades was absolutely clear. And I think justified. ---
**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 11, 2008, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-otto-was-just-banned-by-ed/462971/354 "2008-09-11T00:19:31Z")
> [@Contrapuntal](#): > > 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. Whatever. My skin is not thin. However, knowing **Otto’s** history (and that’s as a poster reading what he wrote over the years - NOT a mod or some insider who was privy to private Mod convos) I read his post as TOTALLY dickish. And you’ll note - other people asked similar questions and were careful about their wording due to Ed’s Terrible, Horrible, No-Good, Super-Bad Day[sup]TM[/sup] and they have not been banned. Seriously - if you don’t want to get banned for acting like a prick, don’t act like a prick. Particularly not when El Grande Poobah is in a pissy mood. That’s not a rule thing. That’s a common sense thing. ---
**Author:** ![Arac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c37758/32.png) [@Arac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arac)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-otto-was-just-banned-by-ed/462971/355 "2008-09-11T00:23:29Z")
I’m with those saying that this action shows Ed to be an egomaniacal, talentless child. Alas, the internet seems to breed them, and gives them plenty of opportunity to indulge their narcissistic cults-of-personality. ---
**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, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-otto-was-just-banned-by-ed/462971/356 "2008-09-11T00:24:21Z")
> [@alice\_in\_wonderland](#): > > And you’ll note - other people asked similar questions and were careful about their wording due to Ed’s Terrible, Horrible, No-Good, Super-Bad Day[sup]TM[/sup] and they have not been banned. > > Seriously - if you don’t want to get banned for acting like a prick, don’t act like a prick. Particularly not when El Grande Poobah is in a pissy mood. > > That’s not a rule thing. That’s a common sense thing. To be fair, it was not immediately obvious until that point that **Ed** was in a pissy mood. Up until then, beyond the “stop whining”, he’d been pretty reasonable. ---
**Author:** ![myskepticsight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cc9497/32.png) [@myskepticsight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/myskepticsight)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-otto-was-just-banned-by-ed/462971/357 "2008-09-11T00:24:23Z")
> [@duffer](#): > > Fuck it. The more I think of **Otto** ’s comment to me the more I get pissed. Chalk me up as 100% supportive of the ban. Call it petty, but the comment/wish was totally uncalled for from someone that purported to respect differing opinions. Keep in mind, I offered my vote against the SSM ban in ND when it was on the ballot. I tried. What are you talking about? On the last page I just saw a post by you that didn’t seem to really be in support or opposition to the ban. Now you’re talking about voting against same sex marriage or something? ---
**Author:** ![mutantmoose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a87d85/32.png) [@mutantmoose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mutantmoose)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-otto-was-just-banned-by-ed/462971/358 "2008-09-11T00:24:38Z")
> [@](#): > > There was a case of an admin who broke the law by linking people to a member’s listing on a sexual predator site. The law says those sites cannot be used for the purpose of harassing an individual. She posted a direct link to his information which identified him as a sex offender. For that she only got a month’s break. Not a banning, not firing, but a month off. Luckily for her Ed wasn’t in a bad mood that day, she might have lost her head. Sleeps with Butterflies. That might be an example of…_something_… but it’s not an example of a mod being rude to a poster and so not applicable to this scenario. ---
**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 11, 2008, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-otto-was-just-banned-by-ed/462971/359 "2008-09-11T00:25:15Z")
Ok, I guess quite a few posters agree. I really don’t see it though. It didn’t seem to me that he broke the rule. And also I don’t see how it is particularly “snarky”. I’m actually not even sure that I find it more snarky than the first reply. "Not that I am intending to make any rude remarks, and this is NOT, repeat NOT, intended as a complaint, repeat, NOT A COMPLAINT, but I am wondering if this applies to threads in the Pit or is it just an ATMB thing or what? I AM NOT COMPLAINING, I SWEAR TO GOD. Just asking a question." I mean, all the denying pretty much implicates that the poster expects injustice. Isn’t that sarcastically snarky? ---
**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 11, 2008, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-otto-was-just-banned-by-ed/462971/360 "2008-09-11T00:27:02Z")
You know, I have no interest, whatsoever, in remodling old houses. Zip. Nada. Zilch. And I think I’ll go buy Ed’s book just becuse people here are acting so prickish to him. Frankly if this were my site I’ve had shut the bitch down by now. And if anyone wants to accuse me of sucking mod ass, they can eat the hot shit fresh as it’s coming out of my asshole. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-otto-was-just-banned-by-ed/462971.md?page=17) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-otto-was-just-banned-by-ed/462971.md?page=19)