A nearly three week ban. Why?

[Tkumpathenurple]

So my nearly 3 week ban has just been lifted. A 19 day ban in a lockdown where it's difficult to speak to friends and family. Thanks for that!

Given that I've not been able to find out why on earth I was banned, it was obviously the first thing I checked today.

Here's the reason, as well as my cited post. I haven't nested things in quotes, as it'd get messy quickly. I've also changed the name of the user (to user. Creative!) I was initially quoting.

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"Your actions in this message (General Next Generation Rumors and Discussions [Post GDC 2020]) are not appropriate:

The only people who wouldn't want a mid gen upgrade this time are the die hard Xbox fans really, they would pray Series X keeps the Tflops advantage for 7 years straight without a possible PS5 Pro that even out specs a Series XXX 3-4 years down the line.

I'd say the only people who wouldn't want a mid-gen upgrade are casuals who just don't care (but who also don't class buying and playing games as a hobby) and idiot Xbots who care only about wiggling their flaccid e-peen about.

The diehard XBox fans, I expect, would welcome a ~25-30TF mid-gen.

We cannot allow users to be abusive, overly aggressive, threatening, or to "troll". This does not follow our rules. Your message may have been removed or altered.

Your account's access may be limited based on these actions. Please keep this in mind when posting or using our site."

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So I was rather hoping for some specificity that might make it clear why it warrants a 19 day ban to say that fanboys might not want a mid-gen console, but core gamers with their wits about them would?

Who was I abusing?
To whom was I being overly aggressive?
Who was I threatening?
Who was I trolling?

 

[BRiT]

Here is your trolling statement:

idiot Xbots who care only about wiggling their flaccid e-peen about.

There was no reason to include it in the discussion at all, and it came off as your view of everyone who isn't on Sony platforms. In the future, rethink what you post and include. If your point can still be made without such inflammatory language then do so.

The only reason to include such language is to trigger a response. Any such responses would have started bickering which goes against the nature of B3D.

 

[Tkumpathenurple]

There was no reason to include it in the discussion at all

I disagree. One user thought there was a reason that XBox gamers wouldn't want a mid-gen console. I stated that I disagreed, and that it would only be sad fanboys.

and it came off as your view of everyone who isn't on Sony platforms.

Nonsense. How could my next line of "The diehard XBox fans, I expect, would welcome a ~25-30TF mid-gen" possibly make yours a valid interpretation? It was quite clear that there's a distinction between fanboys and the people who game on a particular platform.

In the future, rethink what you post and include. If your point can still be made without such inflammatory language then do so.

I'm quite happy to think about what I post, and I don't at all mind being pulled up on the matter. That being said, I don't consider my post to contain inflammatory language.

The only reason to include such language is to trigger a response. Any such responses would have started bickering which goes against the nature of B3D.

That was absolutely not my reasoning. I've posted on this forum for a few years now, and my behaviour, hopefully, is quite consistent with someone who doesn't engage in trolling. I try to be respectful and polite. I accept it's possible to have lapses in judgment, but why not have a word with me first? Then, if I persist, issue a temporary ban?

Why the leap so quickly to a 19 day ban?

 

[BRiT]

There is no acceptable reason to have the inflammatory statement in the discussion.

 

[Tkumpathenurple]

It's not an inflammatory statement. Use your words.

 

[BRiT]

It's not an inflammatory statement.

Well then it had the opposite effect of what you thought it would, as it was viewed as inflammatory language from multiple users who contacted me over it.

 

[Tkumpathenurple]

Okay. Fair enough. So again, I will go back to the question of why not just contact me about it and tell me of the issue so that I can be mindful of it? Why the ban? It's not like there's a history of warnings, and the 19 day ban dropped after I'd ignored yet another warning.

To go from no warnings to banned strikes me as heavy handed.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

I agree that from no warnings to a 3 week ban is heavy handed. There are other posters with a fairly plentiful list of more recent infractions who aren't being silenced. Although I'd have thought it pretty obvious your language is wrong for here and you shouldn't really need the explaining, it's not like you've been a persistent offender.

 

[BRiT]

At the time it was a hectic with rapidly moving bickering in need of drastic cleanups as continual posturing on discussions, and I still can't shake the imagery. I think it deserves a ban because the statement is so obviously wrong for this forum, it does not flow in any natural conversation and anyone posting such knows exactly what they're saying and implies they're ready for the repurcussions.

Now the ban should have been shorter, taking into account past behaviors and forum participation and previous offenses. For overlooking those aspects I apologize.

 

[Deleted member 2197]

I agree that from no warnings to a 3 week ban is heavy handed. There are other posters with a fairly plentiful list of more recent infractions who aren't being silenced.

True. I just did a search on "idiot" and turned up questionable uses of the word.

Edit: Moderating is a more difficult task than one would think.

 

[Tkumpathenurple]

I agree that from no warnings to a 3 week ban is heavy handed. There are other posters with a fairly plentiful list of more recent infractions who aren't being silenced. Although I'd have thought it pretty obvious your language is wrong for here and you shouldn't really need the explaining, it's not like you've been a persistent offender.

I understand that the term "Xbot" is typically associated with trolling, which is why I never specifically call anyone anything of the sort. My intention there was to state the distinction between XBox fanboys (XBots) and XBox non-fanboys (diehard XBox fans.)

Suffice it to say that I'll be using different language with such distinctions in future.

At the time it was a hectic with rapidly moving bickering in need of drastic cleanups as continual posturing on discussions, and I still can't shake the imagery.

By "imagery," are you referring to the "wiggling their flaccid e-peen about" line?

I think it deserves a ban because the statement is so obviously wrong for this forum, it does not flow in any natural conversation and anyone posting such knows exactly what they're saying and implies they're ready for the repurcussions.

I strongly disagree here. I think it does flow in a natural conversation. Because it did. "User" stated, perhaps jokingly, that XBox gamers would hope for there not to be a mid-gen console to risk upsetting the upcoming power balance. I responded that only fanboys would feel that way, whereas well-balanced XBox gamers wouldn't.

So the actual content of what's being said isn't, IMO, anywhere near inflammatory or trolling. Is the issue the imagery? Is it explicitly the use of the term "XBot," regardless of its context.

Now the ban should have been shorter, taking into account past behaviors and forum participation and previous offenses. For overlooking those aspects I apologize.

Fair enough. Apology accepted. I would shake your hand but, you know, social distancing and all that.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

I understand that the term "Xbot" is typically associated with trolling, which is why I never specifically call anyone anything of the sort. My intention there was to state the distinction between XBox fanboys (XBots) and XBox non-fanboys (diehard XBox fans.)

Some years ago, the word 'fanboy' was banned here to prevent people using it for calling each other out as fanboys. As the board grew up, and the moderators kicked out the trouble makers, discussion matured and word bans were lifted so that we could discuss those personalities and populations, though of course calling each other out as fanboys was off-limits ("discuss the point, not the poster"). If your discussion was talking about a population of general Xbox fanatics, without making the distinction that you were not referring to members on this board, then it could appear you were talking about people here as mindless Xbots, which would be very wrong.

By "imagery," are you referring to the "wiggling their flaccid e-peen about" line?

Yes. Very obviously.

I strongly disagree here. I think it does flow in a natural conversation. Because it did. "User" stated, perhaps jokingly, that XBox gamers would hope for there not to be a mid-gen console to risk upsetting the upcoming power balance. I responded that only fanboys would feel that way, whereas well-balanced XBox gamers wouldn't.

So the actual content of what's being said isn't, IMO, anywhere near inflammatory or trolling. Is the issue the imagery? Is it explicitly the use of the term "XBot," regardless of its context.

Depending on the flow of the conversation it was a part of, I can readily see it being perceived as flame-baiting anyone who is 1) pro Xbox and 2) anti-mid-gen refresh.

Bare in mind that as mods, we don't see and track every individual sub-discussion within a thread. You might have two people engaged with banter among five people having a row, and us mods will see that banter as part of the arguing. You know exactly the context and intent of your post, but we don't and have to interpret. In a messy thread, there will be collateral damage, like the police raiding an illegal rave and rounding everyone up including the delivery guy and the cleaner.

And no, "wiggling their flaccid e-peen about" is not the flow of natural conversation, at least not in B3D. You've been here three years - you should know that standard. There are possibly two members who can talk that way because they are special.

 

[digitalwanderer]

Moderating is a more difficult task than one would think.

Truer words were nare spoken. I had no clue the BS that you had to wade through as a moderator, 99% of it I had no clue about came with the job when I first started it.

 

[MrFox]

I tend to follow the crowd, and intuitively reuse other's expressions, including ePenis. I'm in no way a master of decorum and I will follow whatever rules are expressed, but you guys have a problem figuring out how to consider the intent of a poster, and there's an impression of selective and subjective application of the rules. It's acceptable to have 100 posts of sly trolling in a row, but saying ePenis is a ban. The former is a purposeful and continuously empowered attitude... the latter is a just a mistake that a normal person would quickly apologize for.

The first time I read the term ePenis was here on B3D, and it was used repeatedly, even by mods, as a way to laugh at some generalized fanboy infatuation with power. So something changed between 2013 and 2020.

I shant use that term anymore good sirs.

 

[Arwin]

Many forums will have moments in time where discussion will move rapidly and will attract more involvement from users who are otherwise silence or the forum will attract people from other boards where different levels of politeness are tolerated.

There have been times for instance during E3 presentations particularly when those were presenting new console generations, we would post up sticky threads with guidelines and warnings that stricter moderation would take place during said times.

In this case the new generation has come somewhat unexpectedly in the form of hardware presentations without the usual events taking place, and obscured by the coronavirus.

Perhaps though it would be a good idea to post up a sticky friends outlining the policy during this year where we will see, corona permitting, the release of a new console generation ...

 

[Deleted member 13524]

By "imagery," are you referring to the "wiggling their flaccid e-peen about" line?

We only use proper words here at B3D, to keep things at a higher level.
And by proper, I mean we shall not mention the e-thingie of the boys or the e-thingie of the girls or the act that puts both e-thingies together.


Aaaand I'm off to being vote-banned by MVPs.

 

[homerdog]

We only use proper words here at B3D, to keep things at a higher level.
And by proper, I mean we shall not mention the e-thingie of the boys or the e-thingie of the girls or the act that puts both e-thingies together.


Aaaand I'm off to being ban-voted by MVPs.

What is a MVP? Is that a thing here?

 

[homerdog]

It's not an inflammatory statement. Use your words.

Your post was fine except that one part which was super cringy and unnecessary. Still not worth a 3 week ban on what appears to be a first offense but I imagine moderating the console forums is not a fun job.

Is there no way to appeal a ban? Somehow I've never been banned or anything so I don't know how it works.

 

[Deleted member 13524]

What is a MVP? Is that a thing here?

Yes.

 

[homerdog]

Yes.

Lol are you seriously worried about getting voted off the island? WTF have you been doing to make you think that would happen?