Originally posted by Varganother interesting point. There is currently no public list of users banned from the forum. Should there be? On one hand is it right to parade the fact that a user has been banned. It could be especially bad to do so as the user would be unable to defend themselves for the ban period. I also suspect that public knowledge of bans would result in more threads protesting bans once they are up - these not only take up forum space but also tend to repeat much of the things that resulted in the ban in the first place.
Is there a list of banned forum users?
Who is banned?
On the other hand, currently if a user is banned no one else knows why or maybe even notices that they are absent from the forums. Because of this people who complained about the banned users posts can't see that action has been taken, and other users cannot see that a certain user's posts resulted in a ban.
Would a public 'banned' list cause more trouble than good? I'm undecided.
Originally posted by belgianfreakUntil you mentioned someone was banned, I didn't realise anyone was.
On the other hand, currently if a user is banned no one else knows why or maybe even notices that they are absent from the forums. Because of this people who complained about the banned users posts can't see that action has been taken, and other users cannot see that a certain user's posts resulted in a ban.
Now I'm stuck wondering who it is, and if that's why I haven't seen posts by certain people in a while.
Originally posted by belgianfreakPeople banned from the site for cheating can't explain themselves either so I can't see why forum bans should be any different. I think you'd regret it if you start making it public.
another interesting point. There is currently no public list of users banned from the forum. Should there be? On one hand is it right to parade the fact that a user has been banned. It could be especially bad to do so as the user would be unable to defend themselves for the ban period. I also suspect that public knowledge of bans would result in more th ...[text shortened]... lted in a ban.
Would a public 'banned' list cause more trouble than good? I'm undecided.
Originally posted by belgianfreakI think it's probably a bad idea, although another advantage would be that people would know that it's a common thing, which might make it a little less upsetting if it happens to you. (I still don't see what the bans are meant to achieve, but I guess I'll never get an answer to that.)
another interesting point. There is currently no public list of users banned from the forum. Should there be? On one hand is it right to parade the fact that a user has been banned. It could be especially bad to do so as the user would be unable to defend themselves for the ban period. I also suspect that public knowledge of bans would result in more th ...[text shortened]... lted in a ban.
Would a public 'banned' list cause more trouble than good? I'm undecided.
On a different note, I think it would be a good idea to let people know who gave them their ban. That would reduce needless complaints to and discussions with moderators who were not involved.
Originally posted by Wheelyone difference is that people banned for cheating don't reappear on the site a few days later (at least, not with the same name...). Branding people as banned might make them targets for bashing while they can't respond, and prompt more 'it wasn't fair' threads (which are usually fruitless as the offending threads have usually been removed to no one apart from the mod & the banned poster know the whole story).
People banned from the site for cheating can't explain themselves either so I can't see why forum bans should be any different. I think you'd regret it if you start making it public.
Originally posted by NordlysI am not convinced it'd be a good idea either, but there's no harm in passing the idea around for comment.
I think it's probably a bad idea, although another advantage would be that people would know that it's a common thing, which might make it a little less upsetting if it happens to you. (I still don't see what the bans are meant to achieve, but I guess I'll never get an answer to that.)
On a different note, I think it would be a good idea to let people kno ...[text shortened]... t would reduce needless complaints to and discussions with moderators who were not involved.
What are bans meant to achieve? My view (can't say that I speak for everyone) is that bans are a notice that if warnings of unacceptable posting behavious are ignored that rights can be taken away. Sometimes I get zero response to warning PMs until I give a 1 day ban, which tends to get peoples attention. The bans then tend to increase in length if the offending posts continue.
Bans can also have the minor advantage of preventing a user that has created a lot of work in a short time (ie. many posts that have to be removed, quotes of that post hunted out...) from continuing to create moderatable posts while the initial mess is being sorted out, but this is never the primary reason for a ban.
I personally never* give a ban without a PM, otherwise some might be left wondering exactly why they have been banned (although some are so obvious that an explanation shouldn't be needed). Most times people are warned before a ban is imposed, but in severe cases the ban is set at the same time as the PM. Because I always* give a PM everyone knows when it was me that gave the ban. However, the flip side to this is that it means that on top of sorting out the posts the process takes even more time, and you open yourself to flak (~35% of the time). Personally I took the decision that if it's important enough to act then it's important enough to spend the extra time, and if I believe the ban is warrented that any flak can be handled (as unpleasant as it can be). But I can veru much understand why sometimes another mod might want to avoid this.
*correction - in a limited number of cases, such as a new user totally spamming the forums on their first day, a PM won't be sent as there is obviously no point. They obviously set out to spam the forums, so telling them why they are banned is not needed and could only encourage them that they are getting attention and therefore woudl be more likely to come back later.
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I've just had a brilliant idea. When someone is banned from the forums, they get to be told why and for what post. 🙂
I can think of two people who were banned from the site who came back to discuss things.
Most other forums I visit have "banned" under the persons avatar throughout their ban - seems to work well.
Originally posted by belgianfreakThanks, makes sense. As for a mod wanting to avoid getting flak, I can understand that, but it seems unfair to me both towards the person who gets banned without knowing by whom or what for, as well as towards the other moderators who might get the flak instead because the banned person won't know whom to talk to. Oh, and of course towards the rest of the community because this is bound to trigger a reaction in the forums.
I am not convinced it'd be a good idea either, but there's no harm in passing the idea around for comment.
What are bans meant to achieve? My view (can't say that I speak for everyone) is that bans are a notice that if warnings of unacceptable posting behavious are ignored that rights can be taken away. Sometimes I get zero response to warnin ...[text shortened]... em that they are getting attention and therefore woudl be more likely to come back later.