Why isn't BluffThis banned?

[tuq]

[ QUOTE ]
One of the complaints that's been coming up a lot lately is that if you don't play nice with the right 2+2 cliques the mods will [censored] you. Silly or not, that is the perception we're seeing.

[/ QUOTE ]
If this is true it's way worse than anything BluffTHIS! brings to the table.

The most pathetic thing about the site I called home before this (www.televisionwithoutpity.com, a total non-fit for my personality) is that the mods were viewed as these omnipotent posters, and almost any criticism leveled against them drew punishment. It was so ridiculous that it spawned a "twop sucks" site that drew a lot of the user base over there. The last thing this site needs is mod ass kissing, or the impression of cliqueishness, particularly as it pertains to mods. The ability to challenge mods in threads and in ATF leads to posters feeling that they and their feedback are welcome and appreciated.

Regarding BluffTHIS!, my heart is with the posters that want him banned, but my head is with the idea that it would be a bad idea for reasons that you wrote. My least favorite poster - and the only person I have on ignore - is Bi-Tor (ThinMan), and even then I'm not sure banning him is a good idea. As the internet grows older people will hopefully get better at not getting trolled, and the best way to get better at anything is practice, so trolls inadvertently provide a service in this regard.

(Actually, steroids are probably a better way to get better at some things.)

[Ryan Beal]

Some are advocating getting proactive about banning him. That's what I was trying to address.

As has been discussed, the reason he's not banned is that he hasn't done anything bad enough to warrant stronger action. I'm not even seeing any recent warnings on his account, which should be used.

Talking to people is an underrated method of moderation.

[El Diablo]

Ryan,

The OP is not looking for a reason to ban and it has nothing to do with whether or not I like this guy.

It was simply posted because he went out of his way to purposefully troll and ruin an ATF thread that was going to serve a useful purpose.

I referenced RJ because from what I've seen, this guy shares some of the traits for which RJ was banned. Except BluffThis seems to more often be focused on ruining threads, whereas RJ just had poor judgement and often acted kinda dumb when involved in any sort of argument.

[El Diablo]

tug,

"it spawned a "twop sucks" site"

That could be shared by disgruntled users from here!

[*TT*]

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Talking to people is an underrated method of moderation.

[/ QUOTE ]

Amen. I try to practice this whenever possible, banning is used last or only if the user is rarely around. You want to change someone? Start by communicating.

[tuq]

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I referenced RJ because from what I've seen, this guy shares some of the traits for which RJ was banned. Except BluffThis seems to more often be focused on ruining threads, whereas RJ just had poor judgement and often acted kinda dumb when involved in any sort of argument.

[/ QUOTE ]
The RJ analogy is off because RJ didn't seem to have any control of himself whatsoever and what came off as "trolling" was merely an unintended byproduct of him completely losing his mind at times.

Posters like BluffTHIS! however, when in trolling mode, go in with the express purpose of pushing buttons. That shouldn't go ignored or unpunished IMO. TT's idea of reaching out to him was a good one - people tend to respond to carrots better than sticks. But if he can't help himself and keeps this crap up then it should be stick o'clock, and let kyleb or some other ban-obsessed mod drop the hammer for a day or three.

[tuq]

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tug,

"it spawned a "twop sucks" site"

That could be shared by disgruntled users from here!

[/ QUOTE ]
Heh, you have no idea. The people who are cast away from this site are given more than enough rope to hang themselves and are almost certainly not forum assets - the only exceptions I can think of are really entertaining posters like yvesaint or maybe Hutz who are constantly pushing the envelope. The people who migrated to twopsucks (now called something else) were almost all very thoughtful people who couldn't stand the incessant tolerance for (and worse, encouragement of) sycophants and unchecked idiocy. The quality of the new site was way, way higher than the one that caused it. That wouldn't happen here.

[*TT*]

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Posters like BluffTHIS! however, when in trolling mode, go in with the express purpose of pushing buttons. That shouldn't go ignored or unpunished IMO.

[/ QUOTE ]

for what its worth I agree, the only difference is the next step in my eyes is a talk with Mat before the ban stick comes out. BT is a special case, he needs hand holding at times - I think its a good investment.

Another big difference between RJ and BT is that RJ dug his own grave before and after the ban, I don't think there would have been a single mod who would have cared if RJ came back under a new name and didn't cause trouble but he just had to flog that dead horse. BT would just give up and call it a day in frustration if he was banned, 2+2 (and probably the poker community because he would loose his soap box) would loose a strategic asset.

[El Diablo]

TT,

"BT would just give up and call it a day in frustration if he was banned"

No chance.

[Dids]

Ryan,

When I say "get proactive" I simply mean "ban people who are obviously trolling without breaking stated rules". I don't mean to suggest making a list of undesirables and waiting for them to step out of line. I just think some folks approach modding in a kinda passive way, and wait for somebody to do something obvious before they act on them. By "proactive" I simply mean watching how people post, and when you see somebody who is trolling a thread without breaking a stated rule, get involved.