Hello, MS! Regarding the ban length policy

So, through my lengthy research, ie being banned a few, well, a number of times, it seems that the accepted policy is to double the previous ban, with ban one being twenty-four hours. Has this policy ever been reviewed?

I ask because I think a case by case - within certain guidelines - review may be more appropriate. It's similar to a few years ago when AmazingB was a moderator and then ex-moderator. He was always a huge proponent of modding on the post level, rather than the thread level. This seems to be much more the case now, to great affect, to the benefit of the forum as a whole.

So why not something similar for ban lengths? If all I'm doing is calling people idiots, by all means, extend the ban length. If I post gratuitous pics, make it longer. But, right now, I could perform a few minor infractions, work my way up to a month long ban. Come back, keep it clean for a year, call someone an idiot and get a two month ban. It just doesn't seem particularly balanced or fair to me.

Can a discussion just be had? If I'm to be shot down like Tunick, so be it.

 

Tunick's request was pretty trivial... this is pretty important, so I doubt it'll be shot down immediately.

I agree with you. Automatically doubling ban lengths is a silly practice. A number of things should factor in when deciding a ban length--how long since the last ban, severity of the rule broken, is this a random thing (person having a bad day) or does this person do this **** all the time, etc. All these things are far more relevant than the length of the previous ban.

 

A better post than my verbal diarrhea.

Btw, I could never spell diarrhea before my iPad.

 

At the risk of sounding dismissive - we do actually take all of those things into consideration. Doubling is usually applied when infractions are occurring within small timeframes of each other - and exceptionally long doublings (IE one month to two months) will usually require something pretty egregious or plainly noticeable pattern behavior. We use it because it's an efficient rule of thumb for making punishments sting for repeat offenders - it's not an ironclad dictate from the gods or anything half that sacrosanct.

 

Yes, the whole "doubling the length" is just a guideline to deal with repeat offenders/trolls. We don't strictly adhere to it anymore, and it's not in the moderator guidelines for new members of the staff. Ban length is almost always discussed in MS.

 

You calling me a troll? At least buy me dinner first.

 

Deal.

 

Just because it made me feel old and I want you to all feel old, too, I was a mod 11 years ago. Eleven! That's so many. It's probably also roughly the number of times I banned Diggy. If I had doubled it every time, he'd have been banned for over 5 years. And then where would we be?

Amazing.

 

I love/hate you, B.

 

Uhh, I really didn't want to bring this up. I'm not particularly comfortable doing so. But. I was banned for the first time - on this account - for a joke. I assume you still have ban logs, so can look it up. I was banned the second time for something entirely unrelated, but the ban was double the first, and the mod took offence to my sig, which I verified was actually okay. So, although it might not be part of the guidelines, it's still being adhered to. All I'm saying is, perhaps make more definitive guidelines. Without getting all...nazi. Sorry.

 

I actually took a look at that before posting. We can continue in private, if you want to (rawr), but let's say that if your second ban was longer than the first it wasn't due to any standard doubling procedure.

 

Throw it out here, I don't care.

I'm against slut shaming and ban shaming.

 

A few years? B already covered it, but 2003 sure wasn't a few years ago.

 

Who cares?

BZ, I know why, I didn't actually mention it in my post.

 

Any mod having an issue with that signature should be demoted.

 

Or should at least be ordered to watch Arrested Development immediately.

 

That should be part of the initiation.

 

Seriously... how can one properly mod this place without a fully developed sense of humor?


But anyway... this thread isn't about dude man or Diggy's ban. Glad to hear that the length doubling each time isn't an actual policy.

 

If I understand correctly, that unfunny pile of dead horse ****e that is "Big Bang Theory" is the source of the "Bazgina'd" term, no?

Christ, that show. You should show it to cancer patients to ease the pain of their passing. "Look, it's not that bad, this is what you're leaving behind."

MS, is there a point as well in which the length of ban time gets scaled back? A kind of good behavior bond, in which the offender/s renounce recalcitrance and reduce their prospective sentence through playing nice?

 

Like all time scales, it's a soft one and dependent on the gravity of the offense the latest ban has provoked. I know I, personally, tend to advocate resets for minor infractions after a half year or so of good conduct. Others argue from other positions.

 

The Others are wrong.

 

I value the opinions of frozen zombies, what can I say?

 

Well, I for one am biting through my tongue right about now.

 

I too, am biting through Ender's tongue.