If you never posted on those forums then how do you know posting abilities previously existed?

    Just curious if there's a location where someone can view all their current privileges.

" moderately angry "; "series of posts"??    = way too vague and subjective...  being his friend I'm sure you've placed this description in the best light possible.  Virtually everyone on the forums here have no clue what topic or individual you're mentioning.

"did deserve a warning" =  so he was clearly looking for punishment and now unhappy for being placed in the corner instead of Stardock  tapping his desk saying "no no".

"no chance for apology" =  if this is his first time banned I'm sure it's just temporary and he can apologize once the ban is lifted.

While some may deserve a instant ban, I'd say they do NOT deserve to get it without motivation. There's always the chance that there's more to the story than a few posts, so anyone getting that harsh punishment should atleast get a chance to motivate whatever dumb thing they did.

You are? It's not about you though, it's about the person getting banned. They don't tell the person they ban anything, and there actually is a chance that the person doesn't know (regardless of the content of those "evil" posts)... While Stardock has no legal obligation to tell anyone anything, there is a moral obligation which reflect VERY bad on the company if they choose to ignore.

The subject of the OP is someone restricted from posting (not banned from the forum) because of a 'series' of hostile posts - not just one.

And mickeko, I don't think the word you are looking for is 'motivate'.

I'm not a usual forum-poster in any forum, nor have I ever been.

Thanks to those who tried to help inform and/or gave relevant opinions
I didn't expect the public schools thing to come up, but it's interesting to note that this thread went there briefly...

I think I've gotten the information and opinions I was interested in.

www.m-w.com define motivate as ": to provide with a motive"

I don't see how that is incorrect? But in case it's not right, just read it as "explain".

And as for the ban vs restrict thing. Both are punishments that limit what the user can do on the site, and I think it's only fair to tell people if it happens to them, regardless of what it is they did.

 

EDIT: Turns out I should really use the word justify (or explain) rather than motivate. Good to know. Thanks for pointing it out. Motivera is a verb in swedish, while motivate is a transitive verb in english, and as such it only includes half as much meaning as the swedish word does.

"Spare the rod and spoil the child", if you mean that "spare the rod" part literally, is the lazy parent's way of discipline. Using violence as a display of authority will get you only so far. This method of discipline tends to backfire. The child simply learns that being physically overpowering gives one the right of authority, and you know where that thinking is going to lead the child.

Once the child is physically strong enough to shrug the pain of violence as a disciplinary measure, they might just return the favour to their parents. They'll subsequently use the same method on their own children and possibly friends, resulting in a vicious cycle and on a large scale, a serious social problem.

It's sounds like an email or private message would helpful when one has privileges changed. At the same time it sounds like your friend knew he was probably crossing the line, as he thought some posts were warning worthy. People (most) know when they are crossing the line, and wouldn't do so if it were a less anonymous form of communication - your friend should take it as a lesson in forum etiquette.

I do find it interesting that your original post defined them as a "moderately angry series of posts" and then saying what occured was:

I really don't get why people feel they are entitled a warning when they clearly know they are crossing the line. The real world rarely works that way.

Hopely your friend takes this as a lesson and can become a constructive member of the forum. I do agree that some form of communication after his posting priviledges were changed would help in not making the situation worse.

 

As with any saying, it can have many literal meanings.  In this case the "rod" being discipline in and of itself.  Which is my intended point, discipline.  There are far too many children out there that don't have any.  I am a proponent of moderated discipline.  That's not to say that I don't spank my children or slap their hands once in awhile.  There are far more non-violent forms of discipline that have a much better effect on a child that physical violence.  Society however, would have you believe that any form of physical discipline is bad and detrimental to the child.  It's not.

 

Look at how great the U.S. was 50 years ago and compare that to how fucked up we are now.  The children that were raised in that period were respectful, well behaved (mostly), courteous etc.  Its fact.  They called adults Sir or Ma'am.  They said please and thank you.  Now look at most kids today.  They don't know the meaning of please.  They've never said Sir in their lives.  Society has allowed this to happen.  It's our fault.  People blame the violence of our youth on video games and violent music.  Society has made these the standard.  It's our fault. 

"The people in this country need to wake up and take the veil of complacity off of their eyes." RATM 

Maybe the children of 50 years ago had more to be grateful for and respectful of, and the mores of that day and age were a lot more clearer, and not as confused.  I was a child 50 years ago -- the future promised me by the generation before was a lot more generous than the future I can promise my children -- and my children don't even HAVE children, and don't plan on having any, because they can't provide for their own present, so it would be horribly selfish and unresponsible to bring a child into this world that they couldn't feed or care for. Why should the children of today be respectful of their elders who have saddled them with a debt they'll never be able to repay and the programs they pay into will go broke before they get a chance to use them?  The children of today might have a lot of "things" but they're painfully aware of the fact that trend is about to come to a bleak, abrupt, halt very shortly.

Also, using the terms "Sir" and "Ma'am" these days can be sometimes be interpreted as insults. (I don't like being called Ma'am).  Maybe it's safest not to use those terms.  They're kind of between a rock and a hard place.

Interesting thread here!

 

I am a member of a number of other game forums, some of which are definately more strict than this forum, but never have they restricted a member without warning or explanation( that i know of), it just isn't done.

 

We should remember that the true measure of a game forum is not based on what they have the right to do, but what they do better than the other guy!

Well, I'm an LBGT/O person, but I'm also from deep matrilineal and patrilineal roots in the US South. I'm all for ditching the assumptions about gender identity, but the basic notions of respect inherent in terms like sir and ma'am seem worth whatever work it will take to get them past the penis-uber-alles worldview.

I'm from the North.  As long as you don't snicker as soon as my back is turned, or curl your lip up at me, I feel I've been given the customary and usual amount of respect.

Not to labour the point but....there IS NO 'right' to post on the forums....only a privilege...which can be removed at 'our' discretion....;)

My apologies for taking this thread off topic again.

With regards to your point about the necessity of discipline, we're in agreement. What I disagreed with, is the use of physical pain as the method of discipline, I believe any form of discipline has to be in a form which the child understands the consequences of his/her actions and the underlying implications. Much easier said than done; it's hardly news that parenting had never been easy.

Regarding children's etiquette with their elders, you're right that it's really up to the parents to instill in them the wisdom of being courteous. I suspect that as our lives become more complicated, parents find less and less time and patience to educate their children properly. Just a side effect of modern living.

And perhaps that more complicated life even means the parents have less time to educate themselves?

Is 'the more complicated life', then, something to be embraced?

I am 50ish, so I remember the times when a family could get by with only dad working. Now though, both mom and dad have to work to pay the bills. Either that, or mom also wants a career of her own (while still requiring dad to work) at the expense of the children.

At the rate things are going, in another 20-30 years the parents will both need to work 18 hours a day. And if they do have children they will need 24-hour childcare.

Maybe it would be best to simply turn all children over at birth to the government so they could be taught the latest and greatest progressive thinking of whomever is in charge, so dad and mom could just get on with their lives without the little brats getting in the way.

The 'side-effect' of 'modern living' should be more time with our children - not less.

It's funny, people can be rude over and over on these forums, and then complain that SD did not prevent them from being rude in a more "curtious" way.  Reminds me of what a Sheriff friend of mine use to tell me: How many criminals in the middle of commiting a crime always complained how rough the cops were that arrested them.

I think non-violent, non-spanking disipline is always best, BUT, having watched/babysat my neices/nephews for almost 2 decades, I can tell you the huge problem in America with child raising is that there is a percentage of kids that just don't, and never will respond to the "peaceful" method.  All my neices/nephews responded to time-outs; grounding, and stern talks, but one, would laugh every time you tried that stuff.  He'd even hit you if you tried to do something like put him in the corner. But one firm swack on his bottom, and he straitened up and flew right like a he had just got out of boot camp.  Some kids are just pure alpha-males (or females), and just don't respond to anyone until you make it clear that YOU are the alpha-parent.  Plus, corporal punishment has been used for our entire existance of a species, until lately, and if you ask me, we have some of the rudest kids in history at the time.

Anyway, I may be comming back on these forums now since SD is cracking down on the trolls.  As I wrote long ago on this same forum, SD has started a revalutionary new way of communicating with it customer base, and I was hoping they would do this same thing with forums.  So many times people would respond to warnings about flames/trolling by saying "This is the interenet, you can't stop this, LOL.  But I always thought all it would take is one forum to do things differently to change that, the same way SD communicating with it's customers has changed game companies.

 

 

 

Purple, I totally agree.

I get rude sometimes, and I have been rebuked for it by Kryo via e-mail. It's like a slap in the face when it happens and I try to do better. But I also sometimes fall back into rude comments. (I guess I am just an old, cynical geezer)

If I was suddenly barred from posting anything until I made the effort to amend with the mods, and possibly make a public apology to the forum at large - I think I would really think about what I wrote prior to hitting that 'Post Reply' button - and especially about starting multiple threads with the same attitude. And I think I will, even so, due to this thread.

Being suddenly and without warning barred from posting is like getting a spanking. Emotionally, on the forum, it feels the same. And believe me, I have had my share of spankings as a child. Getting an e-mail is like being sent to my room to think about what I did wrong. I did a lot of that, too.

'Time-outs' are akin to being sent to ones room. And for the most part they do little more than give the kid a little respite from being yelled at. In some ways they are enjoyable, unless (like my parents did) additional conditions are required (like cleaning up the room before being welcome at the dinner table - ever try to put it off, only to have a cold and stale dinner waiting for you?).

My parents never abused me. But, they did discipline me. And that included physical punishment for the more severe things.

They also rewarded me for doing good. If I got good grades I was rewarded with little perks like funding for hobbies (and I had some pretty expensive hobbies, like lapidary). If I did extra chores (like ironing laundry or other non-personal cleaning) I had extra allowence each week. (how many kids these days do anything at all for the money their parents give them?)

Back then, it seems, parents had more time (and more personal values) to bestow on their children.

This topic is nothing more than a whine about someone being justly spanked.

So think about it everyone, before it happens to you!

You do have a moral obligation to tell people when you do something that affect them though. Ofcourse, you can choose to ignore it, but don't act as if you're surprised when some angry person figures out a way to trash the forum because of it.

All communication about behavior is handled in private. No-one here other than the mods involved know what happened. So stop speculating as whether or not any kind of communication has taken place. You do not know, and quite rightly will never know.

This thread serves no purpose.

Exactly. And the user who got his writing privileges removed got no notification about it. Which is what this whole thing is about.

And as for we not knowing, sure, we can't know 100%. But I'm choosing to trust the original poster and his friend on this. If the mods DO send information to the user when they ban/change privileges, why didn't they just state "We do send out an email/pm"? That would be quite sufficient to make this thread go away (assuming it's true obviously).

Exactly how do you know that? That is the point being made "No-one here other than the mods involved know what happened."

No-one here knows, what happened, happened in private. Everything else is just people trying cause waves, which is exactly what is going on now.

 

Not me.

 

I trust Fuzzy.

 

As I said:

It's not unreasonable to want a notification, I know I'd want it if something was done that affects me (be it removed or edited post, ban or whatever else).