What’s a guy gotta do to get BANNED around here?

I’m sure this is a question we have all thought about but, were afraid to ask. What does it take to get thrown off the boards here at ATS?

Sure, we all know about the T&C and how posting lies or promoting other sites will get you the ban like that guy claiming to be an ex-president or that jerk who keeps opening new accounts to post intro threads promoting his blog site. Those ones will have the Mods showing you the door pretty darn quickly.

I was wondering what are some of the biggest offences that get members banned around here? What things REALLY tick off the Mods and draw the most severe punishments?

I remember getting my first warn when I was new here and reading that it took 3 warns before one would get banned. A few months later, I received my second warn and, at that time, the U2U said it took 5 warns before the ban was imposed.

It made me wonder if ATS had changed its standards or if they were more lenient on more experienced members (I had achieved Gold Member status by the time I got my 2nd warn). Of course it could be just faulty memory and I may have misremembered what I was told on my first warn.

I remember thinking when I got the second warn that 5 seemed to be a lot of warns; it was like giving me license to be a jerk on a grand scale.

I’ve been here over a year and have only been warned three times since I’ve been here. Maybe I’m not passionate enough. I’ve seen many members who seem to always carry around a few warns on their profiles like a badge of honor. Many of these members tend to be passionate debaters and their posts and threads are always highly appreciated by the membership, receiving loads of stars and flags.

I’ve seen some AWESOME posters disappear from the boards and, when I check, I am disappointed to learn that they have been banned. Quite a few of my favorite posters and members on my friends list have disappeared in this way; members who have been excellent contributors and two of whom appeared on the WATS top 50 list.

I have read that Mods are to use the ban as a corrective measure to allow a member who has gotten especially fired up time to cool down and that most bans are supposed to be temporary in nature, only 72 hours if my memory serves me correctly.

Funny thing is, I don’t see many members coming back after their time of penance and it makes me wonder whether they are being given the opportunity to return or even told that their ban was meant to be temporary in nature. It makes me wonder if those “temporary” bans are really so temporary after all. If it’s supposed to be a “temporary 72 hour ban” why do banned members need to go begging to the Mods to return after they have served their time?

It could also be that some members were so upset about being banned that they left ATS for good but, I wonder in many cases if they even knew that there was any possibility of return and never tried.

I’m not asking the Mods to comment on any specific cases but, I would be interested to hear what it takes to get thrown off of ATS for good and what Mods consider to be especially egregious offences.

Also, just for fun, what do you think people SHOULD be banned for around here that may not necessarily be a violation of ATS T&Cs?

You might be confusing a post-ban with a perma-ban. Mods use the T&C in order to preclude any personal bias. Actions are arrived at by concensus. It's pretty simple, really. Sometimes, yes, a post-ban is used to initiate a discussion with an ATS member. I haven't ever seen a permanent ban "out of the blue".

danbones
anagram
so banned

Originally posted by argentus
You might be confusing a post-ban with a perma-ban. Mods use the T&C in order to preclude any personal bias. Actions are arrived at by concensus. It's pretty simple, really. Sometimes, yes, a post-ban is used to initiate a discussion with an ATS member. I haven't ever seen a permanent ban "out of the blue".

Thanks for your responce, I never knew there were different levels of bans before.

I'm still curious to know what type of offences are likely to get one banned and which ones you think are the worst.

Originally posted by Danbones
danbones
anagram
so banned

You're just askin for it ain't you?

reply to post by FortAnthem


This might sound like I am taking a soft line, but I don't have a sense of "worst" and "least" bannable offenses. If a post is outside of the T&C, then it is actioned. If it is FAR outside of the T&C or if there are a series of similar posts after a warning, then it's possible or even likely that a post-ban might be intiated. A post-ban can be for any length of time, depending upon the severity of the infraction.

Contrary to (some) popular belief, neither is an action that any mod looks forward to taking. We have to be consistent with the T&C and as said, much discussion takes place to arrive at a consensus. The purpose of mod/admin. actions are to augment the flow of discussions -- nothing more. We don't go hunting for things to action.

reply to post by FortAnthem


I hear reverse psychology is a bannable offense ... but they never do it.

ETA something marginally on topic: To be honest, I for one have never observed anyone being banned other than for a serious T&C breach ... sometimes a whole series of them. I can't imagine anyone taking pleasure out of having to ban a member.

Easy

Let me use a spare account and I'll get banned within the week. All my posts will be good posts too... Not spamming or wasting space, but actual thought out, easy to digest, informative, "alternative" posts/ideas.

I'm talking about cannabis/hemp. Me and hundreds of other people can go on for days and not be done talking about how and why the plants would be good for the whole planet if we just stopped making it worthwhile to kill/arrest people over them....

But then the mods step in.

I won't even say any more than that because the moderators have deleted tons of my other posts and warned me for less.

reply to post by alaskan


You do know they created a special forum just for that don't you?

www.abovetopsecret.com...

They're pretty fair there as long as you don't talk about personal use or campaign for legalization.

reply to post by FortAnthem


Posting a deliberate hoax seems to be a pretty good way of getting banninated,
The only person I have actually seen get banned in front of my eyes was Romantic Rebel and he just went into self destruct mode and deliberately tried to get banned

I haven't got a warning yet so I'm not sure how you get those either

Originally posted by FortAnthem
reply to post by alaskan

 

You do know they created a special forum just for that don't you?

That's exactly the problem, you try to talk about industrial HEMP (which has less than a tenth of a percent of any drug content, less than most any over-the-counter pills) in relation to the ECONOMY, and your posts get deleted or moved to a forum signified by a picture of a presumably homeless person smoking a glass pipe, where most people don't even think to go...

Really, go to forums and look at the picture next to the 'alternative substances' forum. Have you seen it before? Do you know what it is? Is that fair?

reply to post by davespanners


They must've SUPER BANNED Romantic Rebel, I can't even find the name on the member's list anymore.

BTW, I always thought RR was a chick.

reply to post by FortAnthem


(double-bubble, toil and trouble....)....."poof!" Begone, extra post!

reply to post by FortAnthem


From what I recall of my biology......"chicks" grow up to be either hens, or roosters.

Or, so they say....dunno much about them farms and such all....

Uh oh....off topic....errrp!

reply to post by weedwhacker


Off topic AND double post. :shk:


Now THAT should be ban worthy.

reply to post by FortAnthem


I wanna know why Dooper was banned, and why SgtChas disappered?

Those guys were very good, intelligent, and active. They were just a little militant in their conservative views, but I never saw them cross the line. Any ideas?

I got a U2U from some guy saying "please help me" and when I went to see who he was, he was already banned. 1 day! He sent a website address in his U2U, but I have been afraid to look at it.

I think one of the common offenses to ban is when someone gets really hotheaded in a thread and then gets their post removed.. they dont get banned then, but watching the persons account shows one warning, then 2, then 3 after a 10 minute period with no further posts makes me suspect that the person started heavily flaming the mod calling them all sorts of bad things

That's one take on it anyways, by simply connecting the dots...

Originally posted by argentus
Mods use the T&C in order to preclude any personal bias. Actions are arrived at by concensus. .

THIS IS WHAT SOME PEOPLE ACTUALLY BELIEVE

reply to post by getreadyalready



I looked up SgtChas and it seems he's still a member in good standing. I've noticed that banned members don't show up on the Member's search anymore.


Does ATS take banned members off the member's list after they've been banned?


If they do, that sucks. Some of those banned members made some really great threads and this makes it especially difficult to find them.

I'm willing to post bail for anyone who gets tossed in the cell called Not ATS.

(at a hefty interest rate, of course)

Discussion of banned members is not allowed.

To answer the question

A serious violation of the T&C's will get you banned.
Failure to follow the T&C's may get you banned.

It's easy, follow the rules, you'll be fine.

Thread Closed.

oh

Happy Holidays.