Wait... So basically SYnapse is saying the ruling goes against the ruling? Am I misreading something?

I'm saying that this ruling goes against the guidelines outlined in the Help section, not that that means anything other than a tinge of personal influence going into the decision.

Although rules 7 and 9 make up for that gap. Rule 9 particularly:

9. Follow common sense
The rules above are mainly ones which might not be obvious; just because a specific rule isn't given here doesn't mean moderators can't stop people ruining the server for others!

As I explained in http://www.webdiplomacy.net/forum.php?viewthread=1000830#1000830
spamming is very difficult to achieve on this site. In the past 4 years you have posted 3218 times on this forum Smeck. In under two months Blankflag has matched 1/4 of your posts, and 1/3 of Tolstoy's 2,424 posts spread over 5 years. If you don't read every thread in the forum you may be missing the extreme level of spamming occurring and that these posts are almost always unrelated to the OP or the previous comments.

While I completely agree that blankflag has been spamming the forum a lot lately, and yes I did find that annoying. I do completely disagree with the idea of muting him when he creates a decent topic for discussion. Sure if he would continue to spam, then feel free to mute him. But in this case this wasn't spam. You are essentially punishing him now because you don't like him. I just checked, and currently on the front page of the forums there are 2 threads started by blank, that's right 2 out of 29. I would hardly consider that 'spam'. Yes he may have been spamming earlier, but I would consider it more being active in the forum now, rather than spamming now. Everyone can change their ways, I'm not saying he necessarily has, but punishing him when there is nothing to punish for in my opinion is not a good way to moderate.

Too many a time playing online games over the years I have seen annoying people push the boundaries (like blankflag has done) then eventually get banned or muted, precisely as has been the case here, then go out on a rampage criticizing the site or company, or whatever or whoever runs a particular site or company for punishing them when they have done nothing wrong citing nothing but that one case. And new onlookers may see this and get a negative image of the site and not join having never found out the full story. It does happen.

In conclusion, I honestly don't care that much that you muted him, as he probably will have continued spamming in the future, however I really do disagree with the circumstance in which you muted him. Posting an interesting thread in my opinion does not deserve a mute, regardless how annoying you have been in the past. But any more spam, which is just spam for the sake of spam. Then feel free to mute.

@Minty - I know that jmo explained it, but if you haven't been that active on the forum the past few months, and I really haven't seen you post much during that time, you have no idea as to the sheer amount of spam. Topics would be discussed and then he would say something completely unrelated. People would ignore him. Then he would make 2 or 3 or 4 rapid fire comments, all completely unrelated to the topic and about the same "the media and government are out to get me" vein. Just the topics weren't as bad, IMO, as the spamming of nearly every thread. It was unbearable. So, after countless (literally) spams and being warned over and over again, he is still doing exactly what he was told not to do. One of the topics happened to be of some interest, but it was a totality of what he wrote that did it. The proverbial straw that broke the camel's back. Once again, IMO.

I agree that he did all of those things, jimgov/jmo, and yes, I've noticed him doing them. It's just that, *he was doing none of them on this thread!*

This is like the parent who tells their misbehaving kid he's going to be grounded if he doesn't stop tearing up the house, then angrily throws the kid in his room when he comes in and asks where his crayons are.

Those are ponderous post statistics, though.

?

So where are my crayons waaaaaaa?!?

If you honestly think this thread was not carrying on his other threads and replies then you have not read his other threads or listened to what he said his goal was with his other posts. If you feel that blankflag did not break the rules and warnings given to him then you're welcome to appeal this decision to Kestas or another admin on the site.

In the likely scenario that he would start spamming this thread, then feel free to mute him. That's warranted. What I don't think is fair is muting somebody the moment they create what could potentially be a completely innocent topic however unlikely that may be. I do agree, this was probably carrying on his other threads. However I think you jumped the gun by banning as soon as the thread was created rather than waiting just a tiny bit longer, and having proof that he was just spamming, rather than walking on assumptions. Had you waited just a tiny bit longer I would have no problem, as a tiny bit of extra spam isn't the end of the world.
I'm not trying to reverse or appeal your decision, as I think the forum is a better place without blankflag, I just don't like the way in which you did it. Had you waited just a few minutes later, I would completely agree with a mute, but I think it was ever so slightly premature.

It's not like a bomb attack where a sniper kills a target before they cause devastation where it's a better safe than sorry approach, I think the forum community would willingly accept another dose of spam to sufficiently provide enough proof mute him for an extensive period of time.

Just my opinion. I'm not angry at the result of the action, I just dislike how you carried it out, that's all. On the whole I think the moderators and admins do an amazing job on this site, I just think the action was a bit to soon in this case.

Dude. You are wrong. You are reading this thread in a vacuum. Go back and read all of his other threads and posts. I have read most of them and will never get those brain cells back. It is the same shit, under different wrappings. He was warned. He continued. End of story. He was described by one of the mods as the worse spammer that has ever been on this site. End of story.

I read the forums a lot despite not posting a lot, so I know he spams a lot, and as I said I am very happy that he has been muted, I just don't like the way in which he was muted. But to be honest, I really don't care that much about it so I will let it pass. I'll be honest I stopped even opening any threads by blankflag ages ago. So I didn't see most of his spam. So considering that it doesn't really concern me, and I don't really care about blankflag I will just leave it at that. Fair enough, end of story :)

"If you honestly think this thread was not carrying on his other threads and replies then you have not read his other threads or listened to what he said his goal was with his other posts."

Sure, everybody's threads tend to carry on some agenda in some way.

"If you feel that blankflag did not break the rules and warnings given to him"

I didn't see those warnings, so I don't know what they were. But if the warnings entailed not creating ANY threads, or posting *everything* in one thread irrespective of the content, then those rules were as unreasonable as this decision.

"then you're welcome to appeal this decision to Kestas or another admin on the site."

Thanks. I'm tempted, but overall I feel that that is blankflag's prerogative/duty.

Also, put the one month deadline in your diary fella's, because you sure just fed this guy's belief that there's a conspiracy against him and his views.

I agree that blank's silencing was in this particular case unwarranted. This is clearly not a news thread, and he had yet to engage in anything that could be called spam on this thread. If by "news" the moderators were referring to any post espousing his characteristic anti-establishment attitude, they should have made that explicitly clear. Whether or not restricting all of his posts to one thread is fair or not, I won't venture to say.

I have to say that I agree with the silencing, notsomuch that it is him specifically, but towards all people who add randomness and idiotic arguments to threads. I'm not on the forums much for that reason, and I still see the ridiculousness of Blank and those like him. A waste of time, in my opinion.

Now regarding the Nobel Peace Prize, I would like to agree that many of those who have received one did not really deserve it, but the primary point I want to make is clarifying that there is a difference between the Nobel Prize and the Nobel Peace Prize. The Nobel Prize is credited to those who have made significant contributions to certain things, usually science and technology, but I'm pretty sure there were a couple of other things as well. The Peace Prize is a waste of time that signifies that you were able to broker a treaty by either comprimising for a loss or surrendering all together.

That is all...

@favio, absolutely there is a difference. Alfred Nobel himself realized this difference when he let the peace prize be given in Norway, while the real prizes were always given in Stockholm. The real Nobel prizes mean something!

I completely agree with the silencing, as do the other 16 users who have given jmo a +1 for silencing him. The warnings given to him were clear.


@ blankflag: If you are reading this, here is some heartfelt advice:

It's too late for me. I'm old. I'm trapped here, doomed to hover like a decrepit vulture over my keyboard, checking the forum 50 times a day, waiting for the next opportunity to jump into a thread and yell "I DEMAND JUSTICE".... There is no hope for me now.

But you are young. There is still time for you to change. The mods, evil shape-changing space lizards as you probably believe them to be, have nonetheless given you an opportunity. I urge you to sieze it with both your clammy little hands. Step away from the keyboard for a month. Go outside. Breathe fresh air. Take a bike ride. Frolic through a meadow. Eat a really juicy apple. Ask a pretty girl out on a date. Stop crying and ask a slightly more plain girl with whom you might have a chance. Enjoy life. Live a little. Get out there. Then maybe *you* will truly be an elite.

There's more to life than this forum, young blankflag. Stay here posting a new thread every hour, and you run the risk of ending up a sad, withered old husk like me, or Draugnar. Or even Krellin...

This month of silence is a wonderful chance for you to turn your life around. Please, give it a try.

Excellent advice, Jamie.