The Banned

[Zeta Kai]

What happens to a banned member? Can they even see the forum? I know that their account is locked, & they cannot post again, but is their IP address blocked? What recourse does a banned member have? Can they just creat a new account & start over?

[Assassin89]

They can see the forum, but cannot join in any discussion.

[Mr. Mud]

What happens to a banned member? Can they even see the forum? I know that their account is locked, & they cannot post again, but is their IP address blocked? What recourse does a banned member have? Can they just creat a new account & start over?

I'm pretty sure IP address blocking is a tad drastic, but I'm not one to speak. Theoretically, I'm sure there is some way for them to get back on the forum.

[Kallisti]

They CAN just create a new account and start over, and as soon as the mods find out they ban the new account, too. They ban people, not accounts. A banned poster can still read the forum, of course, because you don't need an account, but there is no legal way back in unless the banned poster's friends on the site ocnvince the mods the banning was unfair, which is vanishingly unlikely because the mods think really hard before banning someone and they don't make mistakes of that sort...

[Renegade Paladin]

They CAN just create a new account and start over, and as soon as the mods find out they ban the new account, too. They ban people, not accounts. A banned poster can still read the forum, of course, because you don't need an account, but there is no legal way back in unless the banned poster's friends on the site ocnvince the mods the banning was unfair, which is vanishingly unlikely because the mods think really hard before banning someone and they don't make mistakes of that sort...
There's been at least one unbanning to my knowledge, so it's not unheard of. But I wouldn't bet on it. Especially since it's hard to make the case because the evidence is systematically destroyed.

[Thanatos 51-50]

One would assume there was a way to open a Dialogue with the webmaster, or shoot an E-mail to Rawhide or something similar.

[Dallas-Dakota]

I think Rawhide IS the Webmaster....

[Roland St. Jude]

Sheriff of Moddingham: This came up recently (and more comically): here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=5349828#post5349828).

My comments then are (almost) equally appropriate now:


Sheriff of Moddingham: First, questions of this nature belong in Board Issues. Second, we do not discuss bananas publicly. Third, while it is possible that one's roommate may get the IP from that room banned, we try not to ban IPs likely to belong to a larger group. We have a variety of tools at our disposal and the ability to apply them in a range of ways. We are firm on keeping out banned posters - if you know of one that has returned, please let us know - but we try not to cause any innocent bystanders to suffer. If you have a specific instance or concern, please contact a moderator or admin - I volunteer Rawhide.

Specifically in response to your questions:


What happens to a banned member?
We don't show up at their homes and kick their dog, if that's what you're asking.


Can they even see the forum?
Usually, yes. Though they can't access their account any more.


I know that their account is locked, & they cannot post again, but is their IP address blocked?
Sometimes. We try not to block ranges that might include other posters.


What recourse does a banned member have?
There isn't an appeal process. The path to getting banned is incredibly long, with plenty of opportunity for a poster to PM the moderator who issued each Infraction or WampaX or, ultimately, I suppose, The Giant. However, post-banning, I guess one would email an admin: WampaX or Rawhide.


Can they just creat a new account & start over?
No. By which I mean, one probably can, but it isn't allowed and we do ban the subsequent account(s).

Forum Rules (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/announcement.php?a=1)

Previously Banned Users
Any user found to have been banned while using a different account will have his or her new account banned as well. If it is found that another user is allowing a previously banned user to post using his or her account, the account of that user will also be banned.
Additionally,

No one has ever been unbanned or permitted to return after banning under our current rules. I believe one poster was suspended under the prior rules but ultimately allowed to remain; whether one views that as unbanning, it's exceedingly unlikely to happen under the current rules. The road to banning has been made so much longer with more and more varied tools to nudge people into compliance with the rules, so that by the time someone is banned, they've violated the rules repeatedly despite plenty of notice to stop.

Also, no evidence is ever destroyed, systematically or otherwise. If someone PM'd us now about a banning last year, all the relevant posts and PMs are still on the system, including copies of posts long since scrubbed and any moderator discussion that took place before the final decision was made.

Generally, in Board Issues, we lock threads once the question has been answered. But I'll reopen this briefly for any comments or follow up. Please don't: discuss specific banned members or discuss how to return once banned.

[Icewalker]

Good to know about the storage of wiped posts and deleted threads, I see a lot of people being concerned about that kind of thing here.

[kpenguin]

Wait... why don't you discuss bananas publically? Is it a banned topic on this forum?

[RabbitHoleLost]

Also, no evidence is ever destroyed, systematically or otherwise. If someone PM'd us now about a banning last year, all the relevant posts and PMs are still on the system, including copies of posts long since scrubbed and any moderator discussion that took place before the final decision was made.


QUESTION!
Does this mean that there is a permanent copy of any post made?
Like, I know that I've said some mean things worthy of infractions or warnings or something before, posted it, and then instantly regretted it and edited it or deleted the post.
Would a Mod/Admin be able to see the original post? :smalleek:

[Rutskarn]

Wait... why don't you discuss bananas publically? Is it a banned topic on this forum?

Yes, when you talk about {{scrubbed}}, the fruit or the flavor, you incur moderator wrath

HOSHI-

[The Rose Dragon]

Would a Mod/Admin be able to see the original post? :smalleek:

According to vBulletin, a moderator can see all deleted posts if necessary.

EDIT: Edited posts, I'm not so sure about. But "deleted" posts are usually soft deleted not to cause database problems and can be accessed rather easily.

[Icewalker]

I would assume that they can see the old edits and deleted posts, however they would not give infractions or warnings for self-edited material.

[kpenguin]

Yes, when you talk about {{scrubbed}}, the fruit or the flavor, you incur moderator wrath

HOSHI-

But now I can't make my thread asking how to make the perfect {{scrubbed}} sundae.

Curse you mods!

[VeisuItaTyhjyys]

You mean a "hollaback" split, if you catch my drift.

[Lord Herman]

But now I can't make my thread asking how to make the perfect {{scrubbed}} sundae.

Curse you mods!

It's a fair rule, if you ask me. I mean, can you imagine what a mess this forum would be if they allowed free discussion of {{scrubbed}}? I mean, we get enough silly discussions about making paladins fall without {{scrubbed}} peels lying around in every thread.

[kpenguin]

This tyranny, I say, tyranny! How can we have free and intelligent discussions without talking about {{scrubbed}}

[T-O-E]

Why wasn't this (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=102343) thread locked? :smallconfused::smalltongue:

[Zherog]

EDIT: Edited posts, I'm not so sure about. But "deleted" posts are usually soft deleted not to cause database problems and can be accessed rather easily.

To the best of my knowledge, vB doesn't track edits. My hunch is procedures require the mods to copy/paste a post to a thread in the admin forum before they edit.

[The Rose Dragon]

To the best of my knowledge, vB doesn't track edits. My hunch is procedures require the mods to copy/paste a post to a thread in the admin forum before they edit.

What about poster-edits? I don't think they can be tracked, and there are only a few cases I can think of where you'd need to track such changes, but it is still a valid question.

[Lord Herman]

Why wasn't this (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=102343) thread locked? :smallconfused::smalltongue:

It just was :smalleek:

[Roland St. Jude]

Sheriff of Moddingham: Some secrets were meant to be kept. Plus, never underestimate the posterity preserving powers of a reported post. :smallsmile:

I think we've let the joke overtake the issue at this point, so thread locked.