OMG, I got a warning! Now what?

By Fred Derf
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EULA

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<Adam Sandler voice> OOH, I'm a SYSOP! We're going to be on TELNET *soon*! We EVEN have brand new 14.4 modems installed! Better not mess with me SWAN or I'll unplug your ass!

Yah I remember those eggheads that would just sit there looking for a cuss word so they could bust their big, imperial wiener out in live chat. JEEZ.

Golly-gee-willickers, hope I didn't say anything out of line! :unsure:

Edited by neophyte5000
Grand Master

Fred Derf Veteran

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It was actually because back in the day, the members were always PMing staff asking about warnings.

You see how it is, things like this split the community 50/50 - half accept that it's just a small part of maintaining control in a forum of this size and not a big deal, and the other half take it as some sort of personal attack if they're warned.

It's probably more like 90% vs 10% but the 10% is very vocal.

Grand Master

whitebread

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I have to be honest.... I don't perceive any hostility or unfairness from the staff. None at all. I certainly haven't done any sucking up, but have always had my concerns resolved quickly and fairly. I've had my share of posts deleted, but always because I deserved it (or because someone else had theirs removed and mine were on a related subject).

I, for one, have no problems with the staff. Then again, I also have 0% warning, so I have no reason to have a beef with them.

Grand Master

Sethos

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"I just find some of the staff here so hostile when addressing people with concerns tbh"

That's mostly because, Members who are being adressed are also hostile towards staff in my oppinion and even annoying.

So many members wish to discuss the rule they broke, even make it sound like It's the Staff Member who's wrong.

In my honest oppinion - Neowin has some of the most professional and polite staff in any Forum I've seen! Special considering the size of the forum.

And about Warnings, It's pretty much the easiest thing in the world not to get a Warning. Just stop being a prick in general, relax, realise this is an online forum and enjoy :)

Mentor

*John*

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I'll respond to you as best I can, not speaking for Neowin but speaking for myself as a Staff member and my own experiences.

Firstly, I can promise you that if you have a concern, it will never result in you having a warn increase. I know that your point is that sometimes you are made to feel like this is the case, but I wanted to point this out very clearly. All warnings are logged and moderators are held accountable for any mistakes they make.

There is a certain amount of members placing too much importance on warn levels: it's not like it prohibits you from doing much other than changing your name. Ultimately, you broke a rule here and there are consequences for that. I agree that a year is too long for maintaining that level from your individual case, but that is why we have the automated reduction system. Yes, for now it's broken, but it's been re-coded and will be fully implemented very soon now that IP.Board 2.2.2 is out the way. We followed staff policy stating that we wouldn't reduce warning levels manually during this period because there simply isn't the resources to do that fairly.

On a board this size, it's easy for moderators to seem 'cold' sometimes. And yes, we deal with a load of crap that comes our way because of the positions we are in. I apologise if it sometimes comes across as vindictive or hostile, and that is certainly something that should be avoided at all costs. If you feel a moderator has responded in a way that has offended you, I invite you to PM the individual concerned. If your response is unsatisfactory, use the chain of command and contact your favourite Supervisor, followed by an Administrator as a last resort.

I do apologise if you're made to feel uncomfortable, but it is important to keep these things in perspective, particularly with regards to the issue of warns. I hope you'll stick around Neowin and contribute the community in the future.

Thankyou very much for taking the time to respond to my concerns in such a detailed manor. It really is very much appreciated (Y)

Thanks again! (Y)

John :)

Grand Master

ZonoBurk

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well you got half the forum staff on your friends lost so u should be fine. :p :p

Haha. I was joking on behalf that just about all posts in this thread were "i got 20% , someone take it offff!" and they think the mods just gave them a warning because they felt like it. I have 0% FYI, and I can keep it like that. I add people on my "Friends" list who I think have posted something useful in the past, have helped me, is nice to me and in general. Nothing to do with "look at me i got almost all the mods on my list!!". ;)

Edited by MchWalte
Grand Master

Fred Derf Veteran

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In general, we do allow brothers/sisters, wives/husbands and sons/fathers to post from the same IP account. Some situations are special, however, and this is not the time nor the place to discuss it.

I will say that our overall policy here is that the sins of the father affects the son and in some cases it is hard to tell a duplicate account from a true family member.

Please do not discuss specific cases here. If you have a problem relating to yourself or a family member then contact a Supervisor or an Administrator.

[Thread Cleaned]

Grand Master

Blackhearted

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haha. sorta interesting how the mods immediately remove anything that says they could have banned for no reason. as well as any posts that says that some of them could be on a power trip.

*waits for this post to "magically" disappear as well.*

Veteran

MrCobra

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I had a 40% warning level when I decided to subscribe to Neowin. I got it up to 100% and my subscription was lost (eg. I didnt have a orange + anymore and I cant do certain subscriber features). But thats what I least care about...

Neobond (the main admin I believe) thinks in a type ideology that if someone on the street calls you "stupid" you should just be "the bigger man" and ignore it and walk away. But most people are not likely to back down and bark right back. Thats something that admins/mods/etc have to understand for some of the cases Ive seen here on Neowin.

There is alot of abuse of the warning system by mods. Ive seen when mods arent right over a certain topic they just warn the user to get rid of them or put a temp ban to shut them up.

One of the worse cases of the mod abusing: Double standards. We have had quite a few times that a user posts a story in back-page news and it gets deleted, the user warned/banned but in a couple of days/hours that story hits front page (or a section of news) and its alright. Since a mod posted it its 100% ok.

Another thing; The Neowin Theme patch. I believe by MS EULA you cannot modify any file on the OS or reverse engineer the OS to do something it was not originally suppose to do (unsupported unoffical themes). More double standards.

Ive also seen mods insult normal members (not as bad as other members to other members). More doble standards.

I think a refresh/renew/revision/test of all the mods on Neowin should be done because there are alot of people who I simply believe do not deserve to be on the staff. The staff's "quality" has gone way down since Ive joined to now.

Totally correct. It's all double standards around here. Most mods on here openly defy the rules and yet when a "normal" member does it then there's hell to pay for it.

Another thing; The Neowin Theme patch. I believe by MS EULA you cannot modify any file on the OS or reverse engineer the OS to do something it was not originally suppose to do (unsupported unoffical themes). More double standards.

Not just that either. Neowin endorses Autopatcher which by all MS standards is illegal because it allows pirated copies of Windows to be updated beyond the critical patches.

Grand Master

Fred Derf Veteran

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haha. sorta interesting how the mods immediately remove anything that says they could have banned for no reason. as well as any posts that says that some of them could be on a power trip.

*waits for this post to "magically" disappear as well.*

We always have reasons. We can still make mistakes (I do), but they can be corrected by a mature private conversation.

I don't think it is in anyone's best interest that we air out the affected people's dirty laundry in public. That is why we ask members to contact us privately.

Not just that either. Neowin endorses Autopatcher which by all MS standards is illegal because it allows pirated copies of Windows to be updated beyond the critical patches.

Autopatcher was started well before WGA as a tool for System Administrators. That's a whole other discussion however. I suggest you start a new thread.

Grand Master

snyper

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Neobond (the main admin I believe) thinks in a type ideology that if someone on the street calls you "stupid" you should just be "the bigger man" and ignore it and walk away. But most people are not likely to back down and bark right back. Thats something that admins/mods/etc have to understand for some of the cases Ive seen here on Neowin
.

Trust me when i say i know how you feel. But the staff here cant let people openly flame each other here because it leads to a hostile enviorment and will loose members and people that come here to read constructive material. I sometimes let my irish temper get the better of me but i have of lately being ignoring the flame bait.

I ignore idiots tht try to start a flame war with me now, my reasoning is...

Would you get upset or offended if a dog barks at you? No, because its a dog, its stupid and you know better than him to waste your time and mess up your inner chi getting aggrivated by it.

Grand Master

Fred Derf Veteran

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Would you get upset or offended if a dog barks at you? No, because its a dog, its stupid and you know better than him to waste your time and mess up your inner chi getting aggrivated by it.

How very Zen of you. Slightly elitist but I like it. :D

Grand Master

Joel

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haha. sorta interesting how the mods immediately remove anything that says they could have banned for no reason. as well as any posts that says that some of them could be on a power trip.

*waits for this post to "magically" disappear as well.*

It's even more interesting how we know more about the overall situation than you do.

*waits for member to jump off the staff-bashing bandwagon when he realises he has no facts to back up his claim*

Grand Master

whitebread

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It's even more interesting how we know more about the overall situation than you do.

*waits for member to jump off the staff-bashing bandwagon when he realises he has no facts to back up his claim*

:rofl:
Grand Master

+M2Ys4U Subscriber¹

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Not just that either. Neowin endorses Autopatcher which by all MS standards is illegal because it allows pirated copies of Windows to be updated beyond the critical patches.

Please don't talk about situations that you simply do not understand.

AutoPatcher is 100% legal, Microsoft know about the project, and they don't care about it.

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