User Issues and Moderation in VFDC

Agree. But 6 months is too long. He is a player that started in 2007-8 and actually climbed the latter to being very very good. With jeff no less. His input could be priceless to new players. I know he's a troll. I looked forward to kicking his ass on stream (lol KO)--there was a silly stipulation.

None-the-less i'm not comfortable with him being banned 15% or so of his VF prime. It's not right. Our community here has like 30 fucking members. Also i'll say, KO's trolls are obvious to the point of being silly. He's not saying nigger and faggot and spewing hate. His trolls are almost comical in their obvious-ness. And given the fact his icon is troll face and he admits to being a troll it really nerfs it. It's silly, not offensive.

We can't ban members for 6 months when our community is so small.

Yes chief flash and SDS and tony need a ban for saying nigger and faggot. That shit is just wrong. <3 you tfam. But a 6 month ban is just counter-productive to our site. We seriously need all hands on deck. I hate coming to vfdc and seeing no posts in 3 days. It sucks. We need high traffic here. That's why i did my blog here. When someone logs in, we need new posts. Sigh. /rant.

BTW weirdo ur low center of gravity doesn't mean shit, u swinging from trees, aw son, eat bananas. hahahhahahahah. <3 My favorite post ever. Get drunk and say something else to regret. hehe

 

When moderators use banning as a form of content-control for online forums, they're fighting a futile battle. Although the line between oppressive censorship and administrative responsibility in maintaining a friendly social environment is a thin and slippery one, it's not one that even begs walking in a Web 2.0 world, where user-content makes up the majority of the internet. It's just too much to moderate, and there's no need when there are so many tools born of twenty-first-century internet innovation for the sake of making online communities self-policing.

First, let me say that social_ruin makes some obvious points; the community is too small to be banning strong, contributing players just because they playfully troll, instigate, talk shit, etc. Although I recognize that VFDC is a site for players of all ages and sensitivity-levels, the number of users that are too young or otherwise too delicate to be above traumatization by strong language in a competitive atmosphere are probably insignificant. We're not talking about users selling guns, here, or making serious threats of physical violence; we're talking about grown man-boys on their days off and after school blowing off some steam by involving themselves in testosterone-motivated online beefs.

Should VFDC be a place that welcomes new users with an inviting smile instead of with animosity? Of course, but there are means of achieving the outward and functional appearance of a gentler community without alienating users that enjoy the rivalries and trash-talk as an important part of a competitive atmosphere. Even now, novices are never pulled into flamewars; by necessity, flame-wars are mutual... Otherwise, it'd be just one person talking a whole lot of shit and being ignored until they get bored. In my months of time on VFDC, I never felt like I was imposed upon by anybody else's flaming.

Still, many people would rather come to a site and not see all of that negativity. Acquainting users with the 'ignore' feature (and making sure that it works) is a great way to stop many personal problems long before a moderator becomes involved. On top of that, features could be implemented for hiding posts with strong language behind a content-curtain that users could click away or opt-in to seeing by default. Posts could be down-voted by the community and then hidden by default behind a curtain when they reach a certain point, which is a popular feature of many comment systems. Rather than being banned, users could be temporarily flagged by moderators so that, for a period of time, their posts in the forums and the shoutbox are hidden behind a clickable curtain for all users.

Throwing a ban-hammer around in 2012 doesn't benefit anybody. Multiple accounts are easy to create, IP-bans are easily circumvented by proxies... The only way to win a war on questionable content is to empower users to control what sort of content it is that they're exposed to. I don't expect that any of these features could be implemented overnight, but my point is that over-moderation by a handful of administrators for the sake of controlling objectionable behavior is a pointless battle and one that I think only serves to poison an already small community by alienating some of its most passionate and knowledgeable players.

Whether or not two other players are getting into a pissing contest and throwing adult language around is none of my business, but I'm glad that those users are around when they can answer a question that I have or when I'm trying to get some games in with strong players. Live, let live, and, if you're concerned about the social and atmospheric ramifications of flaming going unmoderated, put the power of moderation into the community's hands insofar as filtering content and giving the cold-shoulder to obnoxious, unhelpful members. The cream will rise to the top.

-David

 

I just want some moderation consistency. KO banned for six months for lightly (if constantly) trolling a bigger troll, and that more disruptive, negative troll is given over 9000 warnings, despite actually being between a nuisance and a problem during his entire vfdc interaction.

Also, I didn't find KO to be too negative, and I don't know that I ever saw him say he hated this game, unless the discussion was about online or Jacky.

Edit: I agree entirely, Vencabot. Well said.

 

I know shag. But i'd still like a 1 month max ban.

 

6 months is excessive for saying "i will continue to play vf and troll, problem akai?". That shouldn't incur a ban, let alone a 6 month ban. Very clearly appears to be more of a personal issue than anything else, with a duration that long, for such a tame statement.

 

thanks akai

 

I wanted to revive this tread asking if there's a chance to see who's been banned from vfdc anyhow and if possible for how long.
I was thinking also to show the warning that user has in his profile but i guess that's too much. Tnx