Reputed Members/Closed Accounts? Can We know why?

[SlimPickins]

Howdy,

I was wondering if it would be possible to have the profiles of members that have their accounts closed updated with the reason the account was terminated (or perhaps a thread for listing the details of who and why).....

Not that I personally need to know EXACTLY why an account was closed but, every time I read through a thread and see a post from a member (that I am used to seeing posts from) is suddenly listed as "account closed" I wonder why and generally never know. Most recent examples that I just came across being Weblord and Archangel, seemingly well-established members, now gone......

If staff cannot say exactly "WHY" an account was terminated due to privacy issues or whatnot I understand, but even a categorical reason would be great, partially to help me insure that I never make the same mistake and also so that I can adjust my business-boundary with this person elsewhere if applicable, based on what the reasoning was. Or would that turn into witch-hunting (not what I want)?

If it is not an option, I guess I will just have to live with the mystery and remain grateful that NP staff work so hard at keeping the forum safe behind the scenes....

Thanks, Denver

 

[Kate]

I'm wondering too...
*Sometimes*, if you look at the user profile the signature has been changed to something like 'I am a shill bidder' etc. Most of the time we have to live with the mistery
I'm sure management has to deal with a load of crap behind the scenes :blink:

 

[-REECE-]

edit: thanks for answering Peter and Mike :tu:

 

[Peter]

Although in an ideal world it would be listed there are many reasons why an account maybe closed (in fact some maybe closed without you knowing).

There are several reasons why we would not reveal why someone was banned. They include:-

Privacy
Unfair on the person who is banned (as they maybe banned for a minor infraction for a short period for example)

If someone has done something such as trying to sell stolen domain names etc then it usually comes to light in the main forum anyway however if not then it is posted in the warning thread for example.

What you find some members of the staff will do is if someone is caught doing something they should not be (for example shill bidding) they will post highlighting the fact in the sales thread.

If you are carrying out a deal with someone who then "mysteriously" gets banned/suspended feel free to post a question in the management/reported posts section. Depending on the situation we can always confirm whether the ban was due to some dodgy dealing.

 

[Domainace]

I was surprised to see Weblord suddenly gone, too. But, I don't think it would be wise for NP to post the reasons, unless they were innocuous transgressions that anybody could make. If that's the case, I'd rather be aware of them.

 

[SlimPickins]

Thanks for the quick answers! Yeah, i guess I am just looking for a bit more clarity/security..... like Reece said, it is a big difference for me knowing the severity of the reason....

perhaps another option is to make 'temporary'/infractions-oriented bans more clear, with something other than "account closed", which seems so..... terminal, like "2 week Ban" or "tempBan"..... so that we know that it wasn't a BIGGGGGGG mistake like theft/fraud etc, and that the person will be back, lesson learned hopefully.....

come to think of it, this came up when ItalianDragon was banned awhile ago and wasn't clear why at first.

I can certainly respect the privacy factor, which is why I also suggested a categorical explanation, without details per se......

thanks! Denver

 

[Peter]

perhaps another option is to make 'temporary'/infractions-oriented bans more clear, with something other than "account closed", which seems so..... terminal, like "2 week Ban" or "tempBan"..... so that we know that it wasn't a BIGGGGGGG mistake like theft/fraud etc, and that the person will be back, lesson learned hopefully.....

It is a good idea however namepros would really have to be careful. There have for example been times in the past where someone has sold a domain name and then found in fact it was a stolen domain name. This was not necessarily that persons fault as they may have bought it from the thief rather than being the thief. If we gave them a different postbit title that indicated they were a thief it would effectively be defamation of character (however such things are not my field of expertise.

Also someone can continually get temp banned then the decision is made not to reopen their account. This does not mean they are bad business people or scammers, it just means they have difficulty following the forum rules.

I can certainly respect the privacy factor, which is why I also suggested a categorical explanation, without details per se.....

It would be quite hard to do this to be honest. There are many people banned on a daily basis. The vast majority of these are spammers however if we had to post who was banned and why (or a category type interface) it could take some time.

This is sort of akin to people seeing other peoples warnings. I (as well as other staff) can see anyone's warnings but that is because of my position within the forum. Would you really want someone to see that you did x wrong last month or a year ago?

 

[Mike]

Thanks for the quick answers! Yeah, i guess I am just looking for a bit more clarity/security.....

The whole security aspect is the main concern of Mods/Staff/Management/Admins. While post count is a great indicator of one's performance, it's not an indication whether someone is playing by the rules.
Whatever the infraction may be, NP Staff take privacy quite serious and will never, except in incredibly severe cases, air out anyone's dirty laundry. It simply would open up a field of discussions, battles and potential fights that in the end will serve no one.

As the community grows, the amount of people dismissing the rules grows equally.
Knowing many of the staff members reasonably well, I can assure anyone that we're pretty much the most laid back bunch of people you can find. However, we're tasked with keeping the integrity of the forum and it's members in the best standing possible. Oftentimes, this doesn't leave much room for leeway, especially for repeat offenders.
To anyone that's wondering what to do to avoid getting "into trouble"? Simple. Review and play by the rules (TOS), if you have questions, we're always happy to answer them and generally; apply a good portion of common sense, ethics and decency and you'll probably never hear from us, other than with a prank, concocted by the Master Prankster Bill or side kick Galel.

M.

 

[SlimPickins]

good points, Peter..... i suppose I will simply live with the mystery and trust that NP staff do what they have to when they have to. It also certainly happens on a frequency I don't even have a clue of.... as I usually just notice (or am surprised) when it involves more established members and there ISN'T a thread-trail showing what led up to their ban. No need for extra work/liability on NP's end or embarrassment/witch hunting amongst members.....

thanks for the answers. Denver

 

[mwzd]

Its tough to let the general populace know everytime we award warning points to people. Suffice to say that they are given for a reason and mostly after sufficient warning.

Some people think that its their right to break the rules and are then surprised when accounts are closed.

You can check your own by visiting:
http://www.namepros.com/Warn.php?do=ViewMyWarnings

 

[SlimPickins]

thanks Peter, Mike & Samit (thanks for the link!)..... I have a better understanding of why it's really not so cut-and-dry / realistic to know how come someone is gone. I guess that ideally there would still be a differentiation between 2-week time-out and actual ban/account closed, but not as big of an issue after all your input..... thanks! Denver

 

[Easydoms]

Thanks for the info, I was thinking about weblord the other day wondering where he was, thanks again for the info

 

[Premiere]

Thanks as well for the explanation. Brings to mind being a forum admin in the past and the precarious situation of trying to explain what happened while not defaming anyone's character or causing a problem for the forum overall. The only time it gets messy is when the banned account has multiple persons posting in regards to their loss in a very negative way. It can be difficult to walk this line and also quell a mob that sees only one side of the story.

 

[DebX420]

I, too, would like to know what happened to Weblord. I spent a few hours the other day reviewing recent posts, and to my knowledge, he didn't do anything wrong, aside from posting a lot. But what's done is done - I guess the only way to find out would be to find out from staff, if at all possible, who see if the person in question could give a civil account of what happened.

 

[mis_chiff]

weblord is all over twitter if anyone one wants to ask him what happened.

Curiosity killed the cat, and speculation is what starts rumors.

 

[bro]

weblord

I think he was abusing itrader feature with $3NP bookmark deals, apart from spamming for backlink traffic.

 

[GF]

I think he was abusing itrader feature with $3NP bookmark deals, apart from spamming for backlink traffic.

This is incorrect.

I think that Mike, Peter, and Samit have said enough.
And, Mike is correct - watch your back for pranks by me and Bill. 8-X

 

[johname]

Looks like weblord's account is no longer closed, i guess we will see him back after sunday.

 

[Electric-Shadow]

I agree with Peter, it's not fair on the person who was banned and quite bluntly it's none of our business why someone was banned, don't forget that some people also reach the warning points limit and get auto banned (I think it's 20/30 points)

 

[Aceredbaron]

How long till the warning points expire?

 

[Electric-Shadow]

I think it depends on what you got them for, could be a week, could be a month, could be never.

 

[mktgmark]

Many people automatically assume the worst. It is too bad that someone could be banned for accumulating points by posting in the wrong forum and then possibly putting up a post that is interpreted as trolling. Then once they're banned, others assume they were doing something shady in the area of online business. Would be nice if their accounts were labeled either Major Ban or Minor Ban or something like that. This way their business rep wouldn't be hurt by a non-business related forum violation.