Start banning members

[S-B]

NamePros and its leadership has gone soft.

Start banning toxic members like @Michael Ehrhardt. It is utterly absurd that he is allowed to troll the forum. I'd be willing to bet he has received more dislikes and reports in the last week than any other member has in the history of the forum. It's pathetic that he's allowed to represent such a great community. The thing that disgusts me the most is he's being defended by NPs leadership.

If you want to spit in our faces, do it yourself.

Now I know the response is going to be that he's been warned. Whatever. With that many reports he should be banned.

---

Solved: https://www.namepros.com/posts/5553087/

Thread closed.

 

[Eric Lyon]

There are about 20,000 banned accounts on NamePros, and we add more to that list every day that the limits are pushed too far.

The member in question has received multiple warnings and is approaching that limit. We give everyone the same number of chances to learn from their behavior before their account automatically closes from reaching the threshold, even members who are more controversial than others.

The warning system that we have in place takes care of this with time, but it's not immediate. We do not believe in banning anyone without a fair chance for them to learn our rules and abide by them.

 

[DU]

On one occasion my account was banned for a stupid reason (I blacked out my profile page). I understood why - it was because I was told specifically not to do it. I was reinstated because I asked nicely some 3 weeks or so later and was given a grace. I know the owners were different, the mods were different and times have changed but a 3 week suspension for someone who actually cares about the forum is a pain.... for others it may be enough for them to leave naturally.

So @Eric Lyon why can't people be suspended or put on other such similar status?

Last week my emails bounced through no fault of my own and I couldn't create any comments or make any posts until my email was setup to another address. Why can't people be put on a post-suspension? It seems that would be very easy and if they went away because of it I'm not sure anyone would care.

Michael E, as an example, has posted threads for no reason but to create a mess (why people respond is beyond me) but he's also been involved in a number of IDN dirty tactics as outlined by @wot. This character was requested to be banned a year ago https://www.namepros.com/threads/mixed-script-fake-idn-on-sedo.850382/#post-4815399

I'm not for lynch-mob mentality but at a certain point you as the admin need to have some common sense and balance contribution to detrimental posts. I'm sure at some point I've been shortlisted, Shane's been short listed, for sure Iowadawg too, but I would like to think that overall the contribution outweighs the negative. There are some people that I can't think of a single positive contribution being made. I get metrics, I get that you need fairness, I get that you try to treat users equally but sometimes it's too obvious to fall into normal boundaries and you can tell the forum would be better off without someone.

 

[namezest]

Shane you have a history of posting publicly your dislike of both websites and individuals, It seems you just cannot help but be controversial or the center of attention. Even when it comes to "dissing" websites you eventually attack individuals. I am sorry but I am not the type to just sit back, especially as this is a "community". Many of your posts have been "toxic" imo as far as personal affronts I have never posted any such things on here you seem to do it all too often. I think you are an only child used to getting your own way, anyone who has read your posts has caught you being dishonest and down right childish. People who live in glass houses Shane should not throw stones! Besides you are leaving anyway ... Right?

 

[johname]

What do these threads have to do with domains or names in general? Why are they even on NP?

They are breakroom threads. Which means non domaining topics.

This is the best one lol

https://www.namepros.com/threads/ev...ead-cannabis-and-vr-approved.761952/page-1632

 

[N-A]

https://xenforo.com/community/resources/post-ratings-taking-likes-to-the-next-level.410/

This is a plugin that I'm looking into for a XenForo community that I'm building. I like it in that "like" is a positive rating, while "disagree" can be neutral. Then, one may receive "dislikes" which would negatively impact an account. When a user continually receives dislikes, it would increase the green/red ratio on the bar below their name and it would be obvious who a troll is.

Yes, it can be exploited and people may leave "dislikes" as opposed to "disagree". But, couldn't the dislike system here be used the same way? And it's not, because management has clearly stated to not use it that way.

I believe a likes system such as this would be beneficial as nobody would want red under their name... and if they do, they obviously don't care about belonging to the community.

 

[Eric Lyon]

Shane, we have a process that we follow for everyone. There are no feelings or bias involved with it.

Our process is strictly procedural, and it allows those who are willing to learn and abide by the rules the chance to do so.

 

[Eric Lyon]

3 infractions in the last 43 days for the exact same thing.

Each warning has a specific point value and expiration date assigned to it based on the offense. The expiration dates range from 2 months to "indefinite" depending on how serious it is. Thread crashing, while an undesirable action, is not one of the more serious offenses (there are much bigger issues that we deal with on a daily basis), especially when it's infrequent. The two most recent occurrences you're referring to occurred over a month apart.

There's a similar issue with certain members being less friendly toward new members than we'd like, and the warning system is forgiving enough that if they don't do it too often, it won't result in a ban.

While neither unfriendly nor thread crashing messages are desirable, they are not something worthy of a ban by themselves if they are happening infrequently enough. Everyone has a bad day now and then, and everyone blows off a little steam occasionally. Some of our top contributing members would have been banned years ago if this policy didn't work the way it does. We wouldn't want that to happen over an occasional grumpy day. That said, if it happens enough in a short period of time, it will result in an account's closure.

It's all about compromise and understanding, when both are reasonable.

 

[Compassion]

He pads his post count, insults people's core beliefs, and antagonizes everyone he comes across. All of which are against forum rules. Take a look at his posts.

No room for that here


This forum is for pros, not trolls.

 

[Eric Lyon]

This thread has been closed.

The warning system worked as intended: it gave the member a fair chance to learn and abide by our rules, and when the member did not, their account was closed automatically due to exceeding the maximum warning points allowed.

If you'd like to learn more about how the warning system works, please review my posts in this thread:

• https://www.namepros.com/posts/5550719/
  
• https://www.namepros.com/posts/5550761/
  
• https://www.namepros.com/posts/5550794/
  
• https://www.namepros.com/posts/5551606/

Please assist us when possible:

If you notice a member breaking the rules (such as being disrespectful, non-constructive, or antagonistic), please use the Report link at the bottom of their post so that we can investigate and issue a warning if necessary.

Thank you for helping to keep our community professional and friendly.

 

[Billy Wagner]

Keep in mind Shane never post a specific date when he is going to leave. He might post another thread for that one.

LOL!!!!!!!!

He'll probably post an invitation post to the post that leads to his final goodbye post.

 

[Dominic Belley]

His last week thread titled something like "Who is the most incompetent member on NP" was so useless. At least it was quickly removed.

 

[deflee79]

I think you should get banned depending on how many dislikes your comments receive. If the magic number is 200 this dude would had been gone a long time ago.

 

[wormfood]

I bet there are plenty of "top" members who are controversial enough and have a high enough post count that they have also received that many dislikes Maybe a like to dislike ratio though.

 

[Asfas1000]

I think you should get banned depending on how many dislikes your comments receive. If the magic number is 200 this dude would had been gone a long time ago.

"Dislike" often times simply means "disagree"...

 

[Billy Wagner]

Shane you have a history of posting publicly your dislike of both websites and individuals, It seems you just cannot help but be controversial or the center of attention. Even when it comes to "dissing" websites you eventually attack individuals. I am sorry but I am not the type to just sit back, especially as this is a "community". Many of your posts have been "toxic" imo as far as personal affronts I have never posted any such things on here you seem to do it all too often. I think you are an only child used to getting your own way, anyone who has read your posts has caught you being dishonest and down right childish. People who live in glass houses Shane should not throw stones! Besides you are leaving anyway ... Right?

I completely agree with NameZest. @Shane Bellone, you've been more than happy to jump down a fellow users throat many times. How about you bump your "goodbye" post once more and call it a day.

 

[Silentptnr]

I will only add that most good, regular, contributing members don't need to be held to a high standard of conduct because they are mostly professional already, and don't need a system with such high flexibility giving unprofessional or rude people so many chances. The system could, for the sake of the community, be less forgiving and it wouldn't affect good members.

Lastly, it is very important to listen to the regular members of a community because they really care. Everyone has their issues but based on what I'm reading maybe the system is a little too loose. The forum doesn't have to be so much about individual rights compared to being a quality community for domain related information.

The quality of this resource is paramount.

 

[equity78]

There is no perfect system. Can we be honest for a minute, no passive - aggressive nonsense. There are members here who absolutely despise one another, and some may make it their life's work to dislike every comment. To be fair someone may dislike everything that comes out of someone's mouth. So modding that becomes ominous. Can Eric tell someone they don't really dislike an opinion and are just using it as a tool to besmirch ? Things get tricky. I have always believed people know who contributes and who doesn't. The ignore button is a greater friend than the + - or like, dislike buttons. But like David pointed out everyone won't ignore a toxic member and the outside world does not have that option.

 

[deez007]

Opinions are like @ssholes, everyone has one. The only one you need to worry about is your own. What other people do with their's should be none of your concern. It's theirs they can do with it what they want. It only becomes your problem if you allow it to be.

 

[Eric Lyon]

Is that a fact, Eric?

It's a rather complex system. The warning system begins with friendly reminders of the rules that the member has violated so that we know they are aware of the rules. If they post pad 50 times before we issue the warning, we'd still only issue 1 warning for that single occurrence. If it happens again, then the warning points increase from there. Depending on the offense, it could escalate quickly. For instance, spamming members in PM is immediately 15x the offense of post padding.

Please continue to report rule violations and everything will sort itself out one way or another. It always does.

 

[S-B]

I'm logging out.

Shane you have a history of posting publicly your dislike of both websites and individuals, It seems you just cannot help but be controversial or the center of attention. Even when it comes to "dissing" websites you eventually attack individuals. I am sorry but I am not the type to just sit back, especially as this is a "community". Many of your posts have been "toxic" imo as far as personal affronts I have never posted any such things on here you seem to do it all too often. I think you are an only child used to getting your own way, anyone who has read your posts has caught you being dishonest and down right childish. People who live in glass houses Shane should not throw stones! Besides you are leaving anyway ... Right?

I would say my nearly 5,000 likes suggests you're the minority here.

Either way, people like you have given me a reason to logout of a forum I've contributed to for a while.

I'm out.

 

[Eric Lyon]

If you actually know, how many?

1. It's not public information. We don't share non-public information to prove a point.
2. It doesn't matter what the number is. If it's too small of a number, you might argue that we are not issuing enough warnings. If it's too large, you might argue that there should be a ban after a certain number.

Arguing is a waste of time. You personally want the member banned, and the system in place is not serving that purpose for you. That's understandable. Feel free to offer constructive suggestions, and we'll be happy to consider them.

Keep in mind that those changes will likely affect you and many other members as well, so think them through thoroughly.

 

[equity78]

What is reasonable about warning/infracting the same person for the same thing for how many times would you say, 20, 30 what? Because it has been 3 over the last 43 days, and this has been going on for years. I'm talking about this specific member. Give an estimate about how many times you or the other mods have warned/infracted this person. It'll be a big number and then how could you make a good argument that you haven't given him enough chances. He knows he shouldn't be posting it because he even says it in the post itself. But he does it anyway. Why do you think that is? Because rules are nothing if not enforced. He knows there is nobody here to handle it. He knows he can troll this forum as much as he wants.

"The two most recent occurrences you're referring to occurred over a month apart."

April 17
April 22
May 30

Stat wise, that would be about 26 infractions a year.

How many if we added them all up? It's ridiculous that you're actually making excuses for trolls instead handling it. He had a grumpy day, really.

I wish I knew who you were talking about.

 

[N-A]

The sysyem on ArsTechnica.com is my favorite for comments. Up +16 | +16 / 0 ) down.

I believe that you can set this one up the same way as I've seen it in a couple different arrangements. The +/Neutral/- that you've seen, thumbs up and down (but doesn't account for neutral ratings) and the old style reputation bar.

Either way, one of these would be more effective than like/dislike that's currently in place as it's a stronger visible indicator of how members perceive other posters. If NamePros seeks help in moderation, wouldn't something like this be better as there is a record of where people "disliked" and how many different people have?

I mean, all I see is "Likes Received: 4,068" next to your name Raymond. How do I know that you aren't a toxic member with 10,000 dislikes? I would hope that there won't be a disparity like that before a ban is issued though... :P

 

[ZapNano]

If banning members rellies on people's opinion, rather than based on actual fact; then there is zero justification.