Banning From Soccer. Too Harsh?

Charlie

I want to make clear that I understand the difficulties of modding, and that this is in no way a personal attack at the mod, or their decision, and that I don't want this thread to descend into a me. vs the mod like so many threads do around here.

About a week ago, I received a pm to inform me that I was banned for a month from the soccer forum from GuanYin.

This was in relation to the tags 'Boards.ie ****' that I had added to the 'Off Topic Thread' and 'Liverpool Transfers Rumours Thread'. Now I can understand how this would ordinarily be viewed as being trolish. However, there was a joke (at least I thought so) behind them.

Around the same time this 'Boards.ie **** thread' popped up in After Hours. In my infinite wisdom, I thought it would be a cheap chuckle to make a play on this thread, and 'tag' the pages of Boards with what was in fact the subjects of one it's threads. I am a regular poster in the soccer forum, and I don't think many would consider me a troll.

Now I understand now that misuse of tags is banable offence, but at the time I did it, the Off Topic Thread was basically filled to the brim with wisecracking tags, and I didn't realise at the time that 'misuse' of tags would receive a one months ban. I know, ignorance of the charter is no excuse.

However, does anyone feel that a one month ban was too harsh for what was in all honesty, a poor attempt at an ironic joke.

Dinter

charlie mchugh wrote: »

However, does anyone feel that a one month ban was too harsh for what was in all honesty, a poor attempt at an ironic joke.

No.

I think if you'd just posted boards.ie wanker, in thread you'd expect to get a banning. Don't see why you'd think the tag would be different for you.

How's it ironic anyway? Don't see how that was a joke.

Vegeta

[OARIN]

Have you PM'd the mod in question asking about it and apologising?

Soccer is a no tolerance forum so I can see why PSI (GuanYin) would give the month ban but he might have reduced it if you immediately apologised and explained to him where you were coming from.

Maybe you have PM'd him but coming to feedback first and calling him out in public does not bode well for the direction of this thread.

[/OARIN]


EDIT: I also don't see the joke

6th

Too late to take my advice now. Good luck.

Dinter

6th wrote: »

Too late to take my advice now. Good luck.

He could have recycled the tags thread and used that instead as it's going no where.

Charlie

Vegeta wrote: »

Have you PM'd the mod in question asking about it and apologising?

Yeah I pm'd the Mod at the time, apologized and tried to explain that it was a joke. They just said that they weren't buying that it was a joke and that the ban stands.

Charlie

Dinter wrote: »

He could have recycled the tags thread and used that instead as it's going no where.

The tags have been removed from the thread, and there are no messages on the threads commenting on the tags.

Mr.Nice Guy

I don't know much about the Off-Topic thread or its in-jokes as I don't go in there much but I know charlie is a good contributor and not a troll. A month-long ban does seem quite strong.

Charlie

Just in regards to what others have said above.

- I already got in touch with the Mod at the time of the banning and apologized and tried to explain it This is not my first step in trying to get the ban reduced. I have also pm'd the mod to make them aware of this thread so that they don't think they are being blind sided.

- I understand that people don't get the joke, and if I am honest, it was probably something that at the time I thought others would get, without thinking it through properly. However, there really was no malice behind it, and I just feel a one month ban is ott considering I am a regular to the forum with no prior history of abuse, and most would know that being a troll or malicious is not my style.

GuanYin

Firstly, I had warned Charlie McHugh about his behavior in soccer one more than one occasion. The most recent being his use of "Rick Rollin" in soccer.

Secondly, I had warned every on soccer about the mis-use of tags, it is even in the charter as a major offence.

Thirdly, whatever about the off-topic thread, when a poster tags the liverpool thread "boards.ie ****", especially when they support a rival team, there is no way in the multiverse that I will believe that there was any intent other to inflame and troll.

This is exactly why we are strict and harsh in soccer. The ban will stand.

I had considered a longer ban, but decided on a month in the hope the poster might learn something. Now I see that this was not the case.

Charlie

GuanYin wrote: »

Firstly, I had warned Charlie McHugh about his behavior in soccer one more than one occasion. The most recent being his use of "Rick Rollin" in soccer.

Regarding the rollin. The warning was at the end of the thread and I only realised it after going back to look over the thread after my bannig. Surely a pm would have been better in this situation if you thought that my humour was uncalled for.

GuanYin wrote: »

Secondly, I had warned every on soccer about the mis-use of tags, it is even in the charter as a major offence.

Fair point. But I would imagine that I alot of users aren't aware of the severuty of a ban for misuse of the tags going by how much 'misuse' goes on.

GuanYin wrote: »

Thirdly, whatever about the off-topic thread, when a poster tags the liverpool thread "boards.ie ****", especially when they support a rival team, there is no way in the multiverse that I will believe that there was any intent other to inflame and troll.

This is where we differ, and i'm afraid all I can do is be honest and say it wasn't intended to flame or troll. I know that that this is skant proof.

GuanYin wrote: »

This is exactly why we are strict and harsh in soccer. The ban will stand.

I had considered a longer ban, but decided on a month in the hope the poster might learn something. Now I see that this was not the case.

I think that's a bit harsh considering I apologized immediately and said that I now understood that misuse of the tags was a serious offence. Believe me, I have learnt alot from this regarding what should and shouldn't be said in the soccer forum.

I understand that my conduct warranted a ban, but I just feel in light of the surrounding circumstances, a 1 week ban would have sufficed.

fred funk }{

I read the Soccer forum a lot but I don't post there so much. Some of your posts are Trollish and I'm surprised you haven't been banned before.
You blatantly try to cause trouble and if was up to me I'd ban you for good.
Sorry if that sounds harsh but that forum has gone down hill lately with all the fighting between fans and the trollish posts are all to common.

Dord

Accept the ban and learn from your mistake tbh. It's only a month.

GuanYin

charlie mchugh wrote: »

Regarding the rollin. The warning was at the end of the thread and I only realised it after going back to look over the thread after my bannig. Surely a pm would have been better in this situation if you thought that my humour was uncalled for.

Actually, you nearly got banned, which would have included a PM. Be thankful I didn't PM you and this incident was several days before your ban.

Fair point. But I would imagine that I alot of users aren't aware of the severuty of a ban for misuse of the tags going by how much 'misuse' goes on.

Everyone got fair warning it is up to you to keep abreast of the rules and there is a format there to ask questions if you are unclear. Ignorance of the rules is not a defence.

This is where we differ, and i'm afraid all I can do is be honest and say it wasn't intended to flame or troll. I know that that this is skant proof.

Pretend we live in a fantasy land where unicorns and leprechauns exist and roam free across the land under a cheese moon in a lollypop sky and where I believe your story for a second.

Where exactly does it say that breaking a soccer forum rule is OK if you're only having a bit of a laugh and don't mean to upset anyone?

If you can find that part, you're unbanned.

I think that's a bit harsh considering I apologized immediately and said that I now understood that misuse of the tags was a serious offence. Believe me, I have learnt alot from this regarding what should and shouldn't be said in the soccer forum.

I understand that my conduct warranted a ban, but I just feel in light of the surrounding circumstances, a 1 week ban would have sufficed.

I think you're a very sly fox in terms of trolling and I have logged every misuse of the tags by you, this wasn't the first time and you KNOW people have been banned for misusing the tags. In short, you're exactly the sort of poster that got the forum closed down before, a poster who tries to provoke others but also tries to stay just inside the rules, looking for technicalities to get away with trolling and flaming.

This is the reputation you have made for yourself.

Your ban is 1 month for a number of reasons. Your persistent trolling, your lack of regard for your previous warnings and the actual rule breach. If you continue to break the rules in soccer, your ban lengths will only get longer.

Sully

Fully agree and support GuanYin's ban. Clear warnings were given and even without them - the tag system isnt to be abused.

Charlie

I'm not gonna bother to take this further and argue it out with you, as you seem to have your mind firmly made up. However, I feel your character assessment is way off, and bordering on an assassination of character.

I said at the start of this thread, and in my pm to yourself, that I didn't want this turning into a 'member v. mod' thread, and unfortunately this is what it seems to have been reduced to.

GuanYin

charlie mchugh wrote: »

I'm not gonna bother to take this further and argue it out with you, as you seem to have your mind firmly made up. However, I feel your character assessment is way off, and bordering on an assassination of character.

I said at the start of this thread, and in my pm to yourself, that I didn't want this turning into a 'member v. mod' thread, and unfortunately this is what it seems to have been reduced to.

It isn't a member vs. mod thread. Listen, I have no problem with you posting in soccer, but if you break the rules, you will be banned. To put this inthe context of your peers, there are posters that I have a relatively good opinion of on boards.ie and soccer that have been banned multiple times by me. Some, such as Xavi or Mr. Alan, I even regard as relatively friendly. If they act like a moron, I'll tell them they act like a moron (isn't that right Mr. Alan? ), it may be harsh, it doesn't mean I'm going to victimize you.

I have nothing personal against you and you may well be a very nice person. In soccer, your actions betray you and you have appeared on my watchlist. If you stop doing things that get you noticed in a negative way, you'll be bumped off the watchlist by the next poster who comes along and causes trouble and this will all be forgotten.
(this is probably a good rule of thumb for any posters on boards.ie who find themselves getting warnings and bans).

You have the power to change this!

pvt.joker

I initially supported your case Charlie as I thought you posted that tag in the off topic thread. Seeing as you posted it in the Liverpool thread...well thats a bit suspicious to say the least! It looks like you saw the chance to stick a jibe in at the Scousers while getting away with it (using the pretence of the coincedental thread on AF) .
Now don't get me wront, I dislike the scousers as much as the next man, but I think GuanYin is justified here.
sorry man.

Dub13

charlie mchugh to try and get inside your taught process why did you pick the Liverpool thread to post this tag...?and not post in on say the Man Utd,Villa etc etc threads..?

Charlie

Dub13 wrote: »

charlie mchugh to try and get inside your taught process why did you pick the Liverpool thread to post this tag...?and not post in on say the Man Utd,Villa etc etc threads..?

Because I knew Mr. Alan had seen the OTT one, had enquired about it, and then ventured and posted in the actual After Hours thread about it. Hence I thought he would see the funny side of it.

Dub13

charlie mchugh wrote: »

Because I knew Mr. Alan had seen the OTT one, had enquired about it, and then ventured and posted in the actual After Hours thread about it. Hence I thought he would see the funny side of it.

I think this is a case of you miss judging a joke,if I were you I would just accept the ban and move on.

Charlie

Dub13 wrote: »

I think this is a case of you miss judging a joke,if I were you I would just accept the ban and move on.

I have already admitted as much. But I felt, and still do, that a months ban was a harsh punishment for it.

GY referred that I had previous warnings and I was aware of people being banned for misuse of tags. I honestly wasn't and still am not aware of anyone bar myself that has been banned for tag abouse. I am perplexed as to how GY is certain that I know this. Also, the only warnings I got was after a rick rollin, and that was in the thread I posted the link, not a pm. I didn't see this warning until after I received my banning and went back through the threads looking for it.

But again, this is just my word, and GY doesn't seem to want to take it, so we'll leave it at that.

mike65

As someone who got banned for a week for describing Platini as a wanker, one month in clink seems harsh but then I thought my ban was a load of old toss. So there you go. (GungaDin was the enforcer then as well btw).

Mike.

Charlie

mike65 wrote: »

As someone who got banned for a week for describing Platini as a wanker, one month in clink seems harsh but then I thought my ban was a load of old toss. So there you go. (GungaDin was the enforcer then as well btw).

Mike.

This is all I am asking for. I have accepted that I exercised poor judgement with my choice of humour, but I think a month is OTT, especially considering its probably the busiest month of the footballing calender.

Had I received a PM warning me about my conduct, I would have happily removed the tags myself, and apologise for any offence caused in the two threads.

CHD

mike65 wrote: »

As someone who got banned for a week for describing Platini as a wanker, one month in clink seems harsh but then I thought my ban was a load of old toss. So there you go. (GungaDin was the enforcer then as well btw).

Mike.

lol sorry about that.....

I put the tags Manc twats in the ManYoo forum, Scouse twats in L'pool forum and other stupid trollish things in other threads in Soccer.I was completely out of line and imo my actions were worse. I received a weeks ban.

Charlie is a good contributor and if i only get banned for a week why shouldn't he?

No doubt GuanYin will have something smart to say back but i think you handing out a months ban is harsh.

Beruthiel

GuanYin wrote: »

I think you're a very sly fox in terms of trolling and I have logged every misuse of the tags by you, this wasn't the first time and you KNOW people have been banned for misusing the tags. In short, you're exactly the sort of poster that got the forum closed down before, a poster who tries to provoke others but also tries to stay just inside the rules, looking for technicalities to get away with trolling and flaming.

Take the ban OP.
GuanYin does a sterling job modding a nightmare of a forum.
People like you make her job that much harder and frankly she doesn't get paid enough for this sort of crap.

mike65

Oh the woes of GuanYin! Give her a break from servitude Beruthiel

She does it because she wants to, if she didn't she'd quit.

Mike.

Calina

Existence of mod in forum is not carte blanche to troll.

OP, take your ban imo you deserved it. Ignorance of the charter may be no defence, but knowledge of the charter and wilfully ignoring it is an aggravating factor in my view.

Bubs101

In fairness to Charlie, he's always been a respectful poster and never really steps out of bounds. He's posted in the Chelsea thread before with non-inflammatory comments that are just to fuel discussion and I'm pretty sure he's done it in other dedicated team threads and if his interest was to flame them he would have done it then. The joke might have been a shockingly bad one but there's nothing in his posting history to suggest it wasn't a joke. Personally, I think the ban is a little long for him. A slap on the wrist would have been enough to stop somebody of his calibre from doing it again

Phlann

lol. A month ban for adding a silly tag to thread? A week tops imo.

Although to be fair I'd probably promote anybody who annoyed those bin-dipping scousers, so maybe I'm a bit biased. :P

Did they have a minute's silence for him?

mike65

No, we stole his wheels.

Mike.

Charlie

mike65 wrote: »

No, we stole his wheels.

Mike.

Yeah, I was wondering who the lads outside with the big curly afros and dodgy tashes were.

leninbenjamin

Charlie, you know the score in soccer and why the mods have to be such utter tyrants at times (;))

sure a month will be gone before you know it. twill only be by then that we'll actually have something to talk about anyway!

The Muppet

charlie mchugh wrote: »

Also, the only warnings I got was after a rick rollin, and that was in the thread I posted the link, not a pm. I didn't see this warning until after I received my banning and went back through the threads looking for it.

could something be done to ensure that this sort of thing doesn't happen ? Most users do not read back over previous posts to see if they have received warnings etc. This issue was a factor in my last ban from soccer.

jesus_thats_gre

I actually really dislike most of his contributions on the Liverpool thread in particular but a month banning for this is slighty OTT when you consider the punishment that was handed out for this:

CHD wrote:

I put the tags Manc twats in the ManYoo forum, Scouse twats in L'pool forum and other stupid trollish things in other threads in Soccer.I was completely out of line and imo my actions were worse. I received a weeks ban.

Being strong handed is one thing but when there is an obvious disparity between the punishment being handed out, you are always going to have someone feeling hard done by and someone arguing in their favour.

jesus_thats_gre

The Muppet wrote: »

could something be done to ensure that this sort of thing doesn't happen ? Most users do not read back over previous posts to see if they have received warnings etc. This issue was a factor in my last ban from soccer.

Crisis, I thought you had stopped contributing on these forums. Not seen you on the soccer forum in yonks.

Sherifu

jesus_thats_gre wrote: »

Crisis, I thought you had stopped contributing on these forums. Not seen you on the soccer forum in yonks.

That's cause he's banned afair. (Don't mention the war, etc.)

The Muppet

jesus_thats_gre wrote: »

Crisis, I thought you had stopped contributing on these forums. Not seen you on the soccer forum in yonks.

Still here , but banned from soccer for my sins. I havn't seen you around much either.

fred funk }{

The Muppet wrote: »

Still here , but banned from soccer for my sins. I havn't seen you around much either.

Get a room lads

copacetic

surprised that people think Charlie hasn't caused trouble before. Don't believe a word of this being done as a 'joke'. As noted above he tagged the liverpool thread, not a thread frequented mates of his joking around.

Not sure everyone realises that the rick rollin 'joke' was also on a liverpool thread, with the link retyped to look like a News story. Imo that was worth a ban on it's own, getting just a warning for that should have been a wake up call.

Charlie

copacetic wrote: »

surprised that people think Charlie hasn't caused trouble before. Don't believe a word of this being done as a 'joke'. As noted above he tagged the liverpool thread, not a thread frequented mates of his joking around.

Not sure everyone realises that the rick rollin 'joke' was also on a liverpool thread, with the link retyped to look like a News story. Imo that was worth a ban on it's own, getting just a warning for that should have been a wake up call.

As I have already stated, I wasn't aware of this warning until after my banning. Hence why I suggested that it should have been pm'd to me. I wasn't aware that rick rollin became such a contentious issue. I have been the victim of it myself on the soccer forum and took it as it was meant to be, a joke.

copacetic

charlie mchugh wrote: »

As I have already stated, I wasn't aware of this warning until after my banning. Hence why I suggested that it should have been pm'd to me. I wasn't aware that rick rollin became such a contentious issue. I have been the victim of it myself on the soccer forum and took it as it was meant to be, a joke.

why do you keep on trying to play 'jokes' on liverpool fans when otherwise all you seem to do is slag off both the team and fans? Why would anyone take anything you do as an innocent joke?

Charlie

copacetic wrote: »

why do you keep on trying to play 'jokes' on liverpool fans when otherwise all you seem to do is slag off both the team and fans? Why would anyone take anything you do as an innocent joke?

'Keep playing jokes' is laughable. Two instances is hardly regular stuff. The rollin had nothing to do with the fact that it concerned Liverpool supporters, but the fact that there was post after post proclaiming Keane would be signed imminently. I have already explained why I tagged the thread.

Also, when have I ever slagged off the team or it's supporters? I may have engaged in debate over tactics and transfer policy, and supporters speculations, but I have never 'slagged off' either.

Phlann

Over-sensitive Liverpool fans?! Well, I never!

Where are the relevant mods on this one? They seem to have disappeared from this thread. In view of the other guy's one week ban for worse abuse I don't see why this Charlie fella should have to spend a month on the sidelines.

GuanYin

For the last time:

1. The forum charter bans the misuse of tags. There is no where in the charter where it states misuse of tags is "ok as a joke".

2. I don't care if you think it was funny or a joke or not. Our rules aren't built around your humor.

3. Your ban stands and your next ban will be longer if you step out of line in the forum again.

4. Unless an admin tells us otherwise, the issue is closed so this is my last post on the matter (except the clarification below ).

Charlie

GuanYin wrote: »

For the last time:

1. The forum charter bans the misuse of tags. There is no where in the charter where it states misuse of tags is "ok as a joke".

2. I don't care if you think it was funny or a joke or not. Our rules aren't built around your humor.

3. Your ban stands and your next ban will be longer if you step out of line in the forum again.

4. Unless an admin tells us otherwise, the issue is closed so this is my last post on the matter.

Can you address why another poster was giving a weeks ban for what appears to be a worse case of tags misuse?

Helix

i got 11 days for referring to a liverpool supporting mate as scouse filth, and a mate of his as being a resident of filth land. in light of that, charlies is probably a tad harsh

GuanYin

The previous incident occured before the rules were set and before the users and mods had fully come to grips with the tags (to the point I didn't even know how to view the tag details).

This incident occured when rules had been established and EVERYONE had time to read them.

Really done now.

CHD

GuanYin wrote: »

The previous incident occured before the rules were set and before the users and mods had fully come to grips with the tags (to the point I didn't even know how to view the tag details).

This incident occured when rules had been established and EVERYONE had time to read them.

Really done now.

Handy excuse IMO

PHB

Is there a difference between an excuse or explanation?

Overheal

PHB wrote: »

Is there a difference between an excuse or explanation?

Ask George Bush