Decision question...

Firekitten

Dear category mods?
I have a problem and I have been advised to take this to you.

Im sorry to take up your time with this. A topic arose on the airsoft subforum, regarding supply issues of airsoft products since the Japanese Earthquake.

The topic was very poor taste, and poorly articulated making the Original poster's remark seem calous and selfish. For background, I have friends studying abroad in Japan, two of whom, I still cannot contact, so this is quite a touchy subject for me and I would think for most people that the content was in poor taste and crass.

Things went offtopic a little when the OP didnt seem to understand how the way he had posted was offensive. I did explain, then became a little sarcastic. Yes, I could have handled it better, I appreciate.

However, A member, Hightower1 came in with a stream of personal insults directed at myself. Rather than respond, I reported the post, stating the reason, and the background I had mentioned above as why it was paticularly close to the bone. The response of the moderator, was to infract me, for 'being naughty' as he officially called it, because apparently sarcasm is against the forum rules, after threatening to ban me for a lengthy period of time, due to a prior ban, over a year ago. Since that occured, I have followed the rules religiously, with absolutely zero infractions or warnings.

Out of the blue, he infracts me, and apears to ignore the member that posted the attack. Bellow is a transcript of his pm to me.

Quote:
Originally Posted by The Master
Dear Firekitten,

You have received an infraction at boards.ie. This is an automatically generated message.

Reason: Being Naughty

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You have been warned dozens of times about this unhelpful/sarcastic posting nonsense. any more incidents will result in a ban and as this is not your first ban it will be a lengthy one

---

Infractions are a reminder to you that you have broken a rule, but not in a serious way. The rules for every forum can be seen in the Forum Charter which appears at the top of every forum. If you are unsure what rule you have broken or how, please PM the Moderator(s) of the forum and ask them. All forums are moderated differently, so if you made a similar comment on one forum, it doesn't necessarily mean it's ok to post it everywhere else. Remember that our Mods are volunteers and are not always online, so they may not be able to answer you straight away.

This infraction is worth 1 point(s). Earning 9 active infraction points results in an automatic site ban until at least one of them expires (Infractions are active for 10 days) - this is there as a means to keep serious trouble makers or spammers off the site.

Original Post:
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=71202215
Quote:
Mein Gott... your concept of Sarcasm is in minus figures.
All the best,
boards.ie

My response to this:
Originally Posted by Firekitten
So the only person to throw personal insults in a very touchy thread, gets nothing, and the person offended and on the end of that attack, IS infracted? Well nice to see some things dont change.

(This moderator in question, 'The Master' has given me over 90% of my warnings/ infractions, the last of which, was over a year ago (January 2010)

Quote:
The thread was in no way "very touchy"

You were infracted for dragging it off topic with several unhelpful and sarcastic posts - YES, you're right some things don't change

All users in the thread have been warned to remain on-topic

In my second post on the topic, I answer the OP's question. Not remotely off topic. Yes things deviated, and as he said, a warning would have surficed. However, he made a point to ignore a deliberate and clear personal attack, reported to the moderators, infracting the victim of that attack.

I'm honestly rather baffled by this heavy handed and quite obviously biased aproach, I've kept to the rules as best anyone can since the ban mentioned above (2009) and his responses to me have always been calous, rude, and unsympathetic, infact, 90% of my infractions are from this moderator alone. He seems to clearly have a problem with me as a user, and appears to automatically side with any opposing party. I don't deny i could have handled things better, but I challenge the justification of an infraction out of the blue, and his allowing a clear rule breach to stand.

I am asking for a fair resolution to this issue. I feel quite victimised by a moderator who has clearly held a long defunct opinion of me.

Sorry to drag you into this, but I have been advised me to escalate this matter to you.

Regards,

Firekitten/Rachael

Sparks

From a straight reading of that thread Firekitten, your complaint has little merit.

Yes, the OP appeared a touch insensitive, and your initial post on that thread wasn't out of line however:

1. that's a reason to hit the report post button, not berate other posters as you did; and
2. the OP very quickly apologised for his poor phrasing, stated he shared your concerns, and others answered his question and the whole thing was done by post #8.

I don't see your justification for the continued sarcasm you posted in the thread from that point onwards and I don't agree with your assertion that only one poster threw personal insults. I believe that they were responding to your posts. Bluntly, sarcastic criticism of a proposed charity event to raise money for the relief effort in Japan runs counter to your statement that you have friends there that you are worried about and that you're very sensitive about the topic.

Further, I don't believe this was a case of victimisation - you've been banned five times from that forum and its subforums and none of those bans were issued by the moderator in question. And while it's true that six of your seven infractions come from one mod, they're spread out over several years. It's hardly a victimisation campaign.

And I don't see how you can complain on one hand that you are being victimised and on the other complain that your infraction came out of the blue after almost a year since your last infraction.

Given your posts in that thread - and only those posts - I can't see any reason to overturn the infraction.

Firekitten

I've been banned 5 times? *suprised* thats news to me...

With regards to your comments, I have no problem with charity for the cause, I never once stated as much, My response in the thread was an utter disbelief of thier fixation with toy guns in the face of such tragedy... more, thier aproach than proposal. I never once made sarcastic remarks about such a fundraiser, infact, in another topic (unrelated to this issue) I even said it was a good idea, and volunteered to simply donate to the event, dispite not being able to attend any such function. I'm not sure how you reached the conclusion that I was vehermently against such an idea.

thanks for your view on this Sparks, Events pertaining to certain members have got me quite upset at the moment, perhaps I'm overreacting. Sorry to take up your time.