Banned from AH for joking/ribbing a user!

OutlawPete

Yesterday I was banned from After Hours for joking/ribbing another user.

The user had made a 'snide' post which was a dig at other users on the thread (that had used the word 'liberal' as a pejorative) and in reply to that I posted a one line post containing a smiley, in an effort to joke/rib them about the fact that, what they had just posted was the very thing that they themselves had been complaining about other users doing on the forum. Not only that, but something in fact that the two of us had been discussing in great detail for the previous few days in the AH Feedback thread and so the whole thing just struck me as funny, even though , obviously the post itself was not. Here are both posts:

Dudess wrote: »

"Liberal" as perjorative - one-way ticket to Derpsville.

OutlawPete wrote: »

LOL and you were in the Feedback thread complaining about "snide" posts?

As both of us had been discussing this very thing for a few days in that AH Feedback thread, indistinctly I just joked/ribbed the user about it. I reported the post as it was directed at many users on the thread and not just myself and that was that. In no way was I trying to 'bait' the user. Granted, I knew she was going to reply to my post with some reason or excuse for why she said it, as I know Dudess and the way she posts but I honestly wasn't trying to either rile or provoke her and I think her reply to post suggests that she didn't feel I was either. I wouldn't have used the smiley unless I was smiling when I typed the post. As I say, it was funny that she had done it, as to me she had just scored an own goal of sorts on herself and my sense of humour is like that I guess. I also know of course that moderates can't moderated on intention all the time and if my argument was just based on that, I wouldn't bother.

The following PM exchange took place between myself and g'em last night and this morning:

OutlawPete wrote:

g'em wrote:

Hi OutlawPete,

Hi ..

g'em wrote:

You have been banned from After Hours for the following duration:

7 Day(s)

for the following reason:

baiting and being a dick - you should have reported the post and left it at that.

Can I ask you why you feel I was being a "dick" in that post and also why you feel it qualifies as "baiting"?

Thanks,

Pete

OutlawPete wrote:

g'em wrote:

You were dragging a discussion from one thread into another.

I made a comment on something that the user had said in another thread, yes - I don't dispute that, it's the necessity a 'forum ban' which I dispute.

g'em wrote:

You reported the post, you should have left it at that instead of embarking on your own commentary in-thread.

I reported the post as it was insulting and needed to be reported, not just because it applied to me, but because it was clearly directed at many users. I replied with the smiley line as a form of banter as it was clearly something we had just been discussing in the AH Feedback thread (half banter, half private joke). The user then replied to my post and at the end of her reply, she was back on topic, as was I in my reply (which I had typed out and obviously didn't get to post) but I can assure you, I had no intention of addressing the matter any further on the thread.

g'em wrote:

This is disruptive and troublemaking i.e. being a dick.

The baiting is self-explanatory, you were inciting another poster into argument.

I don't accept any of that g'em. Those words are not apt when describing the post. I am not the type of user to just go around and try and cause trouble in the forum. I am no angel granted, but that is not my style to bait users. My user history should back me up on that. I am posting in AH for years now and made upwards of 10,000 posts on the forum and never has a moderator had to ban me (or infract me even) for "baiting" let alone being a "dick". I will concede that it may have been best to have left the banter out but I was not trying to "incite" the user into an argument, I strongly refute that and my tone in that post is in no way suggestive that that I what I was trying to do either.

Such comments are often made in AH. Your opinion is that I was being a "dick" but the post in no way comes across as dick'ish, the user's reply shows that and she even points out that she didn't expect to see me use the word liberal as a pejorative. If a user is being a "dick" to Dudess, she will let them know by the tone of her reply and she didn't. Again, I concede that perhaps it would have best to have left the comment to the AH Feedback thread (where myself and Dudess had being discussing that issue of: "snide comments" and how users should deal with them) but I feel banning a user from the forum for one banter type comment is OTT, especially considering it's not something that I regularly if ever do.

An infraction I could understand and I wouldn't have fought it, as I would feel it deserved (looking at the situation now in hind sight at least) but a Ban from the forum I feel is disproportionate to my post and inconsistent with how the forum is moderated generally.

Pete

OutlawPete wrote:

g'em wrote:

Pete we can argue around the houses on this one as much as you like but we're not going to see eye to eye here. If you don't accept it you know what the next course of action is.

No problem. Well, as you know, if I started a DRP thread before PM'ing you, I would be asked if I had discussed it with the relevant mod, so just doing what needs to be done.

g'em wrote:

A high post count does not exempt you from having action taken against you when you act innapropriately. ftr Dudess was also banned for her behaviour in the thread.

I would appreciate it if you didn't twist my words. What I said was:

OutlawPete wrote:

I am posting in AH for years now and made upwards of 10,000 posts on the forum and never has a moderator had to ban me (or infract me even) for "baiting" let alone being a "dick".

In no way whatsoever did I say (or imply for that matter) that a high postcount should "exempt" me from having action taken against me. I mentioned the number of times I posted in AH without needing to be infracted or banned for what you are accusing me of now, purely to show that it is not something that I have a history of and NOTHING more.

Pete

Along with the above, I also concede that knowing the user would reply to the post should have made me pause and perhaps maybe leave the ribbing for the AH Feedback thread, if at all but posting in After Hours, your brain tends to be never be to far from making a joke and so that's why I feel a forum ban is very extreme, as the nature of the forum is to rib and banter. I just feel an on-thread stay-on-topic warning would've have sufficed, a thread-ban even, or if very harsh .. an infraction. In the context of AH and what tends to constitute a ban there, I don't see how my post could be seen to warrant a forum ban of any length tbh, let alone a week.

trout

I'll take this on.

I'll read over the threads/posts in question, as well as what you've quoted.

Leave it with me for the minute.

trout

Still looking at this ... will post back this evening.

trout

This has been settled amicably via PM.

Ban has been lifted.

Admins please close this thead and mark Resolved.