Serious issue with ban from shooting forum and OTT modding

Zxthinger

I have received an unjust ban. This is not opinion or conjecture. It is fact. 
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057283900

I received a warning for using the first name of a catorgry madorator even though hundreds of posters have used his first name over the years in the open forum and in the past 7 years that I have been reading here I have never seen a warning issued for using his name. 
Further more it is a fact that the CM [sparks] has his real name openly posted in his profile. So I disclosed nothing. His full name is there for all to see! 
For highlighting this as a counterclaim to the first warning I prob got a second telling off! With a good measure of infraction....... A OTT tbh 


It all began as most bans do! With a warning thrown out into the main open forum such as to boil the blood of any poster!.. However there was confusion  rolled into the fray at this point too. Cass insisted that it was his name I was using.. I again highlight this by stating that I never used his name etc etc, which I feel I was reasonable entitled to highlight without case for concern however cass feels that this contributes to another of his telling offs!!
Not a great way to keep the peace and tranquility afloat.


Anyway..
I was warmed not to use real names by mod Cass to protect hidden identies and I stopped forthwith however I highlighted the above fact that the profile of sparks contains his real name and therefore I did nothing regarding revealing his hidden identy. 


THEN:- and as a direct consequences of highlighting the above I received an infraction! To which I pm'ed my disapproval.. Which surely is allow in a civil forum. ??
I chalked the issue up to experience and decided to forget about it and concentrate on the issues within the thread and operate within the rules thinking that my protest fell of deaf ears and was a mutt issue. 

SO BACK TO THE THREAD!
So up to this point I and two mods( sparks n cass) had been debating a POV on a piece of legislation.. I explained my view and was told that I was wrong!. I was laughed and scoffed at with posts which is par for the course and I excepted this in the sprite of things. Although I reciprocated the tuff-talk to a degree but kept it civil.
However
These two mods could not remove themselves from their stance that they were right and I was wrong. So to crack open their infallibility I produced a post from severals years back in which sparks made a forceful statement on another point of law or on the interpretation of it, for which he was later proved to be monumentally wrong!
I explained in the post that senior members(being posters and not acting as mod at that instant) are not infallible. 
Referencing an old post to make such a point is a commen practice by all... 

I insulted no one with the post nor was I ever warmed that persisting to argue the point of law would result in a ban yet I was suddenly banned for apparently not heeding a phantom warning.. Remember I never uttered a posters name after being warned unless cass's first name is 'mate' lol

I pm'ed the mod in question and explained to him that he had gone OTT and tried to get the issue sorted. I was willing to work on a solution. 
 I was told that I had been warned three times to drop the arguument!  I am entitle to one warning surely? I then receive an infraction which leads me to think that it seems that I apparently am not allowed to contest such infraction in private with the issuing mod! I say this as this contesting or questioning of the infraction must somehow have counted towards  warning no three.. 
 I pm'ed my displesure at an infraction, which is apparently allowed yet I get Banned and thread closed... Then i was told that I had received three warning!!! Well IMO only one of these warnings was clearly presented in a professional mannor, the other two were drawn out of the abyss after I had been banned!! 

As I stated above, I questioned the moderator cass's statement(warning) when it was first posted and I done so in the open thread because there was some crossed wires relating to my understanding of how he wrote it as he erroneously referred to his own name being mentioned by me in the open forum! Which btw I don't even know, yet it seems that upon my questioning of this error he became irrationally annoyed.. Hay presto another post ban warning from the eternal abyss!

It all seems to be a storm in a tea cup and it's a pure display of abuse of power! 

I have had several run-ins with this cass fellow and I have just bit my lip in all cases. But enough is enough. 
 
Its no wonder that posters are leaving the shooting forum here in favour of another Irish shooting forum. Within which it is widely accepted that boards.ie shooting suffers from over modding. 
I make that claim here as its plain to see that I was handled poorly. 

Please act for the sake of fairness and encourage justified mod behaviour

Personal I feel that I have been unfairly treated..

Bullet points:----// 
Was warned not to use posters name even though hundreds have in the past-- victimisation as posters name is in profile yet I still complied and was still banned.
 
Questioned an erroneous/confusing post relating to warning--
reasonable action surly. 

Received infraction--posted dissatisfaction at this in private pm which is permitted by charter as a means to resolution but alas this seems to contribute to the backchat tally.

Returned to thread debate--posted example of infallibility of an involved poster and was banned...  With post removed which only highlights the fact that this post was contributing issue of my ban..Yet it contained to insults or names..

It's seems IMHO that the mod in question is using mod powers to suppress a posters that he or his buddies have failed to silence through debate. 
It's my opinion that it is he would us wasting my time and the time of those here! 

This issue involves the CM in that forum therefore it will need to go straight to the next level of resolution. Any attempt to resolve the issue by the current CM Sparks is a conflict of interest IMO and not a worthy protocol

Beasty

I am sorry but you cannot bypass the rules of this forum. Sparks will not be dealing with this dispute, but there are 2 other Sports CMods available to undertake an initial review. If you remain dissatisfied with the conclusion reached at CMod level you may then ask for an Admin review

I note you have already discussed the situation with the mod who banned you and failed to resolve this between the pair of you. I will therefore have a look at the thread in question, including the deleted posts, and get back to you. To be clear though I will be considering whether the ban was warranted, but will not be getting into a debate over the underlying topic of the thread in question.

Beasty

Can I also clarify - you mention you received an infraction in advance of getting the (one week) ban. Are you disputing that infraction as well, or just the ban?

Zxthinger

Beasty wrote: »

Can I also clarify - you mention you received an infraction in advance of getting the (one week) ban. Are you disputing that infraction as well, or just the ban?

I'm not bothered over the infraction! But a ban of any kind was a step too far!

Both are related and perhaps my questioning of the mods instruction require such action, I did question him with a tone of sarcasm tbh but I never went agsinst his instruction but only questioned it's direction or who it was intended for and then I continued to inform the particular mod that the posters personal first name has been used with extreme regularity and also note that the particular poster has mad his name common knowledge via his profile.
Now if that warranted a infraction then fine but I think such was very boardline. However the sudden ban at the end of it was a total farse and abuse of powers.

Beasty

OK, I will have a proper look at the thread now. However I would say before doing so that questioning mod actions is not permitted anywhere in the open forums except within Help Desk or perhaps the Feedback Forum. If you had an issue with moderation you should have PM'd the mod to discuss your concerns.

I will reservce any further comment until I have had a chance to properly research the background.

I note you are not contesting the red card. If that is the case then by definition you are accepting it and I will not consider it further except to the extent it represents part of your own disciplinary record and is relevant in determining the scale of sanction imposed subsequently should I agree that fsuch urther action was warranted

Beasty

OK, I've now looked at the thread in question, which you started

You were asking some questions about firearms and some posters, including the mods you seem to have an issue with, simply pointed out in a very civil manner that your own interpretation of the law was unlikely to be accepted by AGS. There was no "tuff talk" by those posters pointing out the deficienceis in your argument, but you certainly became very argumentative over the issue (and I understand you have adopted a similar approach in other threads within the forum)

You decided to refer to one of the mods by their real name. You were instructed by the other mod not to do so (and to be clear whatever a poster puts in their own profile they can change, remove or restrict who can view it - stuff posted in the forum is there for all and sundry to see at any time). The question of whether your use of the real name could be considered "reasonable" is not relevant here. The mod issued an instruction and if you had an issue with that you should have taken it to PM. You should never derail the thread by questioning mod actions. If you are not satisfied following your PM conversation with the mod you can approach a CMod. If that does not resolve the issue then consider a thread in Help Desk

Unfortunately though you decided to ignore site rules and protocols and started arguing about the mod decision in thread. The mod instructed you as follows

You have repeatedly used Spark's real name. So stop. Argue further and i'll stop it for ya.

Lastly the Mod hat is on so pay attention to this and the rules regarding ignoring a Mod's instructions.

So at that stage you were warned not to argue further but you decided to continue arguing so, quite rightly in my view, you picked up a red card. Along with that red card came the following message from the mod

You've gone from arguing your point to subtle insults. It won't be tolerated. I told you not to argue with a Mod's decision, you did. Posts deleted, and continue to argue and 'll remove your access to this forum

So at this stage it was absolutely clear you were under the threat of a ban if you continued arguing with the mod's decision in thread.

Then a few hours later you returned to the thread to cntinue to argue. As a result you were, quite rightly given the warnings you had received, banned for a week, I am seeing absolutely no basis to overturn this decision, and would remind you posting rights are a privilege. If you continue in the current vein you can expect those rights to be removed permanently.

Hence I am upholding the ban. You can ask for an Admin to review this if you wish

Zxthinger

Yes! A few hours later I returned to the thread but I never argued in relation to the mods instruction or his issued infraction!
I bit my lip and instead I returned to debate the core subject that had developed within the thread! I was never told to not to argue about anything other than the moderators instructions.

Can you not see that the last (deleted) post mentioned nothing about mod instructions nor did it voice any objection to such chastisement.

I had returned to addrees legitimate thread issues- namely a demonstration of the infalibity of sparks.
It needs to be remembered that sparks and cass made no statement against my interpretation of the "legal text" whilest wearing their mod hats!!
Cass then clearly placed his mod hat on and warned about the use of names!
Again thiat chastisement was ad-hoc as no other member has ever be punished for this , at least to the best of my knowledge.

I'm perplexed and disappointed by your decision and can't seen to fathom how you can see my last deleted post as an extension of my backchat (re using names etc etc).

---

Zxthinger

Thanks for taking the time to look thing over but I'm not happy with the outcome!.
I fail to see how you can allow mods to cherry pick subjective debate as backchat!

I'd like to thank you doing a thankless job. Lol

I'm not going to waste anymore time with this issue! I'll just fo was all oppressed Irish people do and fo nothing more!