Very quiet in here

I was thinking there, there should be a review of the new rules in CA, see how posters are feeling,

I don't think it'd be any harm to move the point at which a ban can be appealed back a point or two on the warning scale, for instance

‘Old’ boards was good. New boards isn’t really worth investing the effort in. The only proper fix would be to make it work the way it used to, and re-recruit everybody who jumped to gubu.

Not gonna happen, so there’s not really much point.

I thought it was a good idea myself at the start.

A bad mod who is too heavy handed has the potential to drive away posters.

A mod who takes a disliking to someone can run them off the forum without any oversight.

Even if there was an appeal process we know you would be wasting your time.

A full forum ban is stupid and will drive people elsewhere.

I got a ban for something that goes unpunished daily.

I enjoy CA in the mornings before work and I was on holidays so I wouldn't have been on CA much for the week.

It is the only reason that I didn't close down the account, I won't be hanging around for a month the next time, the account will be closed and I will go somewhere else.

Then this gloating of this poster can't come to the forum now so don't quote quote there posts, instead of this poster has been banned for three days or whatever.

Moderation at the start was good, the last few months has become too heavy handed as others who have messaged me are saying the same.

Basically the new rules gives Mods power to do what they want without anyone having any oversight.

It is open to abuse and it makes no sense in any way of life.

If you are going to implement rules where a few warnings can trigger forum bans for a few days up to a month then Mods need to be reasonable and engage in discussion and have oversight.

I would expect my last two warnings to be 0 points warnings and a discussion about being more careful in the future which happened with one Mod a few months ago.

When you have a Mod who will not engage and everything is pointed warnings then you are going to destroy the place.

New posters are just going to leave, they will need help and a bit of advice if they are not total trolls.

Then you have long standing posters who managed fine for years who are now getting forum banned and who are just going to go elsewhere.

These posters were fine for years or decades without issue but something has changed in the past few months where bans are being handed out excessively.

Allowing a mod rule without any oversight is open to abuse and the potential to drive away posters.

Also mods having opinions/posting on threads shouldn’t be allowed, the minute you have a conflicting opinion that doesn’t suit their opinion or agenda, banned.

You’d think they wanted to close the site down.

Do ye not have a way of looking at statistics of mods and how many bans they hand out?

Then look to see if they their is any outliar and if the mod needs to be evaluated or offered training.

The forum was going great until a few months ago and now pointed warnings are handed out like confetti.

The place is going to be a ghost town in the next year or so the way things are going.

I understand why they were brought in and it did encourage people to become mods, there was a serious lack of mods before. I think suggestions such as training etc for volunteers will only discourage the current mods and anyone new from signing up to be one. They do give their own time.

But, no one is infallible, mods included.

@Backstreet Moyes - Great posts above

IMO, the new CA rules were specifically brought in at a time when there were just two mods (Beasty and ToS) modding. It was understandable at the time as they were swamped. Then they got 3 new mods on board but left the new rules in place. It seems to me that there has been little to no oversight/mentoring by the experienced CA mods as to how the new mods interpreted the rules, and the wording in the rules are totally subjective, - take 'uncivil' for instance - One persons 'Omg, that's awfully uncivil', is another person's 'Meh, that's fine', so posters are left wondering which ref is on the pitch at any given time and which rules are in play, thus making it far easier to just stay off the pitch. Is that what boards want?

If the DRP process was available there would've been pages filled with disputes and at that point some notice may have been taken. Not allowing discussion on these issues is massively damaging imo. Also, the header of the CAs forum states:

"A place for frank exchanges of views on serious and at-times controversial topics" -

We're adults and want to debate like adults with frank exchanges and have a robust discussion, not children waiting to be scolded by a parent

This is my first post anywhere on the site for 3 months (who cares sez you, which is fair enough, but how many more like me have done the same?) I've already seen fantastic posters close their accounts recently, after years of excellent posting, because of what CA has become

I had to wait for somewhere like this thread (to remain open) to post the above

Mods can’t ban, or warn, you unless you’ve broken the site rules.

Unfortunately, not true. Now there are no appeals, no oversight, mods can actually do as they wish.

Mods can’t ban, or warn, you unless you’ve broken the site rules.

What are the site rules?

What are the actual rules in force on CA at the moment? Because it doesn't appear to be the Charter.
I've asked on this forum whether all of Rule 2 is actually being enforced and haven't gotten a clear answer re: inaccurate, false information.

The forum rules appear to exist as excerpts taken from the charter, announcements, stickies, on thread warnings, in mods' heads or so vague and broad that can applied with wild inconsistency not only between forums but between mods. I don't think this is a healthy situation for users or moderators, especially with unappealable warnings so no incentive for these to be clarified and regularised.

I got a warning from a moderator literally misreading a post. Its a total lottery when one of them will burst into life. Sometimes its a thread warning other times its just an on thread warning.

Comical.

Bans and warnings in CA cannot be appealed

It reinforces the point though that mods aren't infallible. Sanctions were overturned under the old CA rules, they are overturned on other forums where they can still be appealed. Even if a mod has a 90% valid rate, that still leaves a lot of bans applied that should not have been.

I know. That is why I said.

In fact it is going to be an absolute nightmare for the likes of Spear when someone opens up a DRP with 10 sanctions and PM exchanges for them to go through.

The appeal could include all 7/8 warnings and what zero point warnings plus PM exchanges, etc.