I'm not trying to achieve anything here.
then what is the purpose of your post?
The infraction system has it's merits...I hope staff and members are in agreement that it is a completely flawed system that is totally abused.
if the system has its merits, then it can't be completely flawed (by definition). totally abused? that's simply hyperbole which doesn't really help the discussion.
is the system perfect? of course not - it's managed by humans and humans are imperfect. but, imo, you are exaggerating, your claims are muddled and this seems more about having a vague rant than any concrete attempt to improve things.
have you participated in any other online fora for any length of time. discipline at bluelight is a holiday compared to what i would consider the norm for online communities like this. bluelight in general - and eadd in particular - are managed with a very light hand and (with the exception of those issued to spammers and people who join purely to source/supply) warnings, infractions and bans are by no means the oppressive, ultra-frequent occurrence you are claiming.
in cases where users feel they have been warned or infracted unfairly, there is a procedure for review and infractions deemed unfair are overturned. you, raas, have had three infractions reversed on review - if we were the evil, deliberately unheeding monsters you imply we are, that would simply never happen, let alone happen three times. we've removed people from staff for their consistent inability to interact well with members - not even abuse of the discipline system - so your implication that staff are somehow untouchable is also demonstrably incorrect.
the incremental discipline system is designed to escalate punishment for people who choose not to adjust their behavior. in order to be banned for even just a week, a user has to accumulate five active points. that generally means they've been soft-warned at least once, have received a zero-point formal warning and have then earned five one-point infractions. that's
seven opportunities to change their behavior. there are cases where somebody earns a one-day ban and, when they come back, they immediately start abusing staff and disrupting the forum in retaliation so they earn a two-day ban. that cycle repeats, spiraling downwards, until they're banned for quite some time. i'm open to ideas on how that could be better managed, for sure.
on the issue of public discussion of infractions, we don't do that publicly - not because it's "
bad form" but - because hashing out infractions in the public forum just derails, distracts and disrupts more. i also agree with shambles that there is frequently a lot more to an incident than the posts you've read. further, and with all due respect, another user's infractions are none of your business, raas.
we're completely open to discussing how things can be improved (if we were not this thread wouldn't exist). if you want to have a site-wide discussion of any bluelight issue - site discipline included - just start a thread in support. but if you just want to rant about how awful bluelight staff are, then drop me a pm or consider that maybe your blog is a better channel for that...
alasdair
