Some one just text me to say Peter has been banned form the forums!!!!
Is this true? I don't go over there any more, so would be interested as to why?
Wadders
Some one just text me to say Peter has been banned form the forums!!!!
Is this true? I don't go over there any more, so would be interested as to why?
Wadders
Last edited by Wadders; 8th August 2008 at 06:04 PM.
Yes, Peter's been given a three-day ban from the Groundspeak forums, without a warning, for posting in their Geocoins forum that Mandy (Us 4 and Jess) has some Mega Event calendars left and would be willing to trade them for geocoins. Apparently that was an inappropriate post. Go figure... h34r:
If you don't want to visit the other place you'll find more info in our Mega Event Calendars thread.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light. (Dylan Thomas)
Yes, I (The Hornet) have been banned from the forum for 3 days for making the mistake of thinking there might be a little leeway in the Geocoin forum.
I have also been banned as Lactodorum for asking people to use an alternative contact.
So there'll be no posting from me "over there". I can still receive e-mails (at the moment) but I am in no position to answer some of the points being made by certain people.
Absolutely barking mad - a total knee jerk reaction to a post that due to the heavy handed interpretation of the fourm guidelines was considered in breach of the rules. What ever happened to Mods issueing cautions or explaining to people what they've done wrong when people transgress the rules.
It makes me thankfull that the UK mods have always been approachable and level headed when it came to rule interpretation.
I'm gobsmacked that they've banned you and even more confused as according to the geocoin forum rules you can post charity related threads
I'd like to thank the hornet for trying to help Mandy out only to get two bans in one day - elevating him to legendary evil supervillan status on the groundspeak forums.
"I Cache, therefore I am"
As I'm not allowed to answer on the GSP forums I would like to make a couple of points.
I think this may be another instance of speaking similar, but different languages. That may be the meaning in American, but in the English I speak a Ban can have both meanings. My "Ban" was for three days, whatever the word used.Hello,
I am one of the geocoin forum moderators. I am the one who suspended the posting rights of The Hornet. The Hornet was not banned. There is a big difference between being suspended for a short time, and being banned.
If you are banned, you do not come back.
I feel more strongly that The Hornet should have been aware of the guidelinesAs you say, I was a forum moderator and I do know the guidelines that moderators follow. I have a copy. The relevant section as I see it saysA three day suspension is the normal time given for a first offense and this was the first offense in this case in the geocoins forums.
and"If informal warnings don't get the message across, issue a 10% warning on the member's warn meter. Copy the warning text into a PM with the subject "Groundspeak Forums Warning" so that the member receives a copy. ALL warnings should link to the post or thread in question, explain which forum guideline(s) were violated, and lay out the future consequences.
For more serious violations, or if a simple warning doesn't work, read on!
"
If those guidelines had been followed I would have been warned for my misdemeanour. I received no warning, I was banned (suspended) for 3 days right off. If you had warned me, as is your right as forum moderator, I might have been "miffed" but I would have accepted it. It was the immediate ban/suspension that annoyed me.When to temporarily disable the posting ability
• Repeated violation of the forum guidelines.
• First Offense: 3 Days
As for using the appeals process, yes that is an option. However I know how that works. We'll see.
I'd like to thank the hornet for trying to help Mandy out only to get two bans in one day - elevating him to legendary evil supervillan status on the groundspeak forum.
Too funny..........now for your next trick Peter !!
And I would like to add your doing "nowt" for my calendar sales LOL !!
I did have a good laugh ealier though...
Someone said " Mandy do you think now is a good time to ask GSP for permission for next years calendars" h34r:
Pleased I have friends in the regionals
M
Just for completeness and as it is no longer visible, here is my original, "offending", post in the Geocoin forum.
"The UK's first ever Mega Event was hosted last weekend. As part of the fund raising activities a well respected UK cacher was selling specially made Mega Event commemorative calendars (produced with Groundspeak's permission). Some of these were left over and so they are being offered either as swaps for Dog related geocoins or for sale. I realise that these are not trackables but they are Geocaching items, produced by a Geocacher, supporting a Geocaching event and approved by Groundspeak. I hope that given the special circumstances this will not cause any problems."
Is someone being just a tad anal?
Invite everyone over here, then we can say stuff the groundspeak forums
Just a thought...... couldn't this thread be re-named "Laccy band"? h34r:
Think you're stretching things a bit, there!
I have a Geocaching problem...
Work gets in the way!
* Cache Walker -Caching by byway, not highway! CacheWalker.co.uk
Walking and Caching in Warwickshire, Worcestershire, Gloucestershire areas
Peter, having now read your post in question, I think it's completely absurd that you've been suspended for it. Presumably the bit about the calendars also being for sale, not just swaps for coins, was the problem, but it seems to me that if it was then the way to handle that was a friendly warning and perhaps a minor edit to the post.
The friendly warning seems to be what GS's own guidelines require in that situation anyway, but I'm afraid it doesn't surprise me to see them ignoring their own guidelines.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light. (Dylan Thomas)
They make it up as they go along.........really they do
One week they are saying one rule/guideline right across the board...
The next week they are saying the Geocoins forums rules/guideline are different to the UK forums rules/guidelanes...
Mandy
Anyone want to buy any calendars
Last edited by Us 4 and Jess; 8th August 2008 at 11:46 PM.
I'd like to offer Peter my support and sympathies here too- as I'm no longer welcome on the GroundSpeak forums due to my love of anagrams of words which are rude. Like him, I didn't receive a warning, I just got a mail saying I'd used profanities (fcuk isn't a profanity, they sell clothes, and Cnut really was a king- feel free to google!) and I'd been excluded from the forums... where it just so happens I was being a vocal supporter of groundspeak's published guidelines, but not their agent's interpretation of them in Peter's case. I suspect this might have been a factor in me getting the chop...
So, hello one and all and don't be too surprised if you see more of me here in future. So long as the above 'anagrams of words which are rude' don't get me a ban here too...
SP
Well said Lisa, and they should have followed their own guidelines. Seems to me like someone was looking for an opportunity to discredit Lacto. Well it failed and seems to have had exactly the opposite impact looking at the comments on this and the 'other' forum.
Mark
Simply Paul, I am sure you will be welcomed here with open arms. I have always loved reading your posts and its a shame to have seen you get the chop along with the hornet. That must make you our second geo-scoundrel. You'll find it a bit more relaxed and user friendly around here.
Ian
"I Cache, therefore I am"
I don't think there's any likelihood of your getting banned here, Paul. We aim to apply common sense in moderating our forums. Would that others did too.Simply Paul wrote:
So, hello one and all and don't be too surprised if you see more of me here in future. So long as the above 'anagrams of words which are rude' don't get me a ban here too...
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light. (Dylan Thomas)
Thanks Ian. I like to think I made a worthwhile, helpful, entertaining and positive impact on the GS forums but, hey, they're theirs and if they don't want me there... I always have sock puppets if I need them. Dozens of the burgers
As in Peter's case it's the disproportionate overreaction by MATO (our Masters Across The Ocean, to separate them from TPTB, which might include British/Irish mods/reviewers) to things there which has got my goat. They really are behaving as if it was their forum- err. Umm.
Anyway, glad to be here, enjoying the freedom of speech while not trying to offend anyone. My question right now is, is there anything we can do to support Peter's struggle against the utilitarian might (is right) of GroundSpeak? We could sign a petition at least. Or set up a charitable campaign fund... so long as we did it in secret :P
Sorry if my first posting would not be acceptable over the other side of the pond but in the words of Tony from Men Behaving Badly speaking face to face with Eartha, 'RESSOT'.
Trust we have sanity over here. OMG we don't, you can work it out for yourselves the much repeated quote from MBB.
cheers
Tony
What !!! a party just when I'm going away from all internet for a week!!!!
keep a few drinks to one side for me.
And it's great to see you all here, just a shame that it's down to another balls up from those muppets over there
Hey! Mrs Hornet is away for the weekend, I've just finished a curry and opened another bottle of red, let's PARTY!! :cheers:
As you can see I'm not shedding too many tears about "the other place". I'll probably have my say after my sentence is up (any time off for good behaviour?). In the mean time it seems this is the place to be.
Rock on!
Well we can all see how upset you are...
About MRS H and the darkside
Malibu and coke for me please :cheers:
hes in geocaht as well that hornet fellow...
Dont blame your GPS.... Your the muppet at the controls!
I've been watching the mayhem on the forums for a while - it's rather saddening to watch Groundspeak slide towards being "the enemy".
So, time to move on, and my, things are starting to look a little vibrant over here! Will try to wean myself off the tired old groundspeak crapfest and keep my eye on here instead.
To that end, I'm wondering if a little Greasemonkey magic would be useful for others who are fed up. I could make it possible for Firefox users to see recently updated topics from *here* while looking at the topic list *over there*.
For example, it could show the top 10 recently updated topics from GAGB first, followed by the Groundspeak ones. Anyone using it would get a feel for the GAGB forums, without feeling that they are "missing out"....
Whilst I love all those greasemonkey scripts, the one being suggested reminds me of the great Joni Mitchell lyric:
"Like a priest with a pornographic watch/looking and longing on the sly/ sure you can strike it from your uniform/but you can't get it out of your eye."
Thought that coming over from the 'dark' side was to get away from the GC forum. (and yes I dont have to install it)
Something went all screwy with this post so started again below
Last edited by Just Roger; 10th August 2008 at 09:54 AM.
I had enough of GSP's tactics a while ago, The Hornet's ban is just the cherry on top for me. I've said all I have to say "over there", the sooner my caches are listed elsewhere, the better.
Count me in as another person who has moved to these forums from the Groundspeak ones, due to this fiasco. I don't know why I didn't come over sooner, to tell the truth!
Don't get the forum mixed up with geocaching: they are very different games. If you don't get on with the forum for whatever reason, just ignore it and post here instead. Or just go caching!
It's up to you, of course, but listing your caches elsewhere is rather pointless as a protest, IMO. Remember that the vast majority of cachers never, or rarely, visit the forums so they will have no idea why your caches have disappeared: they will just be a bit disappointed.
Cheers,
Stuey
___________________________________________
Well wasn't that well timed my thread was closed at 8.45 PM (roughly)
and Peter's ban finishes at 11.20 PM (roughly)
Makes ya wonder
Maybe they think if they give him 24 hours to cool down he will be in a good mood
M
Hi Happy Humphrey & Stuey, I appreciate your comments and concerns. My decision to list and log my caches on my own site isn’t one that has been taken lightly. The decision was taken some time ago, and if it were not for the “3 day ban” thread on the GSP forum, it would still be under my hat (so to speak).
I’ve thought long and hard about the impact this would have on the community and myself, but regrettably, my lack of confidence in GSP leaves me no choice but to take this course of action.
Please understand, this is not a protest, nor a “look at me I’m different” stance. This is a decision based solely on my principles being apposed to GSP policy.
I know I risk backlash from some parts of the community, but I would hope that the community would understand why this decision has been taken. I’ve always tried to support the UK geocaching community, and will continue to do so.
Mandy the thread was quite rightly closed due to the way that some people at the end turned it into a personal attack on one of the Mods. Regardless of whether the mod had made a right or wrong decision in recent times an outward personalo attack on them was bound to get the thread closed down. Its almost as if it was a deliberate ploy to get the thread closed to further stir things up.
Mandarin quite rightly posted a warning about keeping the thread palatable and it was blatantly ignored leaving her no option but to close the thread.
"I Cache, therefore I am"