Marasovac can absolutely petition to have the ban lifted if that’s what they want. They’ve got full access to the Ban Corner, so they can start a thread there whenever they feel ready. We don't just go around lifting bans without someone actually asking for it—otherwise, we'd have no way of knowing if the user even wants to come back.
Look, we don't do permanent bans just because someone asks for them. Honestly, users tend to throw that out there as a way of acting rebellious, only to come crawling back later asking us to lift it—then they go right ahead and permaban themselves all over again. It becomes this endless, frustrating loop, so we decided to scrap that practice entirely. You might run into a shorter suspension, maybe lasting up to two years at most, but we aren't doing requested permanent bans anymore.
Look, users get banned for legitimate reasons. Since people can be pretty sensitive and there’s often private content involved, we don't just go around gossiping about them with outsiders. Just because someone hasn't racked up a huge post count doesn't mean they haven't broken the rules; you have to keep in mind that extremely offensive stuff gets scrubbed immediately, and a lot of the actual rule-breaking happens behind the scenes in private messages. That’s not something everyone on the site gets to see. If you ever find yourself facing sanctions, feel free to appeal them, even if you think they're unfair.
granitefalcon26 said:I actually started a thread earlier with links to this PDF, but they ended up nuking all but one of my posts. Here are the links. If posting these isn't against the rules, I honestly don't know what is. In the last post of that thread, a member from the Democratic Party was actually bragging about opening a special dedicated thread just for Konev to dump his Russian links in. Here are the links from that previous thread:
Look, please stop opening new threads as continuations of closed appeals. The moderators did exactly what they intended to do with those posts, and the discussion regarding them is officially over. I really want to point out that the topic involving Ukraine is incredibly difficult to moderate, and I’m asking everyone here to please try not to lose your cool every time a few posts don't go your way. If a moderator misses something occasionally, it’s really not the end of the world; the important thing is that the thread is being managed well overall. This subject is extremely volatile and sensitive, so please keep that in mind.
If you don't have something substantive or serious to contribute, please don't come looking for trouble here. A couple of off-topic posts shouldn't require an entire squad to step in while the server is already struggling under the weight of intense debates, especially when our moderators are swamped with work. I personally don't want to pull them away from their main duties just because of a few comments that they've already addressed.
granitefalcon26 said:Exactly👍 While the moderator keeps insisting we’re in the minority, the reality is that 99% of the political forums out there completely dodge the actual issue. This whole thread has turned into nothing but pure trolling, where people just sing praises to Putin and his glorious Russia—all while the moderation team gives them a thumbs up and actively participates. It’s funny how you’re allowed to insult the legally elected President of Ukraine under the guise of "freedom of speech," but heaven forbid anyone mentions Putin or his policies. Breaking the rules seems to be perfectly fine here, since Konev is still being allowed to drop links to articles written in a language none of us Americans can even understand. Meanwhile, they’re making up new rules on the fly to ban any comparison between the war in Ukraine and the American Civil War. As usual, the moderator is dodging the debate, so I’m calling on the administration to weigh in. Is this forum's policy basically just unconditional support for Putin and his fascist agenda? Is censorship being introduced here by inventing new rules to stop people from comparing the war in Ukraine to the American Civil War?
Hey, can you please drop some links? If there’s a massive pile of them, don't sweat it—just grab a handful. I'm looking for stuff that isn't ancient history, but also maybe not just things posted five minutes ago. Just a little variety would be great. Moving forward, you're going to start getting hit with direct warnings if you come in here making these broad, sweeping complaints about everything under the sun without actually backing them up with any proof.
So, tell me—is any kind of actual discussion even possible with people like that? It’s always the same crowd, whether we're talking about Russia or Ukraine. You've got the usual suspects, like the science fiction literature enthusiasts and Konev, just hovering around like a pack of wolves, doing whatever they feel like.
It was the exact same story when the Dalai Lama spoke out. The moderators wiped her statement clean, and then the administration had the nerve to claim that the Dalai Lama's comments on Putin were "off-topic"—even though the entire thread was specifically about Russia! To top it off, that thread on the Democratic Party forum was rushed through being locked and deleted without anyone ever explaining why a comment about Putin wasn't relevant to a discussion on Russia.
To put it bluntly: it's a total DISGRACE.
That post was actually written just 24 minutes before yours. Look, regardless of what's being said in it, I’m totally fine with it being considered part of the evidence if it meets the necessary criteria, but please—let's not go around presenting brand-new posts like this as definitive proof of bad moderation.
The author of the original post has been permanently banned. And honestly, it wasn't just because of that one specific post—which really should have earned them a warning card in the first place.
Honestly, rustydrifter10, I think it’s pretty obvious from your posts why you ended up banned; this whole argument is just completely unnecessary. You were basically screaming at us. And look, I know you didn't technically use all caps, but when you dump massive walls of bolded text in giant fonts like that, it feels exactly the same. Even just regular shouting would feel less aggressive than what you pulled there. It’s just not how people communicate on the internet, and it's definitely not the vibe of this forum. It comes off as totally hostile and confrontational, which is essentially what yelling is.
On top of that, you kept playing dumb, poking at people just to get a reaction, throwing shade at the moderators, and generally being disrespectful. That’s the real reason why you—and everyone else who got kicked out—faced the consequences. It applies to this situation, too.
Look, I’m saying this because the whole thing is off-topic, just like that entire string of deleted posts. And honestly, you really need to stop starting new threads over every little thing—not every single moderator decision is some massive, deep mystery that requires a full-blown debate on this forum.
Look, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with jumping into a thread that was originally meant for someone else—I think we all love a good side conversation now and then—but honestly, it feels like you either completely missed the point of what they were saying, or you're intentionally twisting their words just to suit your own argument.
Did you make sure to report those posts? If it’s a private message, just hit that little triangle icon to flag it. I'm going to check in with the mods and get this on their radar right away.
Sorry, I’m not really following you here. Are you saying you're getting these emails sent directly to your Reddit account? And you actually think someone leaked your info? Do you have any actual proof to back that up, or are you just making assumptions at this point? I find it hard to believe someone would go through the trouble of leaking your private data just to flood your inbox with spam.
Edit: Honestly, I get spam messages sent to pretty much every email address I own, even some that I don't even use anymore.
You waited half an hour after the post went live just to open this thread, and from what I can see, you didn't even file a report beforehand. You really need to sit down, read through the PDF rulebook, and just show some patience before showing up here on Amtrak. We don't allow threads dedicated to specific users, and honestly, if you're having an issue with someone's writing style that isn't actually against the rules, you're going to find out pretty quickly that one single post won't be enough to settle the score.
bluecyclist64 said:Alright, thanks! I actually have a couple of things I'm curious about, if anyone wouldn't mind shedding some light on them.
1. When I report a post, who actually gets that notification? For instance, looking at this specific situation—who was notified when the report for this PDF thread was filed?
Reports go straight to the moderators assigned to that specific PDF. For reports originating from the History root, they go to Spike, Cicero, and the Scotsman. As for Pudding, he only receives notifications related to the VP since that's his only assignment there. These alerts hit the email address used during forum registration; if that isn't someone's primary inbox, or if they haven't set up forwarding, those reports can unfortunately sit unnoticed for a bit. That’s why we always suggest our moderators use an email they check religiously. Honestly, it would be much more streamlined if everything just popped up directly in their forum accounts instead.
bluecyclist64 said:2. How is it even possible for three different moderators to be MIA for days at a time?
I won't get into the specifics of what happened here, but I'll admit, having all the moderators for a single PDF unavailable for several days can definitely be an issue. We are actually looking into recruiting more moderators for the History section because our current team just doesn't have as much free time for the forum as they used to, so some extra hands would be great. Pudding has stepped in to cover for the VP, and we're hoping to find someone to help out with the rest of the PDF very soon.
One other thing you didn't ask, but I wanted to mention: the reason you were waiting days for my own reaction, too. I prefer letting the moderators vet a report first. Even though—as is clearly the case here—it looks like an obvious rule violation that needs a penalty, the person being reported isn't always the only one breaking the rules. If I jump in and react to *only* them, it risks looking like selective moderation, and that's something I really want to avoid. The moderators need to look at the whole discussion and clean up everything necessary. Since I'm not as deeply embedded in the day-to-day drama or the specific players involved as they are, I think it's better to leave it in their hands. If they—or their super-mod—can't handle it for some reason, then I step in. However, my criteria might differ slightly from theirs, which is a risk we all collectively accept.
Anyway, I hope that clears things up and answers everything you were wondering about!
Since the mods aren't really able to jump in and handle things at the moment, I went ahead and boxed up this post myself. Thanks so much for flagging it, and sorry to keep you hanging!
Look, I've already told you all that we don't do the constant bickering and fighting here. I'm locking this thread now, but if any of the site moderators have something they need to weigh in on, please feel free to step in. In the meantime, I'll go back and take another look at the posts that were reported.