Reason for ban is visible to everyone

Wouldn't it be better if the reason for banning someone was actually visible to everyone? Might be useful to see an actual example of what's off-limits...
Until now, you could kind of find out through that "Find more posts" thing, but they blocked that menu.

So, I'm asking again—how am I supposed to see why some user got banned?

And why on earth are you so obsessed with everyone else's hand?

silvertiger11 said:And why on earth are you so obsessed with everyone else's hand?

Just trying to see what gets people busted—don't want to pull the same stunt myself...

restlesscobra24 said:Just trying to see what gets people busted—don't want to pull the same stunt myself...

Maybe try reading the rules? The moderators have to follow those exact same guidelines when they issue warnings.

Tyler Vaughn7 said:Maybe try reading the rules? The moderators have to follow those exact same guidelines when they issue warnings.

Yeah, that argument is total garbage!
- Can you even define what "harassment" means here? (I mean, I called > by his name in all caps—is that supposed to be some kind of massive attack now?)
- And what exactly counts as "private info"?
(Like if I call you by your actual name, moderator, or tell some other user to grow up because I know exactly who you are and how much of a pushover you can be)

Exactly.

- You probably won't get banned just for throwing out a single word in all caps. But if you make it your personal habit to scream half your posts, I’d personally—and I think the other mods would too—issue you a warning card. There are plenty of ways to emphasize a point without shouting; according to online etiquette, using all caps is considered yelling, and our forum rules explicitly state it shouldn't be used for that purpose.

- On this forum, you are Zachary Bailey3. That is how you should be addressed, period. Whether you know someone personally outside of this digital space is your business, but here, we respect people's anonymity unless they've gone out of their way to share their identity with everyone. Even then, you have to handle that information with care. If a user hasn't explicitly stated, "I have five kids," then even if you happen to know that fact, you ought to keep it to yourself.

Tyler Vaughn7 said:Maybe try reading the rules? The moderators have to follow those exact same guidelines when they issue warnings.

The thing is, those rules are incredibly open to interpretation. I won't even get started on how the mods toss out warnings for "ad hominem" attacks when most of them don't even know what the term means, let alone how to spot one in a real debate. If the rules were black and white, pointing them out would actually matter. But right now? It’s just whoever has the loudest voice. We users are basically just stuck in the crosshairs. Honestly, the best move is to link the rulebook directly to a mod to prove you didn't break anything, only to have them ignore you anyway because they’re clearly playing by their own set of unwritten laws. What a joke.

Back again...
So, thanks to everyone claiming that bans are just "open to interpretation." Yeah, exactly—that's the whole problem.
Here's a perfect example: one mod writes "Republican Young Republicans" in a post. A few posts later, some random user writes "Democratic hooligans." I can't remember if the second guy got banned or just a warning, but I reported that first mod for using the "Youth wing" label—but yeah, they just swept it under the rug.

That’s why I used to always hunt for the reason behind a ban—I wanted to see which mod was hitting people and what the actual excuse was. But lately, you can't even figure out why someone was kicked because it's impossible to check the "recent posts" of banned users anymore.

Seriously though, why'd they make it impossible to see? The official line is "we have rules and we have to follow them," which feels pretty thin to me. In a real courtroom, verdicts are public record. Since when did forum rulings—aka bans—become classified info?

restlesscobra24 said:Back again...
So, thanks to everyone claiming that bans are just "open to interpretation." Yeah, exactly—that's the whole problem.
Here's a perfect example: one mod writes "Republican Young Republicans" in a post. A few posts later, some random user writes "Democratic hooligans." I can't remember if the second guy got banned or just a warning, but I reported that first mod for using the "Youth wing" label—but yeah, they just swept it under the rug.

That’s why I used to always hunt for the reason behind a ban—I wanted to see which mod was hitting people and what the actual excuse was. But lately, you can't even figure out why someone was kicked because it's impossible to check the "recent posts" of banned users anymore.

Seriously though, why'd they make it impossible to see? The official line is "we have rules and we have to follow them," which feels pretty thin to me. In a real courtroom, verdicts are public record. Since when did forum rulings—aka bans—become classified info?

They aren't secret because there's an oversight board where all the "controversial" bans get dissected. So, if you're interested, go read up and learn something. The rules seem perfectly clear to me.

Tyler Vaughn7 said:They aren't secret because there's an oversight board where all the "controversial" bans get dissected. So, if you're interested, go read up and learn something. The rules seem perfectly clear to me.

"Controversial" according to who? And what about the warnings that aren't even considered "controversial"—why are those hidden now too? (Like, you can't even find posts with flagged parts anymore)

Asking for the third time here—why was it made impossible just recently to track banned posts?
I mean, it was doable not long ago, so why shut it down now?
There’s gotta be a reason they pulled the plug...

I honestly thought the search function was just broken across the board. So, what you're saying is it only fails when I'm trying to dig through posts from banned users?

Casey Bennett said:I honestly thought the search function was just broken across the board. So, what you're saying is it only fails when I'm trying to dig through posts from banned users?

The "find more posts by..." thing—you know, clicking the username—is totally dead.

Edit: Just realized the Advanced Search is busted too:

restlesscobra24, you do not have permission to access this page.
This could be due to one of several reasons:
1. Your user account may not have sufficient privileges to access this page. Are you trying to edit someone else's post, access administrative features, or some other privileged system?
2. If you are trying to post, the administrator may have disabled your account, or it may be awaiting activation.

Look, we already know this. Search isn't working for everyone across the board right now. It’s not some grand conspiracy; it’s just a technical glitch. I’m honestly hoping someone who actually understands the backend will step up and let us know when things are back to normal.
There was even a general announcement about it from rustydrifter10, though it seems it’s just not showing up for those using Tapatalk.

Casey Bennett said:Look, we already know this. Search isn't working for everyone across the board right now. It’s not some grand conspiracy; it’s just a technical glitch. I’m honestly hoping someone who actually understands the backend will step up and let us know when things are back to normal.
There was even a general announcement about it from rustydrifter10, though it seems it’s just not showing up for those using Tapatalk.

Thanks!

restlesscobra24 said:Back again...
So, thanks to everyone claiming that bans are just "open to interpretation." Yeah, exactly—that's the whole problem.
Here's a perfect example: one mod writes "Republican Young Republicans" in a post. A few posts later, some random user writes "Democratic hooligans." I can't remember if the second guy got banned or just a warning, but I reported that first mod for using the "Youth wing" label—but yeah, they just swept it under the rug.

That’s why I used to always hunt for the reason behind a ban—I wanted to see which mod was hitting people and what the actual excuse was. But lately, you can't even figure out why someone was kicked because it's impossible to check the "recent posts" of banned users anymore.

Seriously though, why'd they make it impossible to see? The official line is "we have rules and we have to follow them," which feels pretty thin to me. In a real courtroom, verdicts are public record. Since when did forum rulings—aka bans—become classified info?

Just to add my two cents to this... Even the moderators don't have the authority to hand out bans to their own colleagues... Look, if you actually think one of the moderators has a garbage post or an annoying signature, you can just report them to the supermods or to rustydrifter10 since she's running the show...

restlesscobra24 said:Wouldn't it be better if the reason for banning someone was actually visible to everyone? Might be useful to see an actual example of what's off-limits...
Until now, you could kind of find out through that "Find more posts" thing, but they blocked that menu.

So, I'm asking again—how am I supposed to see why some user got banned?

Look, the reason is visible to the people who actually need to see it: the banned user and the admin team. That's just how the forum settings are hardcoded, and even if we wanted to change it, we can't—it's out of our hands.

restlesscobra24 said:Wouldn't it be better if the reason for banning someone was actually visible to everyone? Might be useful to see an actual example of what's off-limits...
Until now, you could kind of find out through that "Find more posts" thing, but they blocked that menu.

So, I'm asking again—how am I supposed to see why some user got banned?

Basically, don't break the rules, simple as that! If you stay on topic, stay polite, and try to be constructive, you're really unlikely to run into any trouble. In principle, all you have to do is read through the guidelines, follow them, and pay attention to the flow of the thread you're posting in so you can match the tone and level of debate; honestly, it's just standard internet etiquette that anyone should know.

restlesscobra24 said:Wouldn't it be better if the reason for banning someone was actually visible to everyone? Might be useful to see an actual example of what's off-limits...
Until now, you could kind of find out through that "Find more posts" thing, but they blocked that menu.

So, I'm asking again—how am I supposed to see why some user got banned?

Previously, you could see their un-deleted posts and the threads they started, but not their specific sanctions—unless you inferred them from one of those posts.

lonebadger6 said:Just to add my two cents to this... Even the moderators don't have the authority to hand out bans to their own colleagues... Look, if you actually think one of the moderators has a garbage post or an annoying signature, you can just report them to the supermods or to rustydrifter10 since she's running the show...

I’m assuming you’re talking about posts like this:

Tijs said:What do you mean by what he does? He’s the (imaginary) Vice Chair of some Human Rights committee who doesn't even know how to spell "presumption of innocence." 🤣

The guy is pretty dim— likely best known for renting out his own wife and posting moronic statuses on Facebook. Basically—he's useless.

You report a moderator and then just sit there waiting for Godot.

If someone were to write something like,
- Joe Biden rents out his wife—that person would get slapped with a ban at light speed.

Anyway, the user Bodul asks logical questions and gets the usual crooked answers.
Specifically;
- The Republican Youth got away with everything until a Democratic Party type showed up—which was somehow intolerable—so, lo and behold: both sides were banned at lightning speed.

All of this could be avoided with balanced moderation and picking actual balanced mods, but as everyone knows, the higher-ups seem to think that more conservative—let's say right-leaning—users aren't smart enough for those roles.

crimsonjackal63 said:I’m assuming you’re talking about posts like this:

You report a moderator and then just sit there waiting for Godot.

If someone were to write something like,
- Joe Biden rents out his wife—that person would get slapped with a ban at light speed.

Anyway, the user Bodul asks logical questions and gets the usual crooked answers.
Specifically;
- The Republican Youth got away with everything until a Democratic Party type showed up—which was somehow intolerable—so, lo and behold: both sides were banned at lightning speed.

All of this could be avoided with balanced moderation and picking actual balanced mods, but as everyone knows, the higher-ups seem to think that more conservative—let's say right-leaning—users aren't smart enough for those roles.

Gotta point out, the term Republican Youth was actually coined and used by one moderator, while the Democratic Party label popped up on the same thread a few days later from just some random user.
And just like you said, only after that did the other moderator step in.
The first mod is known for these kinds of outbursts—he even "shines" occasionally by mocking people from the South (then claims it's just a joke).
The second mod is actually moderate—usually gives warnings first.
I'm just saying, I really want to know who got banned and which mod did it.

If you're dying to know why someone got banned, your best bet is to just hang tight and wait for them to file an appeal with AARP, or maybe just shoot them a DM once they're back online—assuming, of course, it wasn't a permanent ban.