Infraction points??

Just spotted Jakes post about a warning he received. Fortunately I can't say I've any similar experiences [phew!] but from the wording of the warning "you have lost 9 points" or similar, it's obvious there's a limit somewhere,but I haven't seen anything about it in the FAQ or admin posts...

So... how many points do we start with? Or is it a more flexible setup?

(I hate "HitchHikers Guide" type rules: "What do you mean you didn't know? The Official Notice has been posted in the Council Office Basement for the last 6 months! Plenty of time for you to read it... " :rolleyes:)

And to see a mod blame it on the friday drivellers just seems so odd.
The friday nonsense was exactly that and I can't see how that particular thread made a lot of work for the mods.

Maybe I'd do the same as Jake in his situation.
I daresay if the mods get too heavy handed then new forums may sprout up

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Originally Posted by echnidna

And to see a mod blame it on the friday drivellers just seems so odd.
The friday nonsense was exactly that and I can't see how that particular thread made a lot of work for the mods.

Maybe I'd do the same as Jake in his situation.
I daresay if the mods get too heavy handed then new forums may sprout up

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Bob, it sounds as though you need a stint on this side of things to change your mind.

Al :2tsup::cool:

My lifestyle means that I am constantly at the beck & call of "idiots" and I wouldn't like to expand my load to handle even more idiots

Thank you Al but I do not want to be a mod.

As to "infraction points" that coincept seems like it musta bin dreamed up by a schoolteacher or a policeman.
A load of Codswallop

Are there infraction points and if so, where in the forum rules are they mentioned?

Jeez you lot lead an insular life. I got an infraction a while ago, only worth a point, I didn't know how many I was allowed to get. Is it like ya car license? Do we have double demerit weekends? :D

I dunno,
But I got me one..maybe I'll go and read the rules again

The infraction points system is just a method of weighting a misdemeanour. If you were really naughty, you'd be banned outright. So consider them a form of warning, like a yellow card in soccer or a report in AFL or a the nice copper taking your name and address. Sometimes they come with a penalty, sometimes they don't. The points all have a time limit - they don't stay there forever.

If you've copped some infraction points, it's because you stepped out of line and the moderator involved wanted to give you a warning and in some cases, a chance to cool down. Cop them quietly and take the time to listen to why they were issued (they come with an explanation) and you won't have any problems with the system but, like a footballer who argues with the umpire and keeps doing the same thing, you'll get hit again and harder.

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I hate "HitchHikers Guide" type rules

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Skew, think about it mate. It would be a lot easier for us mods to have a rigid set of rules and to hammer everyone who crossed the line - really, it would, it would even give me time to take part in the forum which I don't have at the moment (too busy putting out spot fires on the forum). We've chosen to be flexible and to allow the larrikinism that we all enjoy. When that larrikinism gets out of control though, when it starts affecting other users and their enjoyment of the forum, we step in. Yes, this is nebulous but it has produced the forum we have today. The alternative is a much stricter forum. Do you really want that?

Part of the trouble is that someone gets spanked, then complains publically but doesn't bother to explain the full details - rather it's "poor me, I got spanked", and everyone feels sorry. Someone else them gets on the case and starts making inaccurate statements (and we have seen a few members doing this deliberately, don't assume that everyone is innocent). Next thing you know, confusion is the rule ... but members don't seem interested in reading what the mods have to say, they'd rather leap on the mistatements of others.

In a way, we mods have made it worse because we usually try to explain what's going on - it'd be easier and clearer if we just deleted anything that wasn't strictly kosher and left it at that. I've been on forums that do that - they aren't the happy place that this forum is.

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The friday nonsense was exactly that and I can't see how that particular thread made a lot of work for the mods.

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If the drivel had stayed in that one thread, it would have been fine. But it didn't. This too has been explained by Ubeaut ... several times :!

No-one enjoys seeing their threads ruined by mindless and irrellevant posts - we call that drivel and are now cracking down on it. Where's the problem. The definition? It's been given, by the mods and admins quite a few times, and it includes the words "mindless and irrellevant". It's not difficult, so why are some members refusing to see that and insist on reading all sorts of dark and malicious reasons into it?

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My lifestyle means that I am constantly at the beck & call of "idiots" and I wouldn't like to expand my load to handle even more idiots

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Right. You don't want to do it ... so why the hell should we mods? I'm doing this because I was asked to by Neil and I'm continuing to do it because I've got a lot of loyalty to a forum that's given me a lot of help and a great community to be a member of.

Richard

Unfortunately, I don't think that the time you took on your response will stop the whinging.....but well said anyway.

Bare with us on this one OK. There has been a crack down, no problem, I think most of us are happy to toe the line. I received an infraction a while ago, and had to ask what it was, I took it as a bit of a joke.
Watson has one now, for drivelling I presume, worth a point. Jake copped a nine pointer, I don't know what for, other than drivelling. Again no problems.
Sturdee tried to make light of things and copped a reaming, being the better person he is, took it on the chin and moved on.
I guess we need to know where the new line is. Ok if we are all honest we know what complete drivel is, but without some guidlines, which we are all happy to follow, I feel we are running scared.
It appears to me, that a one ponter is a smack on the wrist, nine is bloody serious, and gets you into trouble for a week.
I'm not asking for mandatory sentancing, just to take away some of the big wide grey area to which you refer.

If we know what's what, we promise to play nice. I know there can be a fine line between larikinism and drivel at times, so a hard and fast set of rules is impossible.

Perhaps a rough outline, one point means ya just over the line and watch it, three ya over the top and know it, accumulate ten and ya out. It seems we're a bit in the dark just yet.

There had better be a thicker line between even-handedness & favouritism then.

I would imagine it to be up to the judgment of whichever mod is giving out the points in regards to how many you get for what. The problem with even rough outlines is that they invite those that have been reprimanded to question them and then say 'rar rar rar, this person only got this many points, and I ain't done nothin that bad...'.

Realistically, its all unnecessary BS. On an IT Forum or similar where its a bunch of 13 year old kids calling each other homosexual, yeah, fine, but here it really shouldn't be coming to this. A good example I spotted only 5 minutes ago...

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Originally Posted by xxxxx http://mt0.woodworkforums.com/images...2/viewpost.gif
An OCTOgon barrel. Is that so you can kill 8 people at once. :C:no:
(EDIT: said member deleted this post themselves -Groggy)

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That's just flinging mud and starting a politcal $h1t-stir debate for the sake of it. Why bother?

Drivel has been given its very own board (which I've never seen done anywhere else, btw.) So that shouldn't be an issue either.

So, seriously guys, where is the problem? Maybe some folk are just taking a bit too much liberty when they shouldn't. So if a Mod slaps ya with a couple of points, cop it fair on the chin and don't do it again. If you feel you were innocent, PM the mod. If that gets nowhere, PM whomever is the next rung up in the chain, instead of moaning about it publically. All you'll really do is make yourself look like a sook. Now if ya can make a piece of wood look pretty, how can this be so hard? :doh:

(Sorry if I'm stealin' your thunder, Richard, or even stepping out of line myself, I just felt it needed to be said.)

Thanks Zac, it's good to hear someone else say it occasionally

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Originally Posted by Article99

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So, seriously guys, where is the problem? Maybe some folk are just taking a bit too much liberty when they shouldn't. So if a Mod slaps ya with a couple of points, cop it fair on the chin and don't do it again. If you feel you were innocent, PM the mod. If that gets nowhere, PM whomever is the next rung up in the chain, instead of moaning about it publically. All you'll really do is make yourself look like a sook. Now if ya can make a piece of wood look pretty, how can this be so hard? :doh:

........snip.......

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I'm just trying to avoid upsetting the mods, and finding where the new line is. I get the feeling a couple of others feel the same way.
Neil has decreed a change, so be it. The sooner we get it all settled the better. As someone who lives life on the edge, I just want to know where the new edge is.

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Originally Posted by Groggy

Thanks Zac, it's good to hear someone else say it occasionally

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You're welcome, mate. Really just calling it as I see it. :wink:

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I'm just trying to avoid upsetting the mods, and finding where the new line is.

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I'd have imagined the line to be a common sense of right and wrong, myself. Where's the need to visit the edge of polite conversation on a forum? I know you old bulls love a good stir, but seriously... peace. :peace2: :p