What is to be?

You seriously want people to report posts in violation? I think most people refrain from doing so because the know the sheer volume of work you guys already have. You may not be aware of how many posts are in violation, and you're about to open the flood gates. If that is what you really want, that that's what I'll do. There are few posts that I would report, as some things I don't feel are a big deal. If I'm getting people in trouble, it better be something bad. But someone looking for every violation is going to report those same threads that I just shrug my shoulders at.

I suspect it is not all that many people who are making abusive posts here. Once they either see the light or get escorted out the door, the volume will decrease dramatically.

All posts here are likely read by someone at one time or another. I have already gone on record stating that myself and the moderators cannot, and will not, read every post made on this site. So this is the alternative I am proposing.

As for the "can of worms", yes, and it is time to go fishing........

Originally Posted by WebSlave

As for the "can of worms", yes, and it is time to go fishing........

Now THAT'S the right attitude. Hold on to that one and let the others go.

Did you ever see the movie Big Fish? It's an interesting story about interesting stories and one particular story teller. No really pertinant but still a good flick.

Worms are kind of cool too.

So, is it true? If you pull a worm in half do you get two separate worms, both alive and different or do you get two dead pieces of one worm or do you get one short worm and a piece of wormflesh?

Oh my gosh, I think I just hijacked my own thread.

I don't know if I should report me or wait for someone else to do it.

Woe is me, what ever shall I do?

With reporting posts, some will take it as an extra duty of theirs and report every little thing that they think is in violation. Would that not become a hassle for the mods? Maybe you should quietly assign a certain few you trust to help out and not have your e-mails flooded with "Bad Post" from all those who think they should be in charge of who violated your terms. This would help clean things up and not over work your mods.

Originally Posted by Wilomn

Woe is me, what ever shall I do?

For one thing, you may want to pad your PayPal account. I think you are going to need it if you intend to stay around here.

Rich, it appears that I am one of the people who have been caught up in the "did not know" club. Not that I am complaining. Rather, I am seeking clarification. As was quoted above, I am the one that made the post about "and yet another idiot." Was I correct? Yes, I would say I was but I also should have simply kept my mouth shut. Lesson learned.

However, that was my first and only posting that earned me warning points of 10 and thus a fine. So, with that in mind, am I to understand that if I ever do something that even one mod finds to be in offense or that they take wrong, that I will be fined yet again? That for each and every point above 10, I will earn an ever increasing fine? I have always said to let the punishment fit the crime but this seems a bit, actually a lot, out of proportion.

In addition to the fine, I also received -6000 reputation points thereby not only erasing all of the points I had earned to date but also put me in the hole by 1000. Again, for a one time offense, seems a bit much to:

1) Earn me 10 points
2) Fine me $10
3) Put me in a position to be fined EVERYTIME from this point forward
4) Make me lose 6000 points

I don't know that any reasonable person would say that this "punishment" fits the crime of calling someone a name which was actually fitting given the circumstance. I understand you want to clean the place up and I am 100% for that. However, I don't know if this stance is out of sheer frustration or what, but I do not believe that these decisions are in line with the ultimate goal. If there are repeat offenders then kick them off. Make the point that way. As is typical in business, Admin usually spends 90% of their time on 10% of the population. If that's the case then remove them. Problem solved and that example will be enough for most everyone to clean up their acts. Just my $.02 cents.

Griz

For those of you who do not know what's going on, here is the thread that started it all:

http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/foru...ad.php?t=72444

Bob, as mentioned in the PM to you, there is a karma penalty associated with the fine and suspension. I had it set to give a negative 1000 points for anyone who got themselves fined and suspended. I thought this was appropriate as obviously the post that got someone fined and suspended was most certainly going to be a post that deserved negative karma. And at that time, many people had karma point levels that were FAR above 1000 points.

At the same time you got the fine and suspension, my programmer ran a SQL routine on the database that rolled back EVERYONE's karma points to 10. There have been so many abuses in that system, that I figured the best thing to do is to just start over with it completely. So everyone lost their karma points at that time, not just you.

I have also adjusted the way karma points are evaluated, and quite honestly, under the newly adjusted figures, -1000 karma points is rather harsh. I will adjust yours accordingly to compensate.

Still there will be a -100 karma point penalty attached to anyone fined and suspended. So please keep that in mind.

In reference, also, to your claim of the entire penalty being too harsh, sorry, but harshness is going to be more the rule then the exception in order to get things cleaned up here. The best way to not get on the wrong side of a moderator is by taking extreme caution in how you now post here. The crap that has been tolerated or overlooked in the past is now over with.

I support the new system. I would not like this place to be Sesame Street, either, but IMO the playground bullies were just out of control.

Wes, is it really that hard for an intelligent guy like yourself to figure out the difference between a civilized disagreement and a flame war? You can be bluntly honest without personal insults.