[Eh! Steve]

As you may have noticed, you all now have a little bar underneath your avatar which says "warn" with a percentage level and a set of blocks. This is part of the new warnings system which we have implemented and which will very soon be added to the rules. Everybody initially starts with a warning level of 0, and any rule-breaking can be punished by a moderator increasing your warn level.

For a relatively minor offence, your warn level will be increased by 20%. For a more serious offence, your warn level can be increased by as much as a moderator feels appropriate.

If your warn level is raised to 20%, normally nothing will happen. Consider it a more formal slap on the wrist than a PM from a mod. If the mod feels it is necessary, your posting rights will be revoked for 1-3 days. If you try to post, you will see an error message like this...



If your warn level is raised to 40%, your posting rights will be revoked for 3-5 days. You will see a similar error message to the one posted above.

If your warn level is raised to 60%, your posting rights will be revoked for at least 7 days. Again, you will see a similar error message to the one posted above.

If your warn level is raised to 80%, your entire account will be suspended for 7 days. If you try to log in, you will receive an error message similar to the one below...



This will prevent anyone on your computer from logging in, so you will be unable to create an alt account to get around the suspension. If anyone is caught creating an alt account to get around a posting ban, their warning level will automatically be raised to 80% and their account will be suspended for double the length of the original posting ban

If you are such a cock that your warning level is raised to 100%, an admin will suspend your account permanently, ban your IP address and firebomb your house.

Your warning level will remain raised for 2 weeks after your punishment has ended (or 2 weeks after it was raised, if it was raised to 20% without a punishment being handed out). If it has not been lowered after 1 week, PM a mod who will check that it is supposed to be lowered, and then lower it. If it was not meant to be lowered and you pester the mods, it will remain at its current level for 2 further weeks. If you re-offend within this probationary period, naturally the punishments will be more severe.

An example - you start a new topic that says "All niggers are crazy faggots who should be burned at the stake." A mod decides that your warn level should be raised to 80%, and your account is suspended for a week. 2 weeks after your suspension has ended, your warning level will be reduced to 60%, then 2 weeks after that your warning level will be reduced to 40%, and so on. You will get your posting rights back once your suspension has ended, but your higher warn level will reflect the nature of your past infractions.

The implementation of this feature in no way reflects on current members, the admin team merely felt that at the current rate of growth, some form of control system was needed to protect members against the arseholes of the internet.

Any questions? Post below and I'll answer them.

[Forgone Conclusion]

IF our warning goes to 80%, and we serve our punishment, u say it goes down to 60% after 2 weeks or whatever. Do we then have the punishment for the 60% mark?

[where_i'm_calling_from]

what happens if ur incredibly racist, homophobic, bigoted, sexist rant is all part of light-hearted banter? will u still be punished?

also, so far im the only one wid the warning bar under my name

[Echoes]

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Do we then have the punishment for the 60% mark?

don't think that's what mike meant, but then again that post is WELL long and ill go through it properly later on...

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what happens if ur incredibly racist, homophobic, bigoted, sexist rant is all part of light-hearted banter? will u still be punished?

what do you think?

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also, so far im the only one wid the warning bar under my name

you can only see your own, though mods can see them all.

[Forgone Conclusion]

You can only see your own rating. Also, what if we are incredibly racist/sexist/homophobic people? Can't we express our opinions freely?

[where_i'm_calling_from]

DON'T CENSOR US

[Echoes]

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Can't we express our opinions freely?

freedom of speech only applies in the public domain, which this forum isn't. When you signed up to this site you accepted the terms and conditions, which involve playing by our rules. Frankly, we don't ask for much, so I wouldn't bother whining about it

[Forgone Conclusion]

we want to exercise our right to be pricks

[where_i'm_calling_from]

if i called curtis gay would i get in trouble?

[Forgone Conclusion]

What? You can't make statements of fact anymore?

[where_i'm_calling_from]

apparently not. but i won't let these bastards stop me telling it how it is.

[Echoes]

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we want to exercise our right to be pricks

don't forget that if you do, we can excercise our own right to be pricks... and I'm taller than yow

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if i called curtis gay would i get in trouble?

'board rules' said:

2. Don't post anything that is likely to offend someone.

if it offends him, probably, though what you're saying there isn't explicitely homophobic.

This is all assuming we mods can be arsed to do anything if we dont think it matters much

[Eh! Steve]

Forgone Conclusion, on Jun 7 2005, 10:49 PM, said:

IF our warning goes to 80%, and we serve our punishment, u say it goes down to 60% after 2 weeks or whatever. Do we then have the punishment for the 60% mark?

No. You get all your features back, but if you commit a minor offence you'll go straight back up to 80%, with the relevant pubishment, instead of the 20% punishment you would have got.

[Forgone Conclusion]

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we can excercise our own right to be pricks... and I'm taller than yow

How the hell do you know?

This post has been edited by Forgone Conclusion: 07 June 2005 - 10:18 PM

[where_i'm_calling_from]

yeah. you can't intimidate us.

[Eh! Steve]

I know that he's taller than you. So put a sock in it, you two. This thread was for sensible questions, not frivolous banter >

[where_i'm_calling_from]

we're sorry. i'm just concerned that some (eg. bradley) may find losthours' signature offensive.

[Eh! Steve]

I doubt it - they're mates

[Gabriel Synthesis]

hey i have an idea

how about you tell us what we've done wrong when you raise our warning bars!!

[where_i'm_calling_from]

thats a pretty good idea. cos if don't tell people, they might not know what they did wrong. and then accidentally reoffend repeatedly.