Suspended for Otter Nonsense

[Joven]

I've been posting on these forums off and on since I joined in 2013 and not once have I ever been suspended or even reprimanded for anything I've posted. That is until a few days ago. I just got off a temporary suspension and I have no clue as to what it is I was suspended for. All I got was a notification when I tried to log in that I was temporarily suspended for violating the ToS.

I don't know if they send out an email explaining the reason for the suspension since I lost access to the email address attached to my account and just recently updated it. It would be nice to know what exactly I did wrong so I could avoid repeating it if possible.

The only thread I was posting on up to the suspension started out as someone complaining about the use of 'cancer' as a derogatory term for a person's performance when really they were trying to vilify their former FC for whatever reason. After the truth of the situation came out someone decided to try and lighten the mood and turn the thread into posts about otters.

When I saw that I thought that it would be fun and decided to participate. All I did was post otter memes and occasionally discuss the topic of the thread. Nothing I posted was any different from anything else I've ever posted on here aside from an abundance of otters, so I don't know what prompted a suspension.

It was obvious that a mod was monitoring the thread because a few posts disappeared (ironically mostly from the OP themselves plus a few otter pics) so I don't think it would have been too unreasonable for them to post something along the lines of "X members are particiating in Y violation of the ToS and Z actions will be taken if this continues.", but what do I know, I'm not a mod ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.

All in all I'm not upset by this, just a little disappointed. The only reason I'm making this post is to possibly glean some insight into this and perhaps vie for more transparency regarding suspensions.

[CorbinDallas]

I know of a number of people who got banned for #ottergate, if you ask me the moderation of these forums are a complete joke.

Instead of just locking a volatile, cancerous (lol) thread, they ban people who arguably were less toxic than the OP.

Edit: In all seriousness, moderation of these forums needs to be talked about in a frank yet civil manner. Something needs to change, but the only way we can send this message is without memeing or flaming.

[Joven]

Lol, #ottergate, I like that

[Crushnight]

when i got suspended i got an email saying which post is was being suspended for granted my suspension was a 10 day one so i may have been given that info because of it, i don't know not a mod.

[DumdogsWorld]

I'd rather be banned for trying to laugh off a situation than remain on the forum by being toxic.

If a thread becomes a cesspool, I'll post otter pics. The otter pics may take a few extra kilobytes of bandwidth or whatever, but overall they never hurt anybody. Only somebody who has lost their marbles would get offended at otter pics.

[Joven]

when i got suspended i got an email saying which post is was being suspended for granted my suspension was a 10 day one so i may have been given that info because of it, i don't know not a mod.

Ok, so they do send emails. That's good to know. Did they say why your post violated the ToS or just that it did?

[CorbinDallas]

Ok, so they do send emails. That's good to know. Did they say why your post violated the ToS or just that it did?

They do, I've been on the receiving end of a ban myself, however the email is unclear as to whether the ban is for a single post or a history of posts. They only quote a single one.

[Iscah]

I'd rather be banned for trying to laugh off a situation than remain on the forum by being toxic.

If a thread becomes a cesspool, I'll post otter pics. The otter pics may take a few extra kilobytes of bandwidth or whatever, but overall they never hurt anybody. Only somebody who has lost their marbles would get offended at otter pics.

At risk of looking like I've "lost my marbles" I will say that the otter pics randomly all over the forum were getting annoying. They're cute and I'd never report anyone over it, but I was on the verge of saying something about it. Just didn't want to be grumbling over something petty.

Still. I'm gathering Luke might be one of the suspended/banned ones as a result, as I don't remember seeing him here lately, and that's a pity. The forum needs more people who try to stop arguments rather than start them.

[Joven]

They do, I've been on the receiving end of a ban myself, however the email is unclear as to whether the ban is for a single post or a history of posts. They only quote a single one.

So I just missed out since I couldn't access my email at the time.

[CorbinDallas]

At risk of looking like I've "lost my marbles" I will say that the otter pics randomly all over the forum were getting annoying. They're cute and I'd never report anyone over it, but I was on the verge of saying something about it. Just didn't want to be grumbling over something petty.

Still. I'm gathering Luke might be one of the suspended/banned ones as a result, as I don't remember seeing him here lately, and that's a pity. The forum needs more people who try to stop arguments rather than start them.

I would say that we don't need people to stop arguments, rather the arguments shouldn't even happen to begin with. But that would mean the community needs to actually act their age instead of like petty whiny 12 year olds.