appealing thread locks

It didn't limit itself to trolls.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"

Gravedancing = celebrating a bad thing happening to someone else.

There are several reasons that we decided not to bring it back. As Ironeye and Fighteer have both mentioned, there were warnings about where it was going that were not heeded. There were warnings to limit the people discussed to those who were actually appealing, not "anyone who's ever been banned". There were warnings to stop speculating on who among the forum posters might be banned, comments about who someone thought ought to be banned.

It also appears that it encouraged kibitzing and unrelated comments in the actual appeal thread, presumably because the commentary thread served as an audience to play to; since that type of post in the appeal thread has dropped off sharply since the commentary thread was locked.

...if you don’t love you’re dead, and if you do, they’ll kill you for it.

Which was actually the entire point of the thread to begin with. Yes, it's probably for the better that it stays locked (maybe it even should be deleted). Nothing would change if it were reopened.

Actually, in hindsight I'm surprised that it stayed alive for so long.

edited 16th Apr '11 3:08:48 AM by Nyarly

People aren't as awful as the internet makes them out to be.

It stayed as long as it did largely because it started out, and for quite some time remained, about their actions — what they wrote and how they behaved — rather than them. "That is probably the worst thing to say under the circumstances" is not a personal attack. Then it started slipping faster and faster toward personal attacks — not "this is a stupid way to act" but "this person is stupid". Then the gravedancing started up. Then it started spreading to people who had never even been banned in the first place.

...if you don’t love you’re dead, and if you do, they’ll kill you for it.

Question, does that mean that the Liveblogs of Edit Banned (my own included) should be zapped? Because they're basically the same thing.

I spread my wings and I learn how to fly....

I was going to send a letter to Madrugada about that, actually.

Been busy at work and other projects, but I do want to continue mine This weekend, in fact. And I'd like to think I stuck to discussing their actions, and not just mocking the individual.

Don't take life too seriously. It's only a temporary situation.

If you stick to the actions, not the individual, I think they can stay.

...if you don’t love you’re dead, and if you do, they’ll kill you for it.

Is it ok to start a new thread if we're more careful to keep the comments about the actions?

He who fights bronies should see to itthat he himself does not become a brony. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, Pinkie Pie gazes Also

Please don't.

...if you don’t love you’re dead, and if you do, they’ll kill you for it.

How do you figure out who you're supposed to PM if you want to appeal a thread lock?

PM the person who locked the thread.

I generally just holler with a tag line like "why was this locked" it doesn't appear to be done" or some such.

Fight smart, not fair.

What if you don't get a reply?

He who fights bronies should see to itthat he himself does not become a brony. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, Pinkie Pie gazes Also

Just hit the holler at mod button. ask "why was this locked", Present your case why it shouldn't be locked. And don't be snippy.

Sparkling and glittering! Jan-Ken-Pon!

Tried that. Twice.

He who fights bronies should see to itthat he himself does not become a brony. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, Pinkie Pie gazes Also

You did get a reply the first time—the thread was unlocked long enough for the mod in question to make a post explaining why the page was locked. As for your answer to the second time you asked:

• Read the post where the thread was originally locked.
• Read the (immediately following) post made in response to your first Holler about the thread being locked.
• Look up the forum rules and find the section on complaint threads.

We in general don't send out PMs, in addition to make an explanatory post in the thread.

edited 3rd Aug '11 10:11:01 AM by Ironeye

I'm bad, and that's good. I will never be good, and that's not bad. There's no one I'd rather be than me.

sorry if I'm being a little dense here, but I believe the thread in question (Entries that make you go "Wut") was locked without sufficiant warning, and if we were doing something wrong, we should have had a warning, instead of having the thread locked straightaway. I belive that if a thread is a magnet for trouble, special, stricter (meaning more specific than "Dont be a dick") rules should be put in place by the mods for that thread as a precaution and a warning, and only if that doesnt work, the thread should be locked. I'ts hard to know what you are doing wrong if you are only told after the thread lock.

At the very least, it maybe easier if you could unlock the thread temporarily, and keep the disscussion limited to whether or not it should be locked.

I hope this was reasonable, if anything wasnt let me know, it is most likely a misunderstanding

Oh, and also, there was very little complaining in the thread. we were very careful in that regard

edited 3rd Aug '11 10:25:36 AM by dontcallmewave

He who fights bronies should see to itthat he himself does not become a brony. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, Pinkie Pie gazes Also

I'll leave the actual decision of what to do to Madrugada, since she's the one who's handling that thread, but I can tell you two things:

• "Give warning, lock if bad behavior continues" almost always results in a lock for threads bad enough to get the warning in the first place.
• Giving the people who like a thread the ability to over-rule a mod's decision about that thread isn't going to happen.

I'm bad, and that's good. I will never be good, and that's not bad. There's no one I'd rather be than me.

After reading the mod's justification for locking, it looks likes there was very little in they way of personal attacking, and the problem was going off topic. Considering it's a Yack Fest thread...

Someone was causing problems on the last few pages, but everyone else was calling him out, which is good as it shows the majority of posters are careful about what they discuss.

edited 3rd Aug '11 10:51:26 AM by SpellBlade

"•Giving the people who like a thread the ability to over-rule a mod's decision about that thread isn't going to happen"

where did I say it should? I only said there should have been more disscusion before locking

He who fights bronies should see to itthat he himself does not become a brony. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, Pinkie Pie gazes Also

Just start a 2.0 with no personal attacks and bedone with it? Thread restarts with that kind of warning usually help. (With a little ban hammer warnings up front.)

Sparkling and glittering! Jan-Ken-Pon!

It worked for the Zero Punctuation thread after death threats and bans got thrown around.

edited 3rd Aug '11 11:11:11 AM by SpellBlade

Might not be the best idea.

@wave: You didn't. But if the choice is still left up to the mods, the discussion will just be: "But we'll be good this time!" "Such promises haven't worked before." "That wasn't us." "The thread premise was already in a dark grey area even with people completely on-topic. Be glad Eddie didn't find it."

I'm bad, and that's good. I will never be good, and that's not bad. There's no one I'd rather be than me.

That's better than shutting it down with no warning.

He who fights bronies should see to itthat he himself does not become a brony. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, Pinkie Pie gazes Also