RealGM

If you have complaints about the Terms of Use at RealGM, the role of moderators at RealGM, or my conduct in particular, there is a "Feedback and Suggestions" forum for your comments and questions.

this is what you wrote to me in a PM.
so I got a question... why did you suspend me ? "my ass" was the strongest 'curse' that I used. then I simply explained to you, without being rude and mocking this time, why I feel that you don't know what you're talking about if you think Vernon Maxwell was a great defender. you edited my post, and left only the part of my explanation. then I asked why you're editing/deleting my posts. you deleted it again. you send me a PM. I asked where I can contact you. you deleted this post again.

what's wrong with it ?

the best part is that you warned me in another thread, but I didn't use one bad word about anyone and, even more funny, I was the one who was insulted there by oaktownwarriors87. what did I do wrong there ?

since I'm here I'd like to know why did you ban me the other time. yeah, I called someone an idiot, but according to your post:
I am totally sympathetic to people who want raise the tone of the PC board and stop the thread hijacking. (there will be some changes implemented very soon, btw.) At the same time, I also think that part of the fun of a board like this is being able to disagree in a joking or friendly manner. Different people have different ideas about what is funny. Non mean-spirited jokes...always welcome. Occasional smack or even insults...comes with the territory. Regular disparaging comments...not acceptable.

I was not even close to 'Regular disparaging comments' category. I was basically suspended for a one-time insult, even without a curse.

when you look at all of this together, you can see that there is some inconsistency in your judgement. one day you're saying occasional smack or even insults are acceptable, next day I'm suspended for it. then, you're suspending me for "great defender my ass" and asking about how to contact you.

btw. next time when you wanna inform someone how to solve this kind of problem, maybe send a PM before suspending the guy, because you can't read such a PM when you're suspended. you eventually answered my question(which I was banned for...) but I couldn't even read your answer.

just so we're clear - I'm not complaining, I'm just curious and asking about stuff. I would have done it via PMs if there was such a possibility, I would prefere that... but since there's no such option, I have to ask you in public.

bastillon:

Posts and/or parts of posts that question how/why an action was taken by moderators are pretty routinely edited, locked, and/or deleted on many/most forums. They are not basketball related; they should be in this forum, not one that deals with the NBA in general, a particular, or player comparisons. As it notes in the RealGM terms of use (and in the most recent PM I sent to you), the material on the boards needs to be basketball related in at least some way. Material that does not meet that requirement, is in violation of the Terms of Use. As the Terms of Use states:

RealGM reserves the right to monitor all Postings and to remove any which it considers in its sole discretion to be offensive or otherwise in breach of these Terms of Use.

You'll notice that there aren't a lot of threads/posts that say "Why was I suspended?" on the basketball boards. As I said, they get locked, edited, and/or deleted. That is part of the duty of moderators--to keep material on the boards they monitor focused on basketball related material.

I am afraid I have to take serious exception to the ideas that you were not adequately warned, or that you didn't do anything objectionable, or that you are not a repeat offender. You have been warned multiple times in public and with formal warnings noted via PM. These formal warnings are noted by RealGM administrators. They are part of your record at RealGM. They are reviewed by both other moderators and RealGM administrators. You have had many posts reported to the moderators in the past six weeks. Many of the times, they were reported by posters other than me. In these cases, it is the moderator's duty to take action. In some of the cases, I did little (or nothing). In some, I felt your tone and the tone of other posters in a specific topic had gotten out of hand, and I issued a public warning telling recent posters in a topic to calm down. And, sometimes, I was forced to send you private PMs and/or warnings. The fact that all of these things have occurred, unfortunately, indicates that the type of posts and/or the tone you take with other posters has been at the least, a semi-regular problem over the past few months.

And, finally, as I told in the (lengthy) PM explaining about the procedures at RealGM, I did not suspend you. I can't suspend you. RealGM administrators do that. In the last case (I notice you are leaving out that you have been suspended twice now, both within in the last five weeks), I didn't even recommend that you be suspended. That action was taken by others after reviewing the content and tone of your posts. This should give you food for thought. I understand that you don't think your posts and tone are objectionable. It is my opinion that you are wrong. Others that have reviewed what you have written have come to the same conclusion. In the PM I sent to you regarding your first suspension about five weeks ago, I wrote

You have been suspended for conduct in violation of RealGM’s conduct policy. Please read and review RealGMs Terms of Use, as well as the stickied post at the top of Player Comparisons board regarding behavior on the Player Comparisons board. If you continue to regularly make posts that are rude and defamatory, and/or only create posts intended to incite anger and have no real basketball-related value or content, they will continue to be edited or removed and you may be banned from this board and, possibly, from all RealGM boards. Please try to keep your posts focused on basketball and basketball-related issues, and avoid regularly baiting or insulting posters.

Within four weeks, you had had several posts reported, and another warning. My guess is that is what led to your most recent suspension. As I concluded in the PM to you at the beginning of November:

On a side note--you should know that I did not suspend you or choose the length of your suspension. These actions were taken by RealGM administrators after reviewing your posts and their content. There are times when you have insight to add to the boards--don't put yourself in a position to permanently lose the opportunity to share it because of your attitude towards moderators and other posters.

I stick with this. You are welcome to raise this issue here, or to ask how other moderators handle issues similar to yours. But I would suggest that, in general, you would be far better off making efforts to be less abrasive, and sticking to basketball related material rather than being rude to other posters and moderators, and starting threads/writing posts with little or no basketball related content on the Player Comparisons (or any other basketball related) board.

*Throws hat on the floor*

RIOTTTTTTTTT!

I am afraid I have to take serious exception to the ideas that you were not adequately warned, or that you didn't do anything objectionable, or that you are not a repeat offender. You have been warned multiple times in public and with formal warnings noted via PM. These formal warnings are noted by RealGM administrators. They are part of your record at RealGM. They are reviewed by both other moderators and RealGM administrators. You have had many posts reported to the moderators in the past six weeks. Many of the times, they were reported by posters other than me. In these cases, it is the moderator's duty to take action. In some of the cases, I did little (or nothing). In some, I felt your tone and the tone of other posters in a specific topic had gotten out of hand, and I issued a public warning telling recent posters in a topic to calm down. And, sometimes, I was forced to send you private PMs and/or warnings. The fact that all of these things have occurred, unfortunately, indicates that the type of posts and/or the tone you take with other posters has been at the least, a semi-regular problem over the past few months.

now that you accused me of being a semi-regular problem who repeatedly made unrelated(and offensive) posts on the PC board, quote those posts(but whole posts, don't take them out of context). moderators here have the ability to look for user's posts so this shouldn't be a problem for you. you can't point fingers at anyone with no proof. my posts are basketball related and you can argue about the opinions they represent, but they aren't even close to rude and defamatory, and/or only create posts intended to incite anger and have no real basketball-related value or content like you suggested.

I'd like to know also:

the best part is that you warned me in another thread, but I didn't use one bad word about anyone and, even more funny, I was the one who was insulted there by oaktownwarriors87. what did I do wrong there ?

since I'm here I'd like to know why did you ban me the other time. yeah, I called someone an idiot, but according to your post:
[i]I am totally sympathetic to people who want raise the tone of the PC board and stop the thread hijacking. (there will be some changes implemented very soon, btw.) At the same time, I also think that part of the fun of a board like this is being able to disagree in a joking or friendly manner. Different people have different ideas about what is funny. Non mean-spirited jokes...always welcome. Occasional smack or even insults...comes with the territory. Regular disparaging comments...not acceptable.[/i]

It comes down to this. I think your posts violate the RealGM terms of service. RealGM adminstrators have reviewed them and come to the same conclusion. I have tried to explain and answer your questions repeatedly. You are saying that you don't understand...and, frankly, it seems like it's because you don't agree with the answer. I am sorry. But it is ultimately the job of moderators and administrators to decide who or what is out of line on the boards.

I have no intention of going further into this, and I am certainly not going to go back and post entire posts for review. The review process has already been done in the two suspensions you have received in the last six weeks. Your posts have been reported repeatedly. You have repeatedly been warned publicly and privately. You have been suspended twice. None of this was done unilaterally. In short, what you say and how you say it has been reviewed repeatedly over the last few months and has been found to be a problem. Again, you would be much better off focusing on changing your tone and style than attempting to argue about the nuts and bolts of RealGM's Terms of Use and how moderators apply it. If you choose not to do that, I will make every effort to be open and have other moderators come in and explain why you continue to be warned and/or suspended when and if it comes to that.

First of all, thank you for answering this TrueLAfan.

bastillon: TrueLAfan is a great moderator and does an outstanding job on the two forums he moderates.

I put in the suspensions and reviewed the ones requested for you and found they were both justified.

TrueLAfan is offering you some great advice on how to better conduct yourself on our forums.

I hope you decide to take it.

Thanks again TrueLAfan.

so you can't prove anything. understandable since there is no proof in the first place.

I think you're doing great job moderating, but in this particular case you were biased because I had you sigged with that stuff you said about Hakeem. I thought it wasn't a big problem, but now that I'm being suspended for saying "great defender my ass" or warned in public after being insulted repeatedly by another user, I think it gets out of hand. I understand moderators are human beings and they have their preferences too, but you can't point fingers and punish me for things that I haven't done. until you give me any kind of explanation proving that I deserved to be punished, I'll consider myself as the one who is a victim here, certainly not the guy who should be suspended.

actually I don't know why I created this thread. it was kinda obvious that you will just write some officially-sounding post without answering to the most important parts of my posts(the one where you warned me publicly when I was the one who is being insulted and didn't say one bad word or the other where I did everything right according to your post from Feedback Forum, but I was still suspended)... but I guess this is what happens when you sig well-respected moderator on realGM.

with all due respect, Howard Mass, I think a mistake has been made here and without hearing what exactly I did wrong, I can't be convinced. the general accusations like I think your posts violate the RealGM terms of service. isn't the best argument here(actually it's pretty bad). just because someone thinks so, doesn't make it true. noone complained about me in public and actually I made some valuable posts in PC Board, sometimes other users thought I did a good job... with the exception of TLAF.

TLAF, if you're gonna respond again with "you broke the terms of realGM, that's what I think" kind of post, don't even bother. you've already said that. I respect you and I think you're a great and proud member of this society and if your reputation is deserved, you should either show my posts with the so-called violations that I made or admit it was a mistake, at least to some extent. I've seen way worse things in PC Board(and many others) which weren't punished at all, yet somehow I'm suspended twice and these guys(who I have nothing against) aren't even warned.