Seriously, if he couldn't be arsed to use Firefox spellchecker (I use it, easy as pie), then he doesn't need to be here. There's bad spelling, there are occasional key slips, mental short circuits, and what have you, and then there is being Galvatron, who seemed to revel in his inability to be the least bit coherent. I basically skipped over any posts of his since they weren't worth the effort to decipher. No clue what his background is, don't care, but at least he isn't clogging up the forums anymore.
Being stupid doesn't give people a free pass. Well, okay in this society it does more often than not, but it shouldn't.
Why not? My best friend was an IDIOT, no matter how he tried he always failed at everything. He was stupid, he is screwed for life. Should he simply be killed for being stupid? It's not his fault. He probably cant spell as good as this banned fellow here lol. I have a sympathy for stupid people because I have seen it first hand. Some people are just damn stupid.
But then again, this guy seems to be just a straight up jerk based on what everybody says.
Also, does firefox actually have an option to give you an alternate word or does it just underline words that are spelled incorrectly? I have firefox at home but I don't know if there is some kind of spellcheck similar to Microsoft word. If it is just the red underline, he pretty much had to go to dictionary.com to check every word. That's a lot of words for that guy lol.
INTO THE RAY OF THE SUN, MARCH OUR HERO, HUNTING THE DARKLORD, REBORN FROM THE BLOOD OF HIS GOD... HIS GOD... THE WARMASTER KRON.
RIDE FOR THE FALL OF HIS POWER FIGHTING THE STORM, THE ROAR OF THE THUNDER, ALLY OF THE SUN AND THE MOON... GREAT SWORDMASTER RULE!
Why not? My best friend was an IDIOT, no matter how he tried he always failed at everything. He was stupid, he is screwed for life. Should he simply be killed for being stupid? It's not his fault. He probably cant spell as good as this banned fellow here lol. I have a sympathy for stupid people because I have seen it first hand. Some people are just damn stupid.
the world needs ditch diggers my friend. no simpathy is given for stupidness from me.
if you choose to blatantly ignore the rules after many warnings and refuse to do something about it, you deserved to be banned.
Why not? My best friend was an IDIOT, no matter how he tried he always failed at everything. He was stupid, he is screwed for life. Should he simply be killed for being stupid? It's not his fault.
Exaggeration much? When did I signal I was for the euthanasia of the stupid? Not getting a free pass means not automatically going easy on them because they're too dumb to know what the hell is going on. If someone is that dumb and they are disruptive and can't learn from their mistakes, they don't need to be here. Simple. As. That.
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Exaggeration much? When did I signal I was for the euthanasia of the stupid? Not getting a free pass means not automatically going easy on them because they're too dumb to know what the hell is going on. If someone is that dumb and they are disruptive and can't learn from their mistakes, they don't need to be here. Simple. As. That.
My point is if he really was just an idiot I would think he could have some leniency. But then again, he blatantly said "screw you" to the mods. So its more of a defiance ban than a spelling ban. I don't think the mods would truely ban someone for simply being bad at spelling.
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INTO THE RAY OF THE SUN, MARCH OUR HERO, HUNTING THE DARKLORD, REBORN FROM THE BLOOD OF HIS GOD... HIS GOD... THE WARMASTER KRON.
RIDE FOR THE FALL OF HIS POWER FIGHTING THE STORM, THE ROAR OF THE THUNDER, ALLY OF THE SUN AND THE MOON... GREAT SWORDMASTER RULE!
Kind of like the jocks who beat you up in highschool had no sympathy for the weak.
Only in the most superficial way imaginable. More like, everyone is wearing pants, + he refused to wear them even after being shown the sign that says No Pants, No Admittance.
Tell you what, Satanic. I have a suggestion for you:
Let's do something like, I don't know... Give you appendicitis, or sue you, or rob you, or, hell, let's be nice, send you on a paid flight to the Bahamas for a week.
Now, if you're okay with having a doctor, a lawyer, a police officer, or a pilot, respectively, any of which outright refuse to do what they should because they don't feel like it, or because they're simply an idiot, then I'll be happy to table a motion to my fellow moderators to unban Galvatron.
Society doesn't give 'leniency' to those who are an 'idiot', or who are simply mentally slow. Those who are slow don't get important jobs. The 'idiots', as you call them, still get arrested and fined, or jailed, if they break laws. Or, if their mental deficiency is particularly notable, put in a hospital. They don't get 'leniency'. If they steal something, they're punished. If they kill someone, even if they're not in their own right mind, action is -still- taken.
To a lesser extent, the same is here. We can, and do, explain the rules to you. We can, and do, offer to help you with the problem. We can, and do, give ways for you to fix the problem. But if you can't understand the rules even after all this, or simply refuse to follow them, we infract you. We've done all we can.
Galvatron knew the rules. They had been explained in painful detail. He had been shown where he went wrong and why. He was given options to help him out with his spelling. He refused.
And no, I don't think there's any problem with forcing him to look in the dictionary if he doesn't know which word is correct in the spell checker. If HE doesn't know which word he needs, how am I supposed to know which word he means? There's a big difference between meat and meet, there and their, been and bin. Sentences change in meaning depending on what word is used. And if the meaning of his sentence is indiscernible because of the lousy spelling, there's no point in posting the sentence in the first place. Which is why the infraction is there. So if he doesn't know which word he needs when the spell checker gives him his options, yes, I'll tell him he needs to go to Webster.com and check each word until he finds the one he wants.
Seriously, this is stuff every native English speaker learns throughout their schooling, and stuff that every non-English speaker does to use English.
It is a bit off topic, but what is this defense of the stupid thing? Is there some sort of Morons' Rights Party forming or something? It's not like dumb ***** are an endangered species or anything. Nai is completely spot on, if someone is an idiot, it means they are on nature's and society's pecking order, far down, where "God" put them if one is to believe in such a thing. Now even rather stupid people can still be polite and attempt to listen and learn, if a bit slowly. Galvatron was both an idiot and a jackass. The former makes him obnoxious and unintelligible, the latter made him intolerable and undesired. The whole package resulted in his being booted from a community that does not favor unintelligible, rude, recalcitrant morons. Such is life.
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[quote=Nai;/comments/8581211]And no, I don't think there's any problem with forcing him to look in the dictionary if he doesn't know which word is correct in the spell checker. If HE doesn't know which word he needs, how am I supposed to know which word he means? There's a big difference between meat and meet, there and their, been and bin. Sentences change in meaning depending on what word is used. And if the meaning of his sentence is indiscernible because of the lousy spelling, there's no point in posting the sentence in the first place. Which is why the infraction is there. So if he doesn't know which word he needs when the spell checker gives him his options, yes, I'll tell him he needs to go to Webster.com and check each word until he finds the one he wants.
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So you banned him because he purposely defied the mods and said screw the rules. Don't say you banned him because he was a bad speller. My whole point is you shouldn't ban somebody because they can't spell. You can ban him for being a jackass on purpose.
And this is mtg salvation, not "society". There is nothing to lose nor gain from this website. Unlike real life.
If you truely say you banned him for bad spelling, thats just a case of poor character on the mods part. If you say you banned him for being a jerk and saying "screw you" to the mods, then yes that makes sense.
All this nonsense about stupid people in real life being on the low social rung and can't have decent jobs and such is irrelevant on an internet forum.
Also I'm not saying you should bring him back. I agree that he was a jackass.
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INTO THE RAY OF THE SUN, MARCH OUR HERO, HUNTING THE DARKLORD, REBORN FROM THE BLOOD OF HIS GOD... HIS GOD... THE WARMASTER KRON.
RIDE FOR THE FALL OF HIS POWER FIGHTING THE STORM, THE ROAR OF THE THUNDER, ALLY OF THE SUN AND THE MOON... GREAT SWORDMASTER RULE!
Greg, I think if you're going to ban someone for poor grammar, you should at least be able to spell intimidate correctly on a spoiler. LOL just kidding but would you mind cleaning it up?
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Satanic, it's not irrelevant. People who are slow, or simply just idiots, don't get a free ride because of it in real life. They don't get a free ride here either. That was the point of that entire post. Something you seemed to miss.
By the bye, for those that aren't aware, horrible spelling and grammar -is- against the site rules, with a rule for it specifically. It's laid out there, and there's nothing vague about it. It wasn't put there for him, either. Fortunately, we don't have to enforce it much.
I don't like Galvatron, at all. I know him IRL, and he annoys me on a daily basis.
However, this prevailing mentality that he 'just couldn't be bothered' is not correct. He is slightly...blah I don't know what word to use..mentally deficient, I suppose.
Even if he wasn't, I don't feel that this banning is justified. Because frankly, you should not get warnings/infractions for poor grammar/spelling in the first place. People don't get warnings/infractions for slang, even if it is really obnoxious slang. This really is not different.
Man, I never thought I would be defending Galvatron..I really dislike him. But this is a big injustice.
It's not 'spilled milk', it's ridiculous, and it's just a convenient cover story. It's not a coincidence that, for years now, he just accrued warnings. Mikey becomes an Admin, and he's banned a week(hyperbole) later? Yeah. Sure, it's a coincidence. Mikey is about as intolerant of anyone not like him as a person can be.
Galvatron's mentality was not 'screw the rules'. He got offended when people criticized him, and his reaction was to pretend to be a tough guy. Never seen that one on the internet before, right?
And seriously, the idea that someone got banned for bad grammar is complete comedy. As was just pointed out, whomever did the spoiler misspelled a word. Where is the warning/infraction for that person? Do I get to report every post that uses the orly owls or lolcats now? I doubt it. But why not? The people that reference them are willfully violating the rules of the site, and are enacting the same 'screw the rules' mentality that people are trying to enforce against Galvatron here.
I'm sure that someone is going to claim 'Moderator Discretion' now. That notion doesn't hold up to something like getting infracted for bad grammar. It is a complete slippery slope.
Mikey becomes an Admin, and he's banned a week(hyperbole) later? Yeah. Sure, it's a coincidence. Mikey is about as intolerant of anyone not like him as a person can be.
Yes, that certainly is hyperbole given that Mikey's been an admin for six months. And he wasn't even the one that banned Galvatron; it was Annorax (as can be evidenced by reading the thread of suspension/banning announcements.)
Galvatron's mentality was not 'screw the rules'. He got offended when people criticized him, and his reaction was to pretend to be a tough guy. Never seen that one on the internet before, right?
From the descriptions I've read of discussions other moderators have had with him, "screw the rules" was exactly his mentality.
And seriously, the idea that someone got banned for bad grammar is complete comedy. As was just pointed out, whomever did the spoiler misspelled a word. Where is the warning/infraction for that person? Do I get to report every post that uses the orly owls or lolcats now? I doubt it. But why not? The people that reference them are willfully violating the rules of the site, and are enacting the same 'screw the rules' mentality that people are trying to enforce against Galvatron here.
We don't infract people for making a single spelling error. We infract people who are clearly making no effort whatsoever to make sure that their posts are even readable. Galvatron's posts fell into the latter category.
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It's not 'spilled milk', it's ridiculous, and it's just a convenient cover story. It's not a coincidence that, for years now, he just accrued warnings. Mikey becomes an Admin, and he's banned a week(hyperbole) later? Yeah. Sure, it's a coincidence. Mikey is about as intolerant of anyone not like him as a person can be.
Wow, fact check time.
Been an admin for months now. Since Valentine's Day, in fact. So, yes, hyperbole.
Warnings are for new posters or minor offenses when it's clear the offender was unaware or otherwise unclear on the rules. Galvatron stopped accruing warnings in 2006. When I was just a small-time mod of Entertainment and WCT, if you're wondering if I used my position to push an agenda of intolerance. He was earning infractions before I was even a mod, if you want to be accurate.
I was not the staff member who spearheaded Galvatron's ousting. I wasn't even the one to second it. The staff had more or less agreed to the idea long before I chimed in. So, sorry to crap all over your "mikey is a power-mad intolerant bastard" conspiracy theory, but, well, you know.
Listen, Cyan, I know you hate me. I don't know why, I never did. Every time you tried to argue why, your arguments never quite make sense. Nor are they ever particularly grounded in reality. But this decision wasn't really mine and this is not a great situation to launch another round of "{mikeyG} is terrible", so let's just skip it, yeah?
The fact of the matter is, the person received 16 infractions over 3.5 years. Regardless for what they are for, that's bannable. In fact, we've banned people for acquiring far less than that.
Somewhere up the page, someone stated that this isn't real life, but what difference is there between real life interactions and computer mediated ones? Many of us know each other in real life, some of us are in the same playtest groups, this is just another faction of our everyday lives. I wouldn't discredit that very easily.
As for Mikey, whether he is tolerant or intolerant is not being called into question. He has nothing to do with Galvatron being banned.
But in the end, this thread has been about whether or not we think bad spelling is a bannable offense.
My Response:
No. I think bad spelling is inevitable. The development and rise of technology has made many a generation into terrible spellers. However, I think the real issue is what Annorax used as a ban reason. The reality is, the guy took no effort to fix his ways in 3.5 years. His real ban reason should be ignoring moderator requests.
I know this makes us sound arrogant, but it shouldn't. Every single moderator/global/admin on this site has some form of investment into this community. When people are publicly defiant or they cause stress for other members of the community, then action needs to be taken or this site will start to decline.
He posted almost nothing but posts that were unreadable or spam. He was reported, warned, infracted, and suspended countless times. Every time he continued to completely ignore the warnings he was given and outright stated that he wasn't going to change. He got banned for his repeated disregard for the spelling rule. None of that should be a surprise.
If he hadn't outright said he'll never change (and doesn't care about the rules), would he have been suspended instead of outright banned? Possibly, but that doesn't really mean he was banned for it. He was banned for repeated disregard for the rules, just like every other banned person.
One thing that does bother me a little, though, is that I was under the impression that this sort of situation is exactly why we implemented the increasing suspension length rule. Giving a person a year or two to either lose interest in the site or clean up their act being seen as more "humane" than outright banning, or something. I do think that banning him is the appropriate course of action this time, though.
Don't know why all this arguing, there are rules, you know them, you break it, you pay it. It's how it works, here or irl.
Don't know Galvatron, but seems clear that he didn't had a second chance, but a sixteenth chance, and once again he broke the rules.
Posing as a tough guy doesn't warrant him to go against the site rules, so, he must learn that there are rules everywhere you are on this life, and even if he get offended, he must respect them.
Don't like the rules, don't stay under them, 'cause once on that condition, you'll must walk on the rules' line.
Seems that the ban reasons got clear, and it seemed fair to me and to most people around, so i can't see why this thread should going further.
Being a non-native english speaker would be an excuse for him on his first couple years, since many guys, right after they learn english, they try to go internet to correspond with native english speakers, but further than the first couple years that should be treated as an infraction as well.
Native english speakers must make understandable sentences right away, no excuse for kid's internet typing mode.
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Does this site have an 'ignore' option where you can just not see the posts of a poster you find to be objectionable? That would solve lots of problems, since everyone could just ignore Galvatron and go on their merry way.
I know IMDB has that option, as do other forum sites.
One thing that does bother me a little, though, is that I was under the impression that this sort of situation is exactly why we implemented the increasing suspension length rule. Giving a person a year or two to either lose interest in the site or clean up their act being seen as more "humane" than outright banning, or something. I do think that banning him is the appropriate course of action this time, though.
Extended suspension were instituted as a means of supporting rehabilitation. And it was proposed for use in this situation, but was overruled since it was deemed by the staff that rehabilitation just wasn't going to happen in this case. We would normally err on the side of caution, but this was a special case where the user in question had repeatedly told the staff that he wasn't going to change. Under no circumstances. A such, we felt an extended suspension was not a useful path in this case.
Don't know why all this arguing, there are rules, you know them, you break it, you pay it. It's how it works, here or irl.
Don't know Galvatron, but seems clear that he didn't had a second chance, but a sixteenth chance, and once again he broke the rules.
Posing as a tough guy doesn't warrant him to go against the site rules, so, he must learn that there are rules everywhere you are on this life, and even if he get offended, he must respect them.
Don't like the rules, don't stay under them, 'cause once on that condition, you'll must walk on the rules' line.
Seems that the ban reasons got clear, and it seemed fair to me and to most people around, so i can't see why this thread should going further.
Being a non-native english speaker would be an excuse for him on his first couple years, since many guys, right after they learn english, they try to go internet to correspond with native english speakers, but further than the first couple years that should be treated as an infraction as well.
Native english speakers must make understandable sentences right away, no excuse for kid's internet typing mode.
Halted Asylum, you perfectly resumed my ideas after reading the 5 pages of the thread. The problem is not Galvatron bad grammar, but the 16 warnings and his disrespect for the Mods.
BTW, a nice build-in grammar checker would be nice. I am not a native english speaker, i think i have a correct use of the lenguage, but from time to time i make some grammar mistakes, and a grammar checker is a very usefull tool to solve that.
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I don't know why we're going over this still, but I have to point something out:
Things like the word 'moar', 'orly', 'lol' (to some extent), a few other set words have become part of the online lexicon. They really -are- words at this point. "Moar" means 'more than more' or 'more with more emphasis', so on and so forth. 'Orly' is a statement of disbelief or amusement. "Lol" is a statement of amusement. They have been used so much that they have become real words. I hate to break it to people, but that -is- how words come to be.
So, no, these won't be infracted. Because they're not mispelled. That is how you spell these words. However, "gobling" is not a new word for goblin, 'cos' is not a new word for "'cause" or "because". These were taken from the earlier link.
I also have no idea why the grammar and spelling rule gets so much ire. This is a forum. The basis of communication here is the English language. If you misspell it, or misuse a word, or your grammar is faulty, it makes it harder to communicate. So the rule is there so people make sure we all understand what each one of us is saying. It's a simple thing.
As far as I can tell, based on reading all of this. The guy was not banned for "poor spelling."
He was banned because he was repeatedly asked to not break a rule, and did anyway.
It does not matter if the rule was a 'minor' one or not. Its a rule the majority of us thinks is a good one, all-be-it a minor offense.
BUT, he blatantly told mods on the forum, and in real life, "I will not follow that rule, and will break it as much as I want." THAT is why he was banned. It does not matter HOW small minor the offense was (and we all agree that 'bad spelling' is not a big deal) if he WILLFULLY refuses to follow the rules, he does not belong here.
Supposedly he was banned for disobeying rules for THREE YEARS. What drove the ban? If it was a continuous offense then he should have been banned THREE YEARS ago. Only now they decide to. Thats the irritating thing AND people fail to realize that reading his posts are quite entertaining as it helps understand people who are learning English. Its quite simple to read his posts. Its not hard. The human brain is capable enough to decipher much harder things. Such as learning a new language.
As I mentioned in my earlier post, skip and continue. Not hard.
Its just this site is full of tattletales and little babies that they do not comprehend how good his posts are for this site for the above mentioned reasons.
Carrying out rules should not be handled on a random but consistent basis.
And I cant believe Im actually wasting my time posting here when I should be in the Rumor Mill.
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Why not? My best friend was an IDIOT, no matter how he tried he always failed at everything. He was stupid, he is screwed for life. Should he simply be killed for being stupid? It's not his fault. He probably cant spell as good as this banned fellow here lol. I have a sympathy for stupid people because I have seen it first hand. Some people are just damn stupid.
But then again, this guy seems to be just a straight up jerk based on what everybody says.
Also, does firefox actually have an option to give you an alternate word or does it just underline words that are spelled incorrectly? I have firefox at home but I don't know if there is some kind of spellcheck similar to Microsoft word. If it is just the red underline, he pretty much had to go to dictionary.com to check every word. That's a lot of words for that guy lol.
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the world needs ditch diggers my friend. no simpathy is given for stupidness from me.
if you choose to blatantly ignore the rules after many warnings and refuse to do something about it, you deserved to be banned.
Exaggeration much? When did I signal I was for the euthanasia of the stupid? Not getting a free pass means not automatically going easy on them because they're too dumb to know what the hell is going on. If someone is that dumb and they are disruptive and can't learn from their mistakes, they don't need to be here. Simple. As. That.
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Kind of like the jocks who beat you up in highschool had no sympathy for the weak.
My point is if he really was just an idiot I would think he could have some leniency. But then again, he blatantly said "screw you" to the mods. So its more of a defiance ban than a spelling ban. I don't think the mods would truely ban someone for simply being bad at spelling.
RIDE FOR THE FALL OF HIS POWER FIGHTING THE STORM, THE ROAR OF THE THUNDER, ALLY OF THE SUN AND THE MOON... GREAT SWORDMASTER RULE!
Let's do something like, I don't know... Give you appendicitis, or sue you, or rob you, or, hell, let's be nice, send you on a paid flight to the Bahamas for a week.
Now, if you're okay with having a doctor, a lawyer, a police officer, or a pilot, respectively, any of which outright refuse to do what they should because they don't feel like it, or because they're simply an idiot, then I'll be happy to table a motion to my fellow moderators to unban Galvatron.
Society doesn't give 'leniency' to those who are an 'idiot', or who are simply mentally slow. Those who are slow don't get important jobs. The 'idiots', as you call them, still get arrested and fined, or jailed, if they break laws. Or, if their mental deficiency is particularly notable, put in a hospital. They don't get 'leniency'. If they steal something, they're punished. If they kill someone, even if they're not in their own right mind, action is -still- taken.
To a lesser extent, the same is here. We can, and do, explain the rules to you. We can, and do, offer to help you with the problem. We can, and do, give ways for you to fix the problem. But if you can't understand the rules even after all this, or simply refuse to follow them, we infract you. We've done all we can.
Galvatron knew the rules. They had been explained in painful detail. He had been shown where he went wrong and why. He was given options to help him out with his spelling. He refused.
And no, I don't think there's any problem with forcing him to look in the dictionary if he doesn't know which word is correct in the spell checker. If HE doesn't know which word he needs, how am I supposed to know which word he means? There's a big difference between meat and meet, there and their, been and bin. Sentences change in meaning depending on what word is used. And if the meaning of his sentence is indiscernible because of the lousy spelling, there's no point in posting the sentence in the first place. Which is why the infraction is there. So if he doesn't know which word he needs when the spell checker gives him his options, yes, I'll tell him he needs to go to Webster.com and check each word until he finds the one he wants.
Seriously, this is stuff every native English speaker learns throughout their schooling, and stuff that every non-English speaker does to use English.
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So you banned him because he purposely defied the mods and said screw the rules. Don't say you banned him because he was a bad speller. My whole point is you shouldn't ban somebody because they can't spell. You can ban him for being a jackass on purpose.
And this is mtg salvation, not "society". There is nothing to lose nor gain from this website. Unlike real life.
If you truely say you banned him for bad spelling, thats just a case of poor character on the mods part. If you say you banned him for being a jerk and saying "screw you" to the mods, then yes that makes sense.
All this nonsense about stupid people in real life being on the low social rung and can't have decent jobs and such is irrelevant on an internet forum.
Also I'm not saying you should bring him back. I agree that he was a jackass.
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Indeed. In fact, I would feel comfortable saying that most of the people banned on this sight say "screw the rules".
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By the bye, for those that aren't aware, horrible spelling and grammar -is- against the site rules, with a rule for it specifically. It's laid out there, and there's nothing vague about it. It wasn't put there for him, either. Fortunately, we don't have to enforce it much.
My helpdesk should you need me.
However, this prevailing mentality that he 'just couldn't be bothered' is not correct. He is slightly...blah I don't know what word to use..mentally deficient, I suppose.
Even if he wasn't, I don't feel that this banning is justified. Because frankly, you should not get warnings/infractions for poor grammar/spelling in the first place. People don't get warnings/infractions for slang, even if it is really obnoxious slang. This really is not different.
But if he's been banned, I guess it's just spilled milk.
It's not 'spilled milk', it's ridiculous, and it's just a convenient cover story. It's not a coincidence that, for years now, he just accrued warnings. Mikey becomes an Admin, and he's banned a week(hyperbole) later? Yeah. Sure, it's a coincidence. Mikey is about as intolerant of anyone not like him as a person can be.
Galvatron's mentality was not 'screw the rules'. He got offended when people criticized him, and his reaction was to pretend to be a tough guy. Never seen that one on the internet before, right?
And seriously, the idea that someone got banned for bad grammar is complete comedy. As was just pointed out, whomever did the spoiler misspelled a word. Where is the warning/infraction for that person? Do I get to report every post that uses the orly owls or lolcats now? I doubt it. But why not? The people that reference them are willfully violating the rules of the site, and are enacting the same 'screw the rules' mentality that people are trying to enforce against Galvatron here.
I'm sure that someone is going to claim 'Moderator Discretion' now. That notion doesn't hold up to something like getting infracted for bad grammar. It is a complete slippery slope.
Yes, that certainly is hyperbole given that Mikey's been an admin for six months. And he wasn't even the one that banned Galvatron; it was Annorax (as can be evidenced by reading the thread of suspension/banning announcements.)
From the descriptions I've read of discussions other moderators have had with him, "screw the rules" was exactly his mentality.
We don't infract people for making a single spelling error. We infract people who are clearly making no effort whatsoever to make sure that their posts are even readable. Galvatron's posts fell into the latter category.
Wow, fact check time.
Been an admin for months now. Since Valentine's Day, in fact. So, yes, hyperbole.
Warnings are for new posters or minor offenses when it's clear the offender was unaware or otherwise unclear on the rules. Galvatron stopped accruing warnings in 2006. When I was just a small-time mod of Entertainment and WCT, if you're wondering if I used my position to push an agenda of intolerance. He was earning infractions before I was even a mod, if you want to be accurate.
I was not the staff member who spearheaded Galvatron's ousting. I wasn't even the one to second it. The staff had more or less agreed to the idea long before I chimed in. So, sorry to crap all over your "mikey is a power-mad intolerant bastard" conspiracy theory, but, well, you know.
Listen, Cyan, I know you hate me. I don't know why, I never did. Every time you tried to argue why, your arguments never quite make sense. Nor are they ever particularly grounded in reality. But this decision wasn't really mine and this is not a great situation to launch another round of "{mikeyG} is terrible", so let's just skip it, yeah?
Archatmos
Excellion
Fracture: Israfiel (WBR), Wujal (URG), Valedon (GUB), Amduat (BGW), Paladris (RWU)
Collision (Set Two of the Fracture Block)
Quest for the Forsaken (Set Two of the Excellion Block)
Katingal: Plane of Chains
Somewhere up the page, someone stated that this isn't real life, but what difference is there between real life interactions and computer mediated ones? Many of us know each other in real life, some of us are in the same playtest groups, this is just another faction of our everyday lives. I wouldn't discredit that very easily.
As for Mikey, whether he is tolerant or intolerant is not being called into question. He has nothing to do with Galvatron being banned.
But in the end, this thread has been about whether or not we think bad spelling is a bannable offense.
My Response:
No. I think bad spelling is inevitable. The development and rise of technology has made many a generation into terrible spellers. However, I think the real issue is what Annorax used as a ban reason. The reality is, the guy took no effort to fix his ways in 3.5 years. His real ban reason should be ignoring moderator requests.
I know this makes us sound arrogant, but it shouldn't. Every single moderator/global/admin on this site has some form of investment into this community. When people are publicly defiant or they cause stress for other members of the community, then action needs to be taken or this site will start to decline.
If he hadn't outright said he'll never change (and doesn't care about the rules), would he have been suspended instead of outright banned? Possibly, but that doesn't really mean he was banned for it. He was banned for repeated disregard for the rules, just like every other banned person.
One thing that does bother me a little, though, is that I was under the impression that this sort of situation is exactly why we implemented the increasing suspension length rule. Giving a person a year or two to either lose interest in the site or clean up their act being seen as more "humane" than outright banning, or something. I do think that banning him is the appropriate course of action this time, though.
Don't know Galvatron, but seems clear that he didn't had a second chance, but a sixteenth chance, and once again he broke the rules.
Posing as a tough guy doesn't warrant him to go against the site rules, so, he must learn that there are rules everywhere you are on this life, and even if he get offended, he must respect them.
Don't like the rules, don't stay under them, 'cause once on that condition, you'll must walk on the rules' line.
Seems that the ban reasons got clear, and it seemed fair to me and to most people around, so i can't see why this thread should going further.
Being a non-native english speaker would be an excuse for him on his first couple years, since many guys, right after they learn english, they try to go internet to correspond with native english speakers, but further than the first couple years that should be treated as an infraction as well.
Native english speakers must make understandable sentences right away, no excuse for kid's internet typing mode.
I know IMDB has that option, as do other forum sites.
Extended suspension were instituted as a means of supporting rehabilitation. And it was proposed for use in this situation, but was overruled since it was deemed by the staff that rehabilitation just wasn't going to happen in this case. We would normally err on the side of caution, but this was a special case where the user in question had repeatedly told the staff that he wasn't going to change. Under no circumstances. A such, we felt an extended suspension was not a useful path in this case.
Archatmos
Excellion
Fracture: Israfiel (WBR), Wujal (URG), Valedon (GUB), Amduat (BGW), Paladris (RWU)
Collision (Set Two of the Fracture Block)
Quest for the Forsaken (Set Two of the Excellion Block)
Katingal: Plane of Chains
Halted Asylum, you perfectly resumed my ideas after reading the 5 pages of the thread. The problem is not Galvatron bad grammar, but the 16 warnings and his disrespect for the Mods.
BTW, a nice build-in grammar checker would be nice. I am not a native english speaker, i think i have a correct use of the lenguage, but from time to time i make some grammar mistakes, and a grammar checker is a very usefull tool to solve that.
MTGO Newbie
Current Decks:
Standard: Just drafting for the moment.
Modern: Affinity
Things like the word 'moar', 'orly', 'lol' (to some extent), a few other set words have become part of the online lexicon. They really -are- words at this point. "Moar" means 'more than more' or 'more with more emphasis', so on and so forth. 'Orly' is a statement of disbelief or amusement. "Lol" is a statement of amusement. They have been used so much that they have become real words. I hate to break it to people, but that -is- how words come to be.
So, no, these won't be infracted. Because they're not mispelled. That is how you spell these words. However, "gobling" is not a new word for goblin, 'cos' is not a new word for "'cause" or "because". These were taken from the earlier link.
I also have no idea why the grammar and spelling rule gets so much ire. This is a forum. The basis of communication here is the English language. If you misspell it, or misuse a word, or your grammar is faulty, it makes it harder to communicate. So the rule is there so people make sure we all understand what each one of us is saying. It's a simple thing.
My helpdesk should you need me.
He was banned because he was repeatedly asked to not break a rule, and did anyway.
It does not matter if the rule was a 'minor' one or not. Its a rule the majority of us thinks is a good one, all-be-it a minor offense.
BUT, he blatantly told mods on the forum, and in real life, "I will not follow that rule, and will break it as much as I want." THAT is why he was banned. It does not matter HOW small minor the offense was (and we all agree that 'bad spelling' is not a big deal) if he WILLFULLY refuses to follow the rules, he does not belong here.
Period.
As I mentioned in my earlier post, skip and continue. Not hard.
Its just this site is full of tattletales and little babies that they do not comprehend how good his posts are for this site for the above mentioned reasons.
Carrying out rules should not be handled on a random but consistent basis.
And I cant believe Im actually wasting my time posting here when I should be in the Rumor Mill.