Reporting, and Infraction disputes -UPDATED-

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Update: 2/12/2009:
The "InfractionPM" account is a bot. Don't respond to PMs sent by it.

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Lately, there has been a number of cases of either confusion or complete misunderstanding in regards to these two subjects. So, I want to take a moment to explain when it's appropriate to report, and what isn't appropriate behavior.

So, when you see a post that you believe is a violation of the rules, what should you do?


*Southperrian has posted in a thread that no one has replied to in a month.
[LIST=4]
[*]Call him an idiot
[*]Report the post and move on
[*]Post in the thread notifying Southperrian of his mistake without reporting it
[*]Post in the thread with something like "inb4lock"
[/LIST]
The proper course of action is to report the thread and move on. Insulting Southperrian isn't going to help him learn, nor is it going to encourage him to stay here. By posting in the thread and telling him he shouldn't have done it, you may think you are helping him. However, this doesn't help us to take care of the problem, and he may not come back to the thread to see your post. "Inb4lock"... I don't think I need to say anything about that. It's clearly spam.

*Southperrica asks a simple question in the wrong section.
[LIST=4]
[*]"OMG N00B use SEARCH!"
[*]Report the post and provide a link to the answer
[*]Report without replying
[*]Take advantage of the situation to ask an unrelated simple question
[/LIST]
In this situation, it would be appropriate to Report with or without replying. You're not obligated to search up their answer for them, but it would be a kind thing to do. Calling them a noob is blatantly inappropriate behavior, and while it may be annoying to have these kinds of topics crop up often, you must restrain yourself and simply report it. Should someone answer Southperrica's question, that doesn't give you the right to hijack the thread to ask your own question. Either make your own thread in the proper section, or search up the answer yourself.

*Mean old Southperrino has flamed you!
[LIST=4]
[*]LET HIM FEEL YOUR FIERY WRATH ACROSS THE FORUMS!
[*]BATTLE TO THE DEATH: it's not over till the thread gets locked.
[*]Fight where no one can see - take it to PMs.
[*]Report without taking the bait
[/LIST]
While it's very tempting to respond in kind, "He started it!" isn't a valid excuse for flaming. If you flame back, be prepared to accept an infraction for it. Taking your fight outside of the thread it started in isn't a good idea either. Once it's locked, it's over with. Put it behind you. If you choose to spew insults over PM, these can be reported as well. Should you receive a nasty or cruel PM, simply PM myself or one of the moderators and let us take care of it. Whatever you do, don't get caught up in fighting. They want you to fight. Deprive them of what they want and report it, that's the best way to win.

Here is another type of situation that has surfaced recently (I do appreciate the increase in reports)

Southpaire makes a comment you don't like!

• Post a well thought out and logical rebuttal
  
• Provide evidence to the contrary without support
  
• Call her names
  
• Report it!
  

The correct answer is the first one. Providing evidence would also be acceptable, but if you want to convince someone you're going to need to do more than that. Flaming people isn't right, but reporting someone's post just because you disagree with them is almost equally bad.


If you should happen across a violation of the rules that doesn't fall into one of these categories, just report it! there's no penalty for making an invalid report. While we may not like dealing with them, we'd much rather get a lot of reports, where a few are invalid, than little or no reports at all.
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On the subject of Infraction disputes, I'm not sure how well known the policy on this is. If you receive an infraction that you believe you did not deserve (after looking over the rules and this thread.) then you should PM a moderator, state the name of the infraction and the post (forwarding the infraction PM would be the best way to do this), and a well thought out reasoning for why you didn't deserve it. They will either uphold the decision, or bring it to the rest of the staff for discussion. If it's a clearly incorrect infraction, then they may reverse it immediately (Say, for example, that the wrong person was given an infraction.) and apologize for the mistake. If the moderator decides to uphold it, you can try asking me. Think of the Admins as the supreme court of infractions: we get the final say, and if it's upheld by one of us, then it's not getting reversed period.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

Links that may help clarify the situation should be necessary in this announcement.

http://www.southperry.net/forums/showthread.php?t=1
This shows the general guidelines and infraction types.

Is it just me or is it a shame that things like this need to be pointed out? Then again a lot of people don't know how to properly report so eh.

This was good to point out:

Should someone answer Southperrica's question, that doesn't give you the right to hijack the thread to ask your own question. Either make your own thread in the proper section, or search up the answer yourself.

I sorta agree with almost everything, but not fully. Regarding PMs, I don't see a need for reporting other people with PMs UNLESS they argued in a very cruel and demoralizing manner. Usually, PMs are safe because you're staying away from the public so you don't cause drama or start anything.

I never see anything wrong with that. If they're getting annoyed with the person PMing them, is there not an option to blacklist or block the certain user? If you don't have that option, why not implement it?

Is it just me or is it a shame that things like this need to be pointed out? Then again a lot of people don't know how to properly report so eh.

This was good to point out:

well, see, I think part of it is not understanding how the report system works. I know at Sleepywood I rarely ever reported things because I didn't want to make the mods wade through dozens of extra reports, assuming that stuff was already reported. But it doesn't really work that way, and the extra reports are not at all annoying.

On the other hand we have a really bad "No snitching" movement forming and it's just ridiculous. "No snitching" is what people who knowingly do things against the rules say to cover their asses.

I sorta agree with almost everything, but not fully. Regarding PMs, I don't see a need for reporting other people with PMs UNLESS they argued in a very cruel and demoralizing manner. Usually, PMs are safe because you're staying away from the public so you don't cause drama or start anything.

I never see anything with that. If they're getting annoyed with the person PMing them, is there not an option to blacklist or block the certain user? If you don't have that option, why not implement it?

well, obviously reporting PMs is up to you personally. I'm referring more specifically to when someone floods an inbox with disgusting images or massive amounts of insults/racial slurs/etc. This has happened before, and it's not going to be tolerated at all. And yeah, I do believe there is the ability to block someone from PMing you if they are being annoying, but usually when the harassment reaches that level it's time for someone else to step in.

I sorta agree with almost everything, but not fully. Regarding PMs, I don't see a need for reporting other people with PMs UNLESS they argued in a very cruel and demoralizing manner. Usually, PMs are safe because you're staying away from the public so you don't cause drama or start anything.

I never see anything wrong with that. If they're getting annoyed with the person PMing them, is there not an option to blacklist or block the certain user? If you don't have that option, why not implement it?

Can I block posts, emails and messages from specific users?

If there are particular members that bother you and you do not want to see their posts or receive Private Messages and Emails from them, then you can add these members to your 'Ignore List'. There are several ways to do this:

Through your User Control Panel: User CP, Settings & Options, Edit Ignore List. Then, click on their name and choose: User List, Add to Ignore List

I've seen this used quite a few times on sw.net. So far I haven't found any need for it though.

I sorta agree with almost everything, but not fully. Regarding PMs, I don't see a need for reporting other people with PMs UNLESS they argued in a very cruel and demoralizing manner. Usually, PMs are safe because you're staying away from the public so you don't cause drama or start anything.

I never see anything wrong with that. If they're getting annoyed with the person PMing them, is there not an option to blacklist or block the certain user? If you don't have that option, why not implement it?

i had a guy harras me trough pms once, insulting and sending links i never clicked but prob pics or viruses, who knows. point is i reported him it was a duplicate acc and issac took care of it. i ignored the guy and that was that. i dont need some looser trying to annoy me in sp thats for sure.

thing is ppl can just make accounts and pm you all day long since dup acc isnt a sin here unless you abuse them

How do I Report.

no srsly

Below other people's posts, next to the "online/offline" indicator, there's a button that says "Report!" just click it, and write in the reason you are reporting it.

How do I Report.

no srsly

press here

Here is another type of situation that has surfaced recently (I do appreciate the increase in reports)

Southpaire makes a comment you don't like!
1. Post a well thought out and logical rebuttal
2. Provide evidence to the contrary without support
3. Call her names
4. Report it!

The correct answer is the first one. Providing evidence would also be acceptable, but if you want to convince someone you're going to need to do more than that. Flaming people isn't right, but reporting someone's post just because you disagree with them is almost equally bad.

5. Drug Isaac and make him tell you his username and password, then come up with an excuse to lock Southpaire's thread.

I have one question when it comes to using the REPORT function.

What's the consequences for misusing or abusing that function?

I have one question when it comes to using the REPORT function.

What's the consequences for misusing or abusing that function?

Unless you excessively misuse it (I'm talking 10+ blatantly false reports) there's not going to be an issue. If you do that, you'll probably get an infraction (but before that I will directly explain what you've done wrong in each case, and then give you one more chance.) so yeah, you REALLY have to be oblivious to get in trouble for it.

Wait, someone can get an infraction if they post in the wrong thread? Even if was on accident? Wouldn't it be better if the post just gets deleted?

where did you get that from? It doesn't say that here. O_o

"hijacking" implies deliberately derailing a thread for your own use.

I necroposted for accident. Is there something I can do to reverse my infraction or at least can you delete my post in that thread?

I necroposted for accident. Is there something I can do to reverse my infraction or at least can you delete my post in that thread?

'Tis only a warning. Not that big of a deal. Just wait for it to expire or something.

Yep, it expires on it's own. Don't worry over 1 infraction, everyone makes mistakes from time to time.

can i ask why i got a infraction on a picture i had. when i tried to make it smaller it keeps gettin removed. When it only shows the top half on my end. I dont understand why it keeps saying i am needing to resize it after the older ones were removed?