Hello there,
Unfortunately we would not be able to return your account to you.
-Westly
Gaia Online Administration Team
On Tue Feb 05 16:02:11 2008, bushpf@mailbox.sc.edu wrote:
>
> You have received a feedback message from Awiergan Resurrection:
>
> Name: Awiergan Resurrection
> User_id: 7747342
> E-Mail: bushpf@mailbox.sc.edu
>
> Message:
>
> TrjnRabbit recategorized warnings in order to abusively ban this
> account, without following proper procedure. In addition, this
> moderator decided to use expired warnings from other accounts as
> evidence against me in specific, without providing evidence of the
> connection between the accounts. In addition, the accounts were not
> active at the same time.
>
> The original message that caused the account to be banned is as
> follows:
> >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
> ******** fail. Users can put whatever the ******** they want in their
> posts, as long as the textual content is at least somewhat relevant
> to the topic and/or forum. If you're so damn upset about it, do
> something yourself. Add a new custom stylesheet to gaiaonline with
> the following content:
>
> tbody .postcontent img
> {display: none;}
>
> This will block images from appearing in posts. Instead of ranting
> about what is perfectly acceptable, you could already have a
> ******** GRF thread up about how to force disable images. Instead of
> oppressing users' rights to their posts, how about you make your
> own solution, aye? I personally like looking at people's flobs.
> >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>
> This post was reported for abuse, and was therefore deleted for abuse.
> I received a warning indicating that further misbehavior would lead
> to my account being banned. Only a few minutes later, before I took
> any additional actions whatsoever, my account, Awiergan
> Resurrection, was permanently banned for abuse and trolling.
>
> I had received only one other warning on the account, which was filed
> incorrectly and I had reported to Melee, several weeks if not
> months before. This account had no other warnings, and had never
> been convicted of trolling. The fact that I was banned for trolling
> indicates some sort of error has taken place. This account also
> never received any temporary bans, which are generally issued for
> minor offenses before permanent bans are issued.
>
> After inquiring about this, I was informed by an administrator about
> the following: "Any user who has previously had an account
> permanently banned can, in their new account, receive a permanent
> ban without any additional warning for repeating that same
> offense." Not surprisingly, I have had a previous account banned
> for trolling. However, I have never repeated the offense of
> "trolling" since then, as I have received no warnings for trolling.
> According to every dictionary I have looked in, "trolling" and
> "abuse" are not the same. Abusive statements are often attacks on a
> user, while trolling is a form of flame-baiting where a user
> disrupts the community in order to encourage attacks, but does not
> directly attack anyone. It is clear that these are completely
> separate offenses and should not have stacked.
>
> I was also informed that creating a new account after my first ban was
> acceptable. As all gold, items, friends, and posts were reset, it
> seemed reasonable that old warnings for unrelated offenses would
> not affect how severe my punishments were on this account. If this
> assumption was incorrect, it is not stated anywhere in the terms of
> service and I was therefore provided with misleading information.
> Had I known that my account could be banned for any, unrelated
> offense, regardless of ordinary moderator policy, I would never
> have stayed with the site nor made regular monetary contributions.
> The fact that my account did make regular contributions, and had
> unspent, purchased gaia cash on the account, demonstrates failure
> on gaia's behalf to deliver a service as advertised. If my account
> is not returned, this will be reported to the Better Business
> Bureau.
>
> While I understand that gaia reserves the right to terminate any
> account, the TOS says nothing about terminating the credit I
> purchased with the site, nor was any explanation offered as for why
> my account was terminated without the due procedure of three
> warnings that other users receive.
>
> Furthermore, I would like to provide rebuttal for the reasoning behind
> the original warning I received. As the questionable part of the
> post is the use of the term "******** fail", which was apparently
> interpreted as an attack on the user. According to many
> dictionaries of internet terminology, "fail" is an adjective used
> to express disapproval of an idea or suggestion. As such, I was
> simply stating that I disapproved of what was being suggested. In
> addition, I am well aware of the "no criticism without merit" rule
> of Site Feedback, which is why I provided helpful information for
> improvements that several users have personally testified to using
> to their advantage.
>
> Due to the ambiguity of the validity of the warning, the lack of
> sufficient warnings to ordinarily warrant a permanent ban, the lack
> of information on the site regarding offenses held by prior
> accounts, the failure of gaia online to provide a purchased
> service, and the controversy of the entire issue (which inspired a
> rather large debate in Site Feedback), I request that the account
> be returned.
>
> Should further offenses be collected on the account, I understand why
> gaia would choose to terminate the account; however, I do not
> believe these actions were necessary or appropriate at present.
>
>
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