# User requested bans



## The Dark Knight

For several years we have had a policy of issuing user requested bans. This policy was created by the previous owner and administrator of the forum and has continued up to the present time. The original intent was to restrict access to the forum for those who asked as a way of limiting their access if they needed a break or wanted to spend less time here and focus on other things. However, there have been numerous problems with this policy for a long time. Bans are being requested as a way of seeking attention or protest, only to be reversed later. We've also seen many, many cases of members returning with new duplicate accounts after requesting their ban; sometimes within days of the ban being issued. Plus there have been numerous user requested permanent bans which have been reversed by request in the past month alone. There also seems to be a misconception that requesting a permanent ban will result in account deletion which is not true, as well as the extra burden placed on the staff with the near constant ban requests being received every day.

The staff has discussed these problems and possible solutions and we all reached an agreement. Ultimately we feel it should be up to the members themselves to control their own browsing habits if they wish to restrict their activity here rather than relying on the staff to do it for them. There are numerous browser add-ons and site blocking software available online if anyone feels they need to block themselves from the forum. We believe any benefit of the existing policy is overshadowed by the abuse we've seen in the past. Therefore we have decided to discontinue the policy of issuing user requested temporary and permanent bans effective immediately. All previous user requested permanent bans will remain in effect and can be lifted by request once the 30 day period has passed since the ban was issued. All previous user requested temporary bans will also remain in effect until they reach their expiration date, but can also be reversed once the mandatory two week period has passed from the date of issue. No new user requested bans will be issued from now on.

Hopefully everyone will understand our reasoning for reaching this decision. Thanks!


----------



## komorikun

Makes sense.


----------



## Steinerz

Understood. I have noticed this in the past as well with people asking for bans just for the attention.


----------



## In a Lonely Place




----------



## Canucklehead

So I can't ragequit again and request a ban :'(

(maybe they all might understand my pain if i ban myself! /wrist)


----------



## arnie

What option does that leave users then?


----------



## WillYouStopDave

You know there are other reasons why someone might do this besides the ones mentioned or any intent to be abusive.

If, for instance, someone needed a completely different name because someone was stalking them or something. This could be a very bad situation.


----------



## In a Lonely Place

WillYouStopDave said:


> You know there are other reasons why someone might do this besides the ones mentioned or any intent to be abusive.
> 
> If, for instance, someone needed a completely different name because someone was stalking them or something. This could be a very bad situation.


If somebody is being stalked I'm pretty sure they can take it up with the mod team in private and something will be sorted out for them.


----------



## Ventura

I think not allowing self bans can be great. I hated when member's perma banned themselves ion sites and a lot of the time they ban due to self destructive thoughts (e.g no one likes me, everyone hates me here, I said something in the debate thread I shouldn't have). Type of mindset. There minds go into panic and banning themselves they think will help with anxiety. After several days they realize they let there anxiety over react. I don't think it's attention seeking but due to mental health.

But catch 22 - the reason the old owner put it on was because very well known (normally harmless) members where doing things irrationally due to anxiety and was trying to get perma banned but not on request since it wasn't on at that point. (e.g posting porn).

Could add something like this on SAS (however a self banner) with a notice about it saying moderators/ admins wont/ can't unban once they choose to.

http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?t=105181


----------



## The Dark Knight

arnie said:


> What option does that leave users then?


Participation in the forum is and always has been completely voluntary and at each member's own free will. Nobody is being forced to come here, if someone no longer wants to be here its as simple as leaving and not returning.


----------



## millenniumman75

I can only guess that this issue has only gotten worse since the previous owner left.
I remember vividly having this as a moderator discussion and all of the confusion it causes - and the mess it leaves in the software trying to track everything.

In other words, it drove us crazy then, and it only got worse.


----------



## tbyrfan

arnie said:


> What option does that leave users then?


Exactly.



The Dark Knight said:


> Participation in the forum is and always has been completely voluntary and at each member's own free will. Nobody is being forced to come here, *if someone no longer wants to be here its as simple as leaving and not returning.*


Are you serious? It's not that "simple". There are a good number of members on here who are unhealthily addicted to this site and don't have the self-control to leave, so they request a ban.


----------



## Crimson Lotus

There's a simple way of permanently "banning" yourself or at the very least making your account unusable.

Simply write a random string of numbers and letters in a document, copy it, make a new e-mail account and make that your password, also make that e-mail your contact one in the forums and then change your forum password to the same random string. Now delete the document.

Voilà, your account is now permanently inaccessible since you don't know the password for it nor can you send a recovery mail since you also don't have access to the e-mail account. 

Which doesn't mean you will have cured your addiction but at least that way you're not pestering the mods about it.


----------



## Persephone The Dread

I've actually only requested temp bans in the past because it was the only way to guarantee I wouldn't come on this site since those add-ons have never really stopped me before (with this site or others.) But I understand your decision here, it must be very annoying if so many people are requesting them.


----------



## tbyrfan

DerSteppenwolf said:


> There's a simple way of permanently "banning" yourself or at the very least making your account unusable.
> 
> Simply write a random string of numbers and letters in a document, copy it, make a new e-mail account and make that your password, also make that e-mail your contact one in the forums and then change your forum password to the same random string. Now delete the document.
> 
> Voilà, your account is now permanently inaccessible since you don't know the password for it nor can you send a recovery mail since you also don't have access to the e-mail account.
> 
> Which doesn't mean you will have cured your addiction but at least that way you're not pestering the mods about it.


This is a good idea. I hadn't thought about this. My point was that it's patronizing to tell people on a mental health forum that it should be simple for them to not come on here anymore.


----------



## arnie

DerSteppenwolf said:


> There's a simple way of permanently "banning" yourself or at the very least making your account unusable.
> 
> Simply write a random string of numbers and letters in a document, copy it, make a new e-mail account and make that your password, also make that e-mail your contact one in the forums and then change your forum password to the same random string. Now delete the document.
> 
> Voilà, your account is now permanently inaccessible since you don't know the password for it nor can you send a recovery mail since you also don't have access to the e-mail account.
> 
> Which doesn't mean you will have cured your addiction but at least that way you're not pestering the mods about it.


You could take this a step further and have an email containing your password sent to yourself on a future date using a service like this: http://www.emailalibi.com/ This will effectively ban you until you get the email.

Don't know how reliable that is though, so don't blame me if your password gets lost forever. :stu


----------



## In a Lonely Place

tbyrfan said:


> My point was that it's patronizing to tell people on a mental health forum that it should be simple for them to not come on here anymore.


I don't think anyone is implying that it's simple tho in the end we all have to take responsibility for ourselves. It's nothing but aggravation for moderators to constantly be banning and unbanning people on what often turns out to be a whim.


----------



## tbyrfan

In a Lonely Place said:


> I don't think anyone is implying that it's simple tho in the end we all have to take responsibility for ourselves. It's nothing but aggravation for moderators to constantly be banning and unbanning people on what often turns out to be a whim.


I'm not so sure about that. I understand the rule, but the post came across as condescending. Plus this might lead to the rules being a lot more lax regarding what leads to a ban. They're pretty lax as it is.


----------



## In a Lonely Place

tbyrfan said:


> I'm not so sure about that. I understand the rule, but the post came across as condescending. *Plus this might lead to the rules being a lot more lax regarding what leads to a ban.* They're pretty lax as it is.


How so?


----------



## The Dark Knight

tbyrfan said:


> Are you serious? It's not that "simple". There are a good number of members on here who are unhealthily addicted to this site and don't have the self-control to leave, so they request a ban.


Everyone here has made the decision on their own to join this forum and the choice to return. Nobody is being forced to come here. Being part of an online forum means each member must assume the responsibility for their own actions. It should not be up to the staff to restrict someone's access to the forum other than as a method of punishment for their own behavior. The sheer number of these requests we receive every week along with the continued abuse through ignoring the rules made us reach this decision.


----------



## tbyrfan

In a Lonely Place said:


> How so?


There are several things that might happen. It might lead to all bans being seen as too much work, meaning that users will be able to get away with much more bad behavior. On the other hand, making this rule could give the mods more time to handle real issues such as users that are harassing others/breaking forum rules/etc. We will have to see.


----------



## tbyrfan

The Dark Knight said:


> Everyone here has made the decision on their own to join this forum and the choice to return. Nobody is being forced to come here. Being part of an online forum means each member must assume the responsibility for their own actions. It should not be up to the staff to restrict someone's access to the forum other than as a method of punishment for their own behavior. The sheer number of these requests we receive every week along with the continued abuse through ignoring the rules made us reach this decision.


This has nothing to do with my comment. I don't mind the rule because there are other methods that members can use to restrict access to this site. I was only making the point that it's not "easy" for everyone.


----------



## WillYouStopDave

In a Lonely Place said:


> If somebody is being stalked I'm pretty sure they can take it up with the mod team in private and something will be sorted out for them.


 I'm pretty sure there are lots of situations that fall completely outside of that presumptive response. You simply can't handle every situation with such a canned solution.


----------



## In a Lonely Place

WillYouStopDave said:


> I'm pretty sure there are lots of situations that fall completely outside of that presumptive response. You simply can't handle every situation with such a canned solution.


Oh really? Please tell me more, let's think outside the tin for a while.


----------



## tbyrfan

WillYouStopDave said:


> I'm pretty sure there are lots of situations that fall completely outside of that presumptive response. You simply can't handle every situation with such a canned solution.


I couldn't agree more.


----------



## In a Lonely Place

^ He knows, you liked his post already lol


----------



## tbyrfan

In a Lonely Place said:


> ^ He knows, you liked his post already lol


Got a problem?


----------



## In a Lonely Place

tbyrfan said:


> Got a problem?


No I was just messing around.


----------



## shyvr6

A quick search on how to block a website will show several browser add-ons and tutorials with illustrated guides on how to do it. The majority of them are fairly easy to follow.

Doing it this way takes some self-control, but it will allow you to leave and return whenever you like. Now, there are no more waiting periods if you decide to change your mind a couple days into your ban, and you don't have to make a duplicate account in order to come back before your ban has expired.

It was mentioned about users trying to get banned on purpose. I would suggest not going this route. If you decide to do that and you want to return later on, there is no coming back. Any caught duplicates will be banned.



WillYouStopDave said:


> I'm pretty sure there are lots of situations that fall completely outside of that presumptive response. You simply can't handle every situation with such a canned solution.


We've dealt with unique situations before like stalking incidents for example and we'll continue to do so in the future as they're presented to us.


----------



## minimized

I didn't see this before. I'm already missing the option to restrict myself from wasting time here.

Think it makes more sense to make people wait out their requested bans than force someone to go out of their way to stop themselves from wandering back here.

I'm going to be here forever though...


----------



## estse

Eventually people leave of their own free will. Seems quite reasonable to me to live and let die. I don't know why these endless debates go on when "nothing is going to change" as changes are being made.


----------



## ohgodits2014

Too bad the people who regularly complain about how things are run around here and then come back to post some more hadn't taken advantage of this option when they had the chance.


----------



## Orb

Thread closed for conflicts.


----------

