UncaYimmy posted on June 05, 2010 02:07
So, I was suspended from Forum Management on the JREF Forums for gaming the system. At the time, no definition existed for that. Since then I have learned that their "definition" is just a vague statement that says, "Whatever we want it to be." To this date, nobody has told me what specifically I did to get suspended. How is anyone to learn to follow the rules if when they are broken, the powers that be don't give any examples?
I was told that someone suggested that I "gamed" the system by opening a thread to ask if I could re-ask questions that were not answered in a closed thread. If this is the case, it's absurd. Let's take this from the ground up.
First, while I disagree with the policy of closing threads in FM, I can see their reasoning. I can also see why they would not want people to open a new thread to ask a question that the mods believed they answered in the closed thread. This is not in dispute.
However, if other people ask follow-up questions, which is what I did, and those questions are not answered (not even an attempt - no further responses by mods), then why should a member be not be permitted to ask them in a new thread? The guidelines for FM say that the mods are expected to "answer all questions within 24 hours." Clearly that's not the case, so a reasonable interpretation is that they only answer the OP within 24 hours, not follow-ups.
But here's the thing: I didn't re-ask my questions. Got it? I did not re-ask my questions. I started a thread and simply asked if members were allowed to repeat follow-up questions for which no attempt was made to answer. I gave a link to the thread in question to establish that this had in fact happened, so it wasn't a spurious hypothetical. Why is that important? Because asking "what if" questions about things that have never happened could be construed as "gaming" the system in that it would be sucking up moderator time for no good reason.
What happened was that I fully believed I had standing to ask those unanswered questions, yet I sucked it up and asked permission to do it not only for myself but for others. That's called showing respect for a system you think is flawed. Under the old FM rules, I would have simply re-asked my questions while pointing out that no mod responded to them the first time. This time I asked permission.
How can this possibly be called gaming the system? What other possible way could I have handled the situation? How could I have written my post without being accused and convicted of an undefined rule? My only alternative would be to not even ask if we're allowed bring up unaddressed questions from closed threads. How is that good for anybody?
I don't know if this is why I was suspended from FM or not. The Admins have not pointed to any specific posts or contacted me with any explanation other than, "you gamed the system." I am not allowed to appeal the suspension because all judgments in FM are final. Members are not allowed to protest my suspension either, because that's not allowed.
It's sad that the JREF has come to this.