Rules/Guidelines (PLEASE READ)

    Hello everyone. One reason a lot of users wanted additional admins was to create some concrete rules around here, so that is what we've done. If you think we've missed anything or you have a disagreement or question about the rules then please feel free to comment. One of us will answer your question and we will consider any request for a change in rules.


    THE RULES


    1. No insults or abuse. Don’t call other users names to hurt their feelings, there’s no need for it. This extends to threats or any kind of intimidating behaviour
    2. Don’t try to stir the pot or provoke/bait other users. There are going to be disagreements and that’s fine but if we think anyone is trying to cause unnecessary drama we will take action.
    3. Do not attempt to belittle, ridicule or condemn people due to their race/religion/sex/sexual orientation/gender identity/nationality/etc. This could be as a direct insult or a more general comment. Whatever, we don’t want to see it.
    4. No double accounts. If we find any we’ll ban the second account and temporarily ban the main account. If you create another account while banned, in order to circumvent that ban, the penalty gets automatically upgraded to permanent ban. There will be no exceptions.
    5. Post in English. We appreciate that users here come from all over the world but this is an English language forum so please post in English so we can all understand.
    6. Don’t go off-topic. Obviously one conversation sometimes leads to another but if you go too far off-topic for too long we will ask you to return to the topic and if you continue ignoring the topic stricter action will be taken. If you want to continue your off-topic discussion then stay respectful of other users and open a new thread. Any account we deem to be a spam account will be deleted right away.
      1. Any post considered irrelevant or deliberative off-topic will be deleted straight away
    7. Don’t spread fake news. We understand that mistakes can be easy to make but try to be careful. News should be posted with official links where possible, if you have doubts about the legitimacy of the source, you should make that clear in your post - don’t present it as official news in this case. If you want to post news from a foreign-language source (i.e. a source from a language you don’t speak) then ideally you should ask someone who can speak that language what it says, rather than posting a potentially poor translation. We realise that this may be difficult in the some cases so we won’t prohibit the posting of foreign-language news, but you become responsible for the translations you give and if these are inaccurate then you may be violating this rule.


    Relatively minor violations of these rules may result in your post being deleted or a post from an admin telling you to stop. If you continue, you will receive a PM from an admin again telling you to stop and explaining the consequences if you don’t, which will depend on the frequency of the transgressions but will range from:

    1. Official warning
    2. 1-week ban
    3. 2-week ban
    4. 1-month ban
    5. Permanent ban

    More serious violations, like a breach of rule 1 or 3, may result in an immediate warning. Once warned, your next transgression will see you banned.

    Just want to add two little notes. First, let me assure you that permanent bans won't be done lightly, and when someone is perma-banned, know that all 3 of us have agreed on that measure. Second, 1-month will be results of accumulation of rule breakings, and consider it your last warning to change before permanent ban.

    Your commentary sounded a little bit disrespectful and I think it was an unnecessary remark toward Russia and Janko tried to stated that to you.. we are trying to maintain a respectful environment here, being called off is not abuse of power

    You already made your point, and nothing that I have to say will change it... I already said my opinion and if you are not accepting, there is nothing more to say to you... So, calm down with the posts, there is no necessity for that many

    Okay, so let's talk about it without fighting or pointing fingers... Even if you think that you are posting something harmless, some people could feel offended by that, and if we, the adms, spot that, we need to point that out.. hell, last night I edited one of my post more than 5 times because I thought that I could sound pretentious and xenophobic, even if it wasn't my intention... There are ways and ways to phrase what you said but it sounded wrong and Janko tried to say that to you... What I'm saying is, it's not that there is one person, one adm who doesn't like you that it's deleting your posts... if you had accepted the criticism, or at least trying to argue in a calm manner (preferably with a personal message), nothing this would've happened but you stick to it and tried to pick a fight... and we have Rule 6 saying we are going to delete post that are deliberating going off-topic... We are not acting in personal vendettas against members, we are trying to create a good environment for everyone

    .. Is that fair? Did I answered your question now?

    no, you didn't.


    nothing i said was derogatory to any group of people, except the russian sports authorities, that were caught committing doping crimes. so if you don't like that, you are just denying facts. as for what i said sounding wrong, i can say the same about janko's comments.


    there are lots of comments here that are much, much worse, there are lots of off-topic comments, tons of them, all the time.


    he has no right to indiscriminately delete posts simply because he disagrees. he's not a neutral party in a dispute.

    it’s very clear that the current administrators are not fit for their roles, specially janko.


    a good moderator should have: diplomatic skills, a sense of humor, a light hand, an even hand, a sense of fairness.


    janko has none of the above. he’s clearly biased, tendentious, arbitrary and capricious. he is not fit for this role.

    ossubtus


    The initial interaction between you and Janko was no big deal at all in anybody else’s mind but you’ve blown it out of all proportion. You were given a warning because ALL 4 of the (active) admins agreed it was the right decision, not for your initial comment but for the rather immature outburst that followed.


    You simply can’t expect to criticise an admin or any other member of the forum repeatedly and not face any consequence. If you wanted to make a complaint then there are better ways to do it, sending PMs would be a good start and doing it in a civil, non-insulting way would be even better.


    Just to make it totally clear to you and any other user reading this: we (as an admin group) regularly discuss various incidents that happen in the forum and we only take major decisions together, this is how nobody becomes “absolute monarch” as you put it.


    I strongly advise you to calm down and stop stirring this pointless argument.

    I agree with everything said above, plus for public transparency, it was me who sent you the warning after we discussed it in the Admin team, and my message to you IMO still was polite and de-escalating, because I don't think anyone wants to visit a volleyball forum to read or have fights.

    let’s recap what happened, shall we?


    if as all of you have admitted, there was NOTHING wrong with my original post, then why was i given a public warning by janko, specially one with such a sarcastic tone? my original post was not a personal attack on anyone here or any athlete.


    and worse, janko deleted all my replies because apparently no one can argue with your majesty. (and as you can see above, my posts were again deleted.)


    as i said above, it’s not your job as moderators to censor people or abuse your power.


    as for my supposed immaturity, do you read the boards at all? do you read the daily inane, off-topic, dumb posts ? and none of them get a warning.

    You're not fooling anyone, and do you know why? You may not know this particular feature of the site, but mods/admins can still read the deleted posts, even those posts deleted by other admins. All 3 of my colleagues have read all of your deleted posts, and they know what immature, aggressive tone you conveyed in them. In addition, you called not just me, but Matthias and sloth "jokes", so who do you expect to fool precisely?


    And again, it is not for your initial joke you were warned, but for your numerous childish outbursts afterwards.

    Quote

    you guys are just totally whack. you sound like putin’s little handmaidens.

    Your quote from post #8 directly addressing sloth, which can still to this day be read by all 4 of us.


    And Matthias told us that you called him "joke", twice, including just now, because we communicate about everything among ourselves, as we repeteadly stated. And even knowing all this, you come with this weak sauce, knowing you are sealing your own fate?:down: