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Thats great that he got a refund and admittedly I know little about Gwar and this situation.

However its probably worth noting that this thread is still open and discussion still taking place; also looks like people enjoyed his contributions to the forum so it does look like a muddy situation.

He seemed relatively harmless from what I remember but he did get involved in heated discussions. Dakka's moderator team will handle this professionally and reasonably.

First I hear word that Stelek was apparently banned from his FLGS, and now GWAR! banned from Dakka. Granted it's two totally different venues, but two people who while I often disagreed with, but who equally often posted some good thought provoking stuff having action taken against them from above. I suppose it doesn't mean anything but I find it interesting.

There are a few issues raised by members here so I'll work through them, rather than PMing individual members with fragments:

1: Being a DCM does not 'protect' a member from warnings/punishments. It is a contribution that allows access to the DCM mosh pit forum where there is (almost) no limit on what can be posted, and IIRC has only ever been moderated once, due to confusion when it first started over what was allowed to be posted.

2: The dakka rules state that Dakka is a family friendly site. Profanity is not allowed, including in pictures (which is why the 40k humour threads kept getting shut down, IIRC one didn't even make it to the end of the first page before someone posted an inapproriate pic). Attempts to circumvent the swear filter are not allowed either.

3: Each poster is responsible for what they post. If you post a pic on dakka, you are responsible for actually reading it so that it complies with my second point.

4: Members are given multiple 'chances'. If you break a rule for the first time you get a warning (usually a couple). Then a 1 day temp ban, then 3 days, then a week, then a month.... if you keep posting offensive material/are not complying with the dakka rules after that it is a permanent ban.

5: Due to the scale used in point 4 if you rack up multiple disciplinary actions, you run the risk of major punishment for what new or non-problem (for the lack of a better word) users would recieve would get a warning.

6: This is the important bit when you remember the scale in point 4: Gwar! has had x2 month long bans prior to the current month long ban. As he eluded to in his post (Gwar2) the reason he was not permabanned was that since the last month long ban the moderation team felt that he had truely made an effort to improve the style of his posting to become much less confrontational, the avoidance of a permaban was on my initiative.

7: The moderation team have a forum to post/discuss any discretions by members, so that we can keep a track of who has done what and where they are on the scale in point 4. The moderators know we aren't perfect and can make mistakes but this method allows multiple views to be expressed so the most appropriate outcome can be reached.

8: Bans can be lessened/ lengthend/ kept the same if there is consensus by the team/Yakface rules otherwise. The current month long ban was put up for discussion and the consensus was that it was appropriate. I made the call, it was agreed to, it stays in place.

9: Gwar! was welcome to return after the current ban ran its course. However he has indicated that he does not wish to. I did not ask him to stay away permanently, nor to the best of my knowledge did anyone else. From what I read in his Gwar2 post he made the decision himself to stay away after the ban ended.

I still call BS on this one.
Its like arresting a killer for stealing a pack of gum from a shop.
Lets face it, how many of Gwars suspensions have been brought about by him being baited by another member?

Or, do you not want to get into that?


Also, i see the convo on the MOD's thread isnt really going anywhere, no such thing as a "for" argument, it was a simple everyone agrees to make life easy.


Just a point while im here though, so, if a MOD posts an offensive pic, or has a personal attack on someone will anything be done?
since following on from rule #3 it should be.



also, on a lighter note, i want to actually thank yak for giving him a refund.
Never have had a fault with yak as he has allways seemed fair.

JD21290: Yakface has raised the issue of inappropriate pics/posts with individual moderators, to my knowledge no disciplinary action has been taken.

Also I'm moving this to discussions as that is a more appropriate place for the thread.

I think that he got his money back speak very well of Dakka, or at least Yak. He didn't need to (legally I imagine), there is no incentive to, and it probably cost him something in time if not paypal fees or something.

So, MOD's can break rules and walk away fine?
Of course rules change slightly for moderators, but they should not be able to break rules if and when they want.

So, the next time a MOD does have a personal attack (i can think of 3 MOD's for this) i simply waste time reporting it?
May aswell say my piece in the future then and have done with it.

JD21290 if you (or any other member) feel a moderator is breaking dakka rules, contact Yackface by PM or email and add a link to the message so he can check it himself.

Yakface deals with issues with moderators, not the moderators. As IMHO it should be.

But he cannot check every post or thread, which is why he has the mod team. And why the useralert button was installed, and why he askes to be contacted if a problem is not fixed to your satisfaction.

We do this for free. I personally spend 1-2 hours per day on dakka (on top of working full time + young family + studying) and most of that is doing moderation. I have particular forums I prefer to go to, and post as I work through threads/posts.
I do it because dakka is a great place to discuss the hobby we are all here for, and I am sure the other moderators feel the same.

Many users believe that dakka is one of the least moderated forums (in terms of intervention by the moderation team) of the major GW based forums. I've seen it posted many, many times over the years. That is what we are aiming for, and in no small part it is because the dakka users are self moderating and help new users with the style of posting present on dakka, and because when needed the moderators stop the inapropriate posts and users from dragging dakka down.

After your last post gonads does it really seem worth the time?
Rather get my say in and take the actions afterwards than stay quiet and let it die down.

I know moderators do it for free, im aware of that, i just feel that certain MOD's tend to have different standards towards each member on here.
Fair enough, they are human, but they shouldnt let judgement be swayed by personal preference.

Dont get me wrong, i get on well with alot of the moderators, but there are still some who see it as a place to have thier say without being able to be questioned.

Waaagh_Gonads wrote:and because when needed the moderators stop the inapropriate posts and users from dragging dakka down.

Now this is meant to just be a question, not a challenge of any sort. Do you feel that a poster who contributes as much as Gwar, regardless of personal feelings towards him, does deserve to be suspended for a whole month for an honest mistake while other users seem to be able to act with impunity?

JD21290 wrote:So, MOD's can break rules and walk away fine?
Of course rules change slightly for moderators, but they should not be able to break rules if and when they want.

Well, it's not like this is a democracy. A great deal of successful Internet forums are dictatorships, and that's for a good reason.

People tend to forget that they have no 'rights' here. Freedom of speech is not a given.


And yes, I appreciate the irony of me saying that...

JD21290 wrote:After your last post gonads does it really seem worth the time?
Rather get my say in and take the actions afterwards than stay quiet and let it die down.

I know moderators do it for free, im aware of that, i just feel that certain MOD's tend to have different standards towards each member on here.
Fair enough, they are human, but they shouldnt let judgement be swayed by personal preference.

Dont get me wrong, i get on well with alot of the moderators, but there are still some who see it as a place to have thier say without being able to be questioned.

I agree with JD for this. Never have we said dakka have strict rules ( i think we are relaxed and the rules are appropriate )
its just we sort of see some sort of " double standard " , i know its not intended because many of the times the rules are broken with light hearted jokes etc etc.
However, against people with vendetta i often seen it abused , especially against Gwar! .

To be fair , he is the one member on Dakka that i have seen been trolled numerous times ( whether he deserved it or not is irrelevant )
and the trolls have done it over and over again through the threads ( which leads to believe they arnt warned / or they dont care about the consequences )

Agamemnon, things like this tend to lead to MOD's thinking too highly of themselves and making rash judgement based on thier own personal beliefs.

As Stynier posted, Gwar contributes alot of these forums, alot more than most here on dakka.

Just seems like a judgement that should be thought through a little more than it allready has.



From what i know, Stelek recieved alot more punishments from MOD's than Gwar ever has, so i dont see how they could actually think about a perm-ban.

Also, there are currently 2 more members of dakka who have recieved alot more punishment than Gwar and are still here now.

Did Gwar! get notified about the thing written on the picture? Or did we just take immeadiate action? I just want to know and the Mods decision is final.

GW sending C&D's to its community and now Dakka doing the same?!?! (JOKING)

But I definitely side with the double-standard present in moderators specifically when the topic concerns politics or religion or really anything where people are passionate. I understand the challenges faced in moderating but past conduct can be described as less than professional but overall its a smooth sailing ship.

It seems pretty harsh to ban a guy that just recently signed up as a DCM even though he does seem to have a checkered history...but it can be said a lot of us posters have our moments including me. Of course I'm assuming the picture was more along the lines of a common curse word than something incredibly malicious like hate speech.

Ultimately its up to the mods but it seems like there are regulars who are standing up for Gwar and question the nature of the ban; might be worth relooking into?

Holy gak, would you look at that? im not the only one who thinks MOD's have over reacted to this.
Funny that

Maybe it should be the MOD's who are looked into rather than members?
Lets face it gonads, you said this was ment to be a happy site where everyone enjoys it, now how do we do that with MOD's that love thier double standards? Seems somewhat ironic to me.

I don't think him being a DCM should have any measure over this (and neither does Gwar), like the mods said. I'm just intrigued by the situation and passing on the message from Gwar about emails.

I'll just need to ask one very simple and basic question.

Has Gwar! ever behaved badly without prior provoking by the trolls / anti Gwar's arrogance group ?

You guys dont like his arrogance ( i think confidence ) i get it. But whether he deserves this is irrelevant.

Stynier, MOD's get double standards for free, maybe normal members should get double standards when becomming a DCM to make up for it?

Gonads, your 'written in blood' post scared me. Was that intentional?

I don't frequent YMDC, as it generally dissolves into unwinnable arguments. Consequently haven't crossed paths with Gwar much. I got impression that he wound a lot of people up which is all too easy on the internet. Still, if he got a lot of warnings, he should have made an effort to tone down his posts. Siding with the Mods on this one.

Cane wrote:GW sending C&D's to its community and now Dakka doing the same?!?! (JOKING)

Maybe it's a conspiracy, GW told Dakka to get rid of Gwar! cause he kept poking holes in their already flimsy rule sets :p

Seriously though, the MOD's do a great job on Dakka. Having been here a short but enjoyable time, I can see that Gwar! is quite difficult to handle sometimes, especially in the YMDC forums (sometimes his tone is a bit "how can you be so stupid?") with many people actually stating that they avoid said forum because of Gwar! The 'camels back + straw' analogy seems to be the most accurate to me

And c'mon, a month is like nothing. I'm sure he can spend it actually going outside into the sunlight and witnessing the world without the faint buzz of a computer monitor :p noone has said he is permanently banned

Also, like Gonads said, if you have a problem with a MOD, then raise the issue, don't be so vague and name names and offences

Plus, people who have power will always have a sort of "double standard" relationship with regular folk, that is what having power is. I have yet to witness a MOD using said powers for evil! Ooooh, got a bit Spiderman there!

JD21290 wrote:Stynier, MOD's get double standards for free, maybe normal members should get double standards when becomming a DCM to make up for it?

I'm not really gonna touch that one, I'll just point out that the only times I got in trouble were after becoming a DCM.

Flashman wrote:Gonads, your 'written in blood' post scared me. Was that intentional?

I don't frequent YMDC, as it generally dissolves into unwinnable arguments. Consequently haven't crossed paths with Gwar much. I got impression that he wound a lot of people up which is all too easy on the internet. Still, if he got a lot of warnings, he should have made an effort to tone down his posts. Siding with the Mods on this one.

He wasn't banned for the tone of his YMDC posts, but for posting a picture with a naughty word.

I'm sure he can spend it actually going outside into the sunlight and witnessing the world without the faint buzz of a computer monitir :p

Thats actually a personal attack

Also, like Gonads said, if you have a problem with a MOD, then raise the issue, don't be so vague and name names and offences

Also, no action is taken from doing so, as gonads has said.


why dont people like Gwar? Most of the time it tends to be due to him proving them wrong, and they end up pissed off with him.
This leads to him being baited by them, and the MOD's jump at the chance to do something.

JD21290 wrote:Thats actually a personal attack

It's actually not, Gwar! himself has always refferred to himself as such, and I find it quite humorous and charming about him :p

Flashman wrote:Gonads, your 'written in blood' post scared me. Was that intentional?

When I wear my moderator hat I always post in red, or use italics. Occasionally I'll make it larger font to attract even more attention.

Dark Lord Seanron wrote:

JD21290 wrote:Thats actually a personal attack

It's actually not, Gwar! himself has always refferred to himself as such, and I find it quite humorous and charming about him :p

No , only after a certain individual done it atleast 5+ times without a single warning .
nothing is done about it.
Whats Gwar! going to do about it since mods doesnt? Cry about it knowing nothing will be done? or laugh along with it?

DLS: Like it or not, its still a fething personal attack, no matter how you say it.
also, it makes it worse that your pretty much saying it behind someones back as they are unable to reply to it.


Once again, this would be classed as flamebaiting, which, tends to be fair enough by MOD's ideas.

Hold your horses there sparky! Again, I wasn't attacking Gwar! in the slightest, simply using his own phrasing to inject a bit of humour and whimsical memory of the man who refers to himself as "the troll!"

I happened to like Gwar! quite alot, I just recognise he is probably a MOD's nightmare made flesh :p

Plus this is an open forum, so Gwar! can view it without posting. I'm saying nothing behind anyones back, because Gwar! and myself have had that discussion before. I think you need to get off your aggressive foot my good sir. Again, I'm quite fond of Gwar and his posts (the SW character post was hilarious) but I think you are searching for things to rage about when they aren't there!

JD21290 wrote:

I'm sure he can spend it actually going outside into the sunlight and witnessing the world without the faint buzz of a computer monitir :p

Thats actually a personal attack

Also, like Gonads said, if you have a problem with a MOD, then raise the issue, don't be so vague and name names and offences

Also, no action is taken from doing so, as gonads has said.


why dont people like Gwar? Most of the time it tends to be due to him proving them wrong, and they end up pissed off with him.
This leads to him being baited by them, and the MOD's jump at the chance to do something.

No, I said 'to my knowledge no disciplinary action has been taken'.

Gwar! (to his credit) has been remarkably restrained in responding to personal attacks the last few months, and numerous users have recieved discussions/warnings/punishment for baiting him. The number of people attacking him to provoke a response had dropped markedly.
He did not recieve a ban for responding to baits (and when reviewing issues we do take baiting into account). He recieved a ban for posting an pic containing profanity.