Two reasons, mainly.

Abge was looking to re-retire and hand over authority to the mod team.

Since we allow banned users back on site after a while (Sandgoose, Agent K [well, he was voted away]) why not give mods another shot? Last fall was a very, very frustrating situation and all of our nerves were frayed by it. We nearly lost half the mod team to it. Needless to say, that's not what forum moderation normally is going to be like, so I wouldn't expect the excesses seen then to reappear.

I think a lot has happened this weekend and I think everyone should calm down and step away for a bit. It's a gaming site and this is a forum, not the secret headquarter for deciding all things important in life. We are working on the rules and we will get them out as quickly as possible.

In regards to Fasces, the evidence was presented to the mod team, to the Vdip mod team, to me as well as to Oli. Both teams and the site owners agreed that it was completely unacceptable. Captainmeme, an admin there, supported Fasces's ban here. I am not sure what else is needed. I think anyone who thinks that there needs to be a trial, evidence presented, falsification test to be done, and so forth is operating under a serious misconception of how internet sites work (and the mods should be spending their time moderating games and making sure they run smoothly).

Fasces agreed to a set of rules when he joined the mod team. He broke them. He was banned under said rules, agreed and accepted by both mod teams and site owners. Pretty straightforward to me.

I would appreciate any further concerns be emailed or PMed to me.

And semck,

There is a clear rule that mods cannot - ever - talk about mod tools and capabilities. It may not be known to the community, but its existence is unquestionable.

So you're looking to evidence as to how he broke the rule, which has been erased, correct? Since we're not able to see directly what he wrote, I would suggest looking to VDip as a proxy. Separate mod and management team over there. They've stripped him of his mod status there and nearly banned him themselves. That should be enough evidence of itself.

Thank you, mods, for all that you do.

If, hypothetically, one were to download a copy of the site, determine the scope of mod functionality, and post it on the forum, what would be the response from site moderation/administration/ownership?

ghug, go read rule this conversation, then go read our rule on common sense. It should answer your question.

Jmo, what if this had happened with someone who had never been a mod though? If I had made that post instead of Fasces, would I have been banned?

Depends on why they did it, it would probably be deleted though, and at that point we'd probably have to make a site rule saying deliberately hurting the mod team's ability to catch cheaters isn't allowed. Although I doubt anyone in their right mind would argue that that isn't covered by the common sense rule. Every case is situation though, and handled on a case by case basis, since every case has different factors. If you have any more concerns on the topic I expect you will follow our site owners advise and email him about them.

In that case jmo, will you be deleting YJ's post in his thread? Aside from revealing "mod secrets", he also used the word "access" as a verb. Inexcusable.

I've had a private conversion with jmo, in which I was asked to refrain from discussing the subject publicly and instead email someone who he acknowledges will not consider my concerns. I'll be doing that. I encourage y'all to do the same.

What forum posts did he get banned for? I have a lot of the recent drama threads muted, but am kind of curious about the specific details on this aspect.

We don't get to know.

Ignorance is Strength

I think everybody needs to calm down a bit, including the mods. I didn't question the mods decisions, but the tone of the last messages started to give me a bad taste, as if the mods feel the users that doesn't agree with all his decisions are a problem to the site.

+1 if you survived the weekend of the long knives

I think tempers were a bit frayed towards the end of last night, but I don't think neither jmo nor I meant that users that do not agree are a problem. I meant to say that if anyone has further concerns, they can email to me, but if what I said sounded differently than that, that was my fault.
In any case, I have received some lengthy and detailed PMs or emails and would happily receive more. I will try to respond to each within 24 hours.

Zultar - my temper was fine, no problems at all.
If only we could say the same about the Mod team :-)

I don't particularly care if he "signed" an agreement, banning someone over talking about a feature of an open-source website is the most stupid thing I've seen recently. I'm going to go download the source code and look for this functionality, and shout it from the mountaintops.

*sigh*, ok Chaqa, you do that.

Close the door on your way out.

Why do people line up to get banned just so they can prove to everyone how self-righteous they are?

Because over the past few weeks several notable players have been banned or silenced for stupid reasons, and it's getting out of hand.

And you getting yourself banned as well by attempting to provoke the mods... that would help improve the situation HOW exactly?

http://static.giantbomb.com/uploads/original/9/98500/2482257-7363449609-Under.jpg

Posting selfies is less likely to get you banned.

Under the spreading chestnut tree
I banned you and you banned me.
There lie they, and here lie we
Under the spreading chestnut tree.

Jamiet on politics: "AUTHORITY IS EVIL"

Jamiet on webDip: "AUTHORITY IS LOVE."

@ Chaqa: "Jamiet on politics: "AUTHORITY IS EVIL" "

Um..... really? I think you've mis-understood my political views. I usually get accused of being an authoritarian when it comes to my political views. I'm a massive statist. Authority is necessary.

You do not respect their authoritah. Makes me wish my username was "Cartman" or at least one of the mods was...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gx4jn77VKlQ

There is a user called Cartman but he played one game in 2010 and hasn't been on since.

An ideal candidate, in other words.