The MysteryBagger Thread.

King Monkey · Post by **King Monkey** » 28 Feb 2009 08:35

Unfortunately the rule is there for the people who would abuse multiple accounts if it were allowed, but to be fair of course it must be applied to everyone. I dont have any problem with what you were trying to do, it was positive. Unfortunately, historically multiple accounts are used by people in flame wars or to impersonate people for their own idiotic means, and it is the kind of thing we can definitely do without here.

As with many rules in many situations, its to protect the normal people from the nutbags

Blue_turnip · Post by **Blue_turnip** » 28 Feb 2009 13:58

King Monkey wrote:Ollie, do you really think that having a set of rules regarding forum activities which are then ignored by the moderators arbitrarily, would be a good thing for the forums or for the reputation of the moderation staff?

Valid point, but I think it's a bad reflection of the forum rules seeing the mysterybagger account deleted before others.

My argument isn't just about opposing deleting mysterybagger full stop, but because I think its unfair that this account is being deleted while others don't.

King Monkey wrote: Cale: I dont see how you cant understand what ive written there, but ill put the two parts together for you.

calemccoy wrote:care to explain to me why the account got deleted?

Jeremy wrote:Multiple accounts are banned

That looks familiar:

normal guy wrote:Why do homosexuals go to hell?

religious guy wrote:Because homosexuality is bad

Feel there is anything missing in the argument?

The difference here is that there are obv. reasons why multiple accounts are banned but that should probs be elaborated on when enlightening forum users

Jeremy · Post by **Jeremy** » 28 Feb 2009 16:00

I obviously hate fun, but I fail to see what is so good about this game that it should get lead to an exemption to the rules. I'd support moderator discretion on serious issues, but if we're talking about something as trivial as this "guess who I am" game then I think arbitrarily applying the rules makes a lot more sense. Making exceptions to rules that are designed to maintain decorum (something that is often lacking) over an issue that offers no significant benefit to the forum or the majority of users doesn't make sense.

Also when you consider the problems multiple accounts have caused, this is clearly a rule where being too rigid is far better than being too liberal. Straying on the side of caution was the right decision.

Blue_turnip · Post by **Blue_turnip** » 28 Feb 2009 18:18

Yeah, I just wanted a flippin' footbag. I lost my footfighter in tassy

King Monkey · Post by **King Monkey** » 28 Feb 2009 21:27

As far as im aware Cale was told that his account was to be terminated because multiple accounts for the same user are not allowed. I then gave a few quick reasons why we have the 'no multiple accounts' rule. Is there still not enough reasoning being given? What else are the moderators supposed to say?

And when you say it was bad 'seeing the mysterybagger account deleted before others', what do you mean? Which other accounts should be deleted? Are there other users you are aware of with multiple accounts?

Jeremy: Sorry, just to clarify, are you saying the rules should be applied arbitrarily on a case by case basis, or be universal? I think it was the wording of your post...

dyalander · Post by **dyalander** » 28 Feb 2009 23:47

The other thing to remember is that just because you can't run this game using a duplicate account it doesn't mean a similar game couldn't be played within the rules. Sure it won't be quite the same but you could do something quite similiar without having to post with a duplicate account. All you need is someone posting as the mysterybagger's proxy who will post

insert clue to my identity

The mysterybagger will have to keep posting as normal, so as not to be conspicuous by his or her absence and will also have to pm whoever is running the game with stuff to post as the mysterybagger.

Blue_turnip · Post by **Blue_turnip** » 01 Mar 2009 02:40

King Monkey wrote:As far as im aware Cale was told that his account was to be terminated because multiple accounts for the same user are not allowed. I then gave a few quick reasons why we have the 'no multiple accounts' rule. Is there still not enough reasoning being given? What else are the moderators supposed to say?

If you're referring to the first post of the 3rd page, I just missed it and was only looking at the 2nd page. Anyway I felt it should have been mentioned straight off the bat, and if it was in a PM or something, well then I couldn't have known and was just assuming calem hadn't been told because of his posts.

King Monkey wrote: And when you say it was bad 'seeing the mysterybagger account deleted before others', what do you mean? Which other accounts should be deleted? Are there other users you are aware of with multiple accounts?

I meant precisely that there are other accounts on modified.in that it would be in the interest of the community to have a higher priority in deleting. I'm not going to name accounts because a) it's not going to get them deleted, b) I don't really want them deleted (and no that doesn't contradict my feeling that it would be for the betterment of modified) and c) it's just irrelevant - If you are going to be that strict on multi-accounting then I think you should also be strict on other areas. However I don't reckon you should be that strict on multi-accounting and therefore I don't really care about how strict you are on other areas.

And whether I'm aware of other users with multiple accounts, no I don't, but that's also irrelevant.

I totally agree with the deleting multiple accounts rule, and I also totally understand that you want to be consistent in how you mod the forums, but ending the game prematurely is just lame, especially since it was made clear the account would forever disappear (you could just wait a few days and then delete the account). Liek srsly....

Blue_turnip · Post by **Blue_turnip** » 01 Mar 2009 02:50

dyalander wrote:The other thing to remember is that just because you can't run this game using a duplicate account it doesn't mean a similar game couldn't be played within the rules. Sure it won't be quite the same but you could do something quite similiar without having to post with a duplicate account. All you need is someone posting as the mysterybagger's proxy who will post
insert clue to my identity
The mysterybagger will have to keep posting as normal, so as not to be conspicuous by his or her absence and will also have to pm whoever is running the game with stuff to post as the mysterybagger.

That would work out fine, but it didn't really help the situation that arose. Unfortunately calem was unaware of the rule*, and created the account. A post in this thread telling everyone that if they want to do something similar in future to do it without making another account would suffice, without deleting the account.

*It just took me like 5 minutes to realise that the forum rules are only stated in the forum policies discussion forum, and that there isn't a sticky at the top of the kicking circle forum (as IMO there should be, in caps, because its the web and footbag being a small community can't change that

).

Jeremy · Post by **Jeremy** » 01 Mar 2009 03:37

In response to Ian;

I think rules should be applied arbitrarily except in exceptional circumstances - so I guess really I'm saying they should be applied subjectively, but that the subjectiveness should be the moderator thinking "is this a serious issue?" and if it's not a serious issue, as is the case here, they should follow the rules to the letter, regardless of the circumstances. If they decide it really is a serious issue, then they should look at the specifics of the case and decide what the best decision for the forum, the people involved and footbag is, irrespective of the forum rules.

I struggle to think of such a circumstance. Hypothetically perhaps somebody may create a second anonymous account because they want to say something they feel is very important but feel impossible to say it unless they are given an anonymous voice, and perhaps the moderators would deem that people hearing this person is more important than the forum rules. That's pretty hypothetical and it's hard to imagine what that situation could be, especially given the person is communicating anonymously so it would probably be hard to back up what they're claiming.

So apart from such hypothetical situations, the rules should be followed, and if they're not followed in situations that are not serious they obviously need to be changed, rather than disregarded.

King Monkey · Post by **King Monkey** » 01 Mar 2009 05:17

I guess the way i play it (at least at the moment), is that i follow the rules and moderate according to them in a tight a fashion as possible. There are alot of very bored people on this forum who will make mountains out of molehills when the rules are not followed, because they have been reprimanded for breaking the rules in the past. If i was to enforce the rules on someone for one thing, and then not for another thing, the potential for hissy-fits grows significantly, and i have enough other things to worry about.

I didnt expect this discussion to go on for as long as it has so i guess my strategy hasnt quite worked here, but whatev.

For the record, i had nothing to do with PMing Cale or banning the account, however i totally support it.

Moxie · Post by **Moxie** » 01 Mar 2009 11:40

I was the person who PMed him an explained that his account would be deactivated since it was a multiple account. Everything was explained to him in a PM before the account was deactivated.

Blue_turnip · Post by **Blue_turnip** » 01 Mar 2009 13:57

Okay, fair enough.

calemccoy · Post by **calemccoy** » 01 Mar 2009 15:08

i never got to see that final pm while mysterybagger was operational, because the account was deleted, and i couldnt access the inbox. however, i got a email notification of it, and was able to read it a day after i got deleted.

im not angry, i agree with the multiple account deletion rule, and i think that the mods have explained themselves sufficently and politely.

my opinion, as irrelevant and unimportant as it now is, is that waiting until the game was over (not very long off) would have been nicer. however, i completely understand your actions, and dont have any grudges/regrets.

wow, didnt expect this to become a big controversy, just wanted to give out a few bags.... my apologies.

habitat · Post by **habitat** » 01 Mar 2009 15:49

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPZddoqQ9fA[/youtube]

Frank_Sinatra · Post by **Frank_Sinatra** » 02 Mar 2009 07:08

Props on the cool thread, Cale. I wish I would've guessed better, I'd love to add one of your bags to my stash.