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Penny-Arcade Forum Staff Can Go Fuck Themselves!
14 years ago
I love Penny-Arcade. I love the comic and the forums. I've been a member of the forums since 2004 and have been reading the comic much longer. I am a regular contributor to the forums posting, and creating new threads, some of which are 3+ years old and still have people posting in them. Not only that, but I regularly give back to the forums in various ways up to and including giving out tons of free games to forumers. I am even debating having a Penny-Arcade forumer meetup at my home at some point.
With all that in mind, fuck the forum staff. I know that admining and modding forums can be a tireless and thankless job, but I'm still irate right now. In the 8 years I've been posting on the forums, I've always done my best to follow all the rules and behave in an appropriate manner. I've been infracted 5 times, and am currently jailed on the forums, meaning I can't post new threads, I can't edit my posts, I can't post images, my new posts are now time delayed, etc. I've not earned a single one of the infractions I've gotten over the years, and at this point it is enough to put me into a small rage, requiring me to make a post to vent about it.
I'm going to now list all my infractions and why I never deserved to get them:
Infraction #1
Somebody on an Apple thread spent several pages trolling me after I asked what they assumed was a stupid question about an iPod. After multiple pages of this person not letting up, and people telling him to repeatedly shut the fuck up and leave me alone, I finally made a snarky reply to them in my next completely on topic valid response. I was making a real post in the thread and threw in a backanded comment. I didn't flip out, I didn't curse, I just acknowledged the person trolling me with a subtle insult. I was immediately infracted. People posted and told me that I shouldn't have been, it should have been the other guy for 2-3 pages solid of poking, even another moderator agreed. When I tried to PM the mod that infracted me I never got any sort of reply, this turns into a bit of a pattern.
Infraction #2
Somebody made a thread with a picture from a particular internet meme asking about the origin of the picture. The question was eventually answered, but several other people posted other pictures in the thread that were variations of the same meme. I myself posted a picture of my favorite variation of the meme. Without warning we were all infracted for either trolling or being off topic. I meant no ill intent, and when talking about a fucking meme I'd imagine that posts regarding it even if not answering the original question would be on topic. I sent a PM to the mod in question explaining that I never meant any harm and was ignored.
Infraction #3
Somebody was talking about my favorite game of all time in a thread, then lamenting the fact that the game was so far out of print that it probably wouldn't work on modern day machines. I made a post letting him know that a developer approved version of the game was available on a particular abandonware site and was promptly infracted. Now on the Penny-Arcade forums most talk of abandonware is a big no no as a basic CYA (Cover Your Ass) rule, it's close enough to piracy that it makes people uncomfortable and sometimes piracy related problems can arise with abandonware/abandonware sites. There is a rule on the forums that if you want to make a thread about an abandonware game you have to bring your request before the staff and get it approved before hand to make sure no problems arise. I mentioned that I wasn't making a thread but merely mentioning a DEVELOPER APPROVED location to get the game. I couldn't imagine what trouble the forums could get into when the developers themselves say, "Hey the game is a decade and a half old and out of print for so long that you couldn't buy it anywhere anyway. We are just happy that people still want to play it, sure go to X site and download with with our blessings." But I got a blunt, thems the rules, tough shit. That smacks as complete and utter following the letter of the law while totally ignoring the spirit of it.
Infraction #4
I made an innocent fat joke in a thread about the 3DS where somebody made a sarcastic joke themselves about the distance that you have to walk every day on the pedometer to earn system coins was making him exhausted. The person laughed at my joke and replied in kind. I was promptly infracted, and when I asked why I was told because I had trolled that other poster. When I explained that it was just a joke and noted that the user also joked back, I was told that jokes are indistinguishable from actual insults and if I had a problem with it I could take it up with the head admin. Well first of all, wow. So nobody is allowed to joke about anything ever because it might in some way shape or form be misconstrued as an insult unless you add 17 winking smilies at the end, and secondly, so this mod just took it upon themselves to become offended on behalf of the person? Me thinks that somebody might be a little fat themselves and took it personally. Also I've tried taking multiple issues up with the head admin and in 8 years have only gotten one reply, and that was not directly, but through another mod, so fat lump of use he is.
Let me also just add a little bit to Infraction #4. I was infracted for an innocent fat joke even after explaining myself, yet someone who recently thanked Osama Bin Laden in a thread because 9/11 caused a game he wanted to be released a couple days early was not. When I asked why I was and he wasn't, I was told that people just need to get a thicker skin over that. WHAT?! What the fuck?!
Infraction #5
Microsoft announced Kinectimals Bear edition. So the next couple pages of the generic "videogame industry" thread that it was posted in devolved into various jokes about bear related games. I posted my own joke about it possibly being a game about Bear Grylls drinking pee via Kinect motions, or possibly a game about gay bears. I posted the following picture:
http://www.bears2twinks.com/leather.....-gay-bears.jpg
I was told by other posters that, I might get in trouble for posting that image. I replied with, "I looked for a picture that didn't break any rules. No naughty bits are showing what so ever, he's clothed with only chest and tiny bit of thighs showing, and I've seen people post pictures of RL, videogame, and anime, guys and chicks wearing far less. The only problem I can really see with that pic is, "Ewww gay..."
I was then not only infracted, but my post was deleted, and I was jailed for it with a jibing comment from a mod that not only was it unacceptable, "It was off topic."
So in a thread where the last 2 pages were nothing but bear game related jokes, I was the one that was off topic. I also showed several examples that took me a few minutes to find of things on the forums that were as bad if not worse than what I posted.
I was told that the bit of inner thighs that were showing were unacceptable, so I posted this:
http://forums.penny-arcade.com/disc.....Comment_150202 I see plenty of inner thighs there.
I was told that there was a bit of a bulge showing and that is unacceptable, so I posted this:
http://forums.penny-arcade.com/disc.....Comment_151067 Not only does this guy have a full on massive, visible boner, but this photo spawned several pages of discussion when it was posted.
Then to top things off I posted the following picture to show that pictures of men wearing a TENTH of what I posted never posed a problem in the past:
http://forums.penny-arcade.com/disc.....Comment_151764
I even offered to post more pictures, as many as I had to showing years and years of the exact same kind of thing if not worse being posted with no problem or punishment and was told, that those other pictures might be bad too, but because they weren't punished then doesn't mean I can't or shouldn't be punished now.
I was also told that it was NSFW, and when I flabbergastedly asked why people at work should assume that reading videogame forums is alright, but seeing a provocatively, yet mostly dressed gay guy is not, I was brushed aside because one is goofing off and the other is possibly browsing porn. Oh in an incredibly offensive fashion one of the mods told me that I probably wouldn't understand the difference between just being unproductive at work and browsing possible porn at work because, "You have trouble holding down a job, so I couldn't imagine you actually understanding the concept."
In short, I respect the people that work hard to keep the forums running and enjoyable to all, but when you rule however the hell you feel like and unevenly enforce rules, you can go fuck yourself. I've always been an upstanding member of the forums and never done anything wrong, yet am continuously punished for nothing. It fills me with impotent rage, because there is nothing I can do about it. I just have to grin and bear it, because if I want to continue being a part of the awesome forums, I have to put up with occasionally being punished for no good reason. In the end it really is a matter of follow and put up with our arbitrary enforcement or leave, you aren't being forced to stay. That and, well you know that eventually you'll be punished for something, no matter what you do, so just "deal with it" when it happens.
With all that in mind, fuck the forum staff. I know that admining and modding forums can be a tireless and thankless job, but I'm still irate right now. In the 8 years I've been posting on the forums, I've always done my best to follow all the rules and behave in an appropriate manner. I've been infracted 5 times, and am currently jailed on the forums, meaning I can't post new threads, I can't edit my posts, I can't post images, my new posts are now time delayed, etc. I've not earned a single one of the infractions I've gotten over the years, and at this point it is enough to put me into a small rage, requiring me to make a post to vent about it.
I'm going to now list all my infractions and why I never deserved to get them:
Infraction #1
Somebody on an Apple thread spent several pages trolling me after I asked what they assumed was a stupid question about an iPod. After multiple pages of this person not letting up, and people telling him to repeatedly shut the fuck up and leave me alone, I finally made a snarky reply to them in my next completely on topic valid response. I was making a real post in the thread and threw in a backanded comment. I didn't flip out, I didn't curse, I just acknowledged the person trolling me with a subtle insult. I was immediately infracted. People posted and told me that I shouldn't have been, it should have been the other guy for 2-3 pages solid of poking, even another moderator agreed. When I tried to PM the mod that infracted me I never got any sort of reply, this turns into a bit of a pattern.
Infraction #2
Somebody made a thread with a picture from a particular internet meme asking about the origin of the picture. The question was eventually answered, but several other people posted other pictures in the thread that were variations of the same meme. I myself posted a picture of my favorite variation of the meme. Without warning we were all infracted for either trolling or being off topic. I meant no ill intent, and when talking about a fucking meme I'd imagine that posts regarding it even if not answering the original question would be on topic. I sent a PM to the mod in question explaining that I never meant any harm and was ignored.
Infraction #3
Somebody was talking about my favorite game of all time in a thread, then lamenting the fact that the game was so far out of print that it probably wouldn't work on modern day machines. I made a post letting him know that a developer approved version of the game was available on a particular abandonware site and was promptly infracted. Now on the Penny-Arcade forums most talk of abandonware is a big no no as a basic CYA (Cover Your Ass) rule, it's close enough to piracy that it makes people uncomfortable and sometimes piracy related problems can arise with abandonware/abandonware sites. There is a rule on the forums that if you want to make a thread about an abandonware game you have to bring your request before the staff and get it approved before hand to make sure no problems arise. I mentioned that I wasn't making a thread but merely mentioning a DEVELOPER APPROVED location to get the game. I couldn't imagine what trouble the forums could get into when the developers themselves say, "Hey the game is a decade and a half old and out of print for so long that you couldn't buy it anywhere anyway. We are just happy that people still want to play it, sure go to X site and download with with our blessings." But I got a blunt, thems the rules, tough shit. That smacks as complete and utter following the letter of the law while totally ignoring the spirit of it.
Infraction #4
I made an innocent fat joke in a thread about the 3DS where somebody made a sarcastic joke themselves about the distance that you have to walk every day on the pedometer to earn system coins was making him exhausted. The person laughed at my joke and replied in kind. I was promptly infracted, and when I asked why I was told because I had trolled that other poster. When I explained that it was just a joke and noted that the user also joked back, I was told that jokes are indistinguishable from actual insults and if I had a problem with it I could take it up with the head admin. Well first of all, wow. So nobody is allowed to joke about anything ever because it might in some way shape or form be misconstrued as an insult unless you add 17 winking smilies at the end, and secondly, so this mod just took it upon themselves to become offended on behalf of the person? Me thinks that somebody might be a little fat themselves and took it personally. Also I've tried taking multiple issues up with the head admin and in 8 years have only gotten one reply, and that was not directly, but through another mod, so fat lump of use he is.
Let me also just add a little bit to Infraction #4. I was infracted for an innocent fat joke even after explaining myself, yet someone who recently thanked Osama Bin Laden in a thread because 9/11 caused a game he wanted to be released a couple days early was not. When I asked why I was and he wasn't, I was told that people just need to get a thicker skin over that. WHAT?! What the fuck?!
Infraction #5
Microsoft announced Kinectimals Bear edition. So the next couple pages of the generic "videogame industry" thread that it was posted in devolved into various jokes about bear related games. I posted my own joke about it possibly being a game about Bear Grylls drinking pee via Kinect motions, or possibly a game about gay bears. I posted the following picture:
http://www.bears2twinks.com/leather.....-gay-bears.jpg
I was told by other posters that, I might get in trouble for posting that image. I replied with, "I looked for a picture that didn't break any rules. No naughty bits are showing what so ever, he's clothed with only chest and tiny bit of thighs showing, and I've seen people post pictures of RL, videogame, and anime, guys and chicks wearing far less. The only problem I can really see with that pic is, "Ewww gay..."
I was then not only infracted, but my post was deleted, and I was jailed for it with a jibing comment from a mod that not only was it unacceptable, "It was off topic."
So in a thread where the last 2 pages were nothing but bear game related jokes, I was the one that was off topic. I also showed several examples that took me a few minutes to find of things on the forums that were as bad if not worse than what I posted.
I was told that the bit of inner thighs that were showing were unacceptable, so I posted this:
http://forums.penny-arcade.com/disc.....Comment_150202 I see plenty of inner thighs there.
I was told that there was a bit of a bulge showing and that is unacceptable, so I posted this:
http://forums.penny-arcade.com/disc.....Comment_151067 Not only does this guy have a full on massive, visible boner, but this photo spawned several pages of discussion when it was posted.
Then to top things off I posted the following picture to show that pictures of men wearing a TENTH of what I posted never posed a problem in the past:
http://forums.penny-arcade.com/disc.....Comment_151764
I even offered to post more pictures, as many as I had to showing years and years of the exact same kind of thing if not worse being posted with no problem or punishment and was told, that those other pictures might be bad too, but because they weren't punished then doesn't mean I can't or shouldn't be punished now.
I was also told that it was NSFW, and when I flabbergastedly asked why people at work should assume that reading videogame forums is alright, but seeing a provocatively, yet mostly dressed gay guy is not, I was brushed aside because one is goofing off and the other is possibly browsing porn. Oh in an incredibly offensive fashion one of the mods told me that I probably wouldn't understand the difference between just being unproductive at work and browsing possible porn at work because, "You have trouble holding down a job, so I couldn't imagine you actually understanding the concept."
In short, I respect the people that work hard to keep the forums running and enjoyable to all, but when you rule however the hell you feel like and unevenly enforce rules, you can go fuck yourself. I've always been an upstanding member of the forums and never done anything wrong, yet am continuously punished for nothing. It fills me with impotent rage, because there is nothing I can do about it. I just have to grin and bear it, because if I want to continue being a part of the awesome forums, I have to put up with occasionally being punished for no good reason. In the end it really is a matter of follow and put up with our arbitrary enforcement or leave, you aren't being forced to stay. That and, well you know that eventually you'll be punished for something, no matter what you do, so just "deal with it" when it happens.
That is all...