Thread: Miserable Users

I. LOVE. THIS. THREAD.

Posting just in case this page get's put on the future E.D. scandal.

Hi mom!

Originally Posted by Kihari

A likely story.

No, I really don't that's going to convince anyone. Not this time.

Considering how many times dragoneer has told the admins/mods to say this cover his ass, you'd have to be drunk, have a concussion and higher than a kite to still believe this excuse.

Originally Posted by LizardKing

Usually I'd agree, but not when you're (in theory) supposed to be providing a good example and trying not to abuse your position of power and... oh who the fuck am I kidding.

Yeah, don't even try with that guy. He appears to think that if you're criticizing someone, the problem is obviously on your end (and not the person who the criticism is targeted towards).

Hey Summercat, maybe you can blame those pesky otters that broke the server last time.

It was weasels. And come to think of it, we never got an explanation for that that wasn't utter horseshit too.

Originally Posted by LizardKing

What a load of bollocks. Why would you even test something that clearly has no other purpose than to piss people off? There are hundreds of plugins available, all far more useful and not designed purely to fuck with people. Even if that was the case, obviously someone still decided it would be a good idea to place those two on the list. That explanation actually sounds even more retarded than it was in the first place.

Oh trust me, quite a few of us facepalmed and headdesked when we found out that this was put in place. As I said, tails will be chewed. As for why those two, they were chosen as accounts from a problomatic thread as part of a test case. In my (personal) opinion, both accounts are close to being removed for other reasons and violations.

That said, I'm going to be on record as saying that implementing this was not a good idea.

Originally Posted by HyBroMcYenapants

I. LOVE. THIS. THREAD.

Haha.

I read that with the gayest voice imaginable.

Originally Posted by Kihari

A likely story.

No, I really don't that's going to convince anyone. Not this time.

It was convincing at some time?

Originally Posted by Zaraphayx

Posting just in case this page get's put on the future E.D. scandal.

Hi mom!

Stop playing on your computer and do your homework already!

Originally Posted by jcfynx

Summercat is Goebbels.

I've heard rumours that Summercat gobbles something, anyway...

I demand an explanation as much as anyone else. Half an hour after the group was removed and I still have no idea while it happened. And neither do Ratte or Summercat, site admins.

As much as we've talked about 'communicating' as forum staff, someone just went over everyone's heads here, and considering that it was an admin-level feature/add on, it was probably senior staff.

Moderator IRC chat is dead. Nothing posted about it anywhere else. I'm waiting, and the longer I wait, the less I'm willing to stick around for an explanation.

Originally Posted by Summercat

Oh trust me, quite a few of us facepalmed and headdesked when we found out that this was put in place. As I said, tails will be chewed. As for why those two, they were chosen as accounts from a problomatic thread as part of a test case. In my (personal) opinion, both accounts are close to being removed for other reasons and violations.

That said, I'm going to be on record as saying that implementing this was not a good idea.

'Not a good idea'.

Understatement of the year 2011 award.

I'm going to need to buy myself some more trophies for this, man.

Originally Posted by Summercat

As I said, tails will be chewed.

That isn't going to be good enough.

I repeat, for the third time:
Who did this?

Originally Posted by Summercat

Oh trust me, quite a few of us facepalmed and headdesked when we found out that this was put in place. As I said, tails will be chewed. As for why those two, they were chosen as accounts from a problomatic thread as part of a test case. In my (personal) opinion, both accounts are close to being removed for other reasons and violations.

That said, I'm going to be on record as saying that implementing this was not a good idea.

No.

If you're testing a plugin for a forum like this, just to see if it "works or not" or whatever the fuck, you take people who are willing to test it for you, or test it on your own side some how.

You don't pick up two people who have been seen as controversial and, without telling them, shove them in that group to "test it".

What the fuck.

Originally Posted by Summercat

Oh trust me, quite a few of us facepalmed and headdesked when we found out that this was put in place.

Yeah, I can imagine. "Oh fuck, they noticed!"

Originally Posted by Summercat

they were chosen as accounts from a problomatic thread as part of a test case

A test case? What were you going to do, send them a questionnaire to rate how annoyed and miserable they are? Why were you even testing it? Was this some grand scheme where you were going to make users miserable instead of just banning them?

None of this explanation makes any sense.

Originally Posted by Smelge

I've heard rumours that Summercat gobbles something, anyway...

And here I always thought he was in #maleyiff, #raisedtailscafe, and #horseyiff at the same time for some other, legitimate purpose.

You have shattered my expectations.

Originally Posted by Qoph

[Things I approve of.]

You are almost my favorite.

Originally Posted by Qoph

I demand an explanation as much as anyone else. Half an hour after the group was removed and I still have no idea while it happened. And neither do Ratte or Summercat, site admins.

As much as we've talked about 'communicating' as forum staff, someone just went over everyone's heads here, and considering that it was an admin-level feature/add on, it was probably senior staff.

Moderator IRC chat is dead. Nothing posted about it anywhere else. I'm waiting, and the longer I wait, the less I'm willing to stick around for an explanation.

Okay so it's none of the mods, it's not ratte and it's a senior staff member with the ability to go over everyone's head, without authorization, without discussion, etc....
...
.....
........
...........
mother fucker

Originally Posted by Pi

That isn't going to be good enough.

I repeat, for the third time:
Who did this?

You can't really weasel an answer out of someone who doesn't know.

Just sayin'.

Originally Posted by LizardKing

Yeah, I can imagine. "Oh fuck, they noticed!"

A test case? What were you going to do, send them a questionnaire to rate how annoyed and miserable they are? Why were you even testing it? Was this some grand scheme where you were going to make users miserable instead of just banning them?

None of this explanation makes any sense.

Oh I love these.

Who is indisputably the most important person on FurAffinity: He who shelters us from the harshness of the internet, and to whom we owe everything we have, including our lives?

* 1 Dragoneer.
* 2 Dragoneer.
* 3 Dragoneer.
* 4 Dragoneer.

I pick 4, did I get it right?

Originally Posted by Diocletian

What was their reasoning behind that plug-in

I can think of quite a few. Big one would be to restrict users to certain areas if they gain too many infraction points. Or instead of temp-banning/permabanning people, give them access to a subforum that they can use to appeal. There are valid uses. The usual one for that sort of software, is a major group, for people over a certain postcount, and allows access to a forum section that would usually be hidden.

Dragoneer.... What the shit were you thinking?

Originally Posted by Smelge

I can think of quite a few. Big one would be to restrict users to certain areas if they gain too many infraction points. Or instead of temp-banning/permabanning people, give them access to a subforum that they can use to appeal. There are valid uses. The usual one for that sort of software, is a major group, for people over a certain postcount, and allows access to a forum section that would usually be hidden.

Except the Miserable Users plug-in doesn't actually do any of that. It pisses people off. That's it. There are perfectly functional plug-ins for that sort of stuff. It's just a plug-in that gives you the ability to make people miserable. Nothing more.

Originally Posted by LizardKing

Was this some grand scheme where you were going to make users miserable instead of just banning them?

I say again, re-read what you just wrote and just try to deny that wouldn't be a great way to deal with people you dislike.

Originally Posted by LizardKing

Except the Miserable Users plug-in doesn't actually do any of that. It pisses people off. That's it. There are perfectly functional plug-ins for that sort of stuff without fucking up everything they do.

It looked to me just like a standard usergroup with restrictions on it.

Originally Posted by Willow

You can't really weasel an answer out of someone who doesn't know.

Just sayin'.

"doesn't know"?

He can explain why they were chosen, offer his own personal (inappropriate) opinion on how likely they are to be banned in the future, and he "doesn't know"? And flat-out asking is attempting to "weasel" an answer out of them?

Seriously?

Originally Posted by Smelge

I say again, re-read what you just wrote and just try to deny that wouldn't be a great way to deal with people you dislike.



It looked to me just like a standard usergroup with restrictions on it.

well it wasn't just a standard usergroup and it's a great way to deal with people you dislike if you're 8

This is the last set of replies for a while, because I need to get a turkey into an oven >

Originally Posted by Fiz

I don't think anyone appreciates being fed bullshit, dude.

My apologies if you're just being told to say this shit when you had nothing to do with it, but come on. It's just not respectful to anyone, not even yourself. :\

No, this is fairly much how it went down. I'm not naming names, because that's not my job - it's the job of the staff member in question, or Dragoneer.

Originally Posted by Diocletian

Summercat or another member of FA staff, please can you answer these questions:

Who did this?

What was their reasoning behind that plug-in and choosing those users?

Why did they not inform other members of staff?

What will be done to make sure this doesn't happen again?

Thank you.

1) Not saying. That's not really something I feel comfortable sharing, so I'm passing the buck to the staff member in question, and Dragoneer. Once they say something...

2) Reasoning was (what I thought was) an idle conversation about this sort of thing. As for those two users, those are both accounts on the "About to be banned" list.

3) I don't know. I can offer speculation, that's it.

4) I'm buying a 2x4, and making some suggestions to Dragoneer on how to handle further changes.

Originally Posted by Smelge

I can think of quite a few. Big one would be to restrict users to certain areas if they gain too many infraction points. Or instead of temp-banning/permabanning people, give them access to a subforum that they can use to appeal. There are valid uses. The usual one for that sort of software, is a major group, for people over a certain postcount, and allows access to a forum section that would usually be hidden.

It's always good to think about all the possibilities for such a thing before pointing fingers while foaming at the mouth, trying to find every little reason why someone is a bad person or whatever. I mean, come on, is everyone really that determined to see blood? Try to at least rationalize a little. Besides, if this was really some underhanded trick, there are several members I can think of who should have shown up.

Oh what am I saying? I should join the mob instead of posting all this wishful thinking.

Fuckin' goddamn it of course I find this thread right before I need to go get my hair styled ~fabulous~
I too am curious and was not aware this happened. =/

Originally Posted by Smelge

It looked to me just like a standard usergroup with restrictions on it.

You know when I said in the second post that I'd "been on another forum" with this plug-in? I actually helped configure it. Trust me, unless it received a radical overhaul, it literally does nothing more than annoy people. There is no other additional functionality. You add people to a certain usergroup, it pisses those people off. That's the only thing it does. That's the only thing it can do. It has no other purpose.

Originally Posted by Pi

"doesn't know"?

He can explain why they were chosen, offer his own personal (inappropriate) opinion on how likely they are to be banned in the future, and he "doesn't know"? And flat-out asking is attempting to "weasel" an answer out of them?

Seriously?

They were promoted to admin, but that doesn't necessarily mean they know the ins and outs of the system. The "I'll ask for the third time" bit makes it seem like you're pressing for an answer.

Not that it would really matter, you'll all count it as bullshit.

Originally Posted by Xaerun

Fuckin' goddamn it of course I find this thread right before I need to go get my hair styled ~fabulous~
I too am curious and was not aware this happened. =/

You are weak, old man. Your powers hold no sway here.

Originally Posted by Summercat

1) Not saying. That's not really something I feel comfortable sharing, so I'm passing the buck to the staff member in question, and Dragoneer. Once they say something...

Oh boy, time for no one to say anything about it then.

Professional buck passing.

Originally Posted by Bobskunk

well it wasn't just a standard usergroup and it's a great way to deal with people you dislike if you're 8

Not unlike banning someone from an IRC channel without so much as a single warning, Bob-chan. ~.~;

i miss rossyfox
sighhhhh

Originally Posted by LizardKing

You know when I said in the second post that I'd "been on another forum" with this plug-in? I actually helped configure it. Trust me, unless it received a radical overhaul, it literally does nothing more than annoy people. There is no other additional functionality. You add people to a certain usergroup, it pisses those people off. That's the only thing it does. That's the only thing it can do. It has no other purpose.

Sorry, I'd like to know more.

All I see in the screenshot, is what appears to be a usergroup. Are you certain it is this Miserable Users plugin, and not just a coincidentally named group? And what exactly does the plugin do anyway?

Originally Posted by Xaerun

Fuckin' goddamn it of course I find this thread right before I need to go get my hair styled ~fabulous~
I too am curious and was not aware this happened. =/

Pretty much we narrowed it down to only dragoneer is the only possible person who would've/could've done this.

Originally Posted by Willow

It's always good to think about all the possibilities for such a thing before pointing fingers while foaming at the mouth, trying to find every little reason why someone is a bad person or whatever. I mean, come on, is everyone really that determined to see blood? Try to at least rationalize a little. Besides, if this was really some underhanded trick, there are several members I can think of who should have shown up.

Unfortunately, I think there is no charitable interpretation of this particular sequence of events. As pointed out earlier, there are other ways to handle annoying users without going to the effort of modifying the forum software. This is either incompetence or malice or both. The evasiveness of the responsible party isn't particularly heartening either.

Then again, this is how the forums have been run for years: Any dissent is tolerated until they think nobody is looking and then they delete the shit out of it.

PS: I am pressing for an answer. I think we deserve one. Instead, we get further evasive "we'll pass the buck" bullshit, and I'm tired of six years of this.

Originally Posted by jcfynx

Not unlike banning someone from an IRC channel without so much as a single warning, Bob-chan. ~.~;

you are such a sillybilly

y'all act like faf or fa will ever change and the admins will ever do something good or smart
xaerun and ratte are good though

Originally Posted by Fiz

Oh boy, time for no one to say anything about it then.

Professional buck passing.

This could be an Olympic sport.

Originally Posted by Pi

Unfortunately, I think there is no charitable interpretation of this particular sequence of events. As pointed out earlier, there are other ways to handle annoying users without going to the effort of modifying the forum software. This is either incompetence or malice or both. The evasiveness of the responsible party isn't particularly heartening either.

Then again, this is how the forums have been run for years: Any dissent is tolerated until they think nobody is looking and then they delete the shit out of it.

I haven't been here for very long, but that's neither here nor there because I don't need to be here for a year or two to know that whenever something goes wrong like this, everyone's quick to blame someone. It's annoying and frankly I really don't like it unless it really was something dirty and it couldn't be explained. Or you know, when there's no remorse for it.

But as it stands, any explanation given is "bullshit".

Just sayin'.

Originally Posted by Bobskunk

you are such a sillybilly

You refuse to take responsibility for your own actions, Robert, while you cast aspersions at others.

Good to know nothing has actually changed.

Originally Posted by Smelge

Sorry, I'd like to know more.

All I see in the screenshot, is what appears to be a usergroup. Are you certain it is this Miserable Users plugin, and not just a coincidentally named group? And what exactly does the plugin do anyway?

Were it merely named that by accident, I'm sure that would've been corrected within 6 pages of posts. The effects of the plug-in have been clearly and repeatedly stated, and since no-one has said, "Oh heavens no, it was just named Miserable users", it's safe to assume that it's right on the money. Would've been a good excuse, eh? A shame they didn't think of that earlier.

To repeat the earlier quote:

When classed as miserable, a member suffers ;

1. Slow response (time delay) on every page (20 to 60 seconds default).
2. A chance they will get the "server busy" message (50% by default).
3. A chance that no search facilities will be available (75% by default).
4. A chance they will get redirected to another preset page (25% & homepage by default).
5. A chance they will simply get a blank page (25% by default).
6. Post flood limit increased by a defined factor (10 times by default).
7. If they get past all this okay, then they will be served up their proper page.

That's the default configuration. That's what happens every time they try to post, or even view a page. Every page will be delayed by a random amount of time. It will randomly fail. The flood limit will be at 300 seconds instead of 30. Again, this is the only thing this plug-in does.

Originally Posted by Willow

I haven't been here for very long, but that's neither here nor there because I don't need to be here for a year or two to know that whenever something goes wrong like this, everyone's quick to blame someone. It's annoying and frankly I really don't like it unless it really was something dirty and it couldn't be explained. Or you know, when there's no remorse for it.

But as it stands, any explanation given is "bullshit".

Just sayin'.

And I'm just saying that the annoying, unremorselessly dirty shit (the rug-sweeps, the constant stream of misleading PR, the penchant for silencing criticism rather than dealing with it) that keeps happening like clockwork around here has been a problem for six years. The reason we jump down their throats for trying to feed us bullshit while passing the buck is because they keep trying to feed us bullshit while passing the buck.

We still do not have any explanation for what happened in December. We do not have any explanation for what happened today. We do not know why the servers were kicking out redirects to unrelated websites. We do not know why they are renting a full, mostly-empty cabinet (the reason that we were given for that? it turned out to be bullshit.)

Just saying. If you're gonna play devil's advocate, make sure you're fully informed.

Originally Posted by CannonFodder

Okay so it's none of the mods, it's not ratte and it's a senior staff member with the ability to go over everyone's head, without authorization, without discussion, etc....
...
.....
........
...........
mother fucker

Um, senior staff members don't have the ability to do that, I don't think.

I hate it when I get the last post on a page.

Originally Posted by Ratte

Um, senior staff members don't have the ability to do that, I don't think.

One does.

Originally Posted by LizardKing

I hate it when I get the last post on a page.

Suddenly your post doesn't matter at all.

Originally Posted by Heckler & Koch

Wow.

Just wow.

What the fuck guys?

Dragoneer did it.

Originally Posted by LizardKing

I hate it when I get the last post on a page.



One does.

Really annoying when you are trying to multiquote and suddenly there is a whole new page.

Originally Posted by LizardKing

I hate it when I get the last post on a page.



One does.

And only one does.
Which pretty much rules out everyone except 'neer.


"Barabass, give us Barabass!"

Originally Posted by LizardKing

One does.

Who?