Maxpower

So i got an email from Sean today about him being banned on GWW and asking for it to be lifted.

Whilst i appreciate that he ignited a lot of peoples tensions on the GWW Community for the few months he was here i am actually considering lifting his ban as i honestly do think he has learnt his lesson somewhat.

As of this moment in time, im seriously considering lifting his ban under several conditions, the main one being, he doesnt act like an ass who knows it all and that he doesnt insite the rest of our GWW Community members.

I fully appreciate the fact that he rubbed a lot of us up the wrong way and that at the time of his banning, he was discussing topics that were deemed to be illegal in nature however, i am willing to give him the benefit of the doubt with this however, before i lift his ban, i would like to get some input from the rest of you folks.

If he does get unbanned (which, in all honesty im leaning towards right now) he will be on a very tight leash however, i felt it was only fair to let you folks have some input on this matter before i make my final decision in the interests of fairness and giving someone a second chance.

So, your thoughts? Should Sean be unbanned as long as he sticks to the GWW Community guidelines and doesnt step out of line in terms of offending/insiting the rest of you folks?

Im all for giving people a second and, final chance, what about the rest of you?

Regards,

Lee

Absolutely, positively do NOT lift the ban.

GWW has been a much more productive and positive place since Maxpower has not been part of the community. Threads now generally stay on-topic, there is substantially less noise, less argument, flaming, etc. and the community is much more the way it was before Sean started posting in the first place.

Let's also not forget that he was repeatedly warned before being banned in the first place. He seems to have a pathological need to seek attention, and will do so by whatever means necessary, so regardless of what rules are set, I can pretty much guarantee that he won't follow them.

That is NOT what this community needs.

Further, nothing has changed with regard to Sean's continued defense of his policy of soliciting and talking to underaged guys and other questionable activities.

To be honest, GMS has eroded significantly in the quality of the signal-to-noise ratio because Max after being banned here moved over there, and Mark, in spite of numerous complaints from many, many posters, has failed to do anything to curb the noise ratio.

I and a number of others have cut back on participation and some are very close to dropping participation at GMS entirely because of the lack of moderation and increase in noise (mostly attributable to Max), and I suspect that the only reason Sean is contacting you is maybe because Mark is finally taking note and considering doing something.

We have a wonderful community of people genuinely interested in helping each other, providing useful input and helpful exchange of ideas. Sean/Max has never been a meaningful contributor to any of that in any way. Please, please don't degrade the quality of the wonderful community that exists here by opening the floodgates to more noise. Absolutely no good will come of it whatsoever.

Gotta admit the place HAS been more peaceful without ...

Well that is a shot out of the blue.

My gut reaction is to go with your leanings, but then I read Chip's comments, and now I am torn. I am torn because yes, he does indeed get people's hackles up, and yet at times he has some alternative views that are, well interesting I guess. Not sure that is really the word though.

On the whole 'ban' issue however, not using Sean as the example, but that any person who has crossed the line and been banned, does bring up the validity of banning if a short time later the ban is lifted. I mean 'banishment' is supposed to protect the community from those who fail to honor the rules of the community.

I don't mind disagreements on what those rules are, I do object to when they are flagrantly abused, and nothing is done about it. Or if something is done, it ceases to become a permanent solution.

There has to be consequences for one's actions. Whether it is Sean or myself even, I believe that when we cross the line, repeatedly, and no action is taken or only for a brief time, we assume that it doesn't matter. Those who do this, will continue to cross the line, out of instinct, but when a penalty is imposed, and kept to, the occurrences of others continually crossing the line drops dramatically.

The bottom line for me is simply this. It is your board Lee, and your decision to make. It is nice to ask for our opinion, but if you feel a certain way, then it is up to us to either accept it and live with it, or move on.

I have yet to place anyone on ignore, though tempted to. I object to how threads have been hijacked by Sean in the past, would continue to if it were to occur again. What happens from those objections is your decision to make.

Bluntly speaking, I suppose I am on the fence. Wishy washy but it also raises another question for me. What about others who have been banned for equal or, in their eyes, lesser transgressions? Does lifting this ban bring in a chorus of requests from them? If so, do they then get the same relaxation?

:morning:

so stealing content hasn't done anything for him then?

All it takes is one jack-ass to wreck this sense of community. I wouldn't want this guy moving next to me. Other forums will gladly take him I am sure.

I usually don't get involved in things like this, but I must say no also. I can not stand reading the things he says sometimes. I still see him on other boards and he's an idiot there too. What really does he have to offer this community???

Jimmy

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Originally Posted by gaybucks_chip

To be honest, GMS has eroded significantly in the quality of the signal-to-noise ratio because Max after being banned here moved over there, and Mark, in spite of numerous complaints from many, many posters, has failed to do anything to curb the noise ratio.

I and a number of others have cut back on participation and some are very close to dropping participation at GMS entirely because of the lack of moderation and increase in noise (mostly attributable to Max), and I suspect that the only reason Sean is contacting you is maybe because Mark is finally taking note and considering doing something.

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This is very true.

I feel very uncomfortable posting in any threads that Max is involved in. When I do I make it a point to show my distance from him, "just in case" something happens.

Max had the attitude that the sky is falling and rambles on about how bad things are with nothing really useful to say.

IMHO after the myspace incident, there is one place Max should be, and that place is sure not on a webmaster board.

On another note, I believe webmasters here found their content stolen in his site. If that is the case, why does he deserve to be part of a community with peers?

Lloyd

Well after reading through the responses in this thread and all of the PMs that i got sent about this topic ive made my decision to leave things as they are right now.

Thanks everyone for your input on this i greatly appreciate it :)

Regards,

Lee

I know I'm late on this, but I believe everyone deserves an opportunity to set things right, get a second chance ...

Michael

might i suggest we lock this thread ?

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Originally Posted by mickey

might i suggest we lock this thread ?

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Actually, i was going to after i made my reply above but it seems we have kept it civil and it hasnt resulted in any discussions that werent kept on topic and civil so i dont see any reason to lock it right now.

If it had turned in to a flame-fest then it would have been locked but we seem to be keeping things cordial.

Regards,

Lee

Lee,

Thanks very much for making the right decision.

Sometimes it's tough because, as Michael says, you want to be sensible and give someone a chance to redeem themselves, but in this case, all you have to do is look at Max's postings on GMS to see that 95% of his posts are just as inane, unhelpful, distracting, and thread-jacking as they always were.

I don't have any personal beef with Max and have actually had some nice conversations with him privately, but he is an excellent example of the situation where one person can completely disrupt a community, and that's something the contributors to this board don't deserve.

I thought he was kind of entertaining and funny. I don't know much about him personally, but his posts kept things where they weren't so boring and dry. Diversity is good!

He can't destroy a community, just ignore him, this is forum, not like he has a communicable disease or something.

Just my 2 cents. I don't care either way.

Sounds like a lot of the regulars have spoken. I know he hasn't given me a cut of what he made on his paysite from my stolen content, or the content of others he's stolen, but has he even apologized to anyone here?

The last thing we all need is aggravation. More productivity YES. More alliances YES. More aggravation NO.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by LiveTwinksCam

He can't destroy a community, just ignore him, this is forum, not like he has a communicable disease or something.

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GMS is such a mess now that it is almost intolerable because of "ignore". I do believe that one or two people can really destroy a community.

You post in a thread started by someone, then they put you on ignore, and you can't post in it anymore. Then if someone ignores you and you start a thread, they don't even see the thread.

Funny thing, I posted a thread about webmasters not having their stats pages PW protected and the webmasters it was addressed to can't even see the thread.

I don't think putting someone on ignore is the best thing for a community at all.

I will say that myself and Lee have had our differences in the past, but I do have respect for the level of moderation here.

There is very little tension and animosity here. It's actually a refreshing place to be.

Lloyd