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There have been some issues of site behavior and in an attempt the mods tried to be diplomatic, commutative, and reach out to people to solve issues and give guidance but this has appeared not to work. After consulting with SE staff and peers we are here-forth going to take harsher actions since guidance doesn't seem to work. Some members involved appear to not take advice to leave issues in the past so per SE advise it will lead to an immediate suspension. We will not issue a warning since this is the warning and we will not try to defend others, explain diplomatically or listen to why you decided to do it.

If some members cannot converse in a civil manner they have been encouraged to leave the other party alone. If the moderators of GD.SE deem an argument is being:

  • initiated
  • attempted
  • encouraged
  • poked-at

a suspension will be issued. If a site member appears to be egging it on or feeding the fire, they will also be dealt a suspension. We did not want to take this approach but it would appear this is the only resort. If you want to learn more about suspension you can visit meta. if a site member feels that an argument could form they are encouraged to flag for mod attention. This goes for chat as well.

thanks,

the mods

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  • 2
    In this light, I urge the moderation team to consider how it can communicate these ideas less abrasively even when faced with very frustrating situations.
    – BESW
    Commented Mar 4, 2016 at 20:51
  • 2
    @BESW I appreciate the concern. In the past, I have had much more patience when attempting to resolve site conflicts. In that particular instance, all available patience had dried up. But I don't regret the abrasiveness there. The diplomatic route was attempted in chat not long ago, it was apparently quickly forgotten. This time around, I felt it appropriate to be blunt. When warnings are repeatedly ignored, tolerance drops to zero.
    – JohnB Mod
    Commented Mar 5, 2016 at 4:56
  • 1
    The notion, of course, is important to keep at the forefront of our minds. Please never hesitate to speak up or step in if you think you can help alleviate some of the frustration or suggest a better way of approaching these types of situations :)
    – JohnB Mod
    Commented Mar 5, 2016 at 5:05

1 Answer 1

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Additionally, in discussing what happened with the StackExchange Staff and moderators from other SE websites it is clear that at times we've been too lenient in both chat and the Q&A. That must stop for the good of the website.

This might mean:

  • Comments that were previously viewed as so-so are no longer acceptable.
  • Comments that have some on-topic, knowledgeable parts but then a sarcastic point or crude analogy might no longer be acceptable. Or we will not hesitate to edit the comment to remove the off-topic portion.
  • Continuous comments that are no longer contributing might result in a Moderator Warning or Suspension.

This is not to say we're going to be ultra strict. That's not the type of community we want to foster here. I believe we can all agree to that. However, some of the sarcastic remarks / analogies, and I know I'm guilty of this sometimes too, need to stop.

I understand this is a change and for some users, you may feel "me talking like this was never a problem before." That's fine and dandy. Things change, we are acknowledging that we have been too lenient in the past. Moving forward it will be a problem. Please respect this.

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