Phix was banned. 10,304 posts after he joined 4 years ago.

Why?

I'd PM you, but this is a matter of public contention.

I too would like to understand the reasoning behind this.

Thirded. Even he doesn't deserve that... by any means.

The people have spoken. We want our Phix back.

I think Phix is a douche. I think he's a classic example of the cronyism and abrasive nature of the long time members that Synesthesia aptly described in post #95 of the linked thread. I think he needed a reality check when he (referring to himself and a handful of others) declared DS "our house" and suggested that those who didn't fit in with that clique should "get the hell out of our house now."

All that said, unless he did something that the rest of us don't know about, I think a ban was not the right solution. When members are banned because of personal conflicts, despite not having broken any stated rules or generally accepted rules of conduct, it has a chilling effect on discussion throughout the forum. Nobody likes a forum where you have to tiptoe around the personalities of those who have the power to ban because others have been banned without breaking a known rule and without any other sort of explanation.

Keeping in mind that this is a request, not a demand (because this forum is Ketan's private property and he has the right to be as arbitrary as he pleases), I'd like to have either (a) Phix unbanned, or (b) an explanation as to why he was banned and will stay banned.

Why is it "drama" to ask for an explanation as to why a member was banned?

Mitlov, phix has never been 100% serious about the "our house" thing. Though he never did like you at all so you probably picked up on that a lot...still, he didn't deserve a ban.

I think everyone's in agreement of his wrongful banning.

It makes no difference to me whether he was serious about the clique thing in general, because it wasn't hard to tell that he was 100% serious that he wanted me off the forum. And that's nothing new. But it also didn't bother me one bit. I think he's a douche; he thinks I'm a douche. There's a nice symmetry to that, and so long as I'm not warned or banned because he personally doesn't like me, I don't see anything wrong with that situation.



Yeah, basically.

I have Mitlov figured out.

Since he's a layer, he HAS to argue everything.

XD

^ You mean lawyer.

Why you gotta be such a layer, Mitlov? Not cool

Haha, I didn't mean it in a mean way.

Layers! Onions have layers. Ogres have layers. Onions have layers. You get it? We both have layers.

Hi Guys,

There are couple of reason why I had banned Phix & Cyclone:

1. I have frequently seen them a lot involved in personal conflicts with several members, which is there-by leading to lot of personal dramas per se.
2. Recently when the server went down during the move, they both worded strongly against the existence of dieselstation.com. They want the dieselstation.com to go to Hell then why should they visit us.

Those are two reason why I had banned them. I would like to hear from you guys what you have to say.

The first one is semi-valid, but ignores that they spend most of their time being contributing members to the forum. The second one is totally petty and stupid. If you were genuinely worried about their attitudes, then a no-warning ban was not the place to start. Also, I think on matters of "culture clash" within the forum, that's much better left up to people who are forum regulars. I've learned repeatedly that those matters require extended discussion amongst the regulars and that any quick, spiteful actions will lead to nothing.

Ketan,

Thanks for the explanation.

(1) Sure, there had been some personal drama, but it's an internet forum. Personal drama happens on the internet. It's unavoidable. In addition to that personal drama, both Cyclone and Phix do know their shit about cars, and frequently contributed positively to forum discussions on that front. In my opinion, the fact that a member of a forum does not get along with a portion of the other members should not result in a ban if they frequently contribute positively to on-topic discussions, which both Phix and Cyclone did. That's the reasoning a lot of members used when they asked clarkma5 to unban me, and I think it's equally applicable here.

(2) I think this is merely a case of over-the-top rhetoric that probably should not have been taken at face value. Obviously, if they really didn't want dieselstation.com to exist, they would have left voluntarily, long ago. But they didn't. Ever been in an apartment with some leaky plumbing, and said at a moment of frustration "I'd be better off living in my car"? You don't really mean it literally, it's just venting with over-the-top rhetoric. Ever had your car break down and say to yourself "I really ought to just pour gasoline on this POS and burn it"? Once again, you don't really mean it. It's just cathartic venting.

As much as I personally don't like either Phix or Cyclone, I think it's safe to say (1) the two of them are definitely good for the overall health and activity of this board, and (2) if Phix's ban is not undone, it sounds from this thread that we could lose several more regulars, reducing DS's forums to a veritable ghost town. For these reasons, I wholeheartedly encourage you to lift Phix's ban.

I know that the forums are not your primary source of income, but given that there are some banner ads in the forums (one per page for logged-in members, and several for guests reading the debates), I'm guessing that the forums do contribute somewhat to your income from this site. So not only would lifting Phix's ban be nice for the other members of this forum (not one of whom has stated that he thinks Phix should stay banned), but it would probably be good for the overall level of discussion and traffic on the forum, which may serve your own interests as well.

I disagree with your reasoning and your methods. These guys have been here for years and have added a lot to this place to make it what it is.

Not that it necessarily matters to the discussion, but...what?? Cyclone doesn't say jack shit anymore!

Yeah! Every forum needs a resident virgin.

I miss phix. =[

The board has spoken. We want Phix back.

Considering how unanimous this is, I'm just going to unban him and hope that Ketan understands why. It's all laid out clearly in this thread.

It is OK to unban Phix. However, I still want Cyclone to change his signature to remove the personal statement against Mitlov.

No seriously, man, it's cool. It doesn't bother me at all. If anything, I kind of think it's funny. I see no reason to force Cyclone to change the sig.

(For the record, I also thought Phix's longer signature, the subject of the "to Phix re: signature" thread, was pretty amusing. Don't take that thread as serious offense at the signature; instead, think of it as just smack talk in response to smack talk).

Ummm Mitlov I have to be doubtful that that's how you felt about it at the time...maybe in hindsight, but you were pretty upset when you made that thread.

I got seriously pissed when I got warned, and later banned. I wasn't seriously pissed about Phix's signature itself. I was just talking shit and I thought it was kind of fun, honestly. I thought we had this conversation before? When I'm seriously pissed, I don't pepper my posts with references to Maddox's Best Page in the Universe and the like. That's something I do when I'm having a good time.

I saw Phix's signature and my initial post in that thread as being at the level of "yo mama" insults, nothing more. I know tone of voice is frequently misinterpreted over the internet, but I guarantee that's how I went into that thread. I know at least Bjorn captured the tone of voice I was going for, when he followed up with "I take offense to the pipe smoking comment. How fucking dare you!" And I assumed Phix was on the same page as me, when he responded with:

Yeah, great, too bad I won't bother coming back. Consider this my last post on DS.

Moe wins this round.



Anyway, Phix, have fun on that forum where nobody has posted in the general discussion section since August 26th. (And yet people at CS somehow complain that DS is dead?).

I remember the days of Jerkian Fuckomast, and Cockma5.

Darn it.....that's a real shame....

That's at least the fifteenth time he's said that.

Damn. Missed my chance to repost the drama llama.

lol @ Drama llama. One of the best forum pictures around...

Back to the point. It is a shame that phix can come back, but wont. Hopefully he will change his mind. There is such a thin line between fun, jest, mutual scat-throwing, general opinion sharing and then just plain internet bickering. DS forums have always rode that line hard. I think sometimes its how weenies get weeded out of here so quick. I can see the insult he took in being banned though, so i cant personally see him returning

...and how many times have you said that now?

Edit: whoops, missed clark's post.