So after some discussion, I think Randal's post was fine. I'll take the blame for the confusion on this, and not to protect anyone, but because I genuinely believe the somewhat ambiguous rules that administration (in this case, basically me) has put in place around this sort of thing played a big part in the result.
As I alluded to earlier, there are many gray areas with our policy around promotional posts, but I don't think there's an easy way of making them black and white. While we want people to feel they can share helpful info freely, we also want to ensure people aren't abusing leeway that is given, in order to promote themselves and/or their business. No one wants to read spam, we need to be fair to our advertisers, and also have some incentive for businesses to advertise here.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rapini
@Randal_Graves, if I had been on a computer instead of phone I'd have PMed you after I deleted the posts to ask if you were receiving any benefit/compensation for being in the tournament. "As played," what I saw was I deleted the post and then you posted about it again, then I deleted again, then posted letting you know to not post anymore and then the troll parade started.
First sentence sounds like the right play. Second sentence describes what happened pretty well (although I might use different wording than "troll parade"), and it's a shame that things escalated so quickly. Not sure why a deleted post needed to become a huge deal immediately when civil conversation probably would've brought about a much simpler and quicker resolution.
Quote:
Originally Posted by AsianNit
The site's terms and conditions say: "Posts made with the intent of the promotion of any goods or services, including other websites, will be deemed spam and will not be allowed."
So, it is probably a fair accusation.
Right. Spam is a term that means different things to different people.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lattimer
It was certainly unnecessary. But complaining about it, when you are always bashing him and using his name as an explative, is pot meet kettle territory big time.
Yeah, I don't know the history to this point, but BigSkip's posts and post report makes some of the complaining seem more than a little disingenuous.
Quote:
Originally Posted by BigSkip
I think you need to read a bit closer. You should also look at the tone of the thread just before rapini started throwing around "******".
Quote:
Originally Posted by BigSkip
I can't wait to hear his justification for calling me a "******" when I was politely discussing the issue at hand in the appropriate thread.
Sure, you avoid direct insults, but you certainly took a number of shots at Rapini. Now, calling someone names certainly isn't my style (whether in my role as moderator or not), but I'm not here to pass judgement on someone else doing so. But going after someone in a number of posts and then crying foul when they insult you seems a little hypocritical.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dream Crusher
Mods are just posters. Rapini can call people whatever he wants. This is and always has been site policy.
Exactly.
I get that some people consider moderators to be representing 2+2 and thus should be held to a higher posting standard. But for better or worse, moderators are treated as posters who have volunteered to help out with the site, and aren't required to change the way they post in order to do so.
That said, if you feel Rapini is out of line, you'd need to take it up with Mat Sklansky.
So back to the situation at hand - Randal or Coasterbrad, feel free to repost the info. Sorry for the confusion.