Why is it...?

Why is it that people, after receiving forum suspensions, are allowed to shamelessly return to the forums with an alt, and just pick up right where they left off?

This really makes me feel like forum disciplinary action is one big joke.

The accomodation by LL for obvious circumvention of policy and the discipline meted out for breeches of said policy, is VERY disheartening.

No wonder LL cannot even police repeat death threat offenders.

Should this be allowed?

Well, you can't be sure of the circumstances of every story, Nolan, it might not be that someone is banned from the forums, but they could be banned from the game which carries an automatic forum ban, too. I'm not sure how that works.

And if they believe the banning was inappropriate or injust or not really serious, they could just return and sure, pick up where they left off, but then they'd not have the mileage that they got with their avatar "rep" and "icon" and stuff.

The Lindens don't seem to police ISPs, like the SLH used to. I don't get why they don't do that. Maybe because it's not a refined enough tool.

Surely the people allowed to do this are most feted and inner core

Yet another conspiracy theory...

I don't care about the "circumstances". I trust that LL doesn't just suspend people for no good reason. It really takes a LOT.

Almost invariably, the person suspended claims they were wrongfully suspended, and a good deal of the time returns with an alt, makes no bones about letting people know who they are, thereby rubbing it in LL's face that they will not abide by the suspension, not to mention, letting everyone else know that it's OK to behave against the guidlines and polices set forth by LL.

I will say this; if I ever seriously felt I was wrongfully suspended, I would quit immediately. This is why I have so much difficulty believing those who claim they were unfairly suspended.

What "conspiracy theory" Jack? Henry admits he is Prokofy. Prokofy was suspended from the forums for 3 days. Henry is now posting in the same forums that his other character was suspended from.

Care to elaborate?

I'm sure you're not lying but I can't help but notice a warmer, kinder tone from Henry as compared to Prokofy. While Prokofy wears uncomfortable shoes and starched shirts, Henry wears loafers and argile sweaters. I think maybe the name alone has transformed the man.

You have to admit, even before he admitted to it in so many words (and not just in the general forum), there has never been two independent characters on these boards who invoked the word "hectoring" (unless you count Ulrika's "Hectoring Bunny" parody). LMAO!

They both imply they want Cowboy Boots tho....

Yeeehaw

I know it's been said a million times before, but LL has the ability to ban IP addresses too.

Why they don't when banned people reappear as alts is a mystery to me.

Let's hear from those who are voting "yes", that it is OK to circumvent Linden Lab's forum discipline with alts, and why they think that it's OK.

Perhaps its just that LL is a very practical organisation.

At rock-bottom they know there is nothing they can do to identify alts with certainty.

IP number will not do it without risking serious injustice to anyone on the same intranet as a perpetrator.

Credit card number wont do it - many people have several, or many.

Credit card name , or address, wont do it - many people have relatives or partners who will oblige them and smile.

Sure, they can force people to try a little harder, but they know they cant win against someone determined.

If someone brags publically, they could extend the ban. Probably stop them bragging again, but thats about it.

So for me, the question about what LL SHOULD do is irrelevant. Its more a question of what they CAN do - which is NOWT.

One thing I really like about the Lindens is that they are sane and rational, don't bow to hysteria, and accept the realities of a situation when they have to, without making lots of token gestures and silly empty flourishes.

From all appearances, this is merely another example of Linden Labs not being serious about enforcement of the rules.

It gets old very quickly. Very quickly.

Apparently you've never met Bub?

Just kidding!! Please don't suspend me..I'll be good!

In some cases, subscriber info might not match up to a banned person or his IP or creditcards, but when an admitted alt reappears or CC and IP info match, surely LL has the power to act. We won't ever know for sure, because of privacy issues. LL is not bound by these rules internally, so therefore they COULD take action.

Maybe they lack leadership, maturity, business savoy and are fearful.
Who knows?

Well, the most recent one has bragged. I think in that case something should be done. In the very least it will teach the person that they cannot evade a suspension, come back with an alt, and continue unabated.

I am not asking that they do anything other than uphold current policy. This is why I asked if people thought it was OK to avoid discipline in this manner and not what specific steps LL should or could take.

It's not very rational to allow people who admit to doing an end-around on suspensions to continue to do so. It sends a bad message to the masses.

<<shakes head aimably at his old friend Nolan, you are falling into the polldoms. Its a chronic adversion to creating polls that truly serve no purpose. I know your more intelegent than this nolan as you know a Poll will never truly settle this matter here.

Shadow

Agreed to a point Shadow. However, it does reveal that at least 6 people think it's ok to subvert LL discipline. 6 people who are afraid to state why they feel this way. I should've made it a public poll.

I just made it 7 people. There's so much bullshit on these forums that I couldnt care less if there's someone using an alt to continue their rants. Its not like some perfume on a pile of poo is gonna make things more pleasant. Of course there are extreme cases where all accounts/alts should be temp-banned.

Well I really dont feel the forums are a pile of poo. I just felt like being different.

So evading a suspension with an alt = perfume? Ooooo-K. I am glad I don't understand that logic. It probably keeps me out of prison.

Counsel moves that all testimony from this individual be disregarded as they have admitted to being contrary for the sake of being contrary.

Seems to be a virus around here.

Well my motivation is purely self-centered in that hubby and I are on the same credit card and when he encounters a bug that prevents him from building what he wants, he can be pretty harsh with his posts in the forum.

His last post (right after the release of 1.5) was about 100 lines of "Fix the Fu*kin Bugs". He just has a lot less patience with that sort of stuff than I do.

He would never grief anyone - except maybe a Linden about a bug issue.

Oh well - maybe I need a break (even if forced) from the forums every now and again anyhow.


.

The way I see it, the poll question is almost as nonsensical as the question:

"Should Barmovic allow so-and-so to post in the forums."

I dont have the power to prevent it, so I'm not "allowing it" in any meaningful sense.

I thought my previous post showed fairly convincingly that LL simply dont have the power to stop this. So they are not really "allowing" it. They disapprove of course. They'd stop it if they could. But it would not be sane for them to institute a 2-man full-time investigation team to try to track down alts, when they know that the moment they succeed, new alts will pop up who are better camouflaged, rendering all their efforts pointless.

Different credit cards, different names, different addresses, Ip numbers of Internet cafes. Do I really have to belabour the point ?

And please stop urging the banning of IP numbers. Do you not know how many dozens, or even hundreds of totally independent people can be behind one IP number? And never heard of a dynamic IP address, which is different every time you log on ? Those twio things alone make any such suggestion a total nonsense. With the likely chain of injustices and unintended exclusions of the wrong people, all hell would break out. To no purpose (see above).

It is really tiresome the endless whinging forum cries of "LL should do this - LL should do that" with absolutely no regard to practicality, cost, manpower diverted from more important priorities etc etc. Just like petulent demanding children who simply haven't grasped that mommy and daddy are working to a limited budget, or even what that means.

Please be realistic - this is the real world, and it is your money they are trying hard to spend wisely, and hopefully on the things that matter most.

Just one more time - rooting out alts is ultimately an impossible task - the determined evader just goes further and further undercover. It is hardly difficult or expensive for him to do so, while the cost to LL in finding him would quickly escalate to impossibility.

LL know this. So they just dont waste time and effort on starting the escalation sequence they know they will lose. This is adult wisdom, not all those other insulting adjectives a previous poster lined up for them.