Should previously banned members be allowed to continue to post under different names?

Well stated Wiz. you are definitely the man behind the curtain LOL

I think a lifetime ban should be just that.

On the other hand I don't expect, nor want, the Wizard to waste his time chasing down trolls. These types of boards are supposed to be enjoyed. If they get to be drudgery for the owners and admins, they stop being nice places to hang out. Overall we have mature members who can argue and disagree without coming down to personal attacks or even being too nasty, except against trolls from time to time.

I'm willing to let the Wizard handle such problem users as he thinks best. If he needs help or wants suggestions, I'm sure he'll ask. It's his palce and he sets the rules.

I think that part of the problem is that not everyone reads every post in the forum, and what might be obvious to some isn't even seen by others. And even when there is corroborating evidence that is posted, that too may be missed by many. For example, Virgi posted something that sounded very familiar to me, and while I wasn't able to find the post, perhaps in part because so many were deleted, (and retaining posts instead of flagging them has a lot of merit when it comes to archival purposes...), FarFromVegas did and posted it here. But anyone that skipped that thread was left in the dark.

And as much as he tries to hide it, there will always be things that point him out. In this very thread he said "I'm a lover not a fighter", which sounded somewhat familiar to me so I did a little forum search and found 2 hits in addition to the one posted today:

JL2 - I'm a lover not a fighter.

JerryLogan - I'm a lover not a fighter.

While this certainly isn't absolute proof, you will never be able to find that. As Douglas Adams said, If it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, we have at least to consider the possibility that we have a small aquatic bird of the family Anatidae on our hands.

I like ME's suggestions, but I suspect that isn't too easy to implement. Personally, I think every IP he's ever posted from should be banned. There are a couple of potential problems with that, one being that "innocent bystanders" might find themselves banned as well. But I think the odds of that happening are extremely slim.

The other is he'll just find another open network to post from. True, but he can't do that sitting in the comfort of his home or job, at least not for too long as additional IP's get banned. And as more networks he uses get banned the more trouble it will be for him to keep it up. Right now its a no brainer for him: he gets banned, he makes up another name and keeps on posting. It would be nice to see it at least get more difficult for him, and the harder it is the less he'll be able to post which will more than likely also curb his desire to post.

Quote: PaulEWog

I like ME's suggestions, but I suspect that isn't too easy to implement. Personally, I think every IP he's ever posted from should be banned. There are a couple of potential problems with that, one being that "innocent bystanders" might find themselves banned as well. But I think the odds of that happening are extremely slim.
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While some people may be adverse to releasing personal info, we could register the IPs we are going to be posting on, on sign up with the site.

If there's multiple ones, you post them all. If you show up posting from one that's not registered for you -- we don't have to even look at the post -- you just get suspended/banned - until you pm the wizard with an explanation, and whenever he gets around to looking at it.

If you register ones that go to an annonymizer site you get banned.

Would that work? Or would something similar work?

That would only discourage legitimate members.

For example, I tend to bring my laptop everywhere, and log in all the time.

How am I supposed to know the IP address wherever I am? Right now, I'm home, and the best IP address I can provide is 192.168.1.2 - the address my router assigned to my computer, but not the address that the outside world sees for me.

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Quote: gofaster87

You guys are getting to worked up over nothing. Singer and his other posting aliases dont bother me and I'm not sure why they bother you. It gives the forum character. I once asked about why everyone liked to argue with Singer and someone said its just part of the forum game. So why block or ban anyone? His insults were/are petty and shouldn't make anyone cry. He has a very different view point that I welcome to the forum. Just look how many threads have spawned about this single person, obviously he stirs up the pot and creates conversation.

I would almost agree with you. I don't think anyone has a problem with Singer/whomever normally. I think it is when he gets out of hand and starts flinging insults around. I think we just keep it as it is. Most of us who at least read many of the forums (some of us on our phones while driving, so we don't post much(gasp!)) can tell who the new sock puppet is rather quickly. Let the members flag as they see fit, and the Wiz will ban as he sees fit. That being said, I haven't flagged a single post of anyone myself. There are enough senior members on here that will do that.

As far as the technical aspects, I don't think the resources should be wasted setting up anything, unless it gets completely out of hand. I haven't seen it get to that point yet.

Quote: gofaster87

You guys are getting to worked up over nothing. Singer and his other posting aliases dont bother me and I'm not sure why they bother you. It gives the forum character. I once asked about why everyone liked to argue with Singer and someone said its just part of the forum game. So why block or ban anyone? His insults were/are petty and shouldn't make anyone cry. He has a very different view point that I welcome to the forum. Just look how many threads have spawned about this single person, obviously he stirs up the pot and creates conversation.

That's party true. I had no problem with the original Logan. He often provided a needed opposite viewpoint or humorous comment. However, he made a few too many insults and was banned. Now, the man behind the curtain appears to be a sociopathic LOON on the internet who can't stop making up alias to get around the ban. Just get him out of here for good.

Quote: Wizard

The original post seems to have been deleted or reworded, but I'll ban him anyway.

I have no way to prove it, but I knew Virgi was Jerry/Singer from about his 10th post. One giveaway is he always posts way too much for a new member. And he always takes an 'in your face' stance on almost everything. I didn't say anything because why bother, he's always outed eventually.

They give their "true identity" away pretty quickly just about every time...it is just sad the Wizard has to spend time banning them more than once.