The Energon Pub

Hey guys,

The HMW staff and I know that your friends here on the website are very important to you. I hope that all of you know that when a staff member bans a member of Seibertron.com it is only after much discussion amongst the powers-that-be in the staff forums. There have been exceptions in the past but for the most part, anyone that gets banned is only because they have done something wrong on the site, have received a few warnings and continued doing whatever it was that they were doing. At that point, the staff has to follow through with the rules that we have in place. If the user is owed a banning because of their behavior, then that's what we have to do. I know it sucks when your friends get banned, but it also sucks for the staff when certain members refuse to adhere to the rules that we have in place on this website so that everyone can enjoy their experience here.

Some of you had "Unban ..." so-and-so messages in your signatures, which I manually removed. I ask that you please respect the staff's decisions when we are dealing with members that have caused us difficulty. It's not fair to the staff when we are trying to deal with members who have broken rules and then have other members posting defiant messages in their signatures which basically say "I disagree with the staff's decision! Bring 'em back!" If you have other messages such as this in your signatures, I kindly ask that you please remove those messages as soon as possible to avoid further conflicts.

In defense of people that have been banned, if they have been banned longer than then what the rules state, then the staff member who banned them needs to unban that person. I am working on some solutions that will allow for a staff member to set a time period for how long someone is banned so that people who are banned can return immediately upon the ending date of their ban. That will make less work for the staff members and make sure that a fair banning doesn't become an extended banning because a staff member forgets or is tied up with other personal matters that prevents the staff member from unbanning someone.

I think our rules here are very fair and that the staff is very leniant. The Seibertron.com staff works very hard keeping this community together. I'm just asking that you show my staff here the respect that they deserve for all of the volunteer work that they put into this site. If someone isn't being treated fairly, please bring it to the attention of one of the admins on the site that you are comfortable talking to and we'll look over the situation if the request is reasonable.

I hope all of you are enjoying the game. OS and the rest of the HMW staff sure do work hard to bring you guys a great environment to enjoy. I know I've been a little absent from the site the past few months as I'm enjoying my personal life after working obsessively on this site for the past 7 years leading up to the movie's release. I have some major projects that are still in the works that I'm just about ready to get back into the groove on in the next few weeks prior to gallery mode once again. Make sure you guys are nice to the staff while they're taking care of the site for me during my "vacation."

Hope things are going well with all of you.

Ryan

Heheh... Mine was put in purely as a parody of the others...

As was mine, 'cause you know ... i'm all about the shits and giggles.

Oddly enough I came up with a new one on the drive to work anyway.

Thanks seibs

I should also note the following rule has been modified:

11. Mod's the Word
If a moderator/administrator has to step in and hand out warnings/bans or other disciplines adhere to their wishes. Do not treat the warning as grounds for a personal vendetta. Warnings are carefully thought out, and flaming, bating or harassing a staff member because of it will only lead to a harsher reprimand. Also note that when the staff have decided it is time for a banning, that decision is final and not to be questioned.

Burn wrote:As was mine, 'cause you know ... i'm all about the shits and giggles.

Oddly enough I came up with a new one on the drive to work anyway.

Nice LOL

being a MOD in 2 forums i know this deal,rules are rules and apply to everyone.

I also thought that burns's and whisper's were for slags and gags, but I do agree with seibertron. If someone has been sacked, and it's for a valid reason, then so be it.

so all I have to say is "free the mayonase jar seven" - farside.

Spoons ban was over shits and giggles, bunbun didnt receive any info at all over his banning, no warnings no three day suspension, strait to perma ban. And when i enquired on is behalf no mod could tell me which part of the site rules he had transgressed
Your rules are fair seibs, but they aren t always enforced as you ve described. In the past i ve been threated with being banned because i asked questions regarding the sig guidelines

Tammuz wrote:Spoons ban was over shits and giggles, bunbun didnt receive any info at all over his banning, no warnings no three day suspension, strait to perma ban. And when i enquired on is behalf no mod could tell me which part of the site rules he had transgressed
Your rules are fair seibs, but they aren t always enforced as you ve described. In the past i ve been threated with being banned because i asked questions regarding the sig guidelines

hopefully this is an opportunity for you guys to find out why. Perhaps some staff members can enlighten all of us about this situation.

Seibertron wrote:

Tammuz wrote:Spoons ban was over shits and giggles, bunbun didnt receive any info at all over his banning, no warnings no three day suspension, strait to perma ban. And when i enquired on is behalf no mod could tell me which part of the site rules he had transgressed
Your rules are fair seibs, but they aren t always enforced as you ve described. In the past i ve been threated with being banned because i asked questions regarding the sig guidelines

hopefully this is an opportunity for you guys to find out why. Perhaps some staff members can enlighten all of us about this situation.

Yes, I am curious as well.
Thanks to those that have complied to our little request.

Cyber Bishop wrote:

Seibertron wrote:

Tammuz wrote:Spoons ban was over shits and giggles, bunbun didnt receive any info at all over his banning, no warnings no three day suspension, strait to perma ban. And when i enquired on is behalf no mod could tell me which part of the site rules he had transgressed
Your rules are fair seibs, but they aren t always enforced as you ve described. In the past i ve been threated with being banned because i asked questions regarding the sig guidelines

hopefully this is an opportunity for you guys to find out why. Perhaps some staff members can enlighten all of us about this situation.

Yes, I am curious as well.
Thanks to those that have complied to our little request.

Im not staff here by any means, I am however a pretty well known player/poster here and I hope you will trust what im saying as I have been directly involved in this matter almost from the beginning.

Firstly, We admit that a few members of the RDD group over-reacted to an annoucement that could have been worded a bit better. It was mis-interpreted as calling for the complete ban of all the clans (note there is no mention in the message of us getting our own forums here - we were not aware that was an option at the time) and members began to demonstrate a misguided, but admirable, solidarity for their friends whom they thought they were going to lose.

Now the RDD (and the other factions groups too) are a part of HMW. Thats all we ever wanted, there is no more need for friction now. Omega Sentinel has made a bold (and IMO the smartest) choice for the future of this game. Between us, we are 100% confident that the situation that caused this will never ever happen again.

Goribus has suffered in limbo for well over 2 months now and all we ask is that his is contacted, spoken to by the admins and is allowed the chance to prove he can control himself.
Can you please at least give him that chance? It was a unique situation where (afaik) he broke no site rules but felt he needed to speak out and was silenced in the confusion, to which im sure OS will agree. The whole situation was fubar on both sides, and now we have a chance to set it all straight and put it into the past.

Siebertron, Bishop; as OS knows, I am more than willing to spend the time and discuss this with you either here or over PM's, as all I want to see is this straightened out so we can just play the game together again.
(And I miss his grumpy morining posts.)

Tammuz wrote:In the past i ve been threated with being banned because i asked questions regarding the sig guidelines

News to me

Seibertron wrote:

Tammuz wrote:Spoons ban was over shits and giggles, bunbun didnt receive any info at all over his banning, no warnings no three day suspension, strait to perma ban. And when i enquired on is behalf no mod could tell me which part of the site rules he had transgressed
Your rules are fair seibs, but they aren t always enforced as you ve described. In the past i ve been threated with being banned because i asked questions regarding the sig guidelines

hopefully this is an opportunity for you guys to find out why. Perhaps some staff members can enlighten all of us about this situation.

I believe someone has suggested this in the past, but I'll do it again...

Could there be a forum made, that only staff can post in but the rest of us can read, about bannings.

For example:
If I got banned tomorrow, the banning staff member would post a new thread labeled Bun-Bun and list the reason(s) for the banning.

I think it would go a long way towards improving everybodies understanding on why people are banned and would help avoid people 'campaigning' for people that may have been banned for very legitimate reasons,
It would also show memebers what not to do if they want to continue posting on this site.

It doesn't even have to be a public form. On the one I admin any and all bans are placed in a Moderator only forum so any of the moderators and above can answer any questions about why someone was banned, for how long they were banned, etc. Then the information can be disseminated to the public if asked politely. And no, "Why the (&#*%^ did you ban X you (*&(&!" is not polite and usually results in another ban.

Psychout wrote:

Cyber Bishop wrote:

Seibertron wrote:

Tammuz wrote:Spoons ban was over shits and giggles, bunbun didnt receive any info at all over his banning, no warnings no three day suspension, strait to perma ban. And when i enquired on is behalf no mod could tell me which part of the site rules he had transgressed
Your rules are fair seibs, but they aren t always enforced as you ve described. In the past i ve been threated with being banned because i asked questions regarding the sig guidelines

hopefully this is an opportunity for you guys to find out why. Perhaps some staff members can enlighten all of us about this situation.

Yes, I am curious as well.
Thanks to those that have complied to our little request.

Im not staff here by any means, I am however a pretty well known player/poster here and I hope you will trust what im saying as I have been directly involved in this matter almost from the beginning.

Firstly, We admit that a few members of the RDD group over-reacted to an annoucement that could have been worded a bit better. It was mis-interpreted as calling for the complete ban of all the clans (note there is no mention in the message of us getting our own forums here - we were not aware that was an option at the time) and members began to demonstrate a misguided, but admirable, solidarity for their friends whom they thought they were going to lose.

Now the RDD (and the other factions groups too) are a part of HMW. Thats all we ever wanted, there is no more need for friction now. Omega Sentinel has made a bold (and IMO the smartest) choice for the future of this game. Between us, we are 100% confident that the situation that caused this will never ever happen again.

Goribus has suffered in limbo for well over 2 months now and all we ask is that his is contacted, spoken to by the admins and is allowed the chance to prove he can control himself.
Can you please at least give him that chance? It was a unique situation where (afaik) he broke no site rules but felt he needed to speak out and was silenced in the confusion, to which im sure OS will agree. The whole situation was fubar on both sides, and now we have a chance to set it all straight and put it into the past.

Siebertron, Bishop; as OS knows, I am more than willing to spend the time and discuss this with you either here or over PM's, as all I want to see is this straightened out so we can just play the game together again.
(And I miss his grumpy morining posts.)

I don't think that anyone could have posted more truth to the ENTIREITY of this situation. Thanks Psychout.

I, too, have been on the receiving end of the "Ban Stick." (Surprise, surprise, right?) However, at the time of my banning I was informed up front by the mod, who no longer is associated with S-Tron.com, and was allowed to "defend" myself in Private Message manner with said Mod.

The bottom line is that Mods, while held in higher regard because of the utmost they put into their volunteer service here at the site, are also human. As much as we'd like them to be fair, just, and balanced; WE also have a responsibility as posters and users of the site. Someone can only take so much until they lose their cool and fire back--this includes Mods. The rules are fair, and yet at times there have been situations where for some odd reason the protocol of rules and discipline has not been followed. One might chalk that up to the humanity of the Mods, and yet when these situations do go awry it takes a bigger person to realize the gravity of the entire situation and do what's right. After all, if you're a Mod, you've been deemed worthy of Modship--act in the appropriate Mod fashion.

Word.

Omega Sentinel wrote:

Tammuz wrote:In the past i ve been threated with being banned because i asked questions regarding the sig guidelines

News to me

By who? And what types of questions were you asking?

QuietStorm wrote:

Psychout wrote:

Cyber Bishop wrote:

Seibertron wrote:

Tammuz wrote:Spoons ban was over shits and giggles, bunbun didnt receive any info at all over his banning, no warnings no three day suspension, strait to perma ban. And when i enquired on is behalf no mod could tell me which part of the site rules he had transgressed
Your rules are fair seibs, but they aren t always enforced as you ve described. In the past i ve been threated with being banned because i asked questions regarding the sig guidelines

hopefully this is an opportunity for you guys to find out why. Perhaps some staff members can enlighten all of us about this situation.

Yes, I am curious as well.
Thanks to those that have complied to our little request.

Im not staff here by any means, I am however a pretty well known player/poster here and I hope you will trust what im saying as I have been directly involved in this matter almost from the beginning.

Firstly, We admit that a few members of the RDD group over-reacted to an annoucement that could have been worded a bit better. It was mis-interpreted as calling for the complete ban of all the clans (note there is no mention in the message of us getting our own forums here - we were not aware that was an option at the time) and members began to demonstrate a misguided, but admirable, solidarity for their friends whom they thought they were going to lose.

Now the RDD (and the other factions groups too) are a part of HMW. Thats all we ever wanted, there is no more need for friction now. Omega Sentinel has made a bold (and IMO the smartest) choice for the future of this game. Between us, we are 100% confident that the situation that caused this will never ever happen again.

Goribus has suffered in limbo for well over 2 months now and all we ask is that his is contacted, spoken to by the admins and is allowed the chance to prove he can control himself.
Can you please at least give him that chance? It was a unique situation where (afaik) he broke no site rules but felt he needed to speak out and was silenced in the confusion, to which im sure OS will agree. The whole situation was fubar on both sides, and now we have a chance to set it all straight and put it into the past.

Siebertron, Bishop; as OS knows, I am more than willing to spend the time and discuss this with you either here or over PM's, as all I want to see is this straightened out so we can just play the game together again.
(And I miss his grumpy morining posts.)

I don't think that anyone could have posted more truth to the ENTIREITY of this situation. Thanks Psychout.

I, too, have been on the receiving end of the "Ban Stick." (Surprise, surprise, right?) However, at the time of my banning I was informed up front by the mod, who no longer is associated with S-Tron.com, and was allowed to "defend" myself in Private Message manner with said Mod.

The bottom line is that Mods, while held in higher regard because of the utmost they put into their volunteer service here at the site, are also human. As much as we'd like them to be fair, just, and balanced; WE also have a responsibility as posters and users of the site. Someone can only take so much until they lose their cool and fire back--this includes Mods. The rules are fair, and yet at times there have been situations where for some odd reason the protocol of rules and discipline has not been followed. One might chalk that up to the humanity of the Mods, and yet when these situations do go awry it takes a bigger person to realize the gravity of the entire situation and do what's right. After all, if you're a Mod, you've been deemed worthy of Modship--act in the appropriate Mod fashion.

Word.

I'm going to have to agree with QS and Psychout on this one...

And its not just because I want my friend back, its because I think its a fair thing to do.

To be fair the rdd mod relationship has been strained for a long time. And we have had mixed messages; from being taboo on this site, to threats to ban us wholesale, being told were not welcome, and at the time of os's announcement we were told that it was just an excuse to ban us by a mod. Which i hope goes a little way to explaining why were cynical
However in glad seibs is here to discuss this in such an open manner, its refreshing.
I think the banned forum is a very good idea as it gives people a very

Phone has a character limit. Ban forum is a very good idea as it gives people a very qualititive guide as to whats acceptable. Likewise it would also show the fairness of the mods as if as's reprimand over dt had been done publically i think alot of the bad feeling here would have been nipped in the bud

The staff has several private forums that we use to discuss situations with members amongst ourselves. Due to the sensitivity of those discussions, the forum will remain private and will not be available for others to view. I understand what some of you are requesting, but the idea is more hassle than it's worth ... especially since we really don't ban that many members here.

In regards to the RDD situation, perhaps it could've been handled a little better but I also recognize the fact that hindsight is 20/20. It's always easier to look back at past events and determine how things should have occurred to make things easier. In OS' defense, that was really the first time that he had to lay down the law to the HMW community. He did it in a manner he felt was best at the time. To be honest, with the way the offsite "clicks" were operating and treating the staff, I agreed with the rough throwdown initially because I was tired of hearing about it and the whole situation seemed rather out-of-control. But it's done. It's over. There's no sense in us dragging up bad emotions over that matter. Rather, we should be investing our time trying to figure out how to continue to improve the HMW community.

You all are a great group of people and I love seeing the great friendships and loyalties that have formed because of this game. No matter how you look at it, that's a truly positive experience of which we should all be proud and thankful.

All that I ask is that we all keep a level head. Think before you write. Please keep other people's interests, concerns and feelings in your thoughts while you're writing. If that can happen, I'm sure we can all work something out that is ultimately fair for the overall community in regards to some of the concerns that have been expressed. Sound fair?

Sounds fair to me...

Now about that music forum Fender Bender promised me light years ago...

Seibertron wrote:The staff has several private forums that we use to discuss situations with members amongst ourselves. Due to the sensitivity of those discussions, the forum will remain private and will not be available for others to view.

I can certainly see the need to keep them private, I guess the two concerns brought up that could use some looking into in order to make Seibs a better, smoother place for users and admins/mods alike, are as follows.

1) If Tammuz was threatened to be banned, notice should have been posted in the mod-only forums as to why so you and OS wouldn't have to be going? "huh? what?"

2) No-one "could" talk about Bun-bun's ban. So either notice wasn't posted, no-one read it, or saw it and didn't want to step on OS' toes, in which case they should have said "Talk to OS"

Just suggestions of course, but since implementing such policy where I come from, it's made things a lot easier dealing with friends of banned users/banned users themselves. And we do have smiliar rules when it comes to the forum usage so I know where you are coming from and just trying to help.

- Each person is limited to one account unless authorized by an administrator.

- Respect forum administrators and moderators. Again, explanation not necessary.

- TCCoA administrators and moderators will frequently review forum messages for those that are in violation of these rules. Messages that are in violation can and will be deleted or edited without notification.

- TCCoA administrators reserve the right to ban any user at any time for any reason.

Seibertron wrote:

Omega Sentinel wrote:

Tammuz wrote:In the past i ve been threated with being banned because i asked questions regarding the sig guidelines

News to me

By who? And what types of questions were you asking?

MP, but he didn't like me.

the exact question was since we're allowed eith 300x500 or 500x300 sigs ie 150,000 pixel sigs, and 500 pixels being the maximimu dimesion either way, is their any reason you couldn't have a 320x320 sig (if it was under 40KB), being as it has almost a third less pixels total (102,400 pixels), and wouldn't stretch the board more than the legal sizes?

is it just arbitary ruling to keep the rules simple(which is good), or is there some programming reason i'm unaware of?

Tammuz wrote:

Seibertron wrote:

Omega Sentinel wrote:

Tammuz wrote:In the past i ve been threated with being banned because i asked questions regarding the sig guidelines

News to me

By who? And what types of questions were you asking?

MP, but he didn't like me.

the exact question was since we're allowed eith 300x500 or 500x300 sigs ie 150,000 pixel sigs, and 500 pixels being the maximimu dimesion either way, is their any reason you couldn't have a 320x320 sig (if it was under 40KB), being as it has almost a third less pixels total (102,400 pixels), and wouldn't stretch the board more than the legal sizes?

is it just arbitary ruling to keep the rules simple(which is good), or is there some programming reason i'm unaware of?

MP has been gone for over a year ... please don't hold your conversations with him against us. MP was usually pretty fair and I'm sure he had his reasons for what he said. But he's human just like the rest of us. Maybe you just caught him on a bad day or perhaps you misunderstood his answer. Either way, it's water under the bridge now. I can't change the past so let's move forward.

On that note, the image dimensions you mentioned are the maximum dimensions. Anything equal to or lesser than those dimensions are perfectly acceptable, though I'm pretty sure that we don't allow signatures taller than 375 pixels to keep people from having to scroll. The maximum dimensions are no wider than 500 pixels and no taller than 375 pixels. Those dimensions keep the site's frame from expanding due to large images and the height restriction keeps people from having to scroll more than they already have to.