ATTN fellow SOFTies: this is absolutely ridiculous.

[aquanaut]

wha hahaha! levan kena banned...ridiculous.
i kena banned soo many times ...i changed my nick 3 times already...
itss nothing la levan, i think by tuesday you can log back online to soft.

you must understand that james is a prude. if you try to whisper 'vagina' in his ear, he will start to blush....and probably ban all posts to soft....looks like i am now going to kena banned yet again....

hahahahah!!

 

[SherT]

Like I said
If I had gotten banned for saying something supremely rude, something racist, something randomly insulting another band or person, banning me would be perfectly fine and reasonable.

But banned over a few subtle jokes that were mostly ignored (not a single person responded saying it was rude or even remotely out of line) - when there are other more rampant and rude remarks floating around on SOFT - is just an exercise in cyber muscle flexing, which James seems to be really good in.

Considering the number of contributive responses AND constructive threads I've started in this forum over the years, and weighing that against the sheer triviality of a few innuendo jokes which NOBODY attacked as being inappropriate, the banning just shows poignant bias.

Either that, or he simply read something that reached beyond his intellect and understanding and concluded it to be inappropriate. Which seems to happen fairly often these days, not just to me.

Levan

 

[tim098]

Well it is no secret that James and Levan had bad blood even before this particular incident. One possible explanation is that James really just does not welcome Levan on his forum and by doing this (banning roninriot), solves the problem of this pain in his ass.

Morally (for the lack of a better word) speaking, he shouldn't do it and should just warn Levan, something which I believe has been done many times before, Whether warranted or unwarranted. And Levan has contributed many VERY VERY useful posts which helped many people out im sure. This issue is probably way deeper than some of us even know as Levan and James probably go way back than what the average softie knows. James wants Levan off SOFT now indefinitely and what we are doing right now is questioning his decision.

Are we prepared to leave stop donating if James doesnt respond favourably? Or worse, leave SOFT? I seriously don't think so. This probably never was a forum based on democracy or fairness-based-on-the-mass-population or whatever, James owns it and he can do whatever the hell pleases himself. He's suspended me for the shittiest of reasons before too but it is his forum afterall.

If James gets sick of all this nonsense happening more and more often and he decides to just shut down the forum, what then? There is no guarantee that this forum can and will continue indefinitely.

 

[SherT]

wha hahaha! levan kena banned...ridiculous.
i kena banned soo many times ...i changed my nick 3 times already...
itss nothing la levan, i think by tuesday you can log back online to soft.

you must understand that james is a prude. if you try to whisper 'vagina' in his ear, he will start to blush....and probably ban all posts to soft....looks like i am now going to kena banned yet again....

hahahahah!!

LOL +1
Agreed.
But I'm making a case more of the principle of HOW he governs. I know I can always start another account

But I just want to show in this forum how James will typically take some drastic action (as he has done numerous times), shrink into the corner AFTER he has done it (on his OWN forums) without a proper counterargument to his actions -- either that or put out some weak metaphor that isn't remotely linked to the situation.

Levan

 

[SherT]

If James gets sick of all this nonsense happening more and more often and he decides to just shut down the forum, what then? There is no guarantee that this forum can and will continue indefinitely.

If that happens,
You have my solemn swearing and word
I will start a forum and pay for its expenses.
The scene will not crumble just because James feels tired.

Who says we have to kiss James'' whimsical behind just because he owns this forum? It is US that populates the forum. And if he has utterly no respect for US - not even bothering to validate his actions the SLIGHTEST bit (Which would be FINE if he practices CONSISTENCY which he doesn't)- what is he left with?

At the very least, reason out his actions with intellectual substances, not random assaults. He hates me because I have always questioned this trait of his - especially when I see his random accusations against posters who had no ill intentions.

But to resort to a ban because he can't come up with valid reasons for his actions is just plain pathetic.

I helped to organize a SOFT gathering and invited James as the guest of honor to salute him for the many times he did GOOD, as an action from me to him to show that I do not judge him merely for the times we disagree, but as a Thank You for his overall great efforts.

But OBVIOUSLY, despite the many constructive posts I have posted on SOFT, James does not see it this way and chooses to ban me over the silliest of things.

He is the bowl. We are the food. We are the spice and flavour, the sugar and salt, the meat and yes, even the beefs between us is beef as food.

Start getting smug and start burning the food long enough and you're left with nothing to eat.

Levan

 

[Godspeed64]

Even if any of Levan's post was offensive, the responsible thing to do is:
1) PM roninriot and mention that the post is out of hand, and say that he must edit it as a warning
2) Delete the post if roninriot did not edit it within a set period of time; or if the content is seriously too grotesque to be read by the human eye
3) Suspend the account if various warnings go unheeded
4) Ban the account if matters go WAY out of hand

Step 4 is the LAST step that should only be employed if the others failed..
If I'm not wrong RoRk was also banned last time right? I believe his posts did go out of hand 80% of the time, although the remaining 20% was quite useful to us softies.. Plus, he thought us the word poppycock! :mrgreen::mrgreen:

 

[LadyInTears]

hmmm, thats a good point

enter hard.com.sg lol

 

[Godspeed64]

hmmm, thats a good point

enter hard.com.sg lol

Uh-oh.. Sexual innuendo implied! BAN BAN BAN!!!
Then again, even SOFT.com.sg has some explicit connotations..

 

[WJ]

Do you, as thread starter, agree that there have been FAR harsher, cruder and more explicit content running around on SOFT here than the joke - which frankly, most who are young would never even understand? Has there been content that has been far more questionable regarding politics, rude insults and jokes that have been more blatant?

Did they get deleted or did the users get banned?

For those curious, the joke I made in response to 'working with wood' was 'Wow...'working with wood'...sounds kinky! Don't use a saw!" and various others that inferred to it without being explicit.

Levan

ok levan, i dont really "explore" this forum much, ive been mostly visiting guitar gear and guitar buy sell most of the time, so i can honestly tell you im unaware of the forum's politics so i cant give you an answer to your question
however i feel that james has his reasons for putting a ban on you, i would suggest that you speak to him personally before getting back to this page.
rather then have everyone go "james is sooooo unfair!!!" or "levan deserved it!!!", why not settle this between yourselves before giving everyone the whole picture
i dont think challenging him outright would solve the problem, besides, talking to him privately would leave you two to voice your thoughts out without everyone else telling you their opinions on the matter, and this would also reduce any misunderstanding

 

[visa]

the issue at point is bigger than both james and levan

 

[SherT]

ok levan, i dont really "explore" this forum much, ive been mostly visiting guitar gear and guitar buy sell most of the time, so i can honestly tell you im unaware of the forum's politics so i cant give you an answer to your question
however i feel that james has his reasons for putting a ban on you, i would suggest that you speak to him personally before getting back to this page.
rather then have everyone go "james is sooooo unfair!!!" or "levan deserved it!!!", why not settle this between yourselves before giving everyone the whole picture
i dont think challenging him outright would solve the problem, besides, talking to him privately would leave you two to voice your thoughts out without everyone else telling you their opinions on the matter, and this would also reduce any misunderstanding

I have tried this approach before, when he accused me of having ill-intentions for posting up a video of a cross-dressing individual some months back (which, incidentally, I did NOT insult. Others did, but I didn't, but I got the warning for insulting the cross-dresser. Funny thing that!)

So I SMSed him to explain to him that I had no malicious intent.
I PM him too when he made PUBLIC accusations against me that were NOT validated.
EACH TIME i have done this
He has asked me to repeat my point of view
And when I do repeat it in PM.
He doesn't respond.
I sent him about 4-5 PMs asking him to clarify or try to understand why he felt the way he did.
He still didn't respond.

So yes, I have tried that approach before but apparently
after making a giant biased swoop of his mighty Internet wand and feeling all manly about it, he doesn't have the right words or squishy part between the legs to back it up.

Levan

P.S. http://soft.com.sg/forum/music-kopi-tiam/86661-attn-fellow-softies-absolutely-ridiculous.html
The start of this thread and reasons behind it.

 

[tim098]

I agree with u in general about everything you've said. After all I have gotten banned for, if I say so myself, a pretty darn funny joke which had everyone who saw it laughing except James, who conveniently deleted that post and banned me, and cited a vague reason for doing so when I questioned his decision. But that is a matter solved many months ago.

Have to say though, quoted from you:
"But I just want to show in this forum how James will typically take some drastic action (as he has done numerous times), shrink into the corner AFTER he has done it (on his OWN forums) without a proper counterargument to his actions -- either that or put out some weak metaphor that isn't remotely linked to the situation"

This is so funny BECAUSE it is so true.

 

[SherT]

I agree with u in general about everything you've said. After all I have gotten banned for, if I say so myself, a pretty darn funny joke which had everyone who saw it laughing except James, who conveniently deleted that post and banned me, and cited a vague reason for doing so when I questioned his decision. But that is a matter solved many months ago.

Have to say though, quoted from you:
"But I just want to show in this forum how James will typically take some drastic action (as he has done numerous times), shrink into the corner AFTER he has done it (on his OWN forums) without a proper counterargument to his actions -- either that or put out some weak metaphor that isn't remotely linked to the situation"

This is so funny BECAUSE it is so true.

Lol. Exactly.
I'm only responding to this now cause 1) Visa posted this original thread without my knowledge. Not me. So I decided to validate it. 2) He has done this MULTIPLE times to multiple people, many of whom are generally responsible long-time and loyal posters. This is NOT how you treat people who regular your forums and make it more populated and entertaining.

 

[visa]

i didn't realise RoRK was banned. he was a good fellow.

 

[LadyInTears]

browsing around the forums i saw rhizopus banned too
anyone care to clarify what happened?

 

[SherT]

The fact of the matter is this;
SOFT has been the main staple for local scenesters for years. Kudos to James for sustaining it this long.

But there comes a point where, unchallenged in its position, you just settle in and start thinking you can do whatever the hell you like to whoever the hell you want. AND getting away with it so many times, just because you happen to have the highest virtual authority here?

But what about the people who populate the forum itself with interesting threads, with useful, funny, entertaining content? Is it okay to diss them in this way 'just because you can'? It's posters like us who help to keep it going JUST AS MUCH as it is James who takes the time to moderate it.

Why am I not waiting for James' response to this thread?

Because this is NOT THE FIRST TIME he has done such a drastic and unreasonable action. Not just to me, but multiple loyal posters.

Because he has a track record of taking drastic and erratic actions based on very little reasoning AND shriveling up in his virtual corner afterwards without explanation - for multiple times.

Because I have already tried reaching out to him multiple times, now, and previously, in defense of other posters.

Because he is not likely to respond to this thread, as is his usual fashion

And because, frankly, if he does respond, I'm afraid of the weird and Primary school standard (i.e. meaningless) metaphor he will probably use to explain himself.

You can argue that yes, he's the authority figure and yes, he doesn't need to bother explaining himself. But even in a forum populated by so many friendlies and people who keep SOFT going, it's the decent and respectful thing to do to anyone. It's virtual etiquette, that's what it is.

And I think I have bloody well contributed enough to SOFT over the 8 bloody years to at least be treated a little better than being banned for an INNUENDO and have a scampering coward who is probably quietly steaming up his glasses from anger and cringing at the sight of the words 'working with wood...sounds kinky!"

Levan

 

[MadWerewolfBoy]

but im not really bothered or offended, since hes just trying to be funny. but thats only me, there may be others who were really upset bout what he said? i believe there are many people who are still very young, viewing the forum so there should be some sort of control over whats being posted.

WJ: I have point out that your point is valid if the subject in question wasn't an innuendo.

The controversial thing here is that, it was an innuendo. It had double meanings and at first sight is supposed to look innocent. That's what innuendos are all about. If someone find it offensive and reported it, who is actually to be blamed? Why shouldn't the benefit of the doubt be given to the poster that he had no intention of malice and that his comment was totally innocent and meant what flip22er explained it to be?

Who is to be blamed if somebody, who obviously has a corrupted mind (and thus thinking that the innuendo was "dirty" etc.), find it offensive? The person who assumed that it was offensive or the poster who might have posted it innocently?

If the "very young" you're referring to is able to see the "dirtier" side of the innuendo, are they still worth being protected from it? Get my point?

 

[visa]

^bravo. well said.

 

[SherT]

http://soft.com.sg/forum/music-kopi-tiam/86661-attn-fellow-softies-absolutely-ridiculous.html

Please read before leaving post to this thread!

 

[shinobi]

i will come out and say that this is stupid

to censor something explicit would be one thing. but to censor something insinuated underlines a belief that everything anyone says will be interpreted in the most worst way possible. i think it is extremely negative, against good will, and an insult to the person involved.

why would sexual innuendo be censored? innuendo is actually an effort to make subtle of something which would otherwise be offensive. to ban someone for using innuendo would be to penalise someone for trying to be clean.

sexual innuendo would require a suitable interpretation from the person reading it before it becomes obscene. this is already a safeguard against readers who do not wish to interpret it in such a way. in simple words, it takes YOUR dirty mind to make sexual innuendo seem obscene. banning levan would be blaming him for YOUR own shortcomings.

levan was a true musician and patron to the arts scene and industry. it is a crying shame that something like this underlines how some people fail to recognise this.

i have one request if i were to be banned, please only ban me from the General Discussion subforums. the gear subforums are where the real musicians are at anyway