"in defence of...or not... the Dawghouse" Topic

I'mm active in many wargaming and other fora on the internet. TMP is the only one where the site owner feels the need to operate a Dawghouse. Why is that?

Is a few days in the Dawghouse such a heinous penalty?

A few here act as if it was tantamount to be exiled for life to Devil's Island.

It is, in the scheme of things, the mildest of mild punishments.

People show more restraint elsewhere?

Our biggest wargaming site has a whole system of possible penalties, you get a warning first, and with 2 you receive "read-only" for 3 days or a week. More dire offences can get you RO for a week at once, or RO for a month, or permaban. These warnings are displayed under member's icons. Moderators are active, however they're normally leaving the posts for which a member getting a warning on site – these links are stored in "Administration" directory, with explanations of a penalty applied.

Granted, forum engine is more modern than good old TMP…you can put pictures with a warning tab, like, 18+. In this case page is still work/home friendly, and if you click the tab – well, you were warned.

Pitch it. The DH is a useless relic. Of course, I'd miss the "bearded" missy….

That's how quite a few Forums that I Moderate or own do too Barin. 3 chances and then the Ban Hammer slams down.Some here are quite lucky that that isn't done here. There is one site IIRC that all you get is one chance. 2 sites with a better working system has something similar to the DH and it works quite well. But I do have to admit there a few here that are put in there quite often and usually for the same offenses. Apparently they don't take the hint or care. And then there are the Free "put name here" threads.

It's not a useless relic. It is a great way to notify the community about minor TOS violations and their correlating punishments.

Most forums have enforcement rules, whether it's a temporary suspension or a permanent ban.

The ones that do not tend to either be very small or turn into gathering points for pedo's and white supremacists.

I was there for my one and only time a few years back for "Politics". I really didn't care. But I figured I shouldn't make that mistake again

If the DH is done away with there will just be more accounts locked instead so I disagree (and yes I have been DH'ed once but was let out early on appeal so that was reasonable). I would just say that the rules should be applied consistently and fairly.

It's kind of a penalty box,
YouTube link

I've been "housed" once. I don't think I was warned, but oh well. Maybe not do away with it, but leave one board, "The Dawg House Board" where you can still post and all can see and reply to topics regarding your punishment. You can still bitch about your plight in a real prison so why not there… You can plead your case and the jury of your peers can decide your fate or just laugh at ya…

The only time I was doghoused (without a warning, I might add) was when I said, in an attempt at irony, "that's just the sort of thing the Nazi's said…." or something similar.

I PM'd Bill, and said something to the effect of "Irony and sarcasm filters… if I genuinely offended then I am genuinely sorry" and Bill kindly set me free to roam the pages of TMP.

Not something I've ever lost any sleep over.

So who cares that much? Like others here have said, I'll try, irrespective of Godwin's Law, not to use the other 'N' word in this esteemed company :)

John T

John, your final sentence is very strange. What other 'N' word are you referring to? I hope it's not the one I think it is because why would you even need to try to not use it? Do enlighten us please.

I'm hoping he meant "Napoleon."

I have eaten puppy chow in the Dog House exactly one time. That was two or three years ago for violating the "troll rule": I called a troll a troll. The ironic thing about my DH stay was that the person I accused of trolling (I've long since forgotten who is was, but it was not one of our chronic problem children) was incarcerated at the same time I was for….wait for it….trolling! Apparently the truth is no defense. I joked at the time that I felt rather like Justine Jones (of The Devil in Miss Jones infamy) in that had I actually done something wrong, I could accept the punishment better.
But that's water under the bridge as they say….

More to the point, like others have pointed out above, getting DH'd was really not that big a deal for me. I'm a daily reader, but post only sporadically. So losing a few days of posting privileges really was not much of a punishment. Of all the web sites I read on a regular basis, TMP probably has the most permissive/lax rules of any of them. This has always been my biggest gripe with the site: members of the forum are not kept on nearly a short enough chain and the current penalties for misbehavior have very little "teeth". But what do I know?

That all being said, I do enjoy the presence of the DH. I admit that I enjoy the "Schadenfreude" of checking out who is currently being disciplined from time to time. Does that make me a bad person? ;-)

Martin

I hope it's not the one I think it is because why would you even need to try to not use it?

That's the thing that really gets me laughing when people complain about "political correctness". As though I am the true bigot for pointing out their bigotry.

I'mm active in many wargaming and other fora on the internet. TMP is the only one where the site owner feels the need to operate a Dawghouse. Why is that?

We're special.

There have been proposals to do away with the Dawghouse, the community has voted, it is still here… no doubt there will be more votes in the future…

Much as it irritates me, the truth is, "Bill's House, Bill's rules."

I left once for my own reasons, (another life,) but returned for my own reasons when that life passed.

If what happens on this site offends you leave for a while and see that in the greater, spiritual, realm, this site really doesn't matter all that much in the long run.

If it doesn't give you more joy (not the same as happiness) to be here than to not be here the choice should be obvious.

The DH is part of TMP, someday it may be abolished but some of the people here will still try and force their narrow conservative/liberal/Libertarian/national/cultural view on others via some other "issue." That is the nature of humanity's Fallen Nature.

"So let it be written, so let it be done" – so spoke Pharaoh Yul Brenner.

If you don't want a dawghouse then don't act in a way to get you put there. Debate things in a gentlemanly manner, with proper rules of discussion (citations of asserted proofs or supports to your arguments, agreement on sources, no innuendo and snide insults, or hand grenades. Debate as if you were face to face and not hiding behind distance and electronic distance, and above all remember that the person you are debating with is a human being. That means he is just like you with wants, desires, fears, prejudices, and opinions.

If you do this then I am sure you won't get dawghoused. If you make an outrageous contention then rest assured it will be answered by someone just as outrageously.

Oooh! I like that suggestion above, about being able to post to others in the DH, while in the DH, but nowhere else on TMP. But others can come to the DH and make fun of allyaall. I bet that, perversely, the DH population would increase tenfold and the DH board would become the most posted to on TMP.

Maybe we can have a vote/poll on this? I'd vote "yes, the DH can post to the DH only, and all of TMP can post to the DH"….

Pointless. Lose it.

Far from pointless and far from being some great and horrible thing that can be inflicted upon us. It serves as reminder to stay remotely civil and if it did not exist, then the only disciplinary action would be exile/banishment.
And I do believe I have been in there twice, so I speak as a former inmate.

:)

I like the idea of the dawghouse – it's a mild rebuke where other fora have nothing to resort to but banning an offensive poster.

Quite civilised really.

You don't need a warning. Why? The rules are posted in the FAQs.

Follow Wheaton's Law when in doubt.
I daresay that few should be surprised at being incarcerated. You know when ya done wrong.

In former guises, and once in this one, I have been surprised to find myself in the Dawghaus. Judgment is not that clear or consistent. That is the annoying factor of the DH's existence, capricious incarceration….

'it's a mild rebuke where other fora have nothing to resort to but banning an offensive poster.' not as many sites though have people who get offended so easily, and normally people get banned for things that are really unpleasant, going by what I see here and elsewhere. I've been DH'd quite a few times, often for calling someone a name or saying what I think of them. I still hold the same opinions of them, just these days I have them stifled. admittedly a large chunk of TMP is now grey, but one has to sort the wheat from the chafe :-)