Chat Is Offline Due To Stoner Idiots

I'm gonna say it.

I'm upset as all get out by the abuse of chat by said members (whomever they may be).

I'd have been more than happy to wield an exclusive "chat-ban-hammer"
were I online when the offenses occured and I had such privilage.

Oh yes, more than happy.

I understand being a kid and testing the limits of "what one can get away with" - but I'll confess I'm more fond of a simple Draconian "NOT HERE" policy.

Those kids need to grow up sometime.

Chat is one of my few perks to alieviate the stresses and isolation of my day to day and frankly, I'm not amused that a little childish insubordination on the part of certain chatters (whomever they might be) has now had the chat yanked out from underneath the feet of those who tread that territory with respect.




[edit on 2/26/09 by GENERAL EYES]

Originally posted by Wethesheeple
I don't understand why the ones in the chat that were discussing inappropriate things can't be chat-banned for a few days or something. This idea FAILS!!!

Our chat hosting provider is having some problems in coming up with the logs so that we can review all those involved. Until then, we're not able to have a complete list of who was involved.

reply to post by SkepticOverlord


Oh sounds like your one step ahead of the game . Well hope something can get worked out I like slacking on ATS chat while at work.

reply to post by SkepticOverlord


So guilty till proven innocent... I get it.

My issue is not with the decision. That is up to the site owner.

But i am concerned with the amount of discrimination on here and the amount of name calling and stereotyping.

Not good.

reply to post by Resinveins


Thats jumping the gun a bit on accusation dont you think? While I don't always agree with SO (and that is putting it very mildly at times) its a technologically sound move to disable something while you pull apart the innards to see what is what. You don't want new data being appended to the logs while you are trying to go through them, it makes life a real pain to sort it all out. That said I look forward to a resolution to this as chat has become the most enjoyable place on ATS for me these days and helps the work day go by a little faster for me.

reply to post by SkepticOverlord


.. that's sad..

I completely understand your position though, it's just a shame that chat had to be ruined. The greatest thing about chat is to well, chat.. openly about anything in real time. A better sense of community if you will, for all those that used chat in the past.

But if it is extensive T&C violations, I would not expect you to spend an exorbitant amount of time policing the preschool antics of the few.

Perhaps there could be some new system in place? With more restrictions on who can and cannot chat? Perhaps a way to make money off of it as well, .

Originally posted by ravenshadow13
Chat's usually fine. I think everyone's testy right now. Maybe after a few weeks it will be back to normal.

This is true.

here are a lot of "Stoner Idiots" with a lot of points.
Gah.

Yeah theres some Non stoner idiots with alot of points aswell . But this isnt about "stoners" This is about repetitive drug related TnC breaches which got out of hand and inadvertently poured fuel on the fire( So much so that the thing exploded) And now we have no chat.

What people do in there own time is there own business and there free to do so but there's a difference between going about your business quietly and shoving it down peoples throats. ( Directly or by proxy )

As mentioned i think that these are just testy times here (Due to the related events of late) and i think that if those involved knew that Chat would be shut down due to the events that transpired in there recently, i dont think the issue would have popped up in there the way it did .

I think a bunch of people that share some commonalities were feeling abit hot under the collar about the happenings of late and forgot to check themselves when they all got under the same roof of the chat room in ATSs
digital hideaway.

Hopefully chat comes back and when it does (Those involved) Pull ya *snip* heads in ya muppets! most of you are my mates so it would suck if yas were banned or something like that .

The airs just abit thick at the moment.

First of all I'd like to thank Bill for providing us this site free of charge.

I don't blame him at all for the decision to close chat at least for a while. Out of the goodness of their hearts the 3 Amigos provided us the membership with the opportunity to chat with each other and make friends with people we would otherwise not have met. Instead of being thankful for this benefit we had members abuse not only the rules they agreed to follow but worse still the trust of the site owners. Those individuals should be ashamed of themselves and their selfish behavior. Their blatant disregard of the rules has caused the necessity of this move.

reply to post by Helig


Lol hello Helig nice too see my fellow slacker on this thread.

Originally posted by Resinveins
reply to post by SkepticOverlord

 

So guilty till proven innocent... I get it.

No, the actions by a few have affected the many. Those few were more than welcome in chat as long as they abided the Terms and Conditions of use. They didn't and now it's affected all of us.

Stoner Idiots is a label that applies.

In my humble opinion, of course.

Didn't ANY of the stoners that caused this problem ever hear anyone say "Hey, be cool, man!" and not understand what it meant?

Stoner Idiots is an appropriate label. Thanks a lot Stoner Idiots!

Cuhail

So am I crazy or did he refer to some members as idiots?
SECOND LINE HERE.

damn. that really sucks. chat was a great place to talk about everything.

everyone at some point stepped over the line but nothing excessive. all i hope is that when this whole drug thing blows over we will have chat back

Originally posted by jheated7
Can someone help me understand something? Is there no Ignore button? Is there not an option for members to vote out people who are disrupting a chat in a childish manner? I never was in chat but I'd like to know if these feature are available and if they aren't, can't they be implemented in chat to fix the problem?

Yep you just right click on the member name on the right and choose ignore. You could also pull up the chat log's since you logged in - you could copy and paste that to a note pad or into a u2u if you really deamed it that serious.

I've never had the urge to do either though, but I'm quite easy going... I've reminded people of the T&C's before, and I've left when the chat turned mindless.

This really is a case of the minority ruining it for the majority. If chat never comes back I shall miss it... Perhaps the mods can rig it so they can monitor without being visible... Or perhaps create an account specifically for logging in as a regular member, a login that could be shared by a number of mods and you could see what goes on when there are no red names up on the right?? Or perhaps you already do that.

Any way, SO and all other mods that are on top of the problem

reply to post by mr-lizard

Agreed, what makes it worse is the ones slagging off would be up in arms if they were called conspiracy nutters etc - anyhow i have a suspicion that the "stoner idiots" probably outnumber the non users on here as it kind of goes with the territory imo.

Good grief, this site has to be British owned, the number of new rules and prohibited areas of discussion seems to grow daily.

Now the site owner is calling people "Stoner Idiots", good way to set an example about manners and decorum, which I think is one of our older rules that came out last Tuesday.

Poor leadership

It is most definitely a tough decision on the part of the site owners and mods, I am sure, to feel like they have to do all of this right now.

It's kind of just the same as going into a bar and being an idiot. Yes, we have free speech rights but I don't want you in my bar ruining my business and everyone else's good time. That's what people are here to do-to enjoy themselves while researching their chosen topics.

There will be situations like this over the lifetime of the site. This is not the last of them. But remember, it will always calm down eventually once the point is made.

However, as far as the chat is concerned-

The user must understand a couple of things, namely that whatever he says on this chat is subject to moderatory review. Whatever he says is not private and if he violates the rules in chat he should not be surprised if there are consequences.

On the flip side of the coin-

The staff should also expect that sometimes on a service such as a chat room that things aren't going to go the way that they plan. When this happens, I would then expect that it wouldn't be met with surprise or hasty action. I would expect that it would be met with moderatory involvement on those specific members which is what the mods are around to do.

This carries the same logic as if you were to have shut ATS down because of the drug issue.

Believe me, I understand your view points. I also think that you, the owners, should not act so hastily and get yourselves caught up in what you are trying to get everyone else out of.

Thanks,
GreyFox

It is very lame that chat has been taken down lame and lazy.

There used to be... well maybe it still exists in some clandestine parts of the armed services around the world a thing called blanket punishment.

If a minority dont play the game a certain way or break the rules then it's comical to punish everyone for the action's of the few.

Just another turn off when i decide if i should or should not click the ATS link.

Take care.

Regards
Lee

reply to post by Now_Then


Ok copy and paste and send out to the mods? even then it still gives the mods a lot of work to do.... I suggested a "kick" button that allows for immediate action instead of going through the steps... If you say it is the minority who is ruining it couldn't the majority of ATS members take advantage of that kind of feature to get them out whenever they want to start bringing the chat down so it doesn't get any further than it should? Power to the people!

reply to post by Retseh


It's their site, for one.. they have a set of rules that we, as guest and contributors must abide by.. they honestly are not that strict..

Don't talk about illegal activities like drug use..

Don't insult people.

Don't cuss.

All of which are factors of common decency.. If you feel you cannot be here without talking about illegal drug use, there are plenty of boards specifically for the "Stoner types", but here, respect the T&C that you agreed to when you joined.