BLACK BLΠFLY Discipline and Complaint

[BLACK BLΠFLY]

I want to discuss the abusive behavior I have received from certain moderators at Bolter and Chainsword. The worst one goes by the handle Brother Lunkhead and he has sent messages to me demanding I I do certain things so disgusting I will not post it online. I have had some counseling regarding this individual and the consensus is he is a sick person preying on people abusing his position. I have decided to no longer be a participant to this type of behavior - I will not be a victim any longer. I urge others to avoid this website.

Edited March 25, 2023 by BLACK BLΠFLY

[Brother Tyler]

I will provide an explanation of the above later. I have far more important things to deal with right now, however. Since @BLACK BLŒ FLY has been temporarily banned for seven days (part of the disciplinary action he is alluding to above, not something incurred as a result of the above), I have a little time. Discipline is normally dealt with privately in order to give everyone involved, especially the individual receiving the disciplinary action, respectful treatment. However, BLACK BLŒ FLY has decided to make this a public issue, and to do so in a slanderous and malicious way. So you can expect a somewhat lengthy explanation to provide the members with a much better perspective.

[Brother Tyler]

Note that the two posts immediately above were first posted to BLACK BLŒ FLY’s “blog” in the Black Templars forum. I locked the topic after making my post because I didn’t have time to address it appropriately and didn’t want the “blog” to be derailed. If/when BLACK BLŒ FLY returns from his temporary ban, though his accusations require explanation, his “blog” deserves to run its own course without the circus that his accusations create. So I split those two posts from that “blog” in order to allow the accusations to be addressed appropriately and to give everyone the full picture.

 

@BLACK BLŒ FLY has made some serious accusations in the opening post of this topic, and in the interest of transparency and honesty, those need to be addressed. BLACK BLŒ FLY has chosen to make this a public issue, posting his accusations both here and at his Facebook page. Since he has made the issue public, it will be dealt with in public. We normally try to limit public discipline to providing guidance in posts, editing posts, and hiding posts/topics. Private messages and disciplinary action would normally be kept private. However, the seriousness of BLACK BLŒ FLY’s allegations demands that everyone be provided with the full story.

 

Where evidence would normally be provided via quotes, we have found that certain functions quote the current content. So if someone later edits their content, the quote will show what they edited it to rather than the original content that is being discussed. Also, since quotes can be edited, the veracity of the content can be called into question. In the interest of ensuring that the content that is under discussion is always shown, I’ll use screenshots below. Most of the screenshots of B&C content will be provided using both the Carbon (dark) and Default (light) skins.

 

Also, this topic will be locked immediately after it goes public. That is primarily to prevent a dogpile on BLACK BLŒ FLY once everyone sees the full story. At this point we haven’t made the decision to permanently ban him and we sincerely want to give him one last chance to get his act together. That will be more difficult if he is treated the way he has treated everyone else. So the intent here is to give all of you the true full story and let you judge for yourselves. If you disagree with BLACK BLŒ FLY’s allegations, we ask that you simply keep that in mind in the future, but that you don’t take him to task for his behaviors. We don’t want anyone to try to provoke BLACK BLŒ FLY or any other members into misbehaving. If BLACK BLŒ FLY misbehaves again in the future, he’ll be dealt with appropriately. Conversely, if you take issue with the actions of any members of the staff, whether with regard to this particular event or for any other incidents, we are open to criticism and discussion about the issue. In that case, feel free to open a discussion in the Suggestion Box forum, but such discussions should not be about leveling any criticism at BLACK BLŒ FLY. Conversely, you can contact an administrator.

 

Last prefatory note: This instance is the first warning we've had to issue since the recent update to the rules. It demonstrates how our new system provides more structured flexibility (as opposed to just subjective flexibility). It demonstrates why we can't just base punishment on active warnings and have to consider a member's overall history.

 

First, here are the screenshots of BLACK BLŒ FLY’s allegations:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Normally we don’t concern ourselves with what members say about the B&C or the B&C staff at external sites. I’m showing the Facebook version here, however, so that everyone can consider the potential damage to our community from any of his Facebook friends that only take his word for it and don’t get a more accurate understanding of the situation by visiting the B&C.

 

Over the years we have received dozens of reports about numerous posts that BLACK BLŒ FLY has made. We haven’t taken official action for the majority of the issues with him, however, since most don’t rise above the level of nuisance. Periodically, however, we have had to impose disciplinary action on him on multiple occasions, either for individual acts that warranted warnings or aggregations of minor acts that contributed to creating a negative environment here. While punishment is an integral part of disciplinary action, the more important component is reform; all of the warnings to BLACK BLŒ FLY addressed both components.

Such was the case when Brother Lunkhead contacted BLACK BLŒ FLY this past Friday. After receiving multiple reports about BLACK BLŒ FLY’s posts, we felt it was necessary to issue another warning. The PM that you see below was drafted and sent by Brother Lunkhead, but it went through a review process in which the members of the staff provided recommendations for changes. This is normal for us – we work as a team to try to curb any excesses and to ensure that we both cover all of the necessary points and frame the communications clearly and fairly. Multiple members of the staff provided suggestions that Brother Lunkhead incorporated into the message. The PM chain is quite lengthy so I’m putting each inside spoiler tags.

Carbon:

Spoiler

 

Default:

Spoiler

 

 

How an individual responds to communications about misbehavior is useful in determining whether or not they intend to abide by the forum rules in the future. Upon being informed of the nature of BLACK BLŒ FLY's replies, I asked Brother Lunkhead to add me to the discussion. He correctly guessed my intent. If it’s not clear to you, I was of a mind to permanently ban BLACK BLŒ FLY on the spot for that, for reasons which I’ll explain later. Brother Lunkhead sent me the following PM:

 

 

 

Note that the redactions (red blocks) are our first names. While mine is public knowledge, Brother Lunkhead's is not and I'm not going to reveal it without his permission.

 

As a result of BLACK BLŒ FLY’s lengthy history of misbehavior here, there is a segment of the staff that has been in favor of permanently banning him for quite some time. I have resisted that course of action. Brother Lunkhead, on the other hand, has devoted considerable time and effort in working with BLACK BLŒ FLY (and others) to try to help address behavioral changes. While Brother Lunkhead was not alone in wanting to keep BLACK BLŒ FLY, he was definitely the one that was making the most effort to work with BLACK BLŒ FLY. Even after BLACK BLŒ FLY replied disrespectfully, Brother Lunkhead wanted to give him a chance, as you can see from the PM above.

 

None of the responses that BLACK BLŒ FLY posted in the PM chain are acceptable. I won’t editorialize further on that.

 

Brother Lunkhead then issued the warning to BLACK BLŒ FLY. The system is set up so that the moderators are limited in the consequences that they can impose on members as part of issuing a warning, and those limits are based on active warnings (warnings become inactive after 180 days, but they remain in a member's history). When the consequences of a warning are outside the normal progression, an administrator has to impose the additional elements of the punishment. This is intended to be a check on things, ensuring that punishments are fair and approved by the administrators. So since all of BLACK BLŒ FLY’s previous warnings were no longer active, the system only allowed for the warning point to be issued and the automatic loss of 1 achievement point (since the warning was for abusive behavior). The additional elements of the punishment (7-day temporary ban, reduction to Novitiate rank) were imposed by me later based on BLACK BLŒ FLY's overall disciplinary history.

 

Upon receiving notification of the warning, BLACK BLŒ FLY posted his accusation here and at his Facebook page. Here’s the screenshot of the allegation as it appears here using the Carbon skin as a reminder:

 

 

In addition, BLACK BLΠFLY posted the following image at his Facebook page:

 

 

 

And that was accompanied by BLACK BLŒ FLY’s assertion that “This is retaliation.”

 

However, it is not retaliation. The inability to post content until acknowledging a warning is a setting that we have activated. In the past there have been numerous occasions on which a member was issued a warning and a moderator contacted them to address the behavior, but the member ignored the communications and continued their behaviors. We had no idea if they even saw the warning (unlikely), but their continued misbehavior indicated that they either hadn’t, or they didn’t care. As a result, we have made it so that any member that receives an official warning must acknowledge the warning before they can submit more content to the site. The intent is that they’ll consider the guidance that we’ve given and will adjust their behavior accordingly. Acknowledging a warning isn’t the same as agreeing with the judgment of misbehavior, so we hope that anyone that wants to discuss the issue further will contact the moderators or administrators. We are not perfect and there have been occasions on which warnings have been rescinded. We can’t/won’t do that, however, unless you discuss the issue with us in a polite and respectful manner (and we should be just as polite and respectful with you).

 

As you can see from the various communications with BLACK BLŒ FLY, he has not been subjected to any abusive behavior by any members of the B&C staff, nor have any abused their authority in their dealings with him. Most importantly, BLACK BLŒ FLY’s allegation that Brother Lunkhead “has sent messages to [BLACK BLŒ FLY] demanding [that he] do certain things so disgusting [that BLACK BLŒ FLY] will not post it online” is a malicious and slanderous lie. All Brother Lunkhead did was ask BLACK BLŒ FLY to follow the community rules so that he could remain a member of the community. Anyone that thinks following the community rules is disgusting really needs to re-think their membership in this community.

 

My instinct after seeing BLACK BLŒ FLY’s allegations was to permanently ban him on the spot. The malice behind his slanderous lie is completely unacceptable and antithetical to the goals of this community. I suspect that the post he made was his way of going out in a blazing act of defiance. That he would do so in a way that unjustly accuses someone in a bid to both harm their reputation and create divisiveness within the community is unethical and unforgivable.

 

The moderators here have a very difficult job. They are chosen from among the rest of the community to be community leaders and to help in enforcing the rules of the community. Performing moderator duties means sacrificing considerable time for the community. The moderators work to encourage other members in their hobby pursuits, run events, etc. The most thankless element of the moderators’ job is dealing with misbehaving members. Everyone that “works” here is a volunteer, with no compensation for their contributions beyond the satisfaction of helping the community. None of the moderators deserves to be treated the way BLACK BLŒ FLY chose to treat Brother Lunkhead. This is made even worse by the fact that Brother Lunkhead was trying to work with BLACK BLŒ FLY so that he could remain an active member of the community. Figuratively speaking, BLACK BLŒ FLY bit the hand that fed him. Not only that, but he made false accusations about Brother Lunkhead and should be ashamed of himself. At the very least, BLACK BLŒ FLY should make a very public apology to Brother Lunkhead and the rest of the moderator team.

 

At this point I haven’t made a final decision about BLACK BLŒ FLY’s future here. It is possible that he will be allowed to return after the 7-day temporary ban, in which case I sincerely hope that he corrects his behavior. He has some interesting views and has contributed a lot of constructive content to the site and the community, and it would be a shame to lose that. He deserves the opportunity to both apologize to Brother Lunkhead and the rest of the moderati since he accuses “certain moderators at [The] Bolter and Chainsword” of subjecting him to abusive behavior; and his Facebook post should either be taken down or he should add his apology there, too, but that is not something that I have any authority to effect beyond suggesting that it is the ethical thing to do. He also deserves a chance to defend himself. Lastly, he deserves a chance to make amends to the entire community for his unjust behavior. Permanently banning him now would only deprive him of the opportunity to do the right thing.

 

It is important that everyone understands that I don't want to see anyone provoking BLACK BLŒ FLY over this issue. As I stated earlier, we sincerely hope that he adjusts his behaviors to align with the community rules so that he can remain an active member of the community. If he chooses not to do that, that's up to him. We don't want anyone trying to push him into misbehavior. He knows what really happened and that his accusations are false, and now you do, too.

[Brother Tyler]

And the drama continues. About 18 hours ago (as of the time that I post this), BLACK BLŒ FLY posted the following to his Facebook page:

 

 

This "warning" took place while we were testing the new site software prior to implementing the software update in June. The moderati were issuing warnings left and right, but mostly to moderati and administrators (I received a couple of warnings as part of this testing). What the moderati didn't understand was that the new software automatically sent an email to anyone that received a warning. BLACK BLŒ FLY was the first (and only) non-staff member to be issued a warning. At the time, I also received an email any time a member received a warning. If I recall correctly, BLACK BLŒ FLY also reached out to another moderator/administrator (or maybe me - it's difficult to say since I no longer have the email) about it. When I saw that BLACK BLŒ FLY had received a warning, I contacted him to let him know that it was just part of the test, should be considered a prank, and would be removed from the system. Unfortunately, I deleted the email, so I don't have proof (i.e., don't take my word for it). However, I also gave guidance to the mods to not issue warnings to non-staff members as part of the testing. Xenith contacted me via PM and we discussed it. More importantly, he contacted BLACK BLŒ FLY by PM:

 

 

As you can see, BLACK BLŒ FLY did receive an apology, which he acknowledged. He is unaware of anything that took place behind the scenes because that is how we normally take care of discipline.

 

His temporary ban has since been lifted and he has been to the site. He logged in about 6 hours ago, but has not acknowledged the disciplinary action taken against him. His Facebook post (above) was posted before his temporary ban expired. While it is likely that he saw this "discussion" both before and after his temporary ban was lifted (being banned means that you can't even see the site, but he could easily have viewed the site as a Guest - not logged in), that would be speculation. His name was tagged in my disclosure post above, so he may have received a notification and link to the discussion (that would depend upon his notification settings so it isn't a sure thing).

 

However, once again he makes a malicious false claim about a member of the B&C at external site, an act clearly intended to undermine the reputation of both the individual (Xenith), the staff, and the whole site. This is unacceptable.

 

BLACK BLΠFLY has been permanently banned.

[Brother Tyler]

And before anyone jumps to the wrong conclusions, no, this is not an April Fool's joke.

 

Also, and far more importantly, it's completely acceptable to dislike any member of the staff (or the community, for that matter), to disagree with us, to criticize us, etc. You can do that here, and you can certainly do that at an external site. Feel free to criticize my mediocre painting skills and glacial hobby achievements anywhere you want. However, telling malicious lies is unethical. BLACK BLŒ FLY's posts were designed to hurt our community. If there are problems with the site/community, we are eager to fix them and appreciate it when members bring issues to our attention and have suggestions for improvement. While we can fix a lot of things, we can't fix outright lies. BLACK BLŒ FLY's deliberate slander towards the site is indicative that he has no respect for our community and will not abide by our community standards. That is why his Facebook lies resulted in him being permanently banned from the Bolter & Chainsword community.