Ban hammer acting weird

[Him]

I was banned a couple of time , sometime It was true, I did insult some people.

But I have been banned much more often for weird reason , violating rules that cannot be found in the comunity guideline or any steam rules.

One time I was banned for arguing with another steam user, I openned a support ticket and told them I could not find any rules mentionning you cannot argue with another user. They unbanned me.

A couple of days later I was banned again for "being argumentative" when I contacted the support they acted pretty weird this time , their answers seemed odd and dit not respond to my question. It felt like interacting like a broken bot.

Anyone else had trouble with the weird ban hammer? Being banned for violating rules that cannot be found anywhere?

[Aahzmandias]

The problem with banning in todays society is the snowflake mentallity and people that are just too easily offended aka they are childish. Never grew up.

If you have a mod with that mindset it's basically game over for you. They are not even able to explain to you WHY they ban you. Officially, that is.

The only thing you are able to do is just not caring any longer if you are banned or not. This this banning for almost nothing they will produce the opposite effect they wished for, btw. Sparsedly banning has a greater effect, and only banning offences against the rules is essential, to have any effect at all.

As example on Youtube I just make a new account, after I got banned for just commenting from time to time. They do not even tell you for what or why they ban you, so why shall I even care?

In future my Youtube name will just have an ascending Roman number attached to it. If you only go there to comment, nothing of value will be lost for you. It will not change my attitude, and it will not stop me from commenting.

[-OrLoK- Слава Україн]

personally, I'd feel awful if I was banned from a sub.

it would likely mean I'd been really terrible towards someone, likely more than once, and that wouldn't sit well with me.

ymmv

[FB_Destroyer_Rebecca]

Him の投稿を引用：

I was banned a couple of time , sometime It was true, I did insult some people.

But I have been banned much more often for weird reason , violating rules that cannot be found in the comunity guideline or any steam rules.

One time I was banned for arguing with another steam user, I openned a support ticket and told them I could not find any rules mentionning you cannot argue with another user. They unbanned me.

A couple of days later I was banned again for "being argumentative" when I contacted the support they acted pretty weird this time , their answers seemed odd and dit not respond to my question. It felt like interacting like a broken bot.

Anyone else had trouble with the weird ban hammer? Being banned for violating rules that cannot be found anywhere?

The story of my life on forums is one of bans and injustice.
Half the time, the bans were unwarranted and I felt like suing Steam for allowing mods to abuse their power.
Now, I collect bans like badges of honor.
It seems like these days, people can't handle differing opinions and resort to underhanded tactics to silence those who disagree with them.
It's like the new normal for online argumentation - nowadays people seem rather acting like entitled hotel guests that would call for the manager complaining about the color of the bed sheets that they are not navy blue but ocean blue.
33% of my bans were revoked after I asked for a explanation as of why!? And as soon as human being, so it seems to me, looked at the reason and what I wrote, they revoked the ban instantly and appologized. Some people just know what to write or report to get you banned if they want and the wrong mod is being in charge.

[pasa]

Reading and reasoning skill is Apparently not requirement to be a moderator so you can be banned just on pure whim. More likely so if you said something that is objectively true.

But why did you expect anything else on a "big tech" platform?

[CourtesyFlush09]

Aahzmandias の投稿を引用：

The problem with banning in todays society is the snowflake mentallity and people that are just too easily offended aka they are childish. Never grew up.

Goes both ways. People who are repeatedly banned get super butthurt and offended by it because they are childish and never grew up.

Hell, we've had people on this forum who've created entire threads about how their previous bans were "unfair." It's kinda creepily obsessive imo.

[Him]

so I talked to the mods , asking if arguing with another user was against their rules, and they basically told me to ask a lawyer and closed my ticket lol. I swear I did not make this up.

------------------------------------

can I be banned from the steam forum if I am being argumentative with another steam user?

Message from Steam Support on Jan 28 @ 11:31am | 2 days ago
Hey there,

This is a question best posed to the moderators of the discussion board you are in (or the games support team if in an official game discussion board).

In general, following the Rules and Guidelines For Steam: Discussions, Reviews, and User Generated Content is a good way to avoid these bans.

Best Regards,
Anthony

Message from you on Jan 28 @ 3:45pm | 2 days ago
Can you tell me how to contact them?

Message from Steam Support on Jan 30 @ 3:45pm | 56 minutes ago
We can't help you get in contact with them. They will contact you if necessary.

If you're still unsure about doing something, it's probably best not to do it.

Check out our Rules and Guidelines For Steam: Discussions, Reviews, and User Generated Content.

If you want to be 100% sure that something you do is allowed, you would need to consult with a legal adviser, to ensure that you are not breaking any of the Steam terms that you agreed to.

I realize that answer is not very specific, but we do not provide further analysis.

Because we have provided all the information we have for your issue I'm closing this help request. If you have an unrelated issue please open a new help request and we will be happy to help.

Best Regards,
Isaac
---------------

so basically , they don't know how to apply their own rules.

[FB_Destroyer_Rebecca]

Him の投稿を引用：

so basically , they don't know how to apply their own rules.

This is just crazy. Kinda goes with what I thought though.
They want their rules to be open to interpretation, so they can chose how and what to do whenever they want and while you can mot hold their own rules against them.

It basically goes with all ToS nowadays. They are made up rules, doesnt mean they are actual legit and usefull ones. They are just there to protect the companies interest.
In front of a lawyer you laugh at them cause they often have nothing to do with reality.

[CourtesyFlush09]

Him の投稿を引用：

so I talked to the mods , asking if arguing with another user was against their rules, and they basically told me to ask a lawyer and closed my ticket lol. I swear I did not make this up.

Arguing with others is actually allowed. The manner and degree to which you do it, however, can be subject to banning. Mods also look at your ban history iirc. So you're much more likely to get banned again if you do it constantly. I'm assuming this is your case.

The golden rule of avoiding a ban on the Steam forums if this: Don't resort to name-calling.

That's literally it. Once you start throwing out insults like a kindergartner, the ban hammer is usually not far behind. 9.5 times out of 10, that's why you get banned.

[Seraphita]

CourtesyFlush90 の投稿を引用：

Him の投稿を引用：

so I talked to the mods , asking if arguing with another user was against their rules, and they basically told me to ask a lawyer and closed my ticket lol. I swear I did not make this up.

Arguing with others is actually allowed. The manner and degree to which you do it, however, can be subject to banning. Mods also look at your ban history iirc. So you're much more likely to get banned again if you do it constantly. I'm assuming this is your case.

The golden rule of avoiding a ban on the Steam forums if this: Don't resort to name-calling.

That's literally it. Once you start throwing out insults like a kindergartner, the ban hammer is usually not far behind. 9.5 times out of 10, that's why you get banned.

This is not entirely true. You CAN avoid name-calling and still get banned. They call that being "combative and argumentative". And this is completely made up and not in the rules. They can decide to ban you on the spot just for breathing if you argue long enough.

[FB_Destroyer_Rebecca]

CourtesyFlush90 の投稿を引用：

Him の投稿を引用：

so I talked to the mods , asking if arguing with another user was against their rules, and they basically told me to ask a lawyer and closed my ticket lol. I swear I did not make this up.

Arguing with others is actually allowed. The manner and degree to which you do it, however, can be subject to banning. Mods also look at your ban history iirc. So you're much more likely to get banned again if you do it constantly. I'm assuming this is your case.

The golden rule of avoiding a ban on the Steam forums if this: Don't resort to name-calling.

That's literally it. Once you start throwing out insults like a kindergartner, the ban hammer is usually not far behind. 9.5 times out of 10, that's why you get banned.

Well, no offense, I just had to laugh a bit reading the last paragraph.

I am aware of at least two forums where individuals engage in name-calling towards someone on a daily basis without consequences, however, if a person replies in a sarcastic or playful manner towards the name-callers, they get banned within 10 minutes for being perceived as "combative or argumentative." It seems that it's not always about the insults, but rather one's stance on the issue. If one is defending the game, the likelihood of getting banned decreases by -99%, but if they are critical of the game, it increases by +2000%.

No matter how well you articulate and remain objective.

[CourtesyFlush09]

Seraphita の投稿を引用：

They can decide to ban you on the spot just for breathing if you argue long enough.

I don't believe that.

There have been multiple times here when I argued with others for pages on end. But I always kept it on topic and never directly insulted others. And in the end everything was fine (on my end, at least).

What the mod said to OP in the above message is pretty sound. If you feel like you shouldn't be doing something, just don't do it. That's all there is to it, really. And any decent person already follows that rule.

The problem is that people who get banned always play the victim card and act like they don't know why they got banned in the first place. Nearly all the time, though, they're not telling us the whole story.

[FB_Destroyer_Rebecca]

CourtesyFlush90 の投稿を引用：

Seraphita の投稿を引用：

They can decide to ban you on the spot just for breathing if you argue long enough.

I don't believe that.

It is true though. I have multiple "revoked" ban-tickets where a steam mod lifted my ban and admitted that the reason being given for the ban was excessive or unjust.
If you read what I posted you would go like:"What? banning for just saying you agree to disagree?
It feels like, in certain situations and in certain game hubs, they dont take it seriously.
Lets say you argue with someone over 2 pages in 10 posts.
The mod does not pick "THE ONE" post that broke a rule.
He just picks "ANY" post and states a somewhat good sounding reason like "argumentative or combatitive". Just because he doesnt like what you are saying in the posts ak your opinion about the topic or maybe he doesnt care what it was about at all and just picks randomly, it's 50:50 sometimes.
I also had tickets where they stated even if the other person insults you first, if you dont report him but he reports you for calling him a troll for using borderline insults, you get banned but he goes out without any consequences. Mod actually recommended to report or otherwise nothing will happen. Crazy , isn't it?

[PootisMayo]

The other day, I got temp-banned for calling an inappropriate thread “spam” just using that word and nothing else. I tried to submit a ticket but then gave up and cancelled it two hours before the ban was lifted.

[FB_Destroyer_Rebecca]

PootisMayo の投稿を引用：

The other day, I got temp-banned for calling an inappropriate thread “spam” just using that word and nothing else. I tried to submit a ticket but then gave up and cancelled it two hours before the ban was lifted.

They ban you on purpose, then by the time steam responds, the ban has worn off and they do nothing.

Suspiciously, they lift your bans but they still count as strikes, resulting in longer bans.
I experienced a situation where I received multiple bans for the same post due to miscommunication among moderators. (Yes, I kid you not, they gave me 2 bans for the same post).
A steam staff member lifted the bans and apologized, but the next ban became permanent because the lifted bans still counted.
I was shocked at the lack of coordination in their system.

[Seraphita]

NotyourDad の投稿を引用：

They ban you on purpose, then by the time steam responds, the ban has worn off and they do nothing.

Oh you experienced that too. Ha... Yeah, mods play with our time like it was a toy. Mods have no respect for their consumers. Everywhere else, you can easily exist without issues.

They at least love our money so there's that. They could completely ban you off their forums but they'll let you buy anything just fine. If you want to be safe, just don't use forums.