[fred]

Clinch, on Sep 20 2005, 04:02 AM, said:

uday, on Sep 18 2005, 06:31 PM, said:

We don't want to get involved in petty squabbles.  But we have to get involved in making sure that the handful of weirdos and crazies don't ruin it for all of us.  So, if you don't report a jerk (and use your judgement) then the jerk continues on his merry way

If I may say so, I think words like weirdos, crazies, jerks, are too judgmental. Life is not binary. Let's face it, bridge can be an emotional game, and most of us say and do things on the spur of the moment that we later regret. I know I do. I have been known to shout at motorists, rollerbladers, even sometimes randomly at life itself. I guess I think that makes me human.

Peter.
New York, NY.

You may say so, but I am not sure if you have any idea of the just how badly some of our members behave. For some of these people words like "crazies" are charitable descriptions - "monsters" might be more appropriate.

Of course all of us sometimes do things that we later regret, but few of us are sexual predators, racists, or people who threaten other members with violence. Unfortunately we do have some members who fit into these categories and I don't see any point in trying to think of nice words to describe them.

Fred Gitelman
Bridge Base Inc.
www.bridgebase.com

[barmar]

zasanya, on Sep 20 2005, 02:53 AM, said:

Would it be a good idea to display in some way-perhaps a color code- people who have been auto banned for booting so that people dont join their table?After a month or so the stigma could be removed to allow the offenders to reform.

I think the auto-ban should be sufficient punishment, we don't need a scarlet letter after the ban has been rescinded. We should give them the benefit of the doubt and hope that they've learned from the ban. If not, they'll get auto-banned again.

[1eyedjack]

Perhaps if you just had an indicator showing the number of boots you invoked, number of boots invoked against you, and number of leavings mid-hand, displayed in the profile, say over the previous month or latest 100 logins, whichever is the greater, then there might be no need for any auto-ban. When deciding whether to play against or with an individual you could judge for yourself based on those 3 statistics.

[inquiry]

I can not imagine that BBO will be giving members some kind of scarlet letters to indicate they have been booted, abandoning games, or been booted too frequently. For one thing, it is against the ESTABLISHED policy not to share disciplinary action on one member with any other member. BBO will, however, no doubt keep track of chronic repeaters in these areas. Those who don't take the hint issued by the auto-sanctions, will surely eventually get additional sanctions issued by absue at bbo.

[Al_U_Card]

fred, on Sep 20 2005, 05:35 AM, said:

For some of these people words like "crazies" are charitable descriptions - "monsters" might be more appropriate.

Well, Monster means big but I think that at 5 boots before banishment, you need only apply it to booters AND bootees. Kinda like giving your kid a "time-out" since we are no longer allowed to smack them like OUR parents did....

Like maximum speed signs on the roads, they are there as a reminder of what is correct not a physical limit. I, for one, wouldn't mind seeing the boot# appear next to a players name........and btw even tho I only play occasionally, I now stay to end of a hand (when dummy) before leaving.

[Clinch]

fred, on Sep 20 2005, 05:35 AM, said:

Of course all of us sometimes do things that we later regret, but few of us are sexual predators, racists, or people who threaten other members with violence. Unfortunately we do have some members who fit into these categories and I don't see any point in trying to think of nice words to describe them.

Sorry, I misread the context. I definitely agree that the "abuse" channel is needed for that type of extremity.

The only thing I would say is that a lot of the rights and wrongs of less clear instances can be very subjective. For instance, I played a while back in some random individual tournament, and my mayfly partner said "well you sure know how to floor a cold contract" (or something similar). Now, to me, that seems harmless, and he had a good point on the hand in question. I could imagine, however, that others may take offence and complain at abusive behavior etc etc. They might even think this person is a jerk.

I tend to agree with candybar - in some senses it makes sense to boot rather than to get into lengthy, fruitless discussions about whether the opponents are of the right standard, or whether you like the quality of their connection, or whatever. Or to bail if you just need to go, for whatever reason.

There seems to be something of an underlying assumption that people who "boot or bail" do so randomly or with some kind of malicious intent. I would guess that these happen mostly on the emotional spur of the moment, and are unaccompanied by pathological tendency.

Peter.
New York, NY.

[1eyedjack]

To those with influence who are listening, may I please add a plea that when the software is tweaked (as it must surely be) to stop the clocking of Dummy bailing before hand end, there is an announcement to that effect?

[EarlPurple]

uday, on Sep 20 2005, 02:06 AM, said:

- I toss out duplicates; A can boot B several times w/o it counting more than once

So I can boot "GIB" 100 times and it counts as only one boot? Good. And all the GIBs count as the same (not 3 different players?). Good. So I'm safe.

[jillybean]

EarlPurple, on Sep 25 2005, 01:42 PM, said:

uday, on Sep 20 2005, 02:06 AM, said:

- I toss out duplicates;  A can boot B several times w/o it counting more than once

So I can boot "GIB" 100 times and it counts as only one boot? Good. And all the GIBs count as the same (not 3 different players?). Good. So I'm safe.

It doesn't sound like you are having much fun playing with GIB