Excessive Punishment For An Unwritten Rule?

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Excessive Punishment For An Unwritten Rule?

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Excessive Punishment For An Unwritten Rule? - Sep.-29th-2008 18:58:28

JustinSaneV2

Posts: 91
Joined: Apr.-25th-2008
Status: offline

So I just found out that I have received a 48-hour ban for approving a story that ended up being failed.

quote:

You can't approve stories at this moment because you have not been reporting according to the N4G guidelines.
Approving linked duplicate http://www.n4g.com/NewsPending-206728.aspx

1) It's probably poor word choice on behalf of whoever wrote the text in the reasoning but I was banned for approving, not reporting.

2) If posting differing news articles that pull their stories from information in a single interview is against N4G rules then consider this lesson learned. But if that's the case then why are some stories allowed to bypass this rule? For instance there was an interview with Hideo Kojima that was posted recently (see: http://www.n4g.com/industrynews/News-205475.aspx) and then there was a separate story that was posted using information pulled from the original interview (see: http://www.n4g.com/ps3/News-205651.aspx). No mod intervention or reports what-so-ever. This isn't the only example I have seen. Why the hypocrisy?

3) Isn't a 48-hour ban a little excessive for a first-time offense? Wouldn't a verbal warning have sufficed? A multi-platform gamer that is approving stories that are of genuine interest to himself and others gets banned for two days for a simple misunderstanding because of a policy that is not written anywhere.

http://www.n4g.com/Info/NewsPostingTips.aspx
http://www.n4g.com/Info/PostingTutorial.aspx
http://www.n4g.com/Info/FAQ.aspx

Upon a quick skim I see no mention of the aforementioned rule. There seem to be a lot of "word of mouth" type rules that should be written in the sections of the site that are posted above if they indeed factual N4G rules.

Thank you for your time and consideration in this matter.

< Message edited by JustinSaneV2 -- Sep.-29th-2008 21:07:17 >

Post #: 1

RE: Why the hypocrisy? - Sep.-29th-2008 19:32:42

TheDeadMetalhead

Posts: 2371
Joined: Apr.-9th-2008
From: The Back of Doctorb's crazy little mind. :D
Status: offline

That shouldn't have happened. Only people that use their contributor status for fanboyism should be banned from approving/reporting imo.

But your problem sounds more like a glitch than anything.

_____________________________

Jason 360's gone. pp's next.

20 $niper $hells

(in reply to JustinSaneV2)

Post #: 2

RE: Why the hypocrisy? - Sep.-29th-2008 21:06:35

JustinSaneV2

Posts: 91
Joined: Apr.-25th-2008
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: TheDeadMetalhead
But your problem sounds more like a glitch than anything.

That's what I'm hoping...

(in reply to TheDeadMetalhead)

Post #: 3

RE: Excessive Punishment For An Unwritten Rule? - Sep.-29th-2008 21:21:25

Catastrophe

Posts: 5528
Joined: Jul.-10th-2007
Status: online

You were restricted for approving a story that had Duplicate reports (with links) currently on it. This is more serious than you realize as you are helping to push through a duplicate story that should not be approved. This is problematic from an Administrative perspective as the story has to be failed.

quote:

Approving News Stories
Make sure that both the text posted on N4G and the source story are within the N4G posting rules before you give your vote for a news story to be approved. If you discover a problem or error with a news post please use the report system so the author can make the necessary changes.

And for information on posting Duplicates: http://www.n4g.com/Info/PostingGuidelines.aspx#duplicate

It is a written rule, and it is both unfortunate that you approved a linked duplicate and that you had to be restricted. In the N4G scheme of things, however, a 48 hour restriction is decidedly "low-level".

Please feel free to PM me if you have any more concerns.

Edit: What I am trying to impart is that approving is just as critical as reporting, and is a responsibility as much as a contributor privilege. Approving a duplicate accidentally happens more often than we would like, and is not punishable by any means. Approving a story that has a duplicate report with a link is an error of greater deliberateness.

< Message edited by Catastrophe -- Sep.-29th-2008 21:27:13 >

(in reply to JustinSaneV2)

Post #: 4