UDWiki:Administration/Vandal Banning/Archive/2011 05

This page is for the reporting of vandalism within the Urban Dead wiki, as defined by vandalism policy. On this wiki, the punishment for Vandalism is temporary banning, but due to security concerns, the ability to mete out this punishment is restricted to System Operators. As such, regular users will need to lodge a report for a Vandal to be banned from the wiki. For consistency and accountability, System Operators are requested to note on this board their actions in dealing with Vandals.

Guidelines for Vandalism Reporting

In dealing with Vandalism, time is often of the essence. As such, we ask that all users include the following information in a Vandalism report:

• A link to the pages in question.

Preferably bolded for visibility. If the Vandalism is occurring over a sufficiently large number of pages, instead include a time range of the vandalism attempt, or alternatively, a link to the first vandalised page. This allows us to quickly find the damage so we can quickly assess the situation.

• The user name of the Vandal.

This allows us to more easily identify the culprit, and to check details.

• A signed datestamp.

For accountability purposes, we ask that you record in your request your user name and the time you lodged the report.

• Please report at the top.

There's conflict with where to post and a lot of the reports are missed. If it's placed at the top of the page it's probably going to be seen and dealt with.

If you see Vandalism in progress, don't wait for System Operators to deal with it, as there may be no System Operator online at the time. Lodge the report, then start reverting pages back to their original form. This can be done by going to the "History" tab at the top of the page, and finding the last edit before the Vandal's attack. When a System Operator is available, they'll assess the situation, and if the report is legitimate, we will take steps to either warn the vandal, or ban them if they are on their second warning.

If the page is long, you can add new reports by editing the top report and placing your new report above its header in the edit screen.

Before Submitting a Report

• This page, Vandal Banning, deals with bad-faith breaches of official policy.
• Interpersonal complaints are better sorted out at UDWiki:Administration/Arbitration.
• As much as is practical, assume good faith and try to iron out problems with other users one to one, only using this page as a last resort.
• Avoid submitting reports which are petty.

Vandalism Report Space

Administration Notice Talk with the user before reporting or accusing someone of vandalism for small edits. In most cases it's simply a case of a new user that doesn't know how this wiki works. Sometimes assuming good faith and speaking with others can avoid a lot of drama, and can even help newbies feel part of this community. Administration Notice If you are not a System Operator, the user who made the vandal report, the user being reported, or directly involved in the case, the administration asks that you use the talk page for further discussion. Free-for-all commenting can lead to a less respectful environment. Administration Notice Warned users can remove one entry of their warning history every one month and 250 edits after their last warning. Remember to ask a sysop to remove them in due time. You are as responsible for keeping track of your history as the sysops are; In case of a sysop wrongly punishing you due to an outdated history, he might not be punished for his actions.

Spambots

Spambots are to be reported on this page. New reports should be added to the top. Reports may be purged after one week.

May 2011

User:Deadman Walken

• User:Deadman Walken (talk | contribs | logs | block | IP Check | vndl data | discuss)

Verdict	Vandalism
Action taken	3 edit vandal

Pointless account designed to impersonate thad and prove some point about impersonation by signing as such on admin pages. Thanks. Banned under 3ER--Rosslessness 00:48, 2 May 2011 (BST)

This op approves of the action. Also, filled out verdict. -- Spiderzed█ 00:51, 2 May 2011 (BST)

User:Underisk

• Underisk (talk | contribs | logs | block | IP Check | vndl data | discuss)

Verdict	Incomplete
Action taken	None Yet

Using the Template:Goonsig in his signature counts as impersonation.--The General ^{T Sys U! P! F!} 00:33, 2 May 2011 (BST)

Will hold off on that for now until the case below is sorted out. There are more than them two involved. -- Spiderzed█ 00:39, 2 May 2011 (BST)

Fair enough. Yeah, I know more than two of them involved. I've put this guy up because he said in the case below that we should be A/VBing the people who are using the sig.--The General ^{T Sys U! P! F!} 00:44, 2 May 2011 (BST)

Gonna go ahead and point this out now for you WIKI LAWyers: I haven't used this signature anywhere but on this very page, where it's currently being discussed. --|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Underisk (talk • contribs) 01:06, 2 May 2011 (BST).

not vandalism - You could at least wait for us to outlaw the template officially before trying to get everyone on here. -- ϑ^anceϑ^anceℜ^evolution 03:34, 2 May 2011 (BST)

User:Revenant

• Revenant (talk | contribs | logs | block | IP Check | vndl data | discuss)

Verdict	Incomplete
Action taken	None Yet

For creating this piece of stupid and encouraging people to use it which basically undermines the very principle behind the use of signatures. Policy? God no, for something this obvious all that requires is the sysops team to have the balls to enforce some common sense. This doesn't require much additional discussion. Sharing signatures falls under impersonation, and should hereby be prohibited through precedent. I see little point in escalating the different goons using this sigs for now, though they will be required to change it.

The bad-faith is dripping of this one. Seriously Rev, what the hell are you on? -- Thadeous Oakley Talk 22:36, 1 May 2011 (BST)

Random. Is rev finished with the template yet? I initially thought the green box was going to signify the actual user signing it from the long pink list. If only there was a way of explaining that the current signature was against policy because of impersonation and clarity concerns. Somewhere like here. Oh look vapor just beat me to it. --Rosslessness 23:02, 1 May 2011 (BST)

I thought that too, but I think it's just because Katthew's colour is green.--Yonnua Koponen ^{T G P} ^^^ 23:32, 1 May 2011 (BST)

Explaining that these sigs are illegal is like explaining 1+1=2. They, and especially Rev, should know much better than this. Oh and look what Vapor is getting as reactions, can we even fake a surprised face here? -- Thadeous Oakley Talk 23:38, 1 May 2011 (BST)

I don't really expect much to come of it. So far I've pretty much received the answer I expected to get. ~ _{23:57, 1 May 2011 (UTC)}

Pretty much, but hey drama, if you dont want to deal with it, then you're in the wrong place. I'm sure rev can argue his case here. He's a sensible fellow. --Rosslessness 00:11, 2 May 2011 (BST)

That should be fun. Seems he's claiming ignorance of the law. The WIKI LAW. ~ _{00:25, 2 May 2011 (UTC)}

So is "bad-faith" the new buzzword for things that you don't like but can't find a rule against? Serious question: which Goon ran over your dog/set your cat on fire/raped your sister (select as applicable), because you're awfully mad at us and there's no way a few wiki edits could trigger this kind of reaction. Thadeous hates Goons, can we even fake a surprised face here? --|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Sykic (talk • contribs) 00:02, 2 May 2011 (BST).

I'll wait for Rev to explain himself. However, I want to make it clear that using that piece of wikicode shit as sig is absolutely unacceptable. It either gets massively altered, or it is clear-cut escalation material for everyone using it. -- Spiderzed█ 00:20, 2 May 2011 (BST)

^{Non Involved chit chat moved to talk page.}

Vandalism - As thad. I will not be responding to questions, statements or qq about my ruling in this case. My reasoning is as thad's introduction. I have no intention of getting dragged in to the drama involved in this case.--Yonnua Koponen ^{T G P} ^^^ 23:32, 1 May 2011 (BST)

Nice to know how fair, unbiased, and un-prejudiced you really are. ᚱᛁᚹᛖᚾᚨᚾᛏ 02:03, 2 May 2011 (BST)

Forgive him for knowing what you're like when a vandalism ruling is imminent. -- ϑ^anceϑ^anceℜ^evolution 03:22, 2 May 2011 (BST)

Don't you start. I know what you're like with ad hominem, personal attacks and poisoning the well. “Boo hoo Revenant actually makes arguments to defend himself and won't take his shafting lying down like a good little user!” ᚱᛁᚹᛖᚾᚨᚾᛏ 03:47, 2 May 2011 (BST)

users that need to deal with it -- ϑ^anceϑ^anceℜ^evolution 03:53, 2 May 2011 (BST)

See this right here? Yeah, that's why no one is voting for you. If you're unwilling to put forth the effort to work towards a solution for a problem, you probably should not hold any position whatsoever, much less be promoted. --|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| 03:33, 2 May 2011 (BST)

Why are you putting the person who created the template up for vandalism instead of the ones using it. If I dig up one of your templates and start using it as my signature will you put yourselves up for a vandal banning vote? --|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Underisk (talk • contribs) 00:14, 2 May 2011 (BST).

I too have an issue with the suddenness and unwillingness to believe that this is anything other than vandalism because the person who made it was a goon. Suddenly, it's "bad faith" and "Sharing a signature = impersonation," even though it's got a lot of clever wiki-code that gives each goon a different color and only shows the link to the goon posting at the time. Yes, you could put forth a convincing argument that sharing a signature causes a lot of unnecessary confusion and that the policy should be altered to ban it. That's a fucking stupid idea and I don't see this as anything other than an attempt to de-legitimize a candidate in the current Bureaucrat election. --|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Laughing Man (talk • contribs) 01:12, 2 May 2011 (BST).

Vandalism - creating a template that can have no other use but to cause confusion as to who posted a comment, and then encouraging others to use it. It violates the whole point of signing to have multiple handles in a signature without any way of making it damn clear which one is the the owner of the comment. And just because there is no specific rule against it, doesn't mean that it's not vandalism to use it. We can't pass policies on every single thing that poster may or may not do, but it is amply covered in our existing policies and precedents -- boxy 01:18, 2 May 2011 (BST)

Firstly, let me state for the record that this sig would have been created with or without my involvement. As a responsible member of the community, I have endeavoured to ensure its creation in such a way that it complies with relevant policy and provides minimal load on the server.

Now, let me quote some relevant policy (emphasis mine):

“	Required Link The handle portion of your signature must link to your user page or one of its subpages so that it is easy for readers to learn more about the person behind the signature. Superscript adornments, images and other parts of your signature may link to other locations provided that such links do not violate the rules below. What wouldn't be allowed Signatures which impersonate another user. …	”
—Signature Policy

“	[A] user shall be guilty [of] impersonation if they improperly sign comments to mislead readers into believing that another user posted them, or that they were posted at a different time. A user shall also be guilty of impersonation and bad faith if the user makes an edit that alters, deletes, strikes, re-words or adds to another user's signed comments. Impersonation includes altering another user's words that the editor finds offensive. Impersonation also includes creating a user account with a name so similar to an existing user's name as to create confusion between the two. Impersonation also includes an editor making changes to their own signed statements after posting. Exceptions: Any user may strike votes that are improperly formatted or violate existing rules; any user may add an unsigned comment tag to the end of an unsigned comment; …	”
—Impersonation Law

See also: Hivemind.

Now, then, in your considered opinion, signing with this template constitutes impersonation because…?

Edit: Edit confliiiict! ᚱᛁᚹᛖᚾᚨᚾᛏ 01:28, 2 May 2011 (BST)

Because it is misleading. Simple. I have no idea which goon is signing with it since more than one goon is using it and it isn't unique to any individual. You could also easily argue that its just a bad faith attempt to game the system by finding "loopholes" in the sig policy. Whether it was your idea or just under your guidance doesn't much matter. You created the page along with the instructions for its use so you own it I'm afraid. ~ _{02:09, 2 May 2011 (UTC)}

So, wait… you're telling me you don't routinely view pages (especially admin pages) via history/diffs? Please tell me I'm not the only that does this. I know Boxy knows his way around them – hell, so does Sexualharrison.
The template was created so that issues with Goon signing could be addressed in a standardised manner, since there have been a number of hassles with these. Tell me please, what would be your suggested changes? ᚱᛁᚹᛖᚾᚨᚾᛏ 02:41, 2 May 2011 (BST)

What? I don't need to view diffs to see the sig is misleading. The evidence is right in front of my eyes. My suggestions? Stop trying to share a sig. Use a normal sig like everyone else. ~ _{03:13, 2 May 2011 (UTC)}

He means that we can tell who made what comment by viewing the diff comparisons. But that is a red herring. We shouldn't have to search through diff comparisons to tell who said what, and it will become almost impossible to tell who said what in a very short time. Even someone logging in for the first time today just know would find it extremely time consuming to sort it out if I hadn't been inserting unsigned notices. Seriously, it would be extremely simple to fix this sig with just the addition of a variable for the name of the poster being inserted into a spot where it would stand out as the handle portion (ie. a larger coloured section just at the start), while still keeping the ideal of having all goons sigs looking identical. Do that, and encourage any goons using this sig to change over, and I'd consider changing my ruling. But as it is, it remains obvious this template only exists for drama creation purposes -- boxy 03:52, 2 May 2011 (BST)

Hmm. That's a good idea. Might do that. I'll take a look and see what the best method is. ᚱᛁᚹᛖᚾᚨᚾᛏ 03:56, 2 May 2011 (BST)

He took what we were going to do anyway, and made it in such a way that it followed the rules currently in place. I'm not sure how I see that implies bad faith on his part. I guess since you are assuming our intention was in bad faith you're unfairly transferring that onto him when he explained pretty clearly that he was attempting to do this in the best way he knew how, which seems like the definition of good faith to me. Maybe if you guys didn't spend so much time pouring over every goon edit looking for bad faith you would find less of it. --|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Laughing Man (talk • contribs) 02:51, 2 May 2011 (BST).

So does anyone care to define what actual rule this guy broke, or is this just a case of behind-the-scenes asshurt? Because all I'm seeing here is "He made a thing I don't like". Might I suggest deleting the offending signature template? I'm sure there's a WIKI LAW for that.--ебут этом гомосексуальные земля́, ebut ėtom gomoseksual'nye zemlя́ ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||_{Retarded things go here -->} 2 3 4 User:MisterGame 03:09, 2 May 2011 (BST)

I found the idea fascinating and quite clever, but as I looked through more and more of the code I realised how much of a clusterfuck it had been built to make. Had much more useful potential but deliberately giving multiple users a means to mask the the author of a comment between a score of other names is not helpful and can not conceivably be done with good intent. Vandalism. -- ϑ^anceϑ^anceℜ^evolution 03:32, 2 May 2011 (BST)

Part of the reason it's been left that way is because there've been users with links to multiple user pages in their sigs before and nobody seemed to have a problem with it. Unless this really is just because it's Goons doing it? ᚱᛁᚹᛖᚾᚨᚾᛏ 03:54, 2 May 2011 (BST)