[Pete Svarrior]

I think IRC is a completely separate case. I banned the guy(s) on IRC with no mandate from anyone (other than Parsifal), and no set of rules at all. In that sense, IRC is a much less "official" channel. Also, the reason he/they got banned was because they started spamming "s".

The forum, as it stands (n.b. I'm not necessarily saying it should stay that way), is a very different matter. When we set it up, we were trying to create a strong alternative for the culture of the other forum. At the time, it involved arbitrary bans for reasons which weren't entirely clear to everyone (like the use of the word "nigger", sometimes, with no apparent consistency). I think cases like EJ's are rare enough for the addition of the Purgatory to be enough.

[garygreen]

Whoops; my original post was unclear at the end.  In my head I was considering ban and purgatory synonymously.  I think purgatory is a totally reasonable option.

[Pongo]

I'm not sure who gave everyone the impression that Purgatory was successful on the other site.  I, like many others, was a strong advocate of it at first but it fell out of favor rather quickly and it's now the policy to never place anyone in purgatory.  We found that people simply created alts and kept right on going.  It was, at most, a mildly inconvenient speed bump.

However, as it's addressing a different issue here and since the alt rule is much more lax, I can see it succeeding.  If EJ wanted to make an alt, he would have to forgo the character he's playing.  He can't play the same character on a separate account, it will just get banned or sent to purgatory rather quickly.

[xasop]

I'm not sure who gave everyone the impression that Purgatory was successful on the other site.

I recall there being at least one successful rehabilitation of an angry noob, who became a contributive regular after their tenure in Purgatory. I don't remember which user that was, though.

[Yaakov ben Avraham]

It would be painfully difficult for EJ to pretend to be anyone other than himself. His orthography alone would give him away in a moment, just as I would have a damned hard time pretending to be someone else, simply because my diction and mannerisms would become apparent within an hour.

[Pongo]

It would be painfully difficult for EJ to pretend to be anyone other than himself. His orthography alone would give him away in a moment, just as I would have a damned hard time pretending to be someone else, simply because my diction and mannerisms would become apparent within an hour.

Well that sounds to me like you're projecting your own inadequacies onto others.  Just because one person can't convincingly play a character does not mean another could.  In this case, EJ is such a well defined character that he needs this account to keep playing it.  A Purgatory sentence should work marvelously.

[Yaakov ben Avraham]

Oh, I agree. I think he should get a great deal out of Purgatory. In fact, it seems to be working quite well for him, if you down there and observe. I just don't think that he is playing a role. I think that EJ is in fact a serious person. I mean, really. I have seen a lot in my 41 years of life, and I think we are dealing with a truly mentally disordered individual. I don't think he's a troll at all. I think EJ is the Real McCoy. It would be damned hard to make up orthography THAT bad.

[Vindictus]

Reforming a character troll? Really, guys?

[xasop]

Reforming a character troll? Really, guys?

Even if he is most likely a character troll, I don't think that's reason to treat him differently from anyone else. There have been people on FES in the past who everyone thought was a character troll, but turned out not to be (remember Eric Bloedow, anyone?). I really don't want to get into using a moderator's assessment of a person's motives as reason for a ban.

[Yaakov ben Avraham]

Hm. I'm inclined to agree. For a time when I was on a government issued dumbphone, people thought I was EJ, and EJ was me. The fact that he lives on the Left Coast and I live in Iowa, and he is on a computer, and I was on my Basic Phone, using Assurance Wireless as my phone company, and said so, and was backed up by administrators, finally made people admit that he was not me, and I even had a few apologies directed my way.

I realise that I have made an arse of myself in here on occasion. I have been banned often, sometimes justifiably, and sometimes not (in my opinion). I realise also that people in many cases may not like me much. But I think that most people at this point know I am a genuine human being.

But even if they don't, whether a person is a troll or not shouldn't indicate how they are banned or not banned, purgatoried or not purgatoried. Every person registered should be treated according to merit. Straight up.

[Pete Svarrior]

Reforming a character troll? Really, guys?

Nobody's saying the aim is to reform him. It's just a permaban with an exit strategy. If he wants to post like a normal guy, he can show us that and get unbanned. If he doesn't, he can stay in CN, effectively banned from any board that matters. I genuinely don't understand what the controversy is - could one of the "omg just ban him already" voices explain it?

You're not taking CN seriously, are you?

[Yaakov ben Avraham]

SEX WARRIOR, again, I would accept that as axiomatic. Well said.

[Vindictus]

Reforming a character troll? Really, guys?

Nobody's saying the aim is to reform him. It's just a permaban with an exit strategy. If he wants to post like a normal guy, he can show us that and get unbanned. If he doesn't, he can stay in CN, effectively banned from any board that matters. I genuinely don't understand what the controversy is - could one of the "omg just ban him already" voices explain it?

You're not taking CN seriously, are you?

I don't feel particularly strongly on the issue, I just found it humorous that the word 'reform' was used in regards to EJ. We have some of the best forum admins I've ever seen, and I feel that a lazy character troll is taking advantage of that. You're right, it is just CN, but even shit posting has standards.