Why aren't we told?

[Eoin247]

I'm just wondering why we aren't told straight out why things happen on the forum and instead it takes a few feedback threads to discover the 'entire' story?

I am of course talking about bans, temp bans, firings etc. In my school when somebody is expelled or suspended it is announced who, why and for how long on the announcement board, why not do the same on the forum? I can't see any reason why we aren't just told straight out, and instead rumours (sometimes horribly untrue) have to fly around the forum.

I'll use a recent example for my point here. Luke got temp banned for being hacked. It took a long time and a lot of posts to find out the entire story (and even then there seems to be some speculation). Why not just outright post a thread detailing why a person is banned or fired? It stops untrue rumours, satisfies members, shows other members/staff what they shouldn't do or they will be banned/fired and it gets rid of this closed information policy this forum seems to have.

There seems to be absolutely no benefit to not officially announcing why things happen.


Also on a side note, don't start closing feedback threads that are doing no harm and are generating good discussion (the "luke ban" threads).

[Mathew]

I think this is quite an awkward situation because there's two credible sides to it. I would expect that the main reason for the hushed talk surrounding dismissals is to prevent any embarrassment which may occur from it. If we dismiss xxMATTGxx, he can continue to use the forum with his integrity intact. If it was announced that he was fired due to being a paedophile, then everyone would hate him and he may cry.. or something. I'm not saying MG is a paedo.. well he might be. How do I know?.. !!

Then again on the other hand, everyone is bound to find out sooner or later and we all manage to discover why people were dismissed. I think with firings, I'd rather it be kept between management and the user in question. This isn't a place to nose around and/or poke fun at people (although it can be I suppose...)!

I don't really care why people are temp banned and I think there's far too many to even consider announcing them all. Teacher reprimands aren't announced on your notice board because it's unprofessional - the same applies here. These issues are not public matters as they don't concern anyone other than the user in question.

In that respect, I disagree with GM giving a reason for each and every personal issue. I do however think that there should be more frequent updates regarding the recent lack of uptime. Chances are that the regular members will return regardless of how long it's down, so we might aswell be told the whole story!

Also on a side note, don't start closing feedback threads that are doing no harm and are generating good discussion (the "luke ban" threads).

Yeah good point. The problem is that both sides of the argument get defensive which further escalates the discussion. If people just agree to disagree or figure a compromise, the thread would be on the second page within days and nobody would care anymore!

[Catzsy]

I'm just wondering why we aren't told straight out why things happen on the forum and instead it takes a few feedback threads to discover the 'entire' story?

I am of course talking about bans, temp bans, firings etc. In my school when somebody is expelled or suspended it is announced who, why and for how long on the announcement board, why not do the same on the forum? I can't see any reason why we aren't just told straight out, and instead rumours (sometimes horribly untrue) have to fly around the forum.

I'll use a recent example for my point here. Luke got temp banned for being hacked. It took a long time and a lot of posts to find out the entire story (and even then there seems to be some speculation). Why not just outright post a thread detailing why a person is banned or fired? It stops untrue rumours, satisfies members, shows other members/staff what they shouldn't do or they will be banned/fired and it gets rid of this closed information policy this forum seems to have.

There seems to be absolutely no benefit to not officially announcing why things happen.


Also on a side note, don't start closing feedback threads that are doing no harm and are generating good discussion (the "luke ban" threads).

I think this is pretty much explained in the stickied thread at the top of the forum:
http://www.habboxforum.com/showthrea...43#post2649843

Personally I feel that it is a matter that should be confined to those involved unless they wish to tell other members. I think the system in your school is a bit odd tbh - it is like in medieval times when they put people in the stocks and must be very embarrassing for the pupils involved. If you worked for a company they would not make the reasons for firing or suspending employees public to the work force. The reasons for closing threads discussing bans is because they are not allowed and as you can see from the date on the stickie this has been un force for a very long time. One thing that maybe a good idea although I don't know if it is possible is to add 'safety ban' to the reasons for a ban then people would realise what it was without having to ask.

[xxMATTGxx]

I'm just wondering why we aren't told straight out why things happen on the forum and instead it takes a few feedback threads to discover the 'entire' story?

I am of course talking about bans, temp bans, firings etc. In my school when somebody is expelled or suspended it is announced who, why and for how long on the announcement board, why not do the same on the forum? I can't see any reason why we aren't just told straight out, and instead rumours (sometimes horribly untrue) have to fly around the forum.

I'll use a recent example for my point here. Luke got temp banned for being hacked. It took a long time and a lot of posts to find out the entire story (and even then there seems to be some speculation). Why not just outright post a thread detailing why a person is banned or fired? It stops untrue rumours, satisfies members, shows other members/staff what they shouldn't do or they will be banned/fired and it gets rid of this closed information policy this forum seems to have.

There seems to be absolutely no benefit to not officially announcing why things happen.


Also on a side note, don't start closing feedback threads that are doing no harm and are generating good discussion (the "luke ban" threads).

Your school seems odd in my opinion, when I was in school or even in college they don't announce why people have been kicked out. It's none of our business I feel and if they were in the "class" of that person then they normally find out by one of their friends in the first place. But they do not officially announce they have been kicked out because he or she has done whatever. I don't think it's right at all we should start announcing why people get banned on the forum or why staff members get fired and it's something I don't think that will change.

Now if there was a security risk or an exploit that we could warn our users about then we would 100% do that but there was no exploit and Luke was hacked via a normal method that has been used over and over again over the many months Habbo has been running.

In terms of closing feedback threads, I see where you are going but at some point if a discussion has gone too far in the eyes of Management and we do not wish to discuss it further or no changes are going to come from the thread. Then what is the point in thread being open? I suppose people can reply to agree or disagree but it still doesn't mean we will take it on board and change anything.

I don't see any benefit of actually announcing why people get banned/temp banned or fired on the forum. To me the only advantage of that is for people who are nosey and want to find out and this would make their lives easier without having to ask people.

If we dismiss xxMATTGxx, he can continue to use the forum with his integrity intact. If it was announced that he was fired due to being a paedophile, then everyone would hate him and he may cry.. or something. I'm not saying MG is a paedo.. well he might be. How do I know?.

It's not the fact that I would cry or not, I just don't feel those type of things should be announced. To be that would be a breach of privacy. I'm sure the Police and the user in question wouldn't like us announcing that someone has been banned and deleted off the forum because they are paedophile. If we use that example that is

[Inseriousity.]

There's always going to be speculation, stories, rumours regardless of the truth. I imagine you can think of an example in your school where the story about a pupil's suspension was announced and despite that, there were still whispers and rumours that the school hadn't told the whole truth. The problem is that there are two sides to every story and I think it would be unfair of management to post their version of events without giving the chance for the other side of the story, which will inevitably be passed around by said person and so things become distorted.

As for management closing threads, I think it's absolutelyunnecessary and shouldn't be used as a 'get out of arguing free' card. Threads die. They become yesterday's news if you just leave them alone. I don't think anyone would see anything wrong with general management stating their position then just leaving the thread and if a thread refuses to die then perhaps management should take a further look into it.

[Mr-Trainor]

I disagree with being told why people are dismissed, as it should be the persons choice as to whether they want to tell people the reason, or keep it to themselves. I'm surprised your school announces suspensions and things like that !

[Samantha]

I got banned and fired on my old account and if someone asks why I will come straight out and tell them; I feel in due course it's upto the person who received the punishment if they want to tell someone. Like said above, there is two sides to every story and yeah the bad side to my story is I 'account shared' but the positive side is that I did it for a nice reason to help out a friend who was being bullied. Now, if it had been announced why I was fired, then you'd have lost me sometime ago as I would have lost trust etc. but it wasn't announced and I was allowed a second chance (after 11 months) and it has seriously paid off in that time. What I'm saying is, the person who gets fired and/or banned may want to return to Habbox's workforce so why show them up and make it awkward for them?

Maybe, giving an example why Luke was banned as a safety measure is enough to be announced (if put in a warning about safety) but not in a general fire/ban method.

[Richie]

I'm going to be blunt, it's none of your business.

[HotelUser]

I don't think this is necessarily a bad idea, but if someone already has to be dismissed from a department at Habbox, it would just be even more humiliating if everyone was told the exact reason as to why they were being dismissed.

[Chippiewill]

Your school seems odd in my opinion, when I was in school or even in college they don't announce why people have been kicked out.

My school does it as well, although I don't agree with it. One my friends parents threatened to sue the school for defamation if they disclosed the unjustified reason for his suspension. (My old head master used to be more bothered about the appearance of the school than the well-being of the school, so public mockery of those punished seemed important to him).

Essentially whilst it might be the staff member's fault the firing / pain of being hacked is enough, having being made fun of / bullied / publicly outed really isn't fair.