Then why haven't they gone ahead and formalised the banning then?

As you (IIRC it was you) said, it amounts to 15 years, and this site probably won't be around anymore in 2021, so it is "forever".

Also the "Suspend" function does not contain a "Disable indefinitely" button like the "Post restrict" function has, unfortunatly.

Concerning the "Temporary Moderation Actions";
Isn't it about time to let that go? I mean, I haven't seen anyone violating the 150kb rule recently.

You have truly no sense for Cold War - style deterrence tactics!

Indeed. It's called a trade off. You (as in the members) asked for a change in the file-size restriction for images, we softened that rule up a bit, and in exchange, any violations that we do see will be dealt with in a more direct manner for an undetermined period of time.

I prefer the US approach; Demand Everything, when you get everything, demand more

I have to say that i feel comments like



from Benoist are rather unnecisary. That comment added nothing to the thread and is a complete waste of space and reading time. Not everyone has been playing OFP 'since launch'. Its amazing how many people claim they have been with OFP 'since launch', im sure theres double than actual computer game sales in the first week of the games release.

There is a nice button at the lower left of every post, it says "! Report"

you know ive never actually noticed that. anywhom better here than the actual thread.

Why wouldn't that be allowed when Valhalian first posted an english version of the message too? I'd understand if the message was 100% different language than english, but come on, he posted it in english too...

Yeah, I think Rellikki's right. I mean, a lot of members here have to post in the English section even though their first language isn't English. I think it's fair that they should be allowed to post their original thoughts if they have to translate it to English, especially if they're lacking in English skills.

+1 Would you rather have an English answer that makes hardly any sense or an English answer with what they tried to say in their mother tongue. I think It's important to show some understanding to people who's first language is not English...

The 'official' stance on this is that there is no way of checking/ moderating what the translated version says, so in theory they could be completely different and nobody unable to speak the language in question could tell.

However I do think that a situation like that would never really happen (i.e. 2 people talking about off-topic stuff or whatever in the translated versions). I think it would make the forum more accessible for non-english people. What if you're Finnish for example, and your English is practically non-existant: you can A. Either not post at all or B. Post badly, possibly misunderstanding what people say and even flaming - see the petr.t.lbc case. He didn't really understand that criticisms were not hostile and began to post in a flamey manner as a result.

A very simple excuse, we might as well throw out any rule related to flaming and flamebaiting, since everyone can hide behind the convenient veil of misunderstanding/lack of education, when they feel like flaming someone. When you post your mod progress in a forum, you get the person that speaks the language used on that forum well enough to do it, when you don't, and you get agitated because you don't understand, is not our problem. You are responsible for the decision to reply to a topic, you are responsible for the contents of your posts, and you are responsible for writing your posts in a way that we can understand them, not us. If petr.t.lbc, or anyone else for that matter doesn't speak English well enough, they should get someone that does to make post their progress reports.

The text needs to be clear for us to understand, we shouldn't require the help of translators to understand what is being said, for the same reason that moderators only moderate the section of which they speak the language well enough. We cannot know for certain if a translation is accurate, therefore posting in a foreign language and providing a translation is not allowed, and this section is called the English section, in which English is spoken. We judge what is written, not what "might potentially have been meant if". If something is not clear enough, or you feel that you do not speak the language well enough, you shouldn't post in that language section. I don't post in the French or German sections because I don't speak those languages well enough. Makes perfect sense.

The Czechs have a Czech language section to speak Czech in, just like the people that speak French and German, in this section only English will be allowed. If you want to talk in your own language, gather enough visitors from that country/language group to the site and to the forums, and start your own language section, where you can talk in your own language, and your language only.

Which makes perfect sense until someone who can only speak Dutch comes to the forum...

So, basically, you're saying the policy of this forum is "speak our languages or f*ck off"? Isn't that a bit hypocritical?

Not really, the English section is named that way for a reason, just as the German, French and Czech sections are. We are not responsible for how good or bad people are at any language. You need to make sure your post can be fully understood by us, we shouldn't have to feel the need to guestimate what you meant. If it comes down to that, you're taking chances on getting actions taken against you. The poster is responsible for the existence of his post, and the content of that post, regardless of language abilities, level of education, real life mood, psychological state etc. If you fail to post in what is considered to be a normal way on the internet, it's not the moderator's problem, it's your own.

Which once again, brings us back to the problem of someone who doesn't speak English, German, French or Czech...

These are the most accessible and common languages. OFP.info's other language sections died from lack of activity. Most internet users will speak or be able to find a way to communicate in one of these languages, with the possible inclusion way down the track, if we ever get a significant member base, of a Spanish forum. Until then, if you post in another language, you have to provide a translation, and its preferred you do not post in another language. Its the English forum. Here, you speak English.

Would parliament be receptive to a foreign spokesman speaking to the House of Lords in his or her own language without a translator?
Would you like to have a customer if you worked in retail, try to get advice from you on a product to buy, when they cannot speak to you in their own language? Even the basics is fine so long as one can be understood. When we have members such as JdB whose English is consistently superior in grammatical structure and eloquence then some of our native English speakers, its clear to see nationality is no barrier to enabling one to communicate in a secondary language with some effort. We used to have Russian speakers at OFP.info who used internet translators...hard to understand and some interesting sentence structures? Yes, but they were understood and assisted.

At least we offer a French and German section, unlike the BIS forums, which is Czech and English only. Our current member base does not warrant expansion of language section's at this point in time. Unless your pressing for a Welsh section?