What will your reaction be if you are suspended?

Well said.

If one got suspended, it could be a blessing in disguise. I find it hard to believe that the online personas that some have created on the forum always reflects their actual face-to-face personas. That being said, it could just be a time to gather one's marbles, so to speak, and find another group to play marbles, so to speak, possibly even with a new online persona.

I really like the marble playing analogy. I plan to use it often in 2016.

I agree, but someone who has created a persona that differs dramatically from their actual personality is either a thespian for real or at heart, or mentally askew. In the case of the latter, they might be reluctant or unable to change the designed persona and so the reflection provided by a suspension might result to a permanent move to another stage.

Not that theres anything wrong with that.

so Dr obvious has been banned again??

Seems he disappears every two three years.

I don't think he will come back. There's some humiliation involved in getting suspended, and Frank is a very proud man. Likewise I wonder if izzy will ever be back.

This thread got me thinking that "suspension" amounts in fact to permanent banishment, because of the humiliation & pride factor.

Robert could be cutting his own throat if he end up driving a too large a percent of the major posters on this website away.

Robert is providing the site true but not the content that cause the greater percent of users to log on to read as most of the members here as on any other similar websites are lurkers/readers not posters

PS I am just as happy if for example Izzy never never return but that may not be the best for the traffic on the website.

I'm guessing the owner has a definite idea of what a conversation should look like on his site, and is convinced that if the site looks that way, people will post. "If you build it they will come".

Rob's idea is to get many more new menbers, i would think. Frank contributed very little and took a humonguous amount of space. Izzy was vicious and nasty... Showing them the door creates space for others to get in.

So far so good i think but suspensions should not be taken lightly. They are not REALLY temporary.

Why would this time be different?

I predict a few will return. Maybe not tomorrow. Maybe not the day after tomorrow. Maybe not the day after that. Maybe not the day after that. Maybe not the day after that. Maybe -

Different from what?

More like embarrassment, but I agree. It will factor into the reaction of certain people.



For some it probably will, but certainly not all. Orolloy has acknowledged his prior suspension, but, for him, there wasn't a self-imposed permanency.

He might, but I don't think a large percentage of those who provide the most content will end up being suspended and of those that are suspended, I don't think a large percentage will self-impose permanency.

There aren't too many folks who, by their behavior, have been begging for suspension and, at times, provide interesting content (I can only think of one off the top of my head). It would be unfortunate if interesting content were lost, if a person fitting the bill is suspended and then decides to make the banishment permanent, but I think most of us would agree that the occasional contribution of good content should not render anyone immune from suspension. In any case, the loss of one or two people will not sink this forum.

There may be a few people who earn suspensions, offer little to no meaningful content, but who will, never-the-less be missed. However they will, almost certainly, only be missed by those who enjoyed wrestling with them in the mud laden cyber-streets of A2K. Such miscreants are either likely to be eventually suspended themselves, or will not be missed if they leave on their own accord because their favorite pastime has been denied them.

The flip side of these circumstances is that in the absence of vacuous or contributing bullies and aggressors, some of the people who now choose to simply watch from the sidelines might start contributing themselves.

A new format, new features and fewer miscreants, may motivate some people to contribute more content or stick around longer, but I can't see how they will increase new membership other than via word of mouth. I wonder if he has plans to advertise A2K in some way.

Personally, I think your criticism of Frank is largely unfounded or exaggerated. Assuming he has been suspended (which is probably a safe assumption given Robert's recent statement concerning micro-suspension) I, for one, hope he doesn't allow it to drive him away for good.

(For a short while I entertained the notion that perhaps Frank received, via PMs, the 5 "off-the-island" votes he had dared members to provide and so banished himself as promised. However, I doubt Frank would have left A2K for such a reason without one final post explaining that he was making good on his proffered deal, and wishing us all well)

Again, I think any discussion of izzy being suspended is based on assumption. Logical assumption to be sure but I don't believe anyone knows for certain why we haven't seen him of late. I've no firm opinion of whether or not he would self impose permanency on his exile, but I do have the feeling that he has become very dependent upon A2K, and may find it very difficult to remain disengaged once any suspension was lifted. If he was suspended it was likely for his accusing another member(s) of being a pedophile. In that this would seem to be a case very similar to hawkeye's, Robert may feel that "justice' demands the same suspension length be imposed on izzy as was imposed on hawkeye.

Obviously this is deep into the weeds of a matter that may not even exist, but there are mysteries (trivial or otherwise) afoot in A2K and it is fun (for me at least) to attempt to solve them through deduction.

As well, I sometimes think of the members of this forum as characters in a play, and to that extent, it is also fun (for me) to attempt to determine their motivations for certain actions and behaviors, as well as predicting what may transpire in the next Act.



There is no reason to believe any of them, actual or assumed, were imposed, with permanence, by Robert.

Any banning will be seen, at least by some, as arbitrary. The perception of "selective enforcement" will always be present. There will be plenty of other non-banned members who some see as having done just as bad, or worse.

You can pass a law saying that everyone must wear shoes in public, but if it's only enforced against blacks or "undesirables" it just becomes a tool for abuse. On the other hand, you can't ban EVERYBODY, so what to ya do?

If you want to turn it into a social club where people mainly just ask "How are you today?," you can do that. Just a place to be friendly and make small talk about the weather, ya know? That might well be more profitable, I don't know.

Yes and Quehog will return too, if his present silence is the resukt of suspension... But Frank and Izzy have a bigger ego. Even Timur may find it hard to bite that bullet gracefully.

Frank has been banned before.

Really? From what he said, he left on his own will.

How conveniently portrayed by him.