Forcibly locked out of the adult board for no apparent reason

[cuneas]

Seriously, people, what gives? My age is on my profile. My birthdate is on my profile. Yet suddenly today the forum is claiming I have no authorization. I've also been a member of the forum for almost a decade, and have already written three stories for the Adult Stories board, so I have trouble believing you've suddenly started doubting my word on my being of legal age (unless you've concluded for some bizarre reason that I was eight years old when I joined--I wasn't, by the way).

This is kind of a big issue for me, as I've got three stories on the adult board and do a lot of my writing work in there. I'd assume this was some kind of retaliation for...recent events I don't think I can talk about here, but I don't see a single warning point on my profile and I've done nothing that violates any explicitly stated rules of the forum, so I'm pretty sure if some moderator is being petty about something, it's him who's breaking the rules and not me. I realize this is probably just a mechanical glitch and I'm just being paranoid, but in either case, could you fix this?

[tma]

Just a couple of things....

1) Generally it is good to pm Staff re: this instead of posting. The "Contact Us" - it gets sent to all staff and it is sometimes an easier way to get a quicker response.

2) Also, it helps to keep *civil*, especially when wanting something.

You *did* end well though.

I'm not on staff currently- however, I used to be for several years, and know a few things (though be *far* not all- so if I'm off I'll gladly be corrected).

Did you *used* to have access to the Adult board?? Or did you put your stories in general with 18+ on them. I only ask because that is what we used to allow people to post either way. Later everything 18+ was moved to the Adult board.

When we set up the Adult board... waaaaay back everyone had to pm Staff to request access to either Adult or Youth board. It might sound like a total pain; however, that way staff didn't have to go through everyone's age and have tons and tons and tons to fill out at once. Plus, now there are different levels w/ members. So, if you never requested access- then all you have to do is do so. It is *nothing* against you. Because if you didn't do so, you would not have been added automatically. *I* had to ask too (ages ago)

If you *did* ask and you were given access and then suddenly don't have it.... honestly I don't know what to tell you.

I *can* tell you this- the Staff are *very* fair. They are *not* retaliatory. Even if they aren't necessarily especially happy with a person (for whatever reason) and they have broken no rules, they will not be petty. They are humans- and are not perfect, but they work very hard to be professional and objective.

Hope that this helps!

If you

[Garnet]

Seriously, could just be a glitch. When I asked to be moved to the writer's group so I could edit the titles of my own topics after a certain time period, it accidentally locked me out of the adult sections, but I sent the staff an e-mail and it got sorted out quickly. Did anything like that happen recently?

It really does help to assume the best and not come out of the gate accusing people of being petty and unfair.

[cuneas]

Once again, I'm trying to be very imprecise here because of forum rules about what you can't discuss where, but a person who happens to be a forum moderator recently had an exchange with me that gave me the impression that he might very well do something to sabotage my account in retaliation. So my paranoia was situational, not just a general attitude that everyone is out to get me.

Anyway, my attempt to contact the staff 'privately' ended up with something trying to install a program on my computer. It appeared to just be some new version of Microsoft Outlook, but I've recently been burned by that kind of thing and frankly I'm not comfortable with it. I'd simply PM the specific person in charge, but I have no idea where to find that information. Any help on that front would be appreciated.

And yes, I've posted on the Adult Board since its formation. In fact, as I've stated over and over, I have three stories posted on it already, including one in the past several months. So I kind of have a vested interest in getting this fixed.

[bloom]

The person in charge is High on Lullabies. You can find this through the "the Moderating Team" link on the main page.

I suggest you stop being so needlessly argumentative.

[tma]

Once again, I'm trying to be very imprecise here because of forum rules about what you can't discuss where, but a person who happens to be a forum moderator recently had an exchange with me that gave me the impression that he might very well do something to sabotage my account in retaliation. So my paranoia was situational, not just a general attitude that everyone is out to get me.

Anyway, my attempt to contact the staff 'privately' ended up with something trying to install a program on my computer. It appeared to just be some new version of Microsoft Outlook, but I've recently been burned by that kind of thing and frankly I'm not comfortable with it. I'd simply PM the specific person in charge, but I have no idea where to find that information. Any help on that front would be appreciated.

And yes, I've posted on the Adult Board since its formation. In fact, as I've stated over and over, I have three stories posted on it already, including one in the past several months. So I kind of have a vested interest in getting this fixed.

I'm not sure about the first item.

The second item... you can pm HoL (owner) or Vet or Dom (admins) directly- if the other isn't working. Just a suggestion.

And... ok... I *know* that you stated that you have stories on there. I know that you are upset. Just be a little patient as someone who is not a current moderator and has no obligation to help you, tries to do so, ok. The reason that I asked (as I did state) was that you CAN have stories in there without having actually been in there.

But since that wasn't the case we can move on to option #2 which is glitch and Garnet gave an example of when that happened to her, and something semi- similar might have happened.

Ok.

I hope that you get it figured out.

[cuneas]

Sorry if I overreacted. It's just that it was locking me out of _every_ protected forum (though I didn't particularly _care_ about, say, the trading post), and the way the whole thing looked made the idea that someone was screwing with my membership privileges seem like a very real possibility. It wouldn't be the first time in my life someone has gone way out of their way to screw me just because they've decided they don't like me. Sorry if I upset anyone, and thanks for your help.

[MyOwnPrivateSFC]

Not being staff or ex-staff, I have no idea about what might have happened to your account. That said, just for everyone's edification...it feels as though being locked out of the adult board and being locked out of all the protected forums are two VERY different things, tech-wise. So you probably should have been clearer about that to begin with, and definitely clear about it if you do contact HOL (or Vet or Dom).

[Vetinari]

Hi cuneas,

I checked your account, and have added you to the "Adult" group, which should hopefully have resolved the issue, though I can see no reason why you should have been removed. Certainly no member of the senior staff (the only ones who have access) or indeed any member of staff at all would intentionally have shut you out of any forum without providing you with a full explanation of why and therefore, I assume that it must be some kind of glitch has occurred.

The only person who can fully check your account is High on Lullabies, so if you are still having problems after this, your best bet would be to contact him directly via PM. We try very hard to ensure that any actions taken by the staff are explained in full, and we also attempt to keep things as professional as possible, so if there are problems with your account, it is generally preferred that you contact us quietly in the first instance, though obviously if it proves that any member of staff has behaved in an inappropriate manner, you are welcome to take it up in the Snake Pit, should that be the way you wish to deal with the situation.

Lists of the staff can be found by clicking on various links at the bottom of the forum.

[Lynne]

No staff member would retaliate for any kind of disagreement on this forum, or they wouldn't be staff for very long. Not a single member of the staff here ever has. And the continual accusations to that effect really make me scratch my head.

[cuneas]

It seems to be fixed, so thanks, Vet. I'm sorry I made it such a public issue; at the time, I was genuinely worried it was an act of unlawful retribution, and believe me, I'm as glad as anyone that turned out not to be the case.

And Lynne...I tune into this forum every couple of months most of the time. I haven't followed the careers of every moderator in this forum's history, and I have no way of knowing what they've done in the past, or what breaches of the rules they may think they can or can't get away with. So you'll forgive my suspicions when people with forum staff positions explicitly state they'd like to get rid of me, and then the next day my account starts to act up. Apparently I was wrong this time, so I apologize for making a big issue of it; but you can't really blame me for worrying.