Rollfast

One look at the Banned Users thread and you will notice a few things.

One is that there are either a spate of bannings in a short period or a long time without them.

Another is that users tend to be banned over a small range of problems.

It doesn't take a raging newbie to run afoul quickly, many bannings are of older members on points.

Maybe it doesn't take a lot of learning to ride a bike but it may take a lot of training to read the site's rules. Every site has their own rules.

It can be a downhill spiral if you don't work hard to recover from a temporary ban...look over that Banned Users thread and it will become apparent that many don't recover. Work hard to stay out of that situation and even harder to stay out of trouble after that unfortunate occasion.

Here are some of the things that get you gone.

• Swearing and masking foul language with characters (you know **** or some combination of shift and the number keys). NOT ALLOWED...find some other way to express yourself.
• Putting people down. Your opinion and right to disagree does not come at the expense of others.
• Just being difficult beyond reason., Members and mods alike are all human beings. There is no such thing as 'freedom of speech' on a moderated site. Obey the rules...at least read them prior to interpreting them as you feel. It saves a lot of pain.
• PRIVATE MESSAGES ARE PRIVATE! You can't use them in a public post as an argument to support your position. Objections to a PM's contents are to be reported to STAFF.

The best way to voice your concern about what others say or do is to CONTACT STAFF. Use the little black triangle with the ! in it at the bottom of the post in question to raise your concerns about stuff that may not fly, and keep the description brief and to the point. Complaints are taken seriously by the staff but you can also get in hot water using it improperly.

Staff do see what you do here and if they don't others do and they ask about it. You are not an island, this is not your personal chat site or clique. Our sheer numbers are no impediment to our being one powerful community and you can't hide in the masses. What you do is felt by all. Always remember this and you can flourish. All of us are here for you and you are here for us in turn.

USE THE EDIT BUTTON or APOLOGIZE for your poor decisions at the least. Don't just let a thought you can't support sit there if you realize it's not right.

Not everyone is completely fluent with English (or even from the US) or able to spell or they make typos. Don't jump on them. Ask for someone to clarify. Grammar Nazis are in bad form and a smaller form of trolling. If you can help clarify something, ask if they meant this or that, don't gripe about what bad spellers or illiterates they seem to be.

If you really want to, you can request to be banned-permanently, or as some have done, ask to be banned for a term if you feel that you really need that time off to do other things without the strong pull of your need to be here

Some people have self-destructed rather quickly of late, which indicates that they needed to both read the rules and that they may have lacked the discipline and courtesy needed to stay in a large group to start with. Some will learn from their mistakes, others will plague themselves endlessly.

We all came here for a common love--the BICYCLE and it's variants. Those who came to disrupt don't last.