I've always been opposed to the idea of "joke kicks" in the chat, but I feel this provided as good an opportunity as any to propose we ban them altogether. See reasoning:
- Creates much confusion regarding the intent of users involved; seen in multiple instances including Sam's decrat forum but has never really been addressed
- Makes a mockery of the banning system in general, showing users that getting banned doesn't mean anything anymore
- Only serves to supplant the ego of whomever is administering the kick/ban
- Is unfair to any non-chatmod
- Clogs RC
There is no forseeable reason why we should continue to allow joke kicks/bans. They serve no practical purpose and thus far have only contributed to hostile situations. They might be "fun" or what have you, but personally even just watching them occur has been frustrating to me as they degrade the credibility of the chatmods actively doing it. I believe they should be henceforth regarded as a bannable offense, or additionally, an offense warranting removal of chatmod tools.
Now, I don't want this forum to sit for weeks just as much as everyone else, so we should get this out of the way and get it marked into policy before it creates any problems, and we'll be out of here in a tight fifteen</ron swanson> Joe Copp 00:43, August 11, 2013 (UTC)
- Also, I'd like to point out that I'm not cultured enough in IRC to warrant proposing this rule change for that realm as well; I see this fit more specifically for chat, but if those who use IRC as well would like to determine that they should be goverened the same way, then we'll do that. Joe Copp 00:45, August 11, 2013 (UTC)
Discussion
One-hundred-percent agree. Joke kicks and bans are a total misuse of the tools given to mods and admins and it should be strictly disallowed. I don't think there is any other way to look at joke kicks or bans, it is using tools meant for preventing disruption to cause disruption. 
00:49, August 11, 2013 (UTC)
Support — I do agree that mod tools are given to users for them to moderate chat, not to use their powers for jokes and such. Not only does it clog up RC, but also CHAT/B. If I happen to be skimming chat because I'm busy looking at RC or something then "X was kicked" automatically catches my eye and I need to see what's happened, which can be a waste of time should it be a joke.
00:51, August 11, 2013 (UTC)
Support — Per all. http://i.imgur.com/GYKM9PK.jpg feargmtalk 00:58, August 11, 2013 (UTC)
Support — I never even knew that joke kicks/bans were allowed in the first place. Seems like it falls under power abuse, and as I have seen before, it does become a habit to some users. Although I have never done it, I know that I was kicked on a few occasions as a "joke", and I know that it is not fun or amusing. Also, per Cod4 and Sam, it is 100% misuse of tools and it can become a chore cleaning the CHAT/B page of this stuff. http://i.imgur.com/4XBy83R.pngAntiScootaTwotalk 00:59, August 11, 2013 (UTC)
- I always assumed it fell under COD:DGTS, since it would be using the ban tools for personal amusement. 01:01, August 11, 2013 (UTC)
- Kicks aren't logged to CHAT/B. KλT 01:05, August 11, 2013 (UTC)
Support — I honestly do not like this at all thinking about it, and I myself haven't really been joke kicked, but yeah, per CoD4 http://i.imgur.com/GhKJh.pngP90Deathmanhttp://i.imgur.com/uceaHlB.png01:01, August 11, 2013 (UTC)
Comment — since we're actually trying to make this a rule I think n7 should be unbanned considering he got banned because of this in the first place. KλT 01:03, August 11, 2013 (UTC)
- I concur. http://i.imgur.com/GYKM9PK.jpg feargmtalk 01:06, August 11, 2013 (UTC)
- Except he wasn't banned for that. 01:13, August 11, 2013 (UTC)
- He was banned at the exact time he joke kicked cammy tho, and didn't do anything else right then http://i.imgur.com/3lHP1.png http://i.imgur.com/yOq1z.png http://i.imgur.com/DvSlh.png 01:24, August 11, 2013 (UTC)
Support — Per above. Using the tools in this way lessens the impact when somebody is kicked for a valid reason. It also creates the "beautiful elite", where upon a few users friendly with the kickers could be seen as effectively immune from punishment. Bureaucrats and administrators don't abuse their tools, I see no reason why chat moderation should be an exception.
01:05, August 11, 2013 (UTC)
Support — I think they aught to be banned, per joe. Phillycj 01:09, August 11, 2013 (UTC)