WP op user abuse

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The ops are not following those rules, and are deciding for themselves what to do on an individual basis as they go along. It is up to any op if they simply want to ban you, incl. for personal reasons. I am told it is up to each individual op what they choose to do. The other ops simply go along. They can and do this out of the blue and even in the absence of warnings, quiets, kicks, etc...They ban you for whatever period of time they choose, regardless of the offense and regardless of no warnings, quiets, kicks, etc...being given. Chances are you will not even be given the time period your ban lasts for...it IS up to the whim of the op, even if you regularly inquire. So, how are these whim standards, with no rhyme or reason better than the ones in the rules provided already? Simple answer: they are not.

As things are now, IT creates chaos, and the too easy ability for ops to abuse their authority, enact a ban against someone they don't like, who has perhaps confronted them about an issue....then just decide to keep the ban in place to shut the person up. This is op abuse. Hard to enforce any rules when even the ops don't follow basic rules, procedures and guidelines. They each seem to follow their own standards, and other ops do not interfere, but go along.

IF you confront any op about an op issue such as inability to op objectively due to a personal relationship with a user....expect any arbitrary reason to be created to single you out for negative attention and action. That is personal, and abuse of the purpose of a ban. IF someone does not get any of the preliminary steps that are supposed to precede a ban, something is wrong. And, that happens, and it is wrong. Ops in WP chat do get rid of people they dont like for pointing out the truth about op issues.

There are other users who abuse and harass countless users, including visitors to WP chat, on an almost daily basis with nary a word or action taken against them. Some of these visitors do not return. WP is getting the reputation as an abusive, hostile and caustic chatroom, including with Freenode. Too much of what goes on in WP chat is dependent upon whether or not you have a friend or personal relationship with an op. Those with personal relationships with ops can get away with daily abuse and harassment, while those who dont or who speak up about double standards or op issues can expect any arbitrary reason to be created as an excuse to shut them up.

Chat Protocol, procedures and rules are ignored by ops, incl. in behalf of personal agendas. Ops back up other ops. Dissenters of the status quo within the op body are undermined or disposed of. The lack of communication between Alex and ops seems to be a standard theme that never gets resolved. I hear lots about dissatisfaction with Alex's management, or lack thereof, seeming disinterest. And I heard a strange tidbit about how female ops are never de-opped, which sounds strange.

Ops are doing as they please anyway. You can't expect smooth operation of any group without communication, agreement, and adherence to protocols, guidelines and rules. Expect chaos, corruption, dissension and abuse if those in authority decide they know better and are a rule unto themselves, or operate from personal agendas, that are not challenged. If those in authority do not even respect or abide by basic protocols, rules and guidelines, its a recipe for disaster. The users of WP chat are the victims

The problem is NOT the current rules. They do not need to be expanded. The op who has supposedly written better rules is ignoring the basic rules in place now. The other ops openly acknowledge that the basic rules are not being followed and have not been for years. For a recent first time offense, a user was banned for 11 days. There were no quiets, warnings, kicks, 2 day bans, nothing that preceded that ban of 11 days..or anything that justified a ban of that duration. Those rules are meant to protect individual users as much as they are there to protect the rest of wrong planet from abuse and op abuse, including ops operating on a whim, enforcing indefinite lengths of bans for as long as they please for personal reasons...which is exactly what I believe happened in that case.

There are trollish users who abuse and insult almost daily on wp whom nothing happens to. Their abuse is ignored, or they merely get haphazard quiets or at the worst, a 2 day ban, if they even get that. Then, they go right back to the trollish behavior, esp. if they have friends who are ops. Even so, most of those repeat offenders, when and if they are finally dealt with, are told up front that the duration of their punishment, quiet, kick, ban is for a certain period of time, a few hours, or 2 days, etc... Often, they are only finally dealt with after repeated complaints from other users who are subject to their abuse, The offender does not have to ask, the nature of and duration of the punishment is given at the time of the offense. However, If you confront WP ops about doublestandards or op abuse or other problems, expect to get banned, (disruption of channel is a catch all) not to be given the length or duration of your ban, then to be shut up by your ban continuing for an indefinite length of time, and multiple excuses given to justify extending the duration of the ban. Eleven days.....first offense. NO quiets, no warnings, no kicks, just a ban for 11 days. I do believe it was personal and that this was an abuse of banning and op status, circumventing WP rules re: banning procedures in the name of personal agendas. And, the person in question was not a repeat offender, but did point out serious issues with op issues and double standards.

The rules are not the problem. Expanding rules will not improve the situation. The problem is that the current simple rules and guidelines are not being followed, and are being outright admittedly ignored by ops. Banning is being abused for personal agendas. And, repeat offenders, habitual abusers and trollish individuals have ops in their back pocket so that there are little to no consequences. These individuals repeatedly drive new users and anonys away from WP. WP chat has a very bad reputation far and wide in Autism community and elsewhere for being hostile and toxic, all the way to the top. The current rules are not being followed, and ops are operating on a whim, and making up rules as they go along to suit personal agendas and tastes....that is the problem. If even basic rules are not being followed there is no logical reason to expand on what is not being adhered to. None of you can state that the current rules are the problem when the ops refuse to follow those simple rules, and pick and choose which part of those rules they will follow and apply to which users. That is the problem. IF they dont like you or you challenge them, expect the simple rules to be tossed out the window in favor of personal agendas and banning for extended, indefinite lengths of time.

Alex's "lack of involvement" is not the problem either. When he does get involved its chased with complaints. He should not have to babysit a channel with many ops for a user base of approx. 100 users. WP is big...the channel is only one small part of WP, with a small user base. That user base continues to be small because of ongoing issues and toxic environ of WP chat. Other chat rooms have similar and even less rules than WP, simple in construction and straightforward. Those simple guidelines are adhered to by the ops. Warnings, quiets and kicks really do precede bans, and are applied consistenly and equally across the board, without regard for person, relationship or status, for the most part. Of course, there is human error, flaw. But, for the most part, Application of banning rules are CONSISTENT. Bans do not exceed their prescribed length, and excuses and personal agendas are not concocted to justify increasing duration of bans against certain users. Opping is not personal. Fellow Ops do not ignore or look the other way when banning is abused or lengthened to suit one or more ops personal agenda against a user. Those banning rules and guidelines are there to prevent users from being subject to such op abuse, and willy nilly whim use of bans and other punishment for personal reasons. Those banning rules are there to provide clear consistent guidelines for handling offenses, to protect chat users as a whole and individuals. Again, expansion of rules by the same op who is ignoring current simpler rules and guidelines is not the answer or the problem. Hogwash.....ops actually following the current rules and guidelines is. Alex should not have to babysit a single faction of WP full of approx. 100 users or so at any time, and with multiple ops, who should be able to do their job, without personal agendas and follow rules.

This ongoing suggestion of handing over the channel to a current op or other person who is "involved" or "cares"? NO. This is hogwash nonsense and sounds like nothing more than a clever opportunist looking for a way to ride WP, Alex coattails, to reap where he hasn't sown. WP was started at a time when Aspergers and forum, chat was not mainstream or popular, and much work has gone into what WP is today. Others should not be allowed to simply take that. I was told a democratic process by WP users was tried in WP chat...of course, this only led to mob mentality, mobbing and gang ups on members not liked for personal agendas by trolls, groups of trolls, abusers, cliques, factions and otherwise, and was disastrous. These "mobbing" and "clique attacks" still happens in WP chat, too.

Alex's choosing of ops has been a complaint I have heard about more than once. I was told one time he picked an op who was only 14, and other times he has picked ops who are known trollers or who wreak havoc otherwise after they are given op status. The current ops are left to clean up the mess, remove them, and removed or old ops are opped back in, to deal with the ensuing chaos. The problem is supposedly that Alex is not involved enough to know individual users before they are opped after very limitied visits and observation by Alex...well....maybe. Possible solution: assign trusted people who are not involved in WP chat, to regularly visit WP chat as anonys, and to stay for a set length of time to get a good assessment of what's going on in WP chat...and more than one person, too, so that multiple POVs can be obtained. Have each person take notes on: potential good stable candidates for opping status, who the habitual or hostile repeat offenders or troublemakers are and how they are handled by current ops, and overall impression of WP chat room. Have this revolving team of anonymous visitors offer suggestions to Alex, rather than the entire load being put on his shoulders. Keep this list from these WP visitors who are not involved in WP chat to make better decisions about which ops to keep, which ones to consider for opping status, and repeat troublemakers, abusers and how to deal with them according to current banning guidelines.

This solution will prevent current ops and users from behaving according to one standard when Alex visits (and they DO), then the mask being removed and the same old problems rearing their ugly heads right after he leaves. You are not going to be able to get an honest assessment of anything or whats going on when Alex visits as himself. Having a revolving team of anonys visit WP chat, who are not users and do not have relationships with ops or the WP chatroom users, will help give a better assessment of whats really going on and why. This would help solve current issues, and keep ops accountable, and encourage them to follow current simple procedures already in place.

In my opinion, it would be helpful if WP chat users could have a dedicated body/panel outside WP chat ops to appeal to, voice and report problems, complaints or issues with current WP chat ops, current rule enforcement, abuse, etc.. The current system of op body self regulation is not working. Currrent rules are not being followed. Friends of ops are allowed to behave as they please, with slaps on the wrist or with no consequences, while their targets are singled out for negative attention, punishment, or provoking for response to hasten punishment, removal, etc.. The other two people in charge, who I believe are also ops, are impossible to reach. It would be helpful, again, if this panel was made up of people not involved in op body or operations, to field complaints, problems, issues with the op body from WP chatroom users.

I still believe current situation could be significantly improved if a revolving group of trusted anonys regularly visited WP and gave their eyewitness POV, reports, recommendations, etc based upon objective observation...I think this would help the current situation a lot more. It would have to be ensured that their identity was not known to WP ops or users. Anonys visiting WP are a daily occurence, so they would hopefully not be recognized as any more than the regular number of anonymous visitors to WP. A potential problem might be ops and others insisting that they get a nick...I do not understand why this is pushed on anonys who do not wish to stay. I do think this single solution could significantly improve the current situation.