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Scenario

For unrelevant reasons, I get banned by the StackExchange system on the past year, I think it was on Mar 11 '14 but I'm not sure.

For whatever reason I get downvotes, moderators have deleted some of my questions in the past then the system sentenced me with a restriction of publishing new questions in SuperUser.com, I can't ask any question there.

Here I opened a recent question about this issue:

Please allow me to ask questions again, after a year of being blocked?

...but what I'm asking now here is totally different.

Please, before judge me, take only 1 minute to revise my activity on SuperUser.com, is not much but... I think that I put a lot of effort on contributions, I'll do a little resume:

https://superuser.com/users/178741/elektrostudios?tab=activity&sort=all

What I did from 2014 after I get banned, until today:

  • I obtained 17 upvotes, a total of 130 reputation.
  • I did 37 edits on user questions (most retags), a total of 74 reputation.
  • I accepted 8 answers on old questions, a total 10 of reputation (3 answers was of my own).
  • I obtained 1 accepted answer, a total of 15 reputation.

Sum of contributions realized after ban: 63

(but I did a lot more of acts, like suggested edits that are waiting to be accepted and that things...)

Sum of reputation gained after ban: +229

Sum of time spent praying myself for the unban: Infinite.

Today I spent literaly the 24 hours contributing to SuperUser.com, my activity page doesn't lie.

Now, compare the reputation that an user can lost in downvotes to deserve a ban, and compare it with the lot of rep and contributions that I did after that, how is this possibly?. Which kind of wrong balance we can think the system uses after comparison?.

So... how its possible that after this effort of activity, the system didn't unbanned me already?.

How much expect the StackExchange system from an user to do?.

Question

I understood more or less how StackExchange manages the system bans, I know that moderators cannot unban.

This post is intended to get the attention of a higher level than common moderation because these circunstances are extremelly strange, really for me seems a bug then I need help from someone who can help me to clarify these doubts:

  • I'm suffering any kind of bug?, or really I should contribute more to get rid of this prohibition sentence?. If yes, HOW MUCH MORE IS EXPECTED!? (angry face)

  • Do you imagine how can this kind of ban affect an user who only can make two or three contributions at day or at week? ...the system will take 5 years to unban him?. Its just ridiculous, I don't see any equilibrated balance at least in my situation.

I really don't have words... I'm very frustrated with this prohibition on superuser.com, if this is not a bug then the system is very, very, very very very exigent or abusive about user contributions requisites to "tick" the unban meter.

This really has any sense, I keep putting a lot of effort contributing in SuperUser.com but every user that contributes in a page needs to be rewarded with "things" on the site in which that user is contributing, because no body will contribute eternally in a page to gain absolutely nothing, do you understand what I mean?, I think is reasonable what I say, people do things to gain something, people need to answer and also to make questions, what I gain I if I can't publish a damn question after that effort? I should still contribute forever until I die for no beneffit?.

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  • How you know you are still banned? Did you try to submit a new question?
    – Shadow Wizard Is Sad And Angry
    Oct 12, 2015 at 12:38
  • @Shadow Wizard thanks for comment. Of course... I always get a: Sorry, we are no longer accepting questions from this account. message.
    – ElektroStudios
    Oct 12, 2015 at 12:39
  • Any chance you're on a shared IP, i.e. others with same IP who might be post banned?
    – Shadow Wizard Is Sad And Angry
    Oct 12, 2015 at 12:42
  • My ISP provides me a dynamic IP but I think the interval on which they change my ip is much months, I'm not any sure. Anyways in the past some friends and my brother used my PC to stackoverflow accounting (I'm not sure if superuser too) but I'm the only one who access to my accounts if that is what you are reffering to.
    – ElektroStudios
    Oct 12, 2015 at 12:46
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    Thing is, in some cases post ban is imposed in the IP level, to prevent users from bypassing it by creating new accounts. There is a chance one of the other past accounts used by your friends or brother got such a "hard ban" and now affects your "innocent" account too. Worth looking into by a CM, I'll try to ping one in chat.
    – Shadow Wizard Is Sad And Angry
    Oct 12, 2015 at 12:51
  • @Shadow Wizard Thankyou a lot for your interest. I'll wait for news from you on comments here, or CMs private messages. thanks!
    – ElektroStudios
    Oct 12, 2015 at 13:01

2 Answers 2

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The good news is that this is neither a bug nor a ban as the result of being on the same IP as someone else. Instead it is a garden-variety question ban:

Stack Exchange has automatic filters in place to ban questions from accounts that have contributed many low-quality questions in the past. These filters help keep the quality of our sites high.

There are eleven questions you asked that have been deleted. The most recent two (StackExchange design issue and StackExchange design issue) are virtually duplicate meta questions you asked last December. I'm glad to see you've started asking on meta instead, but the automated ban does take deleted questions into account:

The exact formula for the bans is not disclosed, but users are only banned if they have a significant number of heavily down-voted, zero-voted, or deleted posts. One or two bad posts will not cause you to be blocked from using the site.

Your activity today is impressive. However, you have not done anything to fix your existing questions:

The only way to end a posting block is to positively contribute to the site; automatic bans never expire or "time out". Begin by fixing your existing questions; do not just post the same question again.

Suggesting edits on other people's posts and answering questions are not bad things to be doing, but that doesn't address the primary reason you are banned from asking.

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  • Thanks for answer!, But I need help to understand the things related to "fix your questions". Is not the first time I hear that, moderators suggested me exactly the same because is the suggestion that we can see in the Help Center. However, is not clear what it means. 1st: What means FIX a question?, because if a question seems "a good question" then why and in which meaning it need to be fixed if it has good formatting/details?. 2nd: I need to "fix" my deleted questions, or also all my questions in generally?. 3rd: In my profile, I could list/find ALL my deleted questions to fix them?
    – ElektroStudios
    Oct 12, 2015 at 15:36
  • For "fix" I understand edit ("edit" as it sounds) my deleted questions to improve details and/or reformat the text (even those that are duplicated?), I'm wrong?. But I could find a list of all my deleted questions?. @Journeyman Geek provided me here some of my deleted questions but I'm not sure if these are ALL: meta.superuser.com/questions/10810/… The thing is that I edited/fixed some questions :-/. but In other questions I have nothing to do/add/fix because I posted those dupicated questions just only because rage/cry.
    – ElektroStudios
    Oct 12, 2015 at 15:46
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    First, if a question has downvotes then it needs to be fixed, whatever you happen to think of it. Chances are your deleted questions will need the most work. Read any comments left on them, or the close reasons.
    – Kate Gregory
    Oct 12, 2015 at 15:49
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    @Kate Gregory But... if those questions are deleted that means are "not visible" to users, then, if the intention of StackExchange is let the banned user "edit/fix" him deleted questions to follow proper convenions and to gain upvotes on those questions and obtain a change of opinion from people who downvoted, to rectify the user conduct, then how its supposed that I could obtain any of that in a deleted question? (more if its a duplicated question). Anyways of course Ill try it. Just is a doubt I have.
    – ElektroStudios
    Oct 12, 2015 at 15:53
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    @ElektroStudios: Start by looking at your most downvoted question, read the comments and close reasons (as Kate suggested), and fix any of the problems mentioned. If you don't know how (or if you don't understand the nature of the problem), just skip it and look at the next on the list. Use the list of deleted questions that you got on meta Super User as well, but be aware that there's no guarantee they will be undeleted. Instead, think of it as an exercise to give you practice improving your own posts.
    – Jon 'links in bio' Ericson
    Oct 12, 2015 at 16:13
  • @Jon Ericson I fixed all of my deleted questions listed there (unless the "design issue" duplicated question) and also other questions, I fixed 6 or 8 but I'm still banned. Sorry for bother you again but to be sure of what we are talking about: "fix a question" means use the "edit" button to improve the question to add more details, or also to fill the lack of details that could be commented under my questions, or "fixing" an offtopic question tom ake it non-offtopic, or just to make a good reformat of the text content. Is or isn't that?, because in that case I did all what I can do.
    – ElektroStudios
    Oct 12, 2015 at 17:23
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    @Jon as a neutral side viewer, looks like it's REALLY hard to get out of a question ban, way harder than I ever imagined. Many times, deleted questions can't be salvaged (aka fixed by editing) so this might be a dead end. Can't those questions be dis-associated from the user's account? (and by this lifting the ban)
    – Shadow Wizard Is Sad And Angry
    Oct 12, 2015 at 20:01
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    @JonEricson, this assumes that the questions are fixable. Let's say I go over to History.SE and ask a half-dozen programming questions. They are quite rightly deleted. Does this now mean I have a lifetime ban from History.SE?
    – Mark
    Oct 12, 2015 at 22:38
  • @Mark: Most sites do not have this sort of ban system enabled, so your hypothetical would not happen. On all sites, there are other rate limits in place that should warn a person of potential bans well before they dig a hole too deep to climb out of. And typically a moderator would warn a user asking many truly off-topic questions.
    – Jon 'links in bio' Ericson
    Oct 12, 2015 at 23:42
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    @ShadowWizard: I won't say that can't happen. But I will say we don't consider it until there's strong evidence the user has fixed whatever problem got them banned in the first place. Before the rolling rate limits (which have reduced the number of people contacting us about their question bans) we would routinely get contacted from people who had been released from their question ban only to be right back in it a few questions later. Unless I can see some effort in the form of edits of their own question and ideally progress over time in their asking history, I don't think dissociation helps.
    – Jon 'links in bio' Ericson
    Oct 12, 2015 at 23:48
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You have done a good job in helping the community. The point is, as we can read on the answer to your question on MSU, there is quite some bad asking history. This will most likely have caused your automated ban.

So what to do? You can try to improve some of your questions still out there on SU. Go ahead and give it a try. Eventually it may become clear this is an impossible task to complete. It might help if a developer on the SO team would disassociate a few questions so they don't count to your ban any more.

As pointed out in comments already, it is possible too that the ban was made on an IP level (maybe from your school, or you share your connection with others). The only people that are able to lift that is the SO team, again. It might help to flag your question on MSU and ask a moderator to review this. They will forward this to the SO team.

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  • Thankyou for answer. Please let me know if I should have to contact to S.O. team to explain this issue, and in that case where is the "contact formulary" or email to do that?. thanks again.
    – ElektroStudios
    Oct 12, 2015 at 13:12
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    You can contact the team using the Contact Us at the bottom of the page. But be a little patient. You have raised issues here and on MSU. The mods are on it already. If it takes too long (a week?), contact the team.
    – Patrick Hofman
    Oct 12, 2015 at 13:19

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