The concept of 'staff' is a joke

[PunisherUSA]

You guys know the joke, right?

This establisment is one giant penis potatoe boat.

Highlight:
Dick-tater-ship = dictatorship

Lame, I know, but necessary.

Btw, if the site was run by the members, it would go downhill fast. And it wouldn't be the staff' anymore.

But I don't think the 'harsh' remarks are that harsh. Unless people are that sensitive, in which case they shouldn't be talking to strangers.

 

[ComradeBadger]

Right

I'm sorry, but threads like this make me cry ;(

I'm afraid we were selected for our professionalism, and general character to be moderators. We do police ourselves. A lot of us see this like a job, we have been given the right to moderate, therefore we have a duty to the community to do so

None of us close threads for fun. There would be no point, and as moderators we'd pick it up pretty quickly among ourselves.
We are not superior however, we are website [b[staff[/b], so funnily enough, the name springs from that. I'm not quite sure I see your point? So, sorry if I missed it.

But remember, if you have a problem with anyone's actions, for whatever reason or other.. feel free to PM an appropriate member of staff about it

 

[Eternity]

What a boring thread. I'm sorry I made it, and don't really remember when or why I did. It's probably just because I like messing with you guys. Here's some more casual fodder for you guys to agonize about.

2)Some of the mods, such as Pi, might have a self esteem problem, and he feels that he needs to make a witty remark so that he can sleep easy at night
3) We need to make our presense know so that we have some respect... at least more than most board members seem to have for each other, judging by the responses in this thread....

It's a freakin' message board! For pete's sake, look out the window! You need to 'have some respect'? For what? I'm pretty sure the title saying 'moderator' is a powerful enough badge for people to realize that they can't get away with posting disgusting links or trying to bypass the sweat filter. And if they are, stupid comments at the end of locked threads aren't going to do anything for those trolls anyway. As you so eloquently stated, the only reason for making snide remarks and making sure nobody can reply to them by locking the thread is for massaging the ego, which is kind of a pathetic way to do it, if you ask me.

Moderating is specifically our daily duties for controlling the forum and regulating the posters

Wrong! Moderation on a gaming message board entails nothing more than simply locking threads that need to be locked when you are cruising the forums for your own enjoyment. You don't need to make a job out of it.

Finally, ignoring the intricacies of your original post, the moderators are here to act as the police of the forum (not a gestapo act, needless to say, but cross-walk style police). If we have no titles or presence, this is made difficult - who would listen to a person with no direct authority? Making witty close remarks and such is merely a function of that.

Mmm. I'm sure you're one of the state police who plant the kick on the black kid on the cop car just because it's a 'function'.

What is more direct then banning someone?

As for the trainwreck that was PiMurho's messages:

So I close threads just so I can make comments? Er, no. I close threads that need closing. If I choose to do so with a witty remark, then that's just my style. I know you'd prefer moderators to be soulless automata, but that's not going to happen. I suggest you get over it (and yourself)

I don't even think I have to reply to this. It pretty much stands on its own. Especially the online style bit. Regarding your name: it's an illegible mess of uncapitalized and capitalized letters. I usually don't look for greek numbers in people's names. The failure to realize there is nothing to reference a name of this sort suggests a severe lack of social skills. I usually don't put things in context to the greek alphabet.

A billboard can never be a democracy or even an elected dictatorship; the board moderators simply can't be made accountable to the masses. Democracy doesn't work; the liberal majority simply doesn't function here. Why? Because everyone has their own perception. The smaller the numbers, the fewer diverging visions. You can't, afterall, please all of the people all of the time. It is up to a small group to maintain control to ensure consistancy and community. The rules can then be absolute, the action quick and the system efficient. Do we have an "opposition party" of moderators? We can't all vote on who gets banned. We can't even expect to vote on who becomes a moderator. At betst we operate in a federation in which the "ruling class" must self-regulate. A complaints procedure is fine but don't expect to influence the way that the board is run unless you yourself become one of the "elders", and that won't happen unless you are in fitting with the physche of the exisiting aristocracy. The only other way to run a web community like this is a Wikki-like (true) anarchy set up. That cannot occur here since there are carefully defined parameters within this site.

I didn't actually bother reading this, because he obviously was trying to match me in dialect or something. However, from quickly skimming it, no, I don't want a democracy in terms of moderators, I just want people to stop locking threads for stupid reasons and being annoying. (WTF...?)

Anybody get the impression he hoped somebody would back him up? Oops.

Actually, several people have, and hard as it might seem, this is the first time I've logged onto the internet since I posted this thread. Oooops! Furthermore, it's obvious you get a kick out of this pseudo-professionalism: why else would you solemnly try to address the grave issue of my complaint, and then post another taunting message further down after you break down like a giggling schoolboy in hope of arguing some more? Please, try to step back from your on-line activities, maaan.

EDIT: that VBB quoting code messed me up.

 

[Varg|Hund]

This man, is a very well-run board.
Go and live at hl2world for two days. Then come back here. Enjoy.

 

[Eternity]

Sorry, I don't bother responding to posts when the person replying can't think of anything and so decides to quote each sentence. Take out all the quotes, put it in a paragraph, and I'll read it. Sorry, but I'm too lazy to reply to each of your little statements so you can respond to my little rebuttals to your cute little statements. :afro:

 

[Eternity]

Um, what? How am I hurting my credibility by refusing to reply to you trying to hack apart my sentences in an attempt to throw away reason/logic? If you aren't going to bother thinking, I'm not interested in reading it, bro. Go participate in some senseless flame fest with someone else.

 

[Chris D]

As we've already said, we don't just moderate this forum. We also manage the content of the site, collate news, write articles, conduct interviews, market the site, work our arses off trying to make this site a good place for people. You're very ignorant if you think that moderating this forum is all we do. And anyway, that's a large enough task in itself because there is a lot that we do around here and a lot that we moderate that most people don't get a chance to see.

Also being a moderator I had knew the last time you had logged on to the forums so I knew already that you hadn't logged onto the internet since your last message. But, still, I think it's funny that we've not many complaints from anyone else but you. Like I said in my earlier post, there's nothing we can do because of one member being slightly disgruntled for some reason.

Again, with all due respect, none of the threads are locked for stupid reasons. We're as consistant as possible when it comes to closing threads and we always close threads in-line with the forum rules. Why? Because the way we do it works. We think the community is the friendliest most tight-knit community around, it's the biggest and we don't get many complaints.

Also once again, if we chose to end our threads with a witty comment then that's our perogative as much as it would be yours if you replied to every thread with a witty comment.

 

[Varg|Hund]

Um, what? How am I hurting my credibility by refusing to reply to you trying to hack apart my sentences in an attempt to throw away reason/logic? If you aren't going to bother thinking, I'm not interested in reading it, bro. Go participate in some senseless flame fest with someone else.

You what?
Pendragon was adressing each of your points! That's common practice in debates man! You would do well to keep that in mind

EDIT: Ohnevermind. Two mods outraced me

 

[Eternity]

No. You guys can do cute debates on message boards 'point by point', AKA 'scrabbling to pick a sentence that you can reply to without being humiliated' but generally, people in debates don't quote the other person's reply sentence by sentence and thus serve a rebuttal. If it makes you feel better, I'll quickly respond to your concerns so you don't feel ignored.

Ahem.

No, I'm not calling you racist, you completely missed my point; snide comments aren't common courtesy; PiMurho suggested I should have been able to recognize his screen-name; site discussion is for site discussion; I didn't read his post because it was hogwash.

 

[Chris D]

Moving on, what exactly do you hope to achieve by this discussion Eternity?

 

[Eternity]

*slaps hand on forehead*

That was your style, and which was why I refused to reply to it! I'm not being baited any further. You can organize your replies in a logical manner, or I refuse to participate. Sorry.

It's already been accomplished. You've all been thrown for a loop (if not a huge one, I don't pretend to be the messiah), and I doubt you're going to make any more snide comments at the end of locked threads, unless you just can't stand the fact of complying to my demands. Congratulations. The thread can be locked now, probably, but perhaps should be added to your favorites, or made a sticky.

 

[DiSTuRbEd]

Moving on, what exactly do you hope to achieve by this discussion Eternity?

Make himself look like an ass even more.

 

[Chris D]

Once again I'll point out the fact that you being disgruntled by us for whatever reason has no impact on us whatsoever. We will carry on running these forums like we have been as it works and it will carry on working whether you like it or not. In the future if you have a particular and valid issue about a thread being locked, I recommend you take it up with a moderator. If you have any problems in the future with the geneal run of this site, I recommend you take it up with

Oh, by the way, please don't double post.

Closed.

 

[Pi Mu Rho]

Apologies for posting in a closed thread, Chris_D, but this had to be said.

I don't even think I have to reply to this. It pretty much stands on its own. Especially the online style bit. Regarding your name: it's an illegible mess of uncapitalized and capitalized letters. I usually don't look for greek numbers in people's names. The failure to realize there is nothing to reference a name of this sort suggests a severe lack of social skills. I usually don't put things in context to the greek alphabet.

You mean you can't reply to it? You stated that I close threads just so I could make snide comments. Obviously, that's completely incorrect. Nice way to try and avoid it. As for my name, there's nothing illegible about it. Pi Mu Rho. Three words. Only someone with reading comprehension issues would have difficulty with that.
I'm extremely offended by your suggestion that this name is due to a "lack of social skills". This nickname is my brother's initials transposed into Greek letters. He died 6 years ago. You're making a mockery of that.

Anyway, Chris_D's comments stand - you haven't changed anything. We'll continue to operate in the same way. Bye.