Should we bring back a moderator team?

[drumdude]

Sorry guys, I had to go. I banned A-Mike. He's banned for maybe another 3 hours? Given he's racked up nearly 900 posts in just a few days of posting, hopefully he won't feel too put out, and he will have plenty of time to catch up. He'll become a God faster than any other child of the forum in history.

Order of events: I said quit bringing vulgarity from Paradise to Terrestrial. I specified A-Mike because he was the only one doing it. A-Mike did it more. I edited out the vulgarity from a couple posts. So of course, he posted more vulgarity. So I deleted the next one; the next one; the next one; then I had stuff I had to do, and realized given past history, this could turn into a vulgarity explosion in Terrestrial, so I banned him for a few hours.

And look -- we're able to have a nice heated conversation with some generous personal attacks but not too bad and without the x-rated stuff.

Let me take a moment to sternly warn Doc Cam:

A lot of people are really concerned about you Dr. Cam, and so if you should decide to post vulgarity on this thread or other threads in Terrestrial, I will edit out the vulgarity or delete the post.

Everybody happy? Doc Cam has now been warned. I will indeed edit Doc Cam's posts in Terrestrial should he cross the line.

(this only applies until some things can be worked out with Shades who is incognito; Shades might tell me to take a hike and all bets are off.)

Unrealistic expectation:

It won't matter who is moderator or if Shades retains it all for himself, one thing that is never going to happen is a full sweep consideration of all past transgressions of the forum when considering moderator action against any particular individual. I'm not opposed if someday we go through history and edit out all the bad stuff, but that's a big job, and not really practical.

Rest assured, A-Mike has about equal vulgarity in his past posts as most other line-crossers put together, and if some new poster registers who demands to be able to use whatever language he or she wants until all A-Mike's past posts are either individually condemned, altered or deleted, that person's demand will not be met either. See, it's fair.

If Res does end up moderating Paradise, I'm pretty sure that in terms of extreme personal attacks and vulgarity, everyone will be treated equally in terms of that day forward.

I finally found it. Thank you Gad, I think you’ll be a great mod.

[Doctor CamNC4Me]

So, can we conclude that you are all the way on board with the posts that Doc Cam was making in the Spiritual Paradise and your only concern is that it was cross-posted? You do not object to Doc Cam's profanity, bigotry, use of homosexuality as a pejorative insult, racial insults and harassment as long as it is in Spiritual Paradise and not in the Terrestrial world, correct?

All you had to do was read Gad's comments on this thread to know what he is doing and why he is doing it. All your questions would have been answered.

Stop bothering people and read the posts. This is one of the reasons that you go around in circles, grow a thread for no good reason, because you continue to ask questions that have already been answered while the rest of the world has moved forward because they've taken the time to inform themselves.

Qultellus is just grasping at straws since his stated aim to destroy the board has now suffered a big setback with the appointment of a mod. I suspect he’ll start spamming the report feature to frustrate Gad in an effort to get him to quit.

I’ll address his accusations:

1) profanity - now that we have a mod in place I intend to abide by the forums’ rules, as per my earlier-posted statement

2) bigotry - I’m definitely bigoted toward GQP’ers and antivaxxers

3) use of homosexuality as a pejorative insult - I place no value judgement on homosexuality, so this is the troll revealing his own hand, not mine

4) racial insults - I simply posted what GQP’ers and alt-Rightists have to say about POCs

5) harassment - compared to what our two trolls have been doing, I’m a pussycat *meow*

- Doc

[Res Ipsa]

All you had to do was read Gad's comments on this thread to know what he is doing and why he is doing it. All your questions would have been answered.

Stop bothering people and read the posts. This is one of the reasons that you go around in circles, grow a thread for no good reason, because you continue to ask questions that have already been answered while the rest of the world has moved forward because they've taken the time to inform themselves.

So far the process has been about as transparent as the Mormon church's finances.

Yeah, we’re kind of in a tough place here. We have exactly two people with mod privileges. Shades, who has personal and professional problems that he is (and should be) giving attention to. And Gad, who has those privileges because he set up the board, but who is not designated as a moderator. At the same time, we have one or two individuals whose actions demonstrate contempt for Shades’ rules and an intent to disrupt.

Rather than let the ugliness occurring in Paradise bleed into Terrestrial, Gad took steps to do some triage on this thread and remove images that Mike had copied from Paradise and posted in this thread. As you later saw in his explanation, he’s taken on full responsibility for that and is willing to incur whatever consequences Shades may impose for doing this triage moderation.

Normally, the process would be more transparent, but things are far from normal right now. We don’t have moderators in place, Shades’s attention is focused elsewhere, and we have one or two people actively taking advantage of the situation to disrupt and prevent smooth functioning of the board.

So, given the circumstances, I suspect transparency is going to suffer, at least until mods are officially in place. If I were to pick someone to be temporary caretaker of the board, Gad would be my first pick. I have complete confidence in him based on years of experience interacting with him.

[Moksha]

Shades’s attention is focused elsewhere...

Wouldn't be a bad idea for us to pause and wish Shades well. Positive mental vibes could reach him in a twinkling of the eye.

[Res Ipsa]

Shades’s attention is focused elsewhere...

Wouldn't be a bad idea for us to pause and wish Shades well. Positive mental vibes could reach him in a twinkling of the eye.

Not a bad idea at all. Maybe a short PM to let him know we are thinking of him.

[Lem]

…As you later saw in his explanation, he’s taken on full responsibility for that and is willing to incur whatever consequences Shades may impose for doing this triage moderation.

Normally, the process would be more transparent, but things are far from normal right now….

I would only slightly disagree with your assessment in that, in my opinion, looking from the outside the process yesterday was extremely transparent. Gad’s post gave a great deal of information, in a very clear and straightforward way. It was much appreciated.

[Res Ipsa]

…As you later saw in his explanation, he’s taken on full responsibility for that and is willing to incur whatever consequences Shades may impose for doing this triage moderation.

Normally, the process would be more transparent, but things are far from normal right now….

I would only slightly disagree with your assessment in that, in my opinion, looking from the outside the process yesterday was extremely transparent. Gad’s post gave a great deal of information, in a very clear and straightforward way. It was much appreciated.

I agree. I stated that poorly. Gad’s explanation was perfectly transparent. But, in the normal course, posts wouldn’t vanish and a ban occur with the explanation coming some time later. Under normal operation, the posts would have been moved to telestial with a mod note added that listed the applicable rule. If Mike had responded by reposting the moved posts or posting similar material, he would likely have been publicly warned that continued rule breaking would result in a time out. In other words, the intent was to explain actions as we took them. Of course, we had the luxury of two moderators plus Shades able to give the board more time and attention.

I did not intend my post to be any sort of criticism of Gad. I just wanted to emphasize the circumstances Gad finds himself in. I hope folks will continue to be willing to cut him the slack he needs to do what he can to at least keep Terrestial the way Shades intends it to be.

[Jersey Girl]

It's blessed calm down there right now without the troll hyperactivity. It's good. Gad made the right call re: suspension if only a temporary one. Give us a chance to pump the breaks a little down there.

[Atlanticmike]

All you had to do was read Gad's comments on this thread to know what he is doing and why he is doing it. All your questions would have been answered.

Stop bothering people and read the posts. This is one of the reasons that you go around in circles, grow a thread for no good reason, because you continue to ask questions that have already been answered while the rest of the world has moved forward because they've taken the time to inform themselves.

Qultellus is just grasping at straws since his stated aim to destroy the board has now suffered a big setback with the appointment of a mod. I suspect he’ll start spamming the report feature to frustrate Gad in an effort to get him to quit.

I’ll address his accusations:

1) profanity - now that we have a mod in place I intend to abide by the forums’ rules, as per my earlier-posted statement

2) bigotry - I’m definitely bigoted toward GQP’ers and antivaxxers

3) use of homosexuality as a pejorative insult - I place no value judgement on homosexuality, so this is the troll revealing his own hand, not mine

4) racial insults - I simply posted what GQP’ers and alt-Rightists have to say about POCs

5) harassment - compared to what our two trolls have been doing, I’m a pussycat *meow*

- Doc

You really have no idea what's going on around you do you?? You have been confronted and dealt with in a fairly timely manner. For 8 months you have been extremely bigoted against people who don't think like you in spirit paradise. I came in here in a matter of weeks and got you put behind a wall of moderation. If I hadn't of done what I did, you, Schmo and Icarus would still be picking on people right and left in spirit paradise with Lem and Jersey Girl sitting in the stands cheering you guys on. It was well worth getting banned for a day to expose your bigotry to all your buddies here in the terrestrial. Do they actually care? Probably not! But, everytime you post they're going to remember in the back of their minds that you are THAT GUY, the guy who will say just about anything to a fellow poster who doesn't share your world view. Lucky for you I'm back!! And I have a feeling you and I are going to be best friends. Love ya Buddy

[Lem]

I would only slightly disagree with your assessment in that, in my opinion, looking from the outside the process yesterday was extremely transparent. Gad’s post gave a great deal of information, in a very clear and straightforward way. It was much appreciated.

I agree. I stated that poorly. Gad’s explanation was perfectly transparent. But, in the normal course, posts wouldn’t vanish and a ban occur with the explanation coming some time later. Under normal operation, the posts would have been moved to telestial with a mod note added that listed the applicable rule. If Mike had responded by reposting the moved posts or posting similar material, he would likely have been publicly warned that continued rule breaking would result in a time out. In other words, the intent was to explain actions as we took them. Of course, we had the luxury of two moderators plus Shades able to give the board more time and attention.

Ok, yes I see what you mean.

I did not intend my post to be any sort of criticism of Gad. I just wanted to emphasize the circumstances Gad finds himself in. I hope folks will continue to be willing to cut him the slack he needs to do what he can to at least keep Terrestial the way Shades intends it to be.

Nor did I of you! And thanks for the insight into the process. More information can only help, and yes, Gad put himself out there quite a bit to do this and share his thought processes, hopefully people are aware of and can continue to be patient with the unique circumstances.

And also, a thought for Shades. Hang in there friend, you have a lot of support here! Many good thoughts have been and are still coming your way.