posters leaving....

[Stapel]

Last week two of the most respected members have decided to leave this brilliant forum.

It is my REASONABLE conlusion they did so as a reaction on the way the forum is moderated.

I must say I am quite disappointed.
I myself needed a warning or two before I understood why and how this forum is moderated. It simply is necisarry to modearte and sometimes it is a necisarry to warn or ban posters.

My question: Do the late developments show the moderating needs to be restyled? I think it at least needs a second thought. Two 7000+ posters leaving is quite something IMHO.

Or do we simply not care about that?

 

[Immortal]

Do the late developments show the moderating needs to be restyled?

No, its the posters who determine how the forum works.

and PM me and tell me who you are refering to.

 

[Duke of Marlbrough]

There's only two posters who have over 7000 posts.

 

[Stapel]

Originally posted by Duke of Marlbrough
There's only two posters who have over 7000 posts.

IMHO, that is quite a good reason to reconsider some things here. I know just a high post count doesn't say it all, but both posters did make quite a contribution in their posts too. That is in my opinion ofcourse, but I know I am not the only one that thinks so.

 

[Strider]

Originally posted by Duke of Marlbrough
There's only two posters who have over 7000 posts.

Correction... There is another poster with 7000 posts.... Or he might even have 8000.... (opps... I was wrong... Shaitan has 9259 posts)

Anyway... I think the way this forum is moderated is fine... If they have problems with it then let them leave.

 

[anarchywrksbest]

I try to leave, but this place is too funny sometimes

They try to make me leave as well, but I will have business to attend to soon......

 

[Padma]

I am not too concerned. The demographics of the forums change over time. When I first registered, there were only 7000 registered users here. Since then (about 1-1/2 yrs) we have gained an additional 23000 users!

Naturally, the makeup of the posters has changed. So for some of the "old heads", it is no longer as "fun" as it used to be. We are no longer a small, fairly close-knit group, but rather a large, highly diverse group. We therefore will attract a somewhat different clientele. But the rules of the site have not changed, and that is what the moderators are for: to enforce the rules.

Every moderator has a different style, and we emphasize different things, depending on the forum we are working with. I come down hard on piracy in the Tech Support and Creation & Customization forums, but I'm there with a smile and a welcome for new folks in General Discussions. If I had to mod Off-Topic, I would probably be much like AoA. Each forum requires a different "touch".

As for the two posters you mention, I think that as they have grown, and changed, they have come to find other outlets more suited to them. I don't expect to be here "forever", myself, only until it is no longer a good "fit" for me. (I don't see that happening in the near future though. )

 

[ainwood]

Its got nothing to do with how its moderated. If you ask me, AoA and Lefty are getting soft

Actually, I think that its got a lot to do with the sheer volume of posters in OT nowadays. The traffic has increased greatly, which makes it very hard for the mods to keep track of every discussion. I would imagine that they don't have the luxury of evaluating the tone of every discussion, but think that in general they do a good job.

I stopped being an OT regular about the time you joined CFC, because there was so much posting in OT that I couldn't really keep up with the threads that interested me, and many of the threads were being "contaminated" with border-line spam (short posts, oblique to the topic, but very little in terms of 'constructive content').

It just isn't that interesting anymore, because you simply can't hold a "constructive conversation" in OT like you used to be able to.

 

[Becka]

If people don't like CFC let them leave. As far as I'm concerned, moderating styles HAVEN'T changed; the volume and type of posters being moderated have and of course the actions taken look severe.

 

[Plexus]

Curt and Killer left?!?!?

Say it ain't so!

 

[napoleon526]

Originally posted by Plexus
Curt and Killer left?!?!?

Say it ain't so!

Killer left too? I thought just Curt...

When 2 of the most intelligent and experienced posters leave within a week of each other, this is definitely a problem.

We are truly poorer for having lost them. The situation needs to be looked at.

 

[SunTzu]

OMG!!! THEY LEFT!!!!? CALL IN THE FBI!!!!

 

[napoleon526]

Originally posted by SunTzu
OMG!!! THEY LEFT!!!!? CALL IN THE FBI!!!!

So you're saying you don't care that they left?

 

[SunTzu]

not enough to get hysterical about it

 

[Immortal]

Originally posted by napoleon526

So you're saying you don't care that they left?

Im not going to lose any sleep over it, curt and killer were vets to the board. Curt provided a lot of wit to the off topic. But the forum will be up tomorrow, and the day after that, and the day after that....

Just out of curiosity nap, what situation do you think needs to be looked at?

I think I know what everyone is getting at here, if so, quite frankly you people are wrong.

 

[Immortal]

If you ask me, AoA and Lefty are getting soft

I agree ainwood.

 

[SunTzu]

The moderators are doing a great job, it is the posters who screw things up

 

[Sanscizo]

So what if they left?

Things like this will always happen, they may come back again, they may not. Don't get too hung up about it, things can't stay the same for ever. It will just make way for another pair of posters to get up there and gain everybody's respect. If you think that the atitude towards modding should be changed just because of this I think you are grossly over-reacting.

Things are fine as they are.

 

[Rodgers]

Well two things killed off OT's excitement in my view -

1. Civ3 being released brought thousands more members onto the site and therefore into OT, making it less "cosy"

2. The war - too many arguments and divisions sprung from all that build-up (should we?/shouldn't we? etc etc) - the whole thing got too serious

Anyway, thats my view. I'm off elsewhere for now.

See ya!

 

[Lt. 'Killer' M.]

hm, I am a bit surprised that my phasing-out does indeed interest some people......

I am leaving because I am disappointed in the way the changes in OT are handled by TF. Personal opinion: he does not do things in the best way. But that is my personal opinion, and I do not respect him any less than before.

It would have been nice to have this place same as it was before the war (and it is not the new users, it is the war, starting with the terror attacks on Sept. 11), but it seems radical American nationalism has grown and tolerance and understanding have lessened. This combined with the huge number of posters and posts makes modding difficult. The way TF and AoA go is one I do not like at all. Things have changed a bit, rules updated, AoA and I had talks about some issues and understand each other better (not that we agree, but at least understand)........ but I do not feel welcome and 'good' here anymore.... I do not feel prompted to spend a LOT of time in GD, answer the same Qs over and over again, update the FAQ, get spammed and flamed for trying to make GD a place where everyone can find things quickly and easily - but go to OT and I have to restrain myself from any kind of normal conversation on most hot topics. Or, if I do (very cautiously) voice my opinion, get the entire thing dragged off into a flamewar.


So: I am fed up. I may come back once the entire issue has settled down and OT returns to normal, but I think not.




I would like to thank all those who helped me, made me laugh, gave me hints for civ and insight into their views of the world, played PBEMs, SGs andMP with me and generally made this a great place. Maybe we will have good times soon again.