[poquas]

My two cents may require some change but…

The quorum idea IMO would represent a kind of “star chamber” that would be looked at with much suspicion. I doubt that would solve the present problem and would more likely create more.

The Moderators, as arbitrators of conduct really is the best way to handle the day to day problem with the proviso that their actions are completely transparent. As long as the rules for everyone are explicit and the Moderators work within and explain their actions, everyone is working on the same level. Really the options are few. No moderation results in a very short lived group of people devolving into a massive flame war. The only other option is of course the obvious one that “he who owns the marbles controls the game”. Nothing wrong with a benevolent dictatorship as long as it’s benevolent, but they usually don’t last long.

Banning should be the absolute last resort, and only after the individual has had an opportunity to modify their behaviour. I noticed Lily was on the ban list. My very first post on this board was met with a rather explosive response by her and the subsequent pack behaviour that followed. Fortunately for me I received a number of messages encouraging me to hang in, and with a few obvious exceptions things improved. Other than my particular initial problem with her the only thing I had noticed about her is that she appeared to have a rather overinflated sense of influence over other members. I’m not certain I would have put her in a permanent ban though. Fortunately, that’s not my decision.

Many new people appear to be met with suspicion when they first start posting here, and I assume it to be a form of inbreeding. A core group gets comfortable with each other and after a period of time new people either inadvertently, or intentionally challenge that dynamic and it results in an “us against them” relationship. In fact most of the problems I’ve witnessed here is where groups of people pick sides on a particular topic and it melts into a flame war that simply spreads across the whole forum. Most of the time the Moderators rein it in before it gets completely out of control.

In conclusion (he said optimistically) this forum is better than most I’ve seen with enough variety to allow everyone to address their particular interests. Most of the members know who the problem posters are and are able to choose whether to talk to them or not. I’m really not sure I’d change much at all.

[Zipperfish]

As the most popular person on this site, and also someone who is hyperintelligent and yet somehow humble, I'd like to weigh in on this matter. Did I mention that I was popular?

First of all, I really fail to see what the problem was. I mean, I'm not privy to all the messages the mods get, but I've been to more than a few chat sites in my day, and this one rates right up there for general conduct. Clearly you want to stop any abuse and make sure the site is enjoyable for first time visitors, but on the other hand, you're never going to get rid of all the flamers, trollers, wingnuts and one-topic wonders and instituting various Draconian measures to weed them all out may be self-defeating in the final analysis.

The mods here are all, presumably, volunteers. I disagree with them sometimes, but on the other hand, I'm not willing to give up any time to mod myself, so how much can I really bitch, right? The mods are like refs. Focussing on the refs to the exclusion of the game will be a frustrating experience, as anyone who's played (or reffed) a reffed sport can attest.

Did I mention that I was popular?

Anyways I still miss Wil. He added such a lot to this site. I thought it lost a lot when he moved on. I herard there was some "issues" when he moved on, but I never really figgered out what happened. Regardless, it was probably inevitable that Wil had to move along at some point. Still, I think another Canadaka regular DJ morning show would pick things up and make the site more attractive to newcomers, more so than the quorum thing, anyways.

Yours in all humbility,

Zip

P.S. Did I mention that I'm popular?

[dino_bobba_renno]

raydan wrote:

Have you sent a PM to the Mods or Admin?

I know you may not get an answer or an acceptable answer for you but it may be worth a try.

Just a thought, maybe one or more of those banned wouldn't want us to know the reason.

wildrosegirl wrote:

Holy freakin' hell. This thread itself pretty much shows why this would be a bad idea.....

Quote:

...why shouldn't we be given the reason for 3 people being banned?

Because that's between the banned and the mods. It's none of your business. As long as you (we all) worry about your own behaviour, the mods can worry about the ones who refuse to. That's why Trevor has them in place.

For one, I probably will follow up this conversation with a mod and secondly I let my conversation drift too much into the MTBR and Lilly thing which is my bad *slaps his own hand*.

I’m not saying I want exact details but something even a bit more than “they were administrative burdens” would be appreciated. Anyways I’ll follow that up in a pm because it isn’t really on topic but it does kind of lead into my other thoughts on the Quorum proposal.

Would topics discussed by the Quorum and the results of those be made pubic to the forum members that aren’t a part of it? I realize this is a privately owned forum and the owner or the mods don’t have to tell us sh%& *winks at Regina* but it would kind of make sense. I’m not saying you’d have to have a detailed summary but maybe just a quick minutes or an overview.

As well would there be opportunities for some forum members to participate in any way? I realize that you probably don’t want it to be an open discussion as that would be way too bureaucratic but even have some type of follow up where other member have an opportunity to comment on decisions made. Or maybe have a random member / members participate along with the main group involved with the quorum from time to time. Just a thought but I guess it depends on the topic at hand.

[Wally_Sconce]

Zipperfish wrote:

P.S. Did I mention that I'm popular?

I was going to give you another rep point, but it wouldn't let me click on the negative.

[Blue_Nose]

Is it long post appreciation day or what?

[poquas]

Blue_Nose wrote:

Is it long post appreciation day or what?

It's still a nickel a word, isn't it?

[Brenda]

poquas wrote:

Blue_Nose wrote:

Is it long post appreciation day or what?

It's still a nickel a word, isn't it?

You're that cheap?

[poquas]

I'm still considered a newbie here. I don't see the rate increase until I hit 2500 posts.

[Brenda]

Keep talking

[Guy_Fawkes]

Meh post counts mean nothing

[Brenda]

LOL
You got that right!

Unless ofcourse you get paid by the word

[poquas]

Don't get too excited. I haven't seen a cheque yet.

[Scape]

*whips 2 cents at poquas*