Closing of the Horror Challenge threads
10-24-07, 01:11 PM
#1
Challenge Guru & Comic Nerd
Thread Starter
Closing of the Horror Challenge threads
Ok, I know that this will appear like me calling out Nemein, but several of us have been talking, and feel that something should be done about this issue today.
Some background, the Horror Challenge is an annual tradition here, gets lots of participation, and is one of those threads that helps makes this place a real community, not just a website.
I recognize that moderating is a largely thankless, and totally unpaid task. Also, it has been acknowledged that the moderators are understaffed, and it appears sometimes that Nemein is the only really active moderator in the main forum.
We agree that there were a few people making inappropriate posts in the threads, here is a link to the last part. These 3-5 people were repeatedly complaining about other members possibly exaggerated lists, even after a warning from Nemein.
The vast majority of the thread was peaceful, most of us just grinned at and ignored the name calling, and the discussion was excellent.
I see no reason why the thread should be closed because a few people ignored a thread posted warning. And even if those few people received PM and email warnings, as I hope they did, why not punish them individually instead of the entire membership?
A reason given was that it would take too long to "sort out" and that we should just wait until next year. I don't think I have to say anything about how much we disagree with that statement.
Again, I know that mods are underpaid and unappreciated, but these threads have been treated very unfairly.
We are in the home stretch of the "challenge", and would like the thread re-opened today please.
Some background, the Horror Challenge is an annual tradition here, gets lots of participation, and is one of those threads that helps makes this place a real community, not just a website.
I recognize that moderating is a largely thankless, and totally unpaid task. Also, it has been acknowledged that the moderators are understaffed, and it appears sometimes that Nemein is the only really active moderator in the main forum.
We agree that there were a few people making inappropriate posts in the threads, here is a link to the last part. These 3-5 people were repeatedly complaining about other members possibly exaggerated lists, even after a warning from Nemein.
The vast majority of the thread was peaceful, most of us just grinned at and ignored the name calling, and the discussion was excellent.
I see no reason why the thread should be closed because a few people ignored a thread posted warning. And even if those few people received PM and email warnings, as I hope they did, why not punish them individually instead of the entire membership?
A reason given was that it would take too long to "sort out" and that we should just wait until next year. I don't think I have to say anything about how much we disagree with that statement.
Again, I know that mods are underpaid and unappreciated, but these threads have been treated very unfairly.
We are in the home stretch of the "challenge", and would like the thread re-opened today please.
10-24-07, 02:15 PM
#2
DVD Talk Legend
I agree with the points Trevor has made. It was the same couple of folks who made questionable posts, doing so multiple times and after warnings were given. It doesn't seem like it would take a lengthy investigation to identify those involved and handle accordingly. Closing the thread was the easy thing to do, but I don't think it was the appropriate thing to do.
10-24-07, 09:01 PM
#3
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I still stand behind my statement that when I was attacked directly I needed to address the member and defend my list and explain how I watched the number of movies that I did, but as I've already apologized to some people through PMS, I'm sorry my actions contributed to getting the thread closed for everyone.
10-24-07, 09:01 PM
#4
DVD Talk Legend
I admit that I was one of the reasons for the threads getting shut down and for that, I apologize. I'd like to apologize to the people that were being honest and watching horror movies simply for the sake of having fun. That being said...
The biggest problem all along in the thread was the lack of moderation. When I felt other members were goading me into arguments, I reported the posts. I know I'm not the only one who did either. Yet, I never heard a single thing regarding any of my reports, nor were the problems solved. Instead, they kept right on building up steam. The posts got more and more heated and it got to the point where there was no solution but to close the thread.
When the third thread was opened, Nemein had finally contacted me and I feel like we had made progress. He told me that as long as the conversation could be kept civil, we could return to discussing others' lists. In the recently closed thread, that was all I did. I simply asked a question about people posting their lists in advance. Once again, an argument broke out and the thread was closed and the challenge "shut down". I use the quotation marks because there was confusion as to whether or not it was officially shut down anyway. Some people continued updating their lists whereas others stopped. After receiving some clarification on that topic, I found out that the main reason the challenge was "shut down" was to avoid the headache of disciplining everyone involved. Like cardsfan said, that was the wrong thing to do. Leave the thread open and discipline those of us who were the cause of the problems. I'd gladly accept my suspension/banning if I knew the other people involved were being punished as well.
And for the record....those of you who think I was simply being sour because I wasn't winning, get over yourselves. Digitalartery's joining had nothing to do with any agendas to "bump off" the people who had bigger lists than me. Frankly, I could give a shit less who wins. The challenge stopped being fun for me the day that I felt I was being harassed by another member. I went through the motions for a while longer but have since abandoned my list and bowed out...a decision made much easier by the fact that the Red Sox are in the World Series
In closing, again, I apologize to anyone whose enjoyment in this event may have been ruined by the nonsense I was a part of.
The biggest problem all along in the thread was the lack of moderation. When I felt other members were goading me into arguments, I reported the posts. I know I'm not the only one who did either. Yet, I never heard a single thing regarding any of my reports, nor were the problems solved. Instead, they kept right on building up steam. The posts got more and more heated and it got to the point where there was no solution but to close the thread.
When the third thread was opened, Nemein had finally contacted me and I feel like we had made progress. He told me that as long as the conversation could be kept civil, we could return to discussing others' lists. In the recently closed thread, that was all I did. I simply asked a question about people posting their lists in advance. Once again, an argument broke out and the thread was closed and the challenge "shut down". I use the quotation marks because there was confusion as to whether or not it was officially shut down anyway. Some people continued updating their lists whereas others stopped. After receiving some clarification on that topic, I found out that the main reason the challenge was "shut down" was to avoid the headache of disciplining everyone involved. Like cardsfan said, that was the wrong thing to do. Leave the thread open and discipline those of us who were the cause of the problems. I'd gladly accept my suspension/banning if I knew the other people involved were being punished as well.
And for the record....those of you who think I was simply being sour because I wasn't winning, get over yourselves. Digitalartery's joining had nothing to do with any agendas to "bump off" the people who had bigger lists than me. Frankly, I could give a shit less who wins. The challenge stopped being fun for me the day that I felt I was being harassed by another member. I went through the motions for a while longer but have since abandoned my list and bowed out...a decision made much easier by the fact that the Red Sox are in the World Series
In closing, again, I apologize to anyone whose enjoyment in this event may have been ruined by the nonsense I was a part of.
Last edited by EdTheRipper; 10-24-07 at 09:05 PM.
10-24-07, 09:54 PM
#5
Moderator
It's been reopened w/ the following message...
Let's try this, this thread can remain open the remaining week on two conditions....
1) STOP TALKING ABOUT EACH OTHER'S LISTS. If you want to talk about specific movies and whether or not you liked them and what you thought of them that's fine, in part that's what this whole thing is supposed to be about. If someone wants to say they watched 50 movies in one day so be it.... let it go.
2) Instead of general suspension the following people are NOT to post here for the remainder of this challenge, please feel free to continue updating your what you've watched lists if you want though...
- Darkgod
- DigitalArtery: who I believe has already said he has left the forum but has a PM waiting for him if someone knows him/can tell him
- edwardnortonfan
- EdTheRipper
- FusionX
This part is not negotiable as these were the names that most often seemed to be talking about the lists instead of the movies. I know some of you may feel like you were only defending yourself but in general that's what the RTP feature is about, and responding in kind is how flamewars are usually started. So consider this as taking one for the team to keep the whole thing going and maybe next year everyone can get off to a better start.
Another recommendation, although not required since I have no way to enforce it, is for Chad to take the GC off the table as a reward. I'm not sure if that's the cause of all the problems or not, but I don't believe anything like that has been offered in the past so potentially it is.
Let's try this, this thread can remain open the remaining week on two conditions....
1) STOP TALKING ABOUT EACH OTHER'S LISTS. If you want to talk about specific movies and whether or not you liked them and what you thought of them that's fine, in part that's what this whole thing is supposed to be about. If someone wants to say they watched 50 movies in one day so be it.... let it go.
2) Instead of general suspension the following people are NOT to post here for the remainder of this challenge, please feel free to continue updating your what you've watched lists if you want though...
- Darkgod
- DigitalArtery: who I believe has already said he has left the forum but has a PM waiting for him if someone knows him/can tell him
- edwardnortonfan
- EdTheRipper
- FusionX
This part is not negotiable as these were the names that most often seemed to be talking about the lists instead of the movies. I know some of you may feel like you were only defending yourself but in general that's what the RTP feature is about, and responding in kind is how flamewars are usually started. So consider this as taking one for the team to keep the whole thing going and maybe next year everyone can get off to a better start.
Another recommendation, although not required since I have no way to enforce it, is for Chad to take the GC off the table as a reward. I'm not sure if that's the cause of all the problems or not, but I don't believe anything like that has been offered in the past so potentially it is.
10-24-07, 10:08 PM
#7
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Thanks nemein, even though I am not allowed LOL. I agree about the GC, once the contest "ended" it seemed like a few stopped even listing, probably because they thought the GC was pulled. I said early on I would waive the prize in hopes of ending the list arguments (and so did several others), so I don't think it is a driving force for most of us.
10-24-07, 10:58 PM
#9
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I still love you, Edwardnortonfan. = J
small world, eh?
small world, eh?
10-24-07, 11:00 PM
#10
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And Edtheripper, too! I guess I hang with a pretty rough crowd.
and they call me ... State Parks
and they call me ... State Parks
10-24-07, 11:14 PM
#11
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I hope we keep the prizes up, actually. I had no problem sendin out a DVD last year and would do so again. It was nice to have something to shoot for as well as the fun in watching all the films and such Just my two.
10-25-07, 12:19 AM
#14
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Originally Posted by nemein
Another recommendation, although not required since I have no way to enforce it, is for Chad to take the GC off the table as a reward. I'm not sure if that's the cause of all the problems or not, but I don't believe anything like that has been offered in the past so potentially it is.
Originally Posted by ViewAskewbian
And thanks to Chad too. This thing must be graying his hair. 
10-25-07, 12:29 AM
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Nemein, I don't know what PM you're talking about unless you are referring to the one last night. If you are, I did read that but I think I clicked cancel on the "read receipt" as I didn't want to give you the satisfaction...Or I did it accidentally I can't really remember. You know what, just go ahead and pick which answer you're most comfortable with.
I had no intention of leaving but I figured after that post I made that was shortly deleted afterwards would have resulted in banning, which in all honesty would have been the right thing to do.
But I will say that I do apologize for my part of the involvement of causing the problem with the contest to all those of you who are just watching movies looking to have a good time. I do mean it when I say I'm sorry.
I'm also sorry that people still continue on with the snide and subtle remarks, jabs and other nonsense that's still going on. Since you seem to believe putting in your signature some how makes you innocent. And then to all those paranoid people who seem to think so highly of themselves there is some big conspiracy plan since I know Ed, you people should be quite embarrassed to think that you are worth that much time and effort. Instead of letting your imaginations run wild and take the time to come up with this nonsense, have yourselves a nice big bowl of sour grapes and go back to watching those movies you claim to be watching.
If this contest happens again next year, there shouldn't be any prizes offered not even a title as it seems to give a reason for all the cheaters and liars to come out of the woodworks. Or a prize can be offered if the challenge is properly moderated, one of the two would be a reasonable notion to consider for next year.
I had no intention of leaving but I figured after that post I made that was shortly deleted afterwards would have resulted in banning, which in all honesty would have been the right thing to do.
But I will say that I do apologize for my part of the involvement of causing the problem with the contest to all those of you who are just watching movies looking to have a good time. I do mean it when I say I'm sorry.
I'm also sorry that people still continue on with the snide and subtle remarks, jabs and other nonsense that's still going on. Since you seem to believe putting in your signature some how makes you innocent. And then to all those paranoid people who seem to think so highly of themselves there is some big conspiracy plan since I know Ed, you people should be quite embarrassed to think that you are worth that much time and effort. Instead of letting your imaginations run wild and take the time to come up with this nonsense, have yourselves a nice big bowl of sour grapes and go back to watching those movies you claim to be watching.
If this contest happens again next year, there shouldn't be any prizes offered not even a title as it seems to give a reason for all the cheaters and liars to come out of the woodworks. Or a prize can be offered if the challenge is properly moderated, one of the two would be a reasonable notion to consider for next year.
10-25-07, 12:34 AM
#16
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Originally Posted by Chad
That's no problem. But to be fair, there were times last year when the bickering escalated to far worse levels and there was no GC at stake. I honestly believe it was the competitive nature in people rearing it's ugly head more than anything. My two cents, anyway.
Keep up the good work, sir.That said, I'm vacating this thread which seems as though it could just turn into another bitch and moan festival before I, myself, end up earning a suspension!
Last edited by ViewAskewbian; 10-25-07 at 12:37 AM.
10-25-07, 08:32 AM
#17
Moderator
Nemein, I don't know what PM you're talking about unless you are referring to the one last night. If you are, I did read that but I think I clicked cancel on the "read receipt" as I didn't want to give you the satisfaction...Or I did it accidentally I can't really remember. You know what, just go ahead and pick which answer you're most comfortable with.
I just wanted you to know your temp suspension was based on a miscommunication between myself and the admins. While it may have seemed I was singling you out, based on your post that was deleted (which was deleted to prevent that thread from getting side tracked), I wasn't. Instead of adding to the list of suspended people I just decided to close the thread. My PM to you was to try and explain that and make sure you didn't leave DVDtalk based on one bad incident.
I had no intention of leaving but I figured after that post I made that was shortly deleted afterwards would have resulted in banning, which in all honesty would have been the right thing to do.
10-25-07, 11:13 AM
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Originally Posted by nemein
Not sure what you mean by "give [me] the satisfaction" but frankly it doesn't matter to me either way
Yes I appreciate the PM, and to sort of answer the getting banned question. No I don't want to be banned but at the same time I fully understand what the consequences are to my actions and posts. So a banning or a suspension will never come as a surprise to me...Although I'm surprised that I'm still here since I am causing a problem (there isn't a doubt in my mind about that) but I really don't want to sit here and be quiet while reading a bunch of cheap shots and nonsense from other members. Yes I could just put them on my ignore list, but that's just not my style.
10-25-07, 05:53 PM
#20
DVD Talk Legend
I've never been able to understand why most mods here prefer to just lock threads when "trouble" starts up. Wouldn't it make far more sense to keep the threads open for those who are acting decent and following the rules, and then give a "vacation" to those that are causing the trouble?
10-25-07, 06:46 PM
#21
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Sometimes threads are locked temporarily simply in order to sort out who needs a holiday whilst preventing the situation from escalating.
The fact is that with inflammatory comments in an active thread these things can spiral out of control, people get sucked in, and instead of looking at maybe just one suspension, numerous parties have taken themselves over the line. A temporary or permanent thread closure may prevent this &/or act as a warning for the future.
In the past some of us have split off (and usually locked) the bad part of a thread and left the good to continue.
Guess what.... that doesn't always make sense to some people either and threads have been started here complaining about their off-topic/inflammatory/rule-breaking posts being separated and highlighted in a way that annoys them.
There is no one way of dealing with this that is going to please all of the people all of the time.
I blame ego. []
The fact is that with inflammatory comments in an active thread these things can spiral out of control, people get sucked in, and instead of looking at maybe just one suspension, numerous parties have taken themselves over the line. A temporary or permanent thread closure may prevent this &/or act as a warning for the future.
In the past some of us have split off (and usually locked) the bad part of a thread and left the good to continue.
Guess what.... that doesn't always make sense to some people either and threads have been started here complaining about their off-topic/inflammatory/rule-breaking posts being separated and highlighted in a way that annoys them.
There is no one way of dealing with this that is going to please all of the people all of the time.
I blame ego. [
]
10-25-07, 10:31 PM
#22
Moderator
what he said... in this case it was the quickest way to bring things under control, give us time to sort it out/decide what to do and ensure we have everyone's undivided attention when the thread was reopened.
10-25-07, 10:48 PM
#23
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Originally Posted by edwardnortonfan
I'm not allowed to respond to this, am I? 
I love you too, man! *huggles*
I love you too, man! *huggles*
I think your response just created a space-time instability ...
