Geoff, Administrators and Moderators

I'm not posting this to stir up trouble, and I'm not posting this to cause a controversy. I'm posting this because I see one of my favorite internet forums taking a nosedive.

It struck me today, what makes the Other of today a bit different than the Other of yesterday. Sure the lack of "Babe" and NFL threads are among them. I miss my "Other" of old, when this was a DVD site first and foremost, and didn't cater to every other small whim. I can understand wanting to branch out into different interest groups to broaden the demographics, and to you on that. I can appreciate the intent, but the end result leaves a bit to be desired. At least in my opinion, and I know a few others.

However, I'm not here to complain about the breaking up of the Other forum, I'm here to complain about the Other Forum in general. I used to sit at my computer screen and laugh until my sides hurt. I would chuckle at the great "nonsense" threads and "pad" threads that came through (both of which are now outlawed). I'd laugh as the moderators would change custom titles, post counts, and anything else to poke fun at a particular poster. I'm not here to bash the banning of all that either.

What I am here to talk about, is the moderator job of the Other Forum. It is in dire straits, in my humble opinion, and I'm not knocking anyone's job. Heimer does a fine job, but he is hardly around, AndyCapps seems much more focused on the sports forum, Dead seems fairly "middle of the road", randyc is barely around anymore(I understand this. personal life first), and Justin has been MIA lately as well.

Seriously, I like each of the mods, I've no problem with them, and they have all been helpful to me. However, as stated way above in this post, I noticed a glaring difference from the "new and improved" Other, to the Other of old. The inmates used to run the asylum.Blade, Kenwood, Bushdog, randyc. All active posters. All had a great time on the forum. All would mess witht he posters. All were in OTHER a lot.

The new mods don't appear to be as involved, and I think that hurts the community aspect. Instead of "ooh, Bushy got mad and suspended JoeSmith", it's turned into "ooh, damn mods always banning people for no reason". You've lost the community aspect.

All I'm saying, is Other used to be different, Others used to run it. Seems like the more diversified we get, the more solidified you've become to abolish the Other Forum.

You need to bring back that community vibe we used to have here, or it will never be the same again. We've lost so many posters, over so many petty things.....

Edit: HAd to add Blade to my list of mods, he was/is DAMN cool, and deserves mention.

so your saying you want to be friends with the mod that bans you?

I'm saying that it was far more fun when the moderators were active participants, as opposed to sideline hangers

other has been slow for a long time now.

It has its moments but in general it has been ebbing more than flowing for a while.

I am not sure that Moderating styles is an issue although you do make a point about activity from old Mods compared to newer Mods. However maybe that also prevents the burnout that happens so often.

<BLOCKQUOTE> • Quoth Thunderball •<HR SIZE=1>I'm saying that it was far more fun when the moderators were active participants, as opposed to sideline hangers <HR SIZE=1></BLOCKQUOTE>

Expressing an opinion in Otter can be dangerous for a mod.

das

I agree. However.....

It's much more fun when the debate includes the "bosses" as well as the peons.

"Boss" That's a laugh. I think you misunderstand the purpose of a moderator and I think so do they. A discussion group is for the discussion ideas and not for the imposition of opinions by those who are there to monitor it. A free exchange of ideas is not possible when the person that can BAN you is repeatedly expressing an opinion contrary to your own. This problem is only compounded when you think of Mod's as "BOSSES" If they want to express a personal opinion then let them be an ordinary member subject to the same rules and restrictions.

We are subject to the same rules and restrictions. IIRC, since I've been on the forum, mods have been demodded and/or banned from the forum. And there's hardly a moderator party line on the various issues... we're fairly diverse politically.

If the situation you describe actually occurs in reality here on the forum, I invite anyone who sees it to report it to Geoff or an administrator, because it shouldn't be happening.

In essence, that's why I " " the word boss. They are more like "leaders" of the forum if you will.

And to be honest, I've never seena nyone BANNED due to differeing opinions.

Exactly right, pick your Mod pick your opinion. When a Moderator expresses opinions in direct oposition to mine do you think I am going to try to argue with them? I think we have all seen discussions on hot topics that have died because a Mod has killed it when someone with a differing opinion tries to defend their point. Off topic, hijacked, person comments, call it what you like but some topics only have one side. Personally, I will take any side in an discussion because I just enjoy a good arguement but some people actually believe in what they are saying. I think that a moderators place is on the sidelines and not in the game.

You might not feel comfortable arguing with a mod, but plenty of other people are willing... look me up in Other. People line up to disagree with me.

<BLOCKQUOTE> • Quoth Static Cling •<HR SIZE=1>People line up to disagree with me. <HR SIZE=1></BLOCKQUOTE>

No they don't.

das

I appreciate your feedback. One of the things about a forum is that it's in a constant state of flux. There are a million and one things which go into setting the tone of the forum on any given day, which is why you often hear me say to these types of issues:

ebb and flow....ebb and flow

With September around the corner a lot is going to change as the Summer winds down. Our coverage of the forums may have been more spotty at times due to travel and vacation schedules of the mods. Also posting lightens up as people log off of their computers and go out into the world. I'm sure you'll see things 'pick back up' again soon.

In terms of banning fun things like pad thread and word association threads, it's simply an issue of resources. We are constantly at the technological edge of what our servers can support, and this fall we are YET AGAIN faced with the need to add a 3rd server (which will not be cheap). At the same time we continue to meet strong resistance to the things we do to try to make the money needed to run the site (can you say ...'V').

I'm sure the mods will take to hear the point that some of them have been less involved with posting to the forum of late. Personally, I've seen my own posting shrink as I spend the bulk of my time keeping the site afloat and dealing with problem users.

Thanks again for your feedback

I'll stand by my opinion that Moderators should not actively participate in discussions and leave it at that.

This thread alone epitomizes the issue that admin has to deal with. A thread starts saying the mods need to post more... and then someone says the mods should not be posting.

I am not making any judgement on either of those points, just that we surely can't please everyone.

We have discussed the concept you see at some forums with anon mods, but after discussion, it has been voted down. I can see some good points, but there are some bad ones too. The one downside of our present method, is you are dealing with real (as real as we can be anyhow) people. That is a good thing in some ways, but also an unfortunate one as our perceptions of a mod's actions may be colored by prior relationship or entanglement.

Creek Rat, it's my opinion that a mod weighing in and having an impact on a thread is a rare. We will probably agree to disagree.

I have not seen the online community hold back opinions in general because some mod disagrees. However, if you are refering to a post by a mod doing his md duties, than that would be a different thing.

Id like to see one example of that. Unless of course you just pulled it out of your ass.

I dunno. Since you retired Frankie, you haven't been as much fun.

Seems to me that when Other was split, the tone of the forum changed almost instantly. And it hasn’t recovered. Some key players are missing. Are they in Mature and/or Sports? I wouldn’t know, because I don’t play in those areas. You would think that with many of the “jokers” missing from Otter, things would be looser, but I agree with Thunderball that this doesn’t seem to be the case.

I wonder how much of the “student” influence is missing, and whether or not things will change with school starting back up.

Things have gotten so dull, I've been thinking of going back to DVDTalk. Problem is, I just don't remember how to act there. And I don't think I can really get excited about an OAR or snapper issue...

randy,

You bring up a very good point. You can only please so many people. I understand that truly I do. However, some of the best political/philosophical discussions that I've seen on the Other forum, involved you guys chiming in,and being part of our conversations.
I liken it to work(bear with me), no one likes the fact that they have to go work for someone, its not human nature. However, if your boss is someone you can deal with/relate to, it makes it all the more bearable. It's fun when the people who are "in charge" are joining the festivities. In fact, some of my favorite moments in Other are when you used 7 posts to close down a thread, that stuff was funny...rarely happens anymore.

Geoff,

Ebb and flow.Understood. I've always stuck my original belief, that we should go to a Something awful style forum. That is my all time favorite internet forum. Its a one time $10 charge, and $10 more to be "Platinum" which allows you to search the forums, and use the private message feature. you can also buy a banner ad for $9/month, (not always visible, rotation). Lowtax just put up 2 new Dell servers, and sure, he asked for a merchandise drive, and he got it. Something Awful is a breed among itself, but something like that could work for you. Increased income is .

Creek Rat,

If you're living in fear of a message board moderator something is wrong.

Moving to Mature Forum...

We still do. Right now things are kinda nuts in general. I just got back into town and I am preparing to leave again. My racing season should be over in 3 weeks. I am looking forward to that. Other mods are also doing stuff.

Yes, I agree. But understand that is harder and harder to do when some people get upset with you for playing around. In some cases, we have been taken to task for doing those things. Or accusations have been made about mods playing favorites (like someone thinks I like DPham??? ) or whatever. Humor can be dangerous and it's difficult.

But, hang in there. I have no intention of letting DPhorgethisname have his old name back. Things will get back to normal.

Heck... let's just take over this forum. It's not used very much. Someone distract Geoff with some new gripes about porn ads and pop-ups while I move some other posts here.

Oh.. hey Geoff. The Big G. Just kidding...

If YOU'RE not D.Whatshisname, who the hell is??

<font size="1">*sniff*... Wizdar... miss Frankie?</font>

You big softie. (Watching Les Mis always does that to him.) And I haven't retired Frankie... he's been backpacking in Europe. He pops on once in a while to check e-mail, but that's about it. And he doesn't feel like posting in threads I mod... that kind of stuff usually bores him. Plus, I don't want him to rip any appendages off forum members... everyone's all concerned about liability these days, ya know.

<font size="1">Javert bad! Thenardiers </font>BAD! BAD!

Whoa, calm down, big guy... I didn't like them either. Here, think about Cosette.

<font size="1">Hee hee... Cosette sing good!</font>

There, that's better.

Thunderball, Your attempt at humor is insulting.

I am just expressing my opinion that the intrusion of Moderators into active discussions is not in the best interests of a free flow of ideas. It is obvious by my post count that I do not post often but that has to do with the lack of quality discussions and not my "fear" of a Moderator. I personally don't care what a Moderator thinks of me or of my opinions. I have a life to live that doesn't revolve around this community but I do enjoy participating as time allows and I feel I am entitled to express my opinion as long as Geoff accepts feedback from members.

RandyC,

Bfrank, JustinS, two sides of the same coin. You can't tell me they don't have an influence on the direction and content of a thread. Do people care about this? Apparently no one tonight does but this might be a much more interesting discussion if it were held on the Other Forum where people might see it rather than in the back alley of the Feedback Forum.