What happens when Someone who is attempting to correct a malfeasance in AO and is told to go (expletive) himself?
From what I gather, the brouhaha was ignited with an attempt to civilly address an existing problem concerning a Signature that linked to a forum that may have been ill-suited for minors. A Mod properly asked a formerly-banned Member to "remove" a link to a site where subjects that's ill-suited to the PG environment of AO were openly discussed. Granted that 90% of AOers probably wouldn't have been offended by the contents of the "other" site and in all likelihood will get a kick out of it, it was nonetheless against the acceptable level of decorum in AO.
If any viewers of AO were to 'click' onto that site which did not have any mechanism to prevent under-aged viewers from reading its content, AO by virtue of providing a launch point to enter that site is complicit in providing that minor with material that's inappropriate for their age.
It is my understanding that the Mod would have also accepted keeping the link if the site were to institute some protocol that would have hidden the sensitive materials from "unregistered" guests. But before further discussion can be carried out, the Member in question became hostile and wouldn't listen to the reason why it had to be done. Instead, said Member resorted to expletives during a discussion with said Mod on Chat. Hmmmm.
AO Mods should like NPPL Refs (an Analogy).
When I reffed an NPPL event in the past, we were told that regardless of whether you agree with a call made by a fellow ref, we all needed to stand united together behind that call and that Ref. We couldn't show any sympathy for players harmed by a bad call since that call couldn't be taken back and the outcome of the game couldn't be changed. Failure to act uncompromisingly in unison will only lead to an uglier post-game spectacle that would slow down the tournament.
One Ref undermining a fellow Ref can only lead to confusion on the field and bigger problems for everyone involved.
Being a Mod is a thankless enough job. Mods were selected from their perceived ability to equally and non-discriminately enforce the policies of AO. Some may be better at the job than others. But when things go wrong, a united front they must remain while they sort out what went wrong and implement corrective measure.
The perceived factitiousness of the Mod Team did not help their cause. If for nothing else, an unquestioned sense of empathy should be extended amongst the Mods for they all have to perform the same thankless and unpaid task of policing the forums.
The Real Troublemakers should stay out of it.
What good did it do for a non-contributing member to come out after months of absence just to assail someone for implementing AO's policies. This particular person has had a history of crossing the line in particular attacking a fellow member (who he has had disagreements with in the past) at his work place.
The level of vindictiveness displayed wasn't even openly criticized in this very forum.......for shame. But worse yet is the perceived harboring of such an individual by those who felt slighted with the enforcement of policies that are the requisite of a Mod's job.
The melee that ensued could have been prevented or at the very least minimized by not having someone whose only intent was to incite ill will participate in the argument.
AO has been a Smoldering Cauldron of Dissatisfaction.
This has been the underlying theme that everyone seems to bring up in my conversations with them. Sad but true. No one can seem to pin point the reason why. The closest thing to an explanation that I've gotten seems to point out two relatively new members of AO who have been incessant in their post-whoring and disruptive/disrespectful behavior.
The two individuals in question in my estimation should have been perm banned a long time ago. AO should change its existing rules to deal with such disruptive individuals who do nothing except cause turmoil in the forums.
In my research of these two individuals in questions, I have yet to find a meaningful enough post to suggest that they are indeed contributing towards the overall well-being of AO. They have been given enough latitude by the Mods but there has to be a certain limit to the Moderating Teams generosity.
If the Mods are indeed the guardians at the gate, perhaps a more visible attempt to correct this problem should have been enacted. Letting it stew only leads to further dissatisfaction amongst the members.
Whinny Members.......
Just stop whining. If a current situation is not to your liking, then take a sabbatical until things get corrected. If things don't get corrected to your satisfaction, then exit gracefully and with little fanfare.
Some of the threads started seemed to be begging for attention because the authors are unhappy with the current state of affairs.
AO isn't going to go down because some individuals have left or will be leaving. AO is digressing because of the relative lack of quality discussions and the jovial nature that it once exemplified has waned. We can all point fingers at one another but in the end we must all choose whether we want to be part of the problem or part of the solution.
The first step to correcting the problem is to accept that there is a problem....not to whine like little kiddies. Accountability is the mature way to deal with things. Going away whining isn't.
A community is only as good as the willingness of its members to maintain the quality of life within that community. It is incumbent upon those who claim that they value this community to do something positive on the community's behalf. Lip service gets you no where. If you do indeed still care about what happens here, then do your part.
Find things to build....not things to break down.
From what I gather, the brouhaha was ignited with an attempt to civilly address an existing problem concerning a Signature that linked to a forum that may have been ill-suited for minors. A Mod properly asked a formerly-banned Member to "remove" a link to a site where subjects that's ill-suited to the PG environment of AO were openly discussed. Granted that 90% of AOers probably wouldn't have been offended by the contents of the "other" site and in all likelihood will get a kick out of it, it was nonetheless against the acceptable level of decorum in AO.
If any viewers of AO were to 'click' onto that site which did not have any mechanism to prevent under-aged viewers from reading its content, AO by virtue of providing a launch point to enter that site is complicit in providing that minor with material that's inappropriate for their age.
It is my understanding that the Mod would have also accepted keeping the link if the site were to institute some protocol that would have hidden the sensitive materials from "unregistered" guests. But before further discussion can be carried out, the Member in question became hostile and wouldn't listen to the reason why it had to be done. Instead, said Member resorted to expletives during a discussion with said Mod on Chat. Hmmmm.
AO Mods should like NPPL Refs (an Analogy).
When I reffed an NPPL event in the past, we were told that regardless of whether you agree with a call made by a fellow ref, we all needed to stand united together behind that call and that Ref. We couldn't show any sympathy for players harmed by a bad call since that call couldn't be taken back and the outcome of the game couldn't be changed. Failure to act uncompromisingly in unison will only lead to an uglier post-game spectacle that would slow down the tournament.
One Ref undermining a fellow Ref can only lead to confusion on the field and bigger problems for everyone involved.
Being a Mod is a thankless enough job. Mods were selected from their perceived ability to equally and non-discriminately enforce the policies of AO. Some may be better at the job than others. But when things go wrong, a united front they must remain while they sort out what went wrong and implement corrective measure.
The perceived factitiousness of the Mod Team did not help their cause. If for nothing else, an unquestioned sense of empathy should be extended amongst the Mods for they all have to perform the same thankless and unpaid task of policing the forums.
The Real Troublemakers should stay out of it.
What good did it do for a non-contributing member to come out after months of absence just to assail someone for implementing AO's policies. This particular person has had a history of crossing the line in particular attacking a fellow member (who he has had disagreements with in the past) at his work place.
The level of vindictiveness displayed wasn't even openly criticized in this very forum.......for shame. But worse yet is the perceived harboring of such an individual by those who felt slighted with the enforcement of policies that are the requisite of a Mod's job.
The melee that ensued could have been prevented or at the very least minimized by not having someone whose only intent was to incite ill will participate in the argument.
AO has been a Smoldering Cauldron of Dissatisfaction.
This has been the underlying theme that everyone seems to bring up in my conversations with them. Sad but true. No one can seem to pin point the reason why. The closest thing to an explanation that I've gotten seems to point out two relatively new members of AO who have been incessant in their post-whoring and disruptive/disrespectful behavior.
The two individuals in question in my estimation should have been perm banned a long time ago. AO should change its existing rules to deal with such disruptive individuals who do nothing except cause turmoil in the forums.
In my research of these two individuals in questions, I have yet to find a meaningful enough post to suggest that they are indeed contributing towards the overall well-being of AO. They have been given enough latitude by the Mods but there has to be a certain limit to the Moderating Teams generosity.
If the Mods are indeed the guardians at the gate, perhaps a more visible attempt to correct this problem should have been enacted. Letting it stew only leads to further dissatisfaction amongst the members.
Whinny Members.......
Just stop whining. If a current situation is not to your liking, then take a sabbatical until things get corrected. If things don't get corrected to your satisfaction, then exit gracefully and with little fanfare.
Some of the threads started seemed to be begging for attention because the authors are unhappy with the current state of affairs.
AO isn't going to go down because some individuals have left or will be leaving. AO is digressing because of the relative lack of quality discussions and the jovial nature that it once exemplified has waned. We can all point fingers at one another but in the end we must all choose whether we want to be part of the problem or part of the solution.
The first step to correcting the problem is to accept that there is a problem....not to whine like little kiddies. Accountability is the mature way to deal with things. Going away whining isn't.
A community is only as good as the willingness of its members to maintain the quality of life within that community. It is incumbent upon those who claim that they value this community to do something positive on the community's behalf. Lip service gets you no where. If you do indeed still care about what happens here, then do your part.
Find things to build....not things to break down.
Comment