[split] Warm Greetings - The Not Welcome-y Stuff

[robvalue]

I really still hope he reconsiders. Truly. He's been one my favourite posters, an all round great guy and a go-to for blazing quality.

I don't understand what's happened. I honestly don't. If there are problems with how we handle things, I want to correct them as much as anybody. I welcome any and all feedback. (It's best to handle serious grievances via a PM to staff, and constructive criticism in the feedback sections the forum designed precisely for this purpose. Just FYI for the future.)

I'm not claiming the staff are perfect, but I feel we try hard and deliver a fair and even handed service. We don't always get things right, but we try and sort it out when things go awry. We do our best, and we discuss carefully before taking significant action. We decide as a team, there are no personal vendettas being enacted. If it becomes clear a staff member is holding a grudge, they will be told so in no uncertain terms. We debate to try and remove bias; we even abstain from a case if we feel we're not able to be unbiased about it.

So seriously, constructive criticism is totally welcome. I want to know how to do my role better. I can't promise every suggestion will be acted upon, that's obviously not realistic. But we're here for you guys, ultimately. That's the point of us, to keep things going as smoothly as possible so you can enjoy the forum.

I still don't understand where Rocket's criticisms are coming from. Seriously, I don't. I fully appreciate "warnings" when done constructively, of how our actions are being perceived, but when I'm given literally nothing to work with, what can I do? I'm not demanding Rocket produce any evidence, but I'd like it if he acknowledged that we can't address the issues he feels are there without anything to go on. We can't improve, or apologize, until we even know what we've supposedly done. If I've made mistakes as a mod, and if I've upset Rocket or anyone else unintentionally, then I apologize for that. But please understand that vague notions and no substance are impossible to act on. Regular members don't see the large amount of discussion going on all the time to keep our services as unbiased as possible, and they don't have all the information. Much of our action is invisible to the average member. In this particular case, the mod action was a routine speedbump, aimed at everyone. This level of reaction was not proportional, so clearly there is far more going on. I'm very sad that Rocket is feeling this much anger and resentment towards us, and I wish we could resolve it somehow.