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

[Thumpalumpacus]

I do remember not long ago, when I just came back, I disagreed completely with the way things were handled in a particular thread. I found it beyond ridiculous and it made me angry. I seriously had to think about reconsidering my return. I felt like someone was getting protection beyond what others usually get. BUT I said what I thought and the awesome mods were awesome. I do understand feeling frustrated when things get messy.

I'm sad awesome dude is out of character today. This is not normal him. I don't like it one bit. It would be nice if things cooled down and everything went back to normal. The mods are cool peoples. Rocket is usually cool people. I like everyone involved except the spokes. 

May I just add one thing. I have behaved waaaay out of character before in my life due to life struggles. Those days do not define me. I do not identify as that person. The people I hurt, I wish I didn't. That is all.

Mazactly. I am cool most of the time, an asshole sometimes, and every so often batshit-crazy. I'm grateful to the understanding that most folk extend to me, and as a result, when a brotha gets bent out of shape, rather than extending the judgement rod, I work towards understanding -- some times are more successful than others.

I think there's a touch of dogpile happening, not as bad as I've seen at other forums thanks in good part to the moderation itself. I hope folks look at his history here rather than one day, and judge him on that basis. Rock is a keeper. The mods are doing their jobs. Not every day is easy money.

[drfuzzy]

Rocket is a keeper.  His arguments are cool, reasoned, and concise.  I have learned much from reading his posts.
AND . . . 
he took the time to tell us what it was like - being locked up.  If we think about it for a moment, we can really understand the types of behaviors  - that he may well be fighting to eradicate - became ingrained.  It's survival, folks.  It's pared down to the basic "kill or be killed", where ignoring an insult has long-term consequences.  
   Let's take what we know from this guy - brilliant, thoughtful - and understand that all of us have over-the-top moments on occasion.  And he may well have some great suggestions for improving this forum.

[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.

[Losty]

Ah, I see you edited out the part I responded to.  Nice work.

Umm I edited my post 11 minutes before you replied to it. I would never go back and edit my post after you'd already responded. I've said before that I find that to be dishonest. I can't help if there was some sort of lag on your end that stopped you from getting the edited version of my post. But from personal experience I don't feel like what I said was a hyperbole, and also from personal experience I edited that part out of my post specifically because I am not in the mood for a repeat.

[thesummerqueen]

Staff has had a long-running policy about keeping introduction threads to introductory purposes. It was an attempt to keep otherwise sane religious people from turning tail simply because some of the more rabidly anti-theist members would start an interrogation the second someone professed to be anything other than atheist.

I don't know what all went on here, and I certainly don't participate with most of the forums anymore because I'm tired of seeing the same old shit over and over and over. But having done the job, my experience with current staff is that they're far more even-handed than some people deserve.

People need to chill the fuck out. The internet is where we come to learn and discuss, but the second you take someone's insults from the screen towards you and whatever group you identify with any more seriously than "der der der [keyboard pounding]" you fucking lose. Oh sure, go ahead and respond, but don't lose your shit about it.