The Glade 4.0

Maybe I got bored of one style of posting... my mental state is also improved but I don't find it relevant here. I'm not being sarcastic.



Moderator abuse is typically banning people who shouldn't be banned or locking threads that shouldn't be locked. What he did wasn't "abuse". It was miscalibrated moderation.

I think Lex finally might have his meds on track. Good for him.

FWIW I also take issue with the thread title, but I was ignored when I said something to shuyung about it.
I just don't think it was very nice or appropriate.

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"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Jesus of Nazareth

No, it was just normal run of the mill moderation. It violated no recognized guidelines, but it did violate imaginary ones that pitiful people hold on to because they desperately envy the power of authority.

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In time, this too shall pass.

I have nothing against Micheal as a person or a poster.

As a moderator, while working with him I found it was a constant effort because he seems to have a slight inclination to play wise-father-figure and tell people what is appropriate and what is not based on his personal opinions and not the (then) stated rules. There was an aspect of censorship and "we'll tell you how you should think" to it that I found uncomfortable. A moderator must remain dispassionate and cannot be inclined to give a **** about people's feelings or who offended whom and still do their job effectively.

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Well Ali Baba had them forty thieves, Scheherezade had a thousand tales
But master you in luck 'cause up your sleeves you got a brand of magic never fails...
...Mister Aladdin, sir, What will your pleasure be?
Let me take your order, Jot it down -You ain't never had a friend like me
█ ♣ █

Actually, you weren't. I quoted and responded to you.

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Darksiege: You are not a god damned vulcan homie.

How did I miss that?

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"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Jesus of Nazareth

Not sure. ::edit:: What the ****? Now I can't find this either, and I distinctly remember writing up a reply to you.

But actually, according to Dash from the last thread (Moderation Request), it is general policy to delegate the moderation of a discussion you are involved in to someone else.

And I think it this was the first time recently Mike had done it, the response probably would have been different.

But it happening again so soon after the last time seemed a bit much to me, as well.

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Darksiege: You are not a god damned vulcan homie.

Ah, well. Maybe I'm just biased? I'm rather fond of Micheal and more apt to see that he didn't do anything wrong.
In regards to Talya's assessment of Micheal's "fatherly" approach to moderating....lacking a father figure in my life for the past decade probably explains why I have no problems with his mod style and actually prefer it.

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"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Jesus of Nazareth

Yeah, thats why I'm confused. I don't remember reading one and I was very thorough...and I couldn't find one when I went back and combed through either.

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"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Jesus of Nazareth

Here we go.... It was in one of the other threads...

There we go! I'd replied to you in one of the other threads....

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Darksiege: You are not a god damned vulcan homie.

Maybe a dingo ate your post.

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Makes sense.

To me, I would say this thread title was more out of line had it not been following on the heels of another similar instance. And even then, I don't really think that a thread, created in Hellfire, with that title is so horribly offensive compared to everything else that goes on here.

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Darksiege: You are not a god damned vulcan homie.

Oh ok, yeah, I remember that now. Thanks for finding that, Neph.
I don't recall the incident in question, but if its true, I can understand why some would be upset about that.
I don't think moderators should be moderating and taking action in threads that they are actively involved in on a personal basis.
I have a hard time seeing Micheal doing that. But again...bias, I'm sure.

I still stand behind my opinion that the title of the thread is rude and uncalled for....but everyone is entitled to an opinion I suppose.

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"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Jesus of Nazareth

And I find it wholly offensive, but that's neither here nor there.

I think the question is whether an "abuse of power" is involved when you moderate a thread you are an active participant in, particularly when you are in the middle of the "controversy" or "issue" in that thread. Personally I say yes.

Assuming that can be agreed upon, the question then becomes one of how severe an "abuse," and whether anything "should" be done about it. My answer is that whether something "should" be done depends wholly upon whether the behavior is part of a trend, as any given moderator, being human, will make mistakes of judgment in regards to recusing themselves and will moderate on the "issue." This is forgiveable of course as no one is infallible. If it is an ongoing trend for that individual, a logically correct ethical belief that they should "step down" could be held, which is what shuyung seems to be stating.

I'm not going to say whether I agree or not with shuyung's contention. Calling him rude, mean, impolite, or uncivil in stating that point is unwarranted, in my opinion; shuyung is merely stating his belief as to proper action.

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“The duty of a patriot is to protect his country from its government.” - Thomas Paine

I came home late on Sunday night and saw only the split thread. When I skimmed it I recall being taken aback at how quickly Michael came out of the gates in his first post. I wouldn't normally expect that of him and thought it was a little uncharacteristic. I can see, with the way it all went down hill, how his action as moderator in the same thread didn't sit well.

I don't think that Shuyung is rude or mean, (don't have anything against him personally), just that the thread title he made was not very nice.
But again, thats just my opinion.
"Most recent abuse" to me would indicate a repeated pattern of behavior which I can't really see attributed to someone like Micheal who has, at best, in my humble opinion, made one or two minor mistakes.
Anyway, I'm not trying to get involved in a debate I can't win...just wanted to say how I felt on the matter and I think I got my point across.

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"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Jesus of Nazareth

Just as a point of clarification, it was never called his "most recent abuse", simply "recent abuse". One suggests (as you say) a pattern of abuses, the other simply refers to a temporally proximal incident of abuse.

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Darksiege: You are not a god damned vulcan homie.

I thought the servers weren't located in Australia anymore...

That's never stopped the dingo's before! They're tricky bastards, they are...

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Darksiege: You are not a god damned vulcan homie.

Lol, guess my bias and pregnancy brain threw an extra word in there...my bad!
Seriously though, thats what I think when I read the title. I still see a difference in "abuse" and "recent abuse" as "recent" would indicate a past too.
But, I am totally not one to have any credibility arguing semantics.

Bottom line is, I just miss Micheal and I think the whole thing was a big misunderstanding and not indicative of any larger problem or repeated pattern of behavior.

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"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Jesus of Nazareth

We aren't on the same page at all on characterizing that post...



Going from "we usually try to delegate to others" to "it is general policy to delegate" is a leap I wouldn't be comfortable making for others. However, if that's the way you want to interpret that, you're entitled.

The way I see it, there is no policy for moderators. They swing the banhammer at their own discretion. We either agree or find another forum, and we don't lack for options there. I might believe things should be a certain way, but bottom line reality is, Mook's my daddy, and I don't **** with daddy's ****.

I've heard all sorts of "this was good" and "this was bad" crap, but we all know that the perfect fantasy moderator is the one that agrees with us on how things should be and smites our enemies for us. The further you get from my ideal, the worse you are. Don't sugar coat things, folks - ain't a one of us don't dream of others having to do our heavy lifting for us, and that's how we see moderators - they're slaves to our desires.

Mook, a beer! Pronto!

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In time, this too shall pass.

Though, they've been a lot less coordinated and have been tending towards, dare I say it, listlessness since February.

Which is why I'm inclined to think that it was, instead, Kobolds that ate your post, Nephyr.

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"Aaaah! Emotions are weird!" - Amdee
"... Mirrorshades prevent the forces of normalcy from realizing that one is crazed and possibly dangerous. They are the symbol of the sun-staring visionary, the biker, the rocker, the policeman, and similar outlaws." - Bruce Sterling, preface to Mirrorshades

These are not the dingos you are looking for ...

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Mourning the loss of their respected mistress, no doubt.

/hugs Kaffis

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Well Ali Baba had them forty thieves, Scheherezade had a thousand tales
But master you in luck 'cause up your sleeves you got a brand of magic never fails...
...Mister Aladdin, sir, What will your pleasure be?
Let me take your order, Jot it down -You ain't never had a friend like me
█ ♣ █

I too rather liked Micheals moderation style, and thought he did a fine job.

To call what he did 'abuse' is more than a bit of a stretch in my opinion.

I think everyone involved in that situation could have handled it better, but it's all water under the bridge now.

Lessons learned, and lets move on, understanding the perils of having normal users wearing moderator hats...