Once Upon a Time

[KShan5[PrFC]]

*cough*buuuuuuuuuull*****cough*never!

What was that about lack of respect????

[Zelda]

I honestly wasnt going to say anything, but finally have decided to weigh in with my 5 cents (thats inflation for you) worth.

Many many moons ago (more than I care to remember) fencing net was one board, a fencing discussion board, with very few members and maybe two or three topics being discussed at any one time.

Slowly word spread and a thriving community grew around this board, to the extent another board was formed for those discussions (no matter how hard we tried) which could not be directly related to fencing, and hence the water cooler was born (and to think I remember this!!!). Since then we have grown again and stuff which didnt particularly belong in the water cooler got moved to its own board, and fantasy land was born. Having had mod status in FL since I think just after we realised mods might be a GOOD idea I feel uniquely placed to comment on what is happening here.

The water cooler has changed since its inception. Its to be expected with new posters, younger people, etc etc. However some expectations remain the same, these include politness, and a certain amount of decency.

These IMNSHO are probably slipping. Its not really anybodies fault, but more a changing of the guard. I will admit from my pov as a mod in fantasy land time zones can be a proverbial pain in the posterior. But Gav and Craig cant be around all the time so they trust us to behave like responsible adults while they arent. They expect us not to behave like children in a sandbox, but like the sophisticated and mature adults most of us are. Those of you who are about to say "but I am not an adult, I am not old enough", heed this, it is possible for you to act in a mature and adult way without having actually reached the age of responsibility.

So lets try to raise the tone abit. We can still have fun, but pettiness and poking fun should stop. A gentle jib is one thing, sustained name calling, crase comments etc are not appreciated, not by the person they are directed at, nor the populace at large.

So this is my christmas wish......that the above paragraph be taken as it is intended, as a gentle reminder and hope for the future.

And now that I have given my 5 cents (more like 10) worth I will disappear into the ether until I am needed again!

[telkanuru]

Telkanuru's Internet @$$#*!& Theory
(Blatently borrowed from Penny Arcade)

nice person + anonymity = complete *******

That being said, I don't think we're quite so far gone. Heck, a forum where I can count the number of real trolls on 1 finger is a stellar thing. It ain't broke yet.

[Moonitic]

Wait just a tick here....wasn't it you who started a phony thread about you being pregnant (albeit in the guise of humor)? hmmmmm...I REALLY wonder if it's your place to point fingers here.

Discretion is the better part of not making a mockery of one's self

Wasn't going to comment again, but thank you, Foily. That's one of my points. It wasn't a prank. It was bait. Baiting people into a fight because, if you are a regular (or even a lurker) here, you know what buttons to push to get people to go at one another. That's hardly a "community spirit." That's trying to divide & conquer. It's wrong. Some people have a perverse sense that THAT is humor. Those who do seriously need to consider a better hobby, sad to say. What happened with that little joke was exactly what was intended. People got angry.

Change happens. But this shouldn't be part of it.

[glowstix]

Wasn't going to comment again, but thank you, Foily. That's one of my points. It wasn't a prank. It was bait. Baiting people into a fight because, if you are a regular (or even a lurker) here, you know what buttons to push to get people to go at one another. That's hardly a "community spirit." That's trying to divide & conquer. It's wrong. Some people have a perverse sense that THAT is humor. Those who do seriously need to consider a better hobby, sad to say. What happened with that little joke was exactly what was intended. People got angry.

Change happens. But this shouldn't be part of it.

sorry moonitic, maybe i commented without knowing all the facts.

for the record, i never visit fantasy land and thus, don't know what goes on there. you waited until late on the thread to say that whatever posts you didn't like took place there. i never saw the thread you speak of above or anything about name calling. i am not reversing my stance though. after looking at the discussion list in the water cooler i really don't see anything worth getting that stressed about. maybe i missed a few threads along the way because, honestly i don't see the need to get upset about things like the "fencing guys, sex and girls" or "attractive fencers" threads. IMO, as long as there are no personal attacks, its fair game in a water cooler/off topic board. i never said you shouldn't voice your opinion, i merely said you should just ignore it. its so much easier after all isn't it?? the great thing about online forums is that you can ignore trolls and stupid people becuase you have the choice of whether or not to open the crappy posts they are making, not having to deal with them whatsoever. if it had been real life, you'd still have to deal with them even if you tried to ignore them because you still see their face and hear their voices.

[MikeHarm]

I've always been against over moderating. Its more fun when things get crazy now and then and people work things out on their own. Forced respect by moderators deleting everything controversial is like a nonalcoholic beer. Its..ok..but not like the real thing.

[mrbiggs]

I don't really think that this is all that bad....this site is 99% PG, at least. No one's posting any porn, there's no wanton fighting or swearing. Sure, there's occaisional occurances of immaturity, the occaisional dick saying something stupid, and every once in a while someone gets mad at someone else. But apart from that, I really don't see the threads you're talking about. I never even saw cornflower's infamous post, so I can't comment on that. But elsewise, I think that we're doing pretty good for an anonymous online forum.

[Gav]

Hi guys

As Zelda mentioned neither I nor Craig can be everywhere at once. This is the same for all of the mod's here and for other mod's on other boards. We rely on you all to behave in, at the very least, a respectful tolerant manner towards each other. Remember that the All Seeing Eye does in fact see All! Mainly because of my vast network of spies.

It's difficult getting the balance between freedom of speech and enforcing responsibility (read: censoring and censuring). Some mods really like to to enforce their own view on how they think that a board should be used. In my opinion this leads to very sterile discussion boards. My own view is too keep hands off as much as possible and only intervene when things seem to be getting out of hand - or when asked. Sometimes you see a pattern of complaints, sometimes you just notice that someone is being a ****. Either way you act at that point.

I do not want this place to become a mini [or maxi!] FencingSucks. At the moment I think the balance is mostly right.

What is quite interesting is watching 'fashions' come and go. I swear I could write a phd Sociology thesis on this. It's been religion, it's been fantasy land, frequently politics, polls (oh, how I hated that period) and other stuff. The prevaling wind changes quite often. I don't see a problem with people openly discussing sex or any other topic so long as they bear other peoples sensitivities in mind.

It's late here - hope that is not too rambling.

[Westley]

Doggone it! I thought this was about the Antonio Banderas Movie.

[Soldier]

...I swear I could write a phd Sociology thesis on this.

So why didn't you mention this before my huge BS paper was due? I ended up having to write about memory and Sherlock Holmes' cocaine habit!

[cornflower]

So why didn't you mention this before my huge BS paper was due? I ended up having to write about memory and Sherlock Holmes' cocaine habit!

Oooh tell me more!

[Soldier]

...?

(I imagine this type of post is exactly the reason for the character minimum)