Some staff members have left

• Invertex wrote on 2012-03-03 05:49
  While it is a bit sad to see staff resign, I wish you two luck with whatever you do from here.
• Demosthenes wrote on 2012-03-03 05:50
  Well. Sad to see those two go. Specially Baku.
• Cucurbita wrote on 2012-03-03 06:09

  Quote from Lan;794502:

  *Salute* Kitae it is now your duty to become a mod again.

  
  
  For reasons similar to TA's leaving, which I'll go ahead and let her explain herself is she chose to disclose, I will remove myself from availability on the position.
  
  Besides, I've been a huge prick the past month or two so its not like I'm in good running either. If I was handed ultimate power I might accidentally blow someone's face off with it during one of my over-reactive spouts.
  
  Being a regular member with a [S]questionable[/S] respected voice is well enough for me.
  
  

  Quote from Majikaru;794540:

  Best of luck in whatever you wish to do from this point on.
  You two did so much that I feel terrible about how I did like, nothing :(

  
  
  Pretty much this. Not to put other mods down, but they were the ones most actively doing their jobs. /respect
• TA wrote on 2012-03-03 06:29
  Well...
  
  I was considering either not posting or posting a short 2-3 sentence cheery positive message here about just leaving for private reasons or something and good luck to the rest and how amazing it was and crap but honestly... I'm just going to be completely serious here and say what needs to be said...
  
  Nation at this point is full of cliqués. As such, it's hard to do anything without potentially becoming the bad guy for punishing someone's friend (who may just happen to be a lot of people's friend). And well, when there are a very few number of mods that would actually step in during any kind of serious situation, it meant that all of that negativity and hate was directly channeled at the only mods that actually did their jobs.
  
  It became stressful and not enjoyable for me. So much drama... I just really don't need that in my life.
  
  I've had to take a month break at one point, and honestly to get that stressed over something as silly as an internet forum... well, it's just nonsense.
  
  It's a very thankless job...
  
  When you have to step in and take action, you end up with a very negative group that just really seems to hate your guts and honestly.... it's just not worth it. I mean most people never see all that we did, but there is a lot of moderation that nobody ever sees and we never get people that are grateful or happy that we're doing our job. All we deal with are people that are irate and seemingly hate us.
  
  To deal with such a drama filled stressful thing, and on a volunteer basis, and to only get to hear how bad people think you are and how much people don't like you... well, it's not very motivating to keep it up. If people don't like you so much, then why do it at all, right?
  
  When I became a Moderator, it was never to be cheerful and loved by everyone and to make friends and be buddy buddy with everyone. I took my job seriously and without bias. I would punish my friends just the same as people that I don't particularly care for. I wouldn't pass on punishing my friends, or someone that is loved, because honestly that wasn't my job. I wasn't there to be loved. I was there to keep order and to moderate, and so... I did my job. I was hated for it.
  
  It's disheartening to see the only ones thanked and praised being ones that arguably do relatively little to nothing, while the ones that take up the heaviest burden and do the bulk of the work get only hate and spite. It just leaves no motivation to keep it up and keep dealing with all of that drama and stress you have to deal with daily.
  
  And on top of that, it's like lately the forum is descending further and further to where it's starting to look more and more like an unmoderated 4chan board. I'm not just talking 1 or 2 posters either. I'm talking like a good 70% of the active posters in the Mabination Community sections.
  
  People are just so blatantly rude to one another, I see things all the time just like members directly telling one another to shut up, or calling one another faggots or stupid or worse. I mean, people are just being such douchebags lately, and it's on such a large scale that I don't even see what can be done.
  
  I felt like it was my duty to try and fix it... I started a big staff thread out of concern over all of the horrible behavior as of late, and in turn it resulted in rule changes, but honestly... I don't think the rule changes are going to help at all. Practically nothing of note even changed. If anything, now people can openly swear and post dirtier things.
  
  As for the behavioral problems... completely unaffected.
  
  Honestly I thought what it would take is the staff team coming down with an angry iron fist and directly killing all instances of the behavior before it spreads too far, but with only 3 that would actually do it, then 2, and now just one.... good god, I say good luck to you.
  
  I think honestly the community needs to come together and have a talk and self regulate because it's way too much for the only remaining staff member here, and if you don't... well, you've seen what kind of a sewer drain of the internet those unmentionable places are, and nation is quickly turning into one of those places.
  
  You need to decide what you want nation to be. Do you want that, or do you want a nice close friendly community? You can't have both, and if you guys don't stem that kind of behavior now and I mean on a serious level, it's just all fucked. It's fucked man, it's fucked.
  
  [video=youtube;pTifdoKXoxM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTifdoKXoxM[/video]
• RebeccaBlack wrote on 2012-03-03 07:35

  Quote from OizenX;794568:

  Moderating a forum is annoying.
  I don't blame them.

  
  Basically this. I've modded a few places and I never really wanna mod again LOL. The only time I've picked it up is when it was suggested and I felt I had a lot of info/responsibility relevant to the forum. I just hate being in any position of authority ;__; Makes me feel limited and turns the forum into a job.
  

  And on top of that, it's like lately the forum is descending further and further to where it's starting to look more and more like an unmoderated 4chan board. I'm not just talking 1 or 2 posters either. I'm talking like a good 70% of the active posters in the Mabination Community sections.

  And this. It's clear people are losing control and half of us want to kill each other, lmao. It seems like a decision has to be made. Either someone has to step up and be more strict or we have to accept that more things will slide, because when we just hope things will work out well, they generally don't. My opinion on this is that if people were forced to be a little more respectful to each other, it would be a lot easier to be respectful back.
  
  I somewhat disagree with TA in letting the community manage this. Despite this not being a particularly large community, I don't think it would work out very well. Each person would have their individual views of what respect is and whether one person "deserved it", etc. I mean, we're just going to have to pick a few reasonable people and have them set the standards for what's okay and what isn't, imo.
• Episkey wrote on 2012-03-03 08:06
  [SPOILER="Spoiler"]ARGH! AHGKJFFGHFLJKLK :shoe:
  
  I lost my long post that I was writing T_T[/SPOILER]
  
  In any case. Let me try again, it'll be somewhat brief. TA's post was informative and I was expecting something like it.
  
  It's sad to think that Moderators could experience such hostility. Even though TA and I have experienced 2 or 3 public ... "clashes" in the past; I can say that I have never slandered or libeled against her when speaking privately to another person.
  I also would first like to apologize if I were a major component in this said stress.
  
  Although not always specifically directed, I am generally thankful with the job the staff has done. And I'm sure other members can agree with me.
  
  However, there is one thing that just bothers me.
  
  

  Quote from TA;794602:

  
  It's disheartening to see the only ones thanked and praised being ones that arguably do relatively little to nothing, while the ones that take up the heaviest burden and do the bulk of the work get only hate and spite. It just leaves no motivation to keep it up and keep dealing with all of that drama and stress you have to deal with daily.
  
  
  Honestly I thought what it would take is the staff team coming down with an angry iron fist and directly killing all instances of the behavior before it spreads too far, but with only 3 that would actually do it, then 2, and now just one....
  

  
  
  To have an ex-staff say this may imply some structural problems within the staff team.
  Taking a quick meander at the list of staff, I most definitively see more than one person in a Moderator, if not higher, position. And there are somewhat of a good number on that list that are currently active.
  
  If the current staff aren't doing their job as a Moderator or dear I say it ... practicing "favoritism", this is an issue that needs to resolved first. It's even more imperative if it's so blatantly obvious to a normal ordinary member.
  That's not to say it's necessarily my opinion. But, it seems to be the majority opinion - sadly. Or at least in this thread ...
  
  Also community reflection is a very plausible suggestion, in my opinion. When I also first read the rules I thought, "Yes! This is an amazing step in the right direction. Things are much more specifically laid down."
  
  However, to my dismay - nothing has really ... well ... changed. If anything, it has indeed gotten worse.
  
  There are a multitude of times when I want to click on the "Report Post" button, yet I don't want to feel as if I'm "that guy" who just reports everything bad he sees. Don't get me wrong, I have used the report button on several occasions - which is frankly the problem.
  
  For the betterment of everyone, this is something that needs to be thought about.
  
  Again, I wrote a longer and more concise post before - so sorry if it just seems like a rant or a "OMG Mabination sucks now! QQ" That isn't my intention. I, along with probably other members, am just a little shocked at these news.
  
  Therefore, yet again, the both of you have my personal condolences. I hope you continue enjoy still being members!~
• Kayate wrote on 2012-03-03 08:26
  I wonder what came up to make them resign school/work?
• TA wrote on 2012-03-03 08:28

  Quote from RebeccaBlack;794657:

  I somewhat disagree with TA in letting the community manage this. Despite this not being a particularly large community, I don't think it would work out very well. Each person would have their individual views of what respect is and whether one person "deserved it", etc. I mean, we're just going to have to pick a few reasonable people and have them set the standards for what's okay and what isn't, imo.

  
  
  We had a few reasonable people. It's too overwhelming. You'd have to constantly do dozens of warnings/infractions a day, sending messages explaining why they happened and then follow ups and follow up follow ups up to ridiculously long chain follow ups until people are finally content and a catastrophic amount of your time has been wasted. Everyone wants a damn personalized one on one sugar coating to their utmost satisfaction and then the other people wonder why it wasn't done for them and get angry and offended and yadda yadda. There's not enough resources available to do the crap people have spoiled themselves rotten into expecting.
  
  There aren't enough people on here qualified to moderate to do it. I guess if the entire staff team actually buckled down and did it actively, maybe. But everyone is just so lazy and inactive... it's not gonna happen.
  
  One mod can't do it alone. It's just going to be the same story all over again. Then when that one quits, it's all going to go to hell. Then it's going to get so bad it won't even be worth it for Osay to keep nation around anymore, then bye bye nation.
  
  The community has to at least attempt to self regulate. Everyone is capable of it, they just aren't trying anymore.
  
  Honestly I think it's cause we were too damn lax and just let everything slide and then people slowly started getting more and more bold until we get to where we are now.
  
  People need hammered down with an iron fist to stay in line, but when it's the rarity to do that then you're just going to look like a power crazed psycho to the community and you'll get a metric fuckton of hate. At which point nobody will respect you, and further moderation becomes detrimental since people start taking you as a joke since they just think you're a powertripping dillweed.
  
  

  Quote from Episkey;794694:

  Taking a quick meander at the list of staff, I most definitively see more than one person in a Moderator, if not higher, position. And there are somewhat of a good number on that list that are currently active.

  
  
  I'm not going to name names here, but I'll give you a brief rundown...
  
  We have two mods that are basically here as a popularity contest. All they really do is very minor things like deleting double posts, locking threads upon requests, banning bots (one doesn't even do those things most of the time) and punishing those they don't like while ignoring their friends.
  
  Then we have 3 that basically aren't even staff (I guess they just like having colorful names).
  
  And there's Osay who self admittedly doesn't get involved with moderation and only takes care of the technical side of the site, maintenance, software and hardware stuff.
  
  That leaves one.
  
  That is too much.
  
  We're going to have to talk this through as a community and self regulate, or it's going to get way worse and it'll never get better. Past a certain point, there is no return. And that will be the end.
  
  We have to have the talk. We have to have at least the majority of these people understand the problem and change how they are.
  
  I think most people probably realize if they're being total douchebags or not, they just think they can get away with it because everyone else is doing it so they don't care. That's gonna have to change if we want to survive as a community.
• Claudia wrote on 2012-03-03 08:30
  Still don't think it's okay to go around bashing staff now that you're not a part of the secret circle anymore.
  
  Although I do agree, some people here are ridiculous. I want to throw something at a ton of people because they just don't get it.
  inb4Claudiaisalittleprincessorsomethinglikethat.
• Episkey wrote on 2012-03-03 08:37

  Quote from TA;794762:

  
  I'm not going to name names here, but I'll give you a brief rundown...

  
  
  Hmm. Yes. I frankly have an idea of what you mean. I personally don't hold any grievance against any staff members, but it sounds like an internal problem that needs to be addressed.
  
  Which, is what I said before. It takes two people to tango, so it's a two-sided issue.
  
  

  Quote from Claudia;794767:

  Still don't think it's okay to go around bashing staff now that you're not a part of the secret circle anymore.
  

  
  
  I think TA is being very careful while still addressing the problem. She isn't straight out saying names, then I would personally consider that bashing.
  
  To be fair, I do have an inkling as to who she's referring to in her posts ... But. If I can even come up with possible names in my head, then something is wrong - yes?
• TA wrote on 2012-03-03 08:40

  Quote from Claudia;794767:

  Still don't think it's okay to go around bashing staff now that you're not a part of the secret circle anymore.

  
  
  I didn't bash anyone. I was very careful about that.
  
  People need to know what the problem is so that it can be addressed and we can move forward. Just throwing it under the rug and ignoring the big elephant in the room isn't going to help any of us.
• Cannibal wrote on 2012-03-03 08:44

  Quote from Episkey;794781:

  
  To be fair, I do have an inkling as to who she's referring to in her posts ... But. If I can even come up with possible names in my head, then something is wrong - yes?

  
  I know 100% who she's talking about, and yeah, something is definitely wrong. There's one person on the staff who isn't even active in the community like the others are, and it's been that way for a while now.
  
  The problems in the staff have been obvious for a long time, and I don't understand how you can properly manage a site without a strong staff. Yeah, the community definitely needs big work, but a broken staff isn't going to help in that at all. The load falls on the people who actually do their job, and I can see how that would make someone want to quit.
• Jana wrote on 2012-03-03 08:59
  I've helped admin and moderate forums before. If people aren't actively doing their jobs, they need to be cycled out so that new, active moderators can be cycled in. For a forum the size of this one, a single active moderator and 2 people filling the role of janitor isn't enough.
• Claudia wrote on 2012-03-03 09:02
  As I was just saying to TA, we all suck. I think some people, myself included, need to seriously start acting like decent people.
• Oizen wrote on 2012-03-03 09:03

  Quote from TA;794602:

  Well...
  
  *what TA said* (Condensed to reduce obnoxious quoting)

  
  
  I've been a moderator of a forum about brawl mods but thats not the point.
  
  I used to be pretty popular with people before I was one, and then when I did become a moderator everyone turned against me, it even lead to people ganging up on me because they disagreed with an action I took as a moderator, clearly written in the rules ... just ugh.
  
  You just earned a lot of respect from me. The people who hate on moderators probably have never been one.
  
  

  
  It's disheartening to see the only ones thanked and praised being ones that arguably do relatively little to nothing, while the ones that take up the heaviest burden and do the bulk of the work get only hate and spite. It just leaves no motivation to keep it up and keep dealing with all of that drama and stress you have to deal with daily.
  

  
  I think we all know who you're talking about. =p