A Request For Sciforum "Moderators"

[Balerion]

EDIT - actually, reviewing the ticket that prompted the email, I did initiate contact. I was not aware, however that it showed the sending email address as my own and thus replies went directly to my inbox. That failure is on ME and me alone; duplicating the steps to send an email directly from the ticket, it SHOULD have been obvious that was the case, as now (I am currently on my wife's computer using Chrome) it shows the gmail login screen when I do so. On my computer, I have a customized theme for Torch browser and the email box that comes up looks nothing like the gmail composition box I am accustomed to, nor did it ask me to login (as my gmail credentials are cached), nor does it show the address the email is being sent from. HOWEVER, had I been paying attention, I would have noticed the "mail.google.com" address in my address bar.

To that end - Balerion, you have my apologies; Bells, Balerion did not do anything malicious in finding/using my email address (excluding the content of the emails recently exchanged)

Ohhhhh.

Well, shit. I didn't realize you didn't know I was replying to you from that original chain.

FUCK. I feel like an absolute shitheel now. All that shit I just said to Bells? Fuck me.

Well, damage control time.

The only caveat I have here is that I wasn't abusing you. I asked you "Why are you being a cunt? The ticket system is not your playground." I believe I sent you two more emails after that, and you sent me one more. That initial "Why are you being a cunt" is the worst any of my messages got. And none of them were more than a couple of sentences long. I don't want anyone getting the impression that I was crazy-ranting you. I was upset, and offended that you would mistreat what I honestly believed to be a legitimate complaint so callously, for seemingly no reason than getting back at me for saying that the moderators should be less involved. That's my side of it, anyway. The rest of our conversation continued via PM, in case anyone thinks I sent you into hiding or something ridiculous like that.

 

[Balerion]

When you email a moderator call them a cunt because they are not doing what you want them to do about a complaint you have on this site and they ask you to stop emailing them and you keep emailing them, then it is an issue we all have to look into. You got so bad he had to bring it into the public forum to ask you to stop. That is not acceptable by any sense of the imagination. We did not sign up as moderators here to have people like you harass us on our personal email accounts. And the moderator in question certainly did not sign up for it. Instead of apologising for your actions, you react with rage and complain that he brought your harassment and abuse to light when he was forced to ask you to stop in public since you refused to adhere to his request that you stop harassing him on his private email? I don't care if it happened in a private conversation. What? You think that because it is via email, that you should be protected? Harassment and abuse by PM's on this site is also not allowed. It certainly isn't acceptable that you use the venue of his private email to do it in. It reminds me of when one member managed to find out the name and phone number of another member or staff here and called them up and threatened to get them fired for not doing what they wanted to do. You may think such actions are private and thus, is no one's business, but no, it is not. That member was banned immediately. So no, Balerion, just because you try to pull stunts like this in "private conversations" does not mean you get to get away with it.

You picked your target well though. Had you pulled that stunt on me, I'd have complained to your email provider and I would have requested you be banned permanently from this site. Thankfully the moderator you did it to is too nice to you. You certainly have not done anything to deserve it.

As for your comments about LG. Really, all of us who witnessed your vitriolic hatred of the man on this site know that you're pulling it out of thin air. So you're not really fooling anyone.

I went back on my personal desire of not speaking to you except in the event of having to. Because if I am to be honest, you are an exceptionally awful person to have to deal with or speak to. While I am sure the feeling is mutual, especially after reading some of the things you have said about me on other sites to the point where you were literally rejoicing that I was sick, my revulsion towards you is because of your inherent anger management issues, your absolute hatred, your dishonesty and your selfishness that dictates everything be about you. You are a very angry and hateful man Balerion and that is sad. But not so sad that I feel sorry for you. You don't post here for enjoyment. You post here to look for conflict and it is in just about every single post you make on this site. If you can't find a cause, you create one. There is not a thread that you post in here of late where you are not abusive or angry or looking for conflict. Not one. Now you have taken this type of discourse to email. And it's not acceptable. You may think it is, but it is not.

I am not going to ban you for speaking your mind about me Balerion. To be honest, knock yourself out. But rest assured, whatever you say will just reaffirm my belief that you are noxious and so full of hate, that it permeates every post you make here.

Okay, where to begin?

Well, let's start this way: I am completely, utterly, ridiculously, sorry. I thought you were just trying to smear me. I had no idea you were going on bad information, which was quite apparently an innocent misunderstanding. You were right to be concerned, given what you thought to be true.

Fuck, that sucks.

Anyway, sorry.

 

[GeoffP]

We're not robots. You often repeat the same offensive behaviour that sometimes gets you moderated.

Except that it isn't offensive, except to those who like to interpret it that way. That's why all these dire attempts to do just that get shot down so often - because they're bogus to begin with. You're attempting to perform some kind of centre-seeking conciliation here, but there's no centre to seek on this issue.

If that was how it went, then you would not be here.

And if that was how we really were, you would definitely not be here. Neither would most people.

So the majority of the posters on SF would not be here if certain mods stuck to the rules instead of getting their emotions in. This is not how I perceive the not-egregious forum rules as working, actually. Are you saying that these rules, as applied, would result in the banning of most of the posters? Why do you feel this way?

As I said GeoffP, if we were like you describe us, if it really was as you say, then things would be vastly different around here because we would not give a shit either way about your feelings.

Could you really not give a shit? Is that even possible? Because, that would be swell. Just mods - specific ones, since you're trying to paint my comments as applying to the mod staff in general - obeying the rules, being unable to substitute their feelin's for a rational argument, and never being allowed to paint a discussion as something it's not. Is... is that what Heaven looks like?

And as I said before, if this was really what it was like, then you would not be here.

Actually, if that's what it was really like, neither would you. More here:

The expectation that we act like robots. Oh we can do that. We can not bother to get involved and just ban at will, without interaction and without discourse. Very easily.

Subtly threatened, which is one of the two tracks I mentioned earlier. Look, I'm not sure how you think robots behave, but to me, the aggrieved, that sounds great: not to get your emotions involved with your decisions. Not to read into an argument that which does not exist. Not to commit to a decision with other than logic. That would be a freaking godsend: just debating without irrational outbursts and overt or implied threats. How can we achieve this promised land? Should we wander in a desert for a few decades? It's worked before.

You complain that bad decisions are overturned but they keep happening. If we didn't give a shit, there would not be overturned. There would be no discourse. There would be no looking into the history of certain conflicts on this site and there would definitely be no discussion.

That's right: bad decisions are overturned, but they keep on keeping on. Here's the thing: they shouldn't be made in the first place. The kind of grande mal freakout flamewars that occur in these arguments are inexcusable and if you really, really wanted to rule like a robot - which is one of the strangest phrases I've ever had to write - they wouldn't come up, period. Please let me make this absolutely, excruciatingly clear so there's no room for further weasel language: when you say "if we didn't give a shit", realise that I'm not complaining about the majority of the mods, or the general body of mods, as I've made clear several times above: I'm referring to a couple problem cases that persist on the site, that maliciously misrepresent arguments, that ignore SF rules, that goad other posters into making mistakes they think they can ban them for, and which are frustrated by the inability of these plans to come to fruition. I understand there's some kind of tolerance on the site by certain mods for misrepresentation in accordance with what they term as a "political twist of the knife", but I'm not referring to the staff at large, so please don't misrepresent the case. Thanks.

 

[Bells]

Except that it isn't offensive, except to those who like to interpret it that way.

Doesn't that go both ways?

**Edited **

You know, I had constructed a long candid post in response to you point by point. But there's no real point to it as whatever I say will just fuel all the misconceptions that exist. So yeah.. have a nice day GeoffP.

 

[Bells]

Okay, where to begin?

Well, let's start this way: I am completely, utterly, ridiculously, sorry. I thought you were just trying to smear me. I had no idea you were going on bad information, which was quite apparently an innocent misunderstanding. You were right to be concerned, given what you thought to be true.

Fuck, that sucks.

Anyway, sorry.

That's fine Balerion. If it makes you feel any better, I was out and only just got home, so missed the spray.

Thank you.

 

[Bells]

Regading the ticket system..

Just a quick note to some of you who have used the ticketing system set up by Stryder to complain about an issue on this site. I have noticed that some seem to be of the belief that the administrators have access to those tickets. I don't believe they do.

The ticketing system is a way for us to try to fix whatever issue as we can and if we are unable to, then it is sent up to the administrators through this site. It is a way to clog up the report function so that we can fix whatever we can quickly and respond to you as quickly as we can about it and review threads, or posts, or even moderator actions and get back to you. If there is an issue that we are unable to resolve, we can and do pass it up the line to the Admin to look at and we do request advice on how to proceed in such circumstances.

That being said, if you hit the report button on Sciforums, the admin are made aware of it, so that is not to be confused with the other ticketing system set up by Stryder.

To recap..

The report button that you see on sciforums is sent automatically to the admin if you use that function.

The ticketing system that Stryder set up at the modshell site is a review system that deals with complaints and I do not believe the admin have access to that and if anything comes up that we are unable to handle, then we do send it up to the admin to look at and review.

 

[GeoffP]

Doesn't that go both ways?

What, only now it does? Pssh. Only when you can walk across the rice paper wrappings left by the egg rolls you binged on without cutting a lentil fart will you be able to leave the monastery for the wider world, grasshopper.

 

[Balerion]

That's fine Balerion. If it makes you feel any better, I was out and only just got home, so missed the spray.

Thank you.

God forbid you throw an apology back my way.

Christ.

 

[Bells]

God forbid you throw an apology back my way.

Christ.

No, you're right.

I accused you of abusing someone incorrectly via email. You have my apologies.

---

What, only now it does? Pssh. Only when you can walk across the rice paper wrappings left by the egg rolls you binged on without cutting a lentil fart will you be able to leave the monastery for the wider world, grasshopper.

It was actually always like that. I guess you were spending too much time dreaming up inventive analogies to see it.

And really, lentil fart?

It's come to this?

I mean I guess it's better than the American hick speak you sometimes adopt, but lentil fart?

:facepalm:

Anyway, I'm out.. Meat to play with, kids to tenderise and all that jazz.

 

[Balerion]

No, you're right.

I accused you of abusing someone incorrectly via email. You have my apologies.

Yay! Thanks.

 

[Kittamaru]

Ohhhhh.

Well, shit. I didn't realize you didn't know I was replying to you from that original chain.

FUCK. I feel like an absolute shitheel now. All that shit I just said to Bells? Fuck me.

Well, damage control time.

The only caveat I have here is that I wasn't abusing you. I asked you "Why are you being a cunt? The ticket system is not your playground." I believe I sent you two more emails after that, and you sent me one more. That initial "Why are you being a cunt" is the worst any of my messages got. And none of them were more than a couple of sentences long. I don't want anyone getting the impression that I was crazy-ranting you. I was upset, and offended that you would mistreat what I honestly believed to be a legitimate complaint so callously, for seemingly no reason than getting back at me for saying that the moderators should be less involved. That's my side of it, anyway. The rest of our conversation continued via PM, in case anyone thinks I sent you into hiding or something ridiculous like that.

I will not deny it was... upsetting... to me to have that be the first email received... but at the same time, I will not deny that I probably could have handled it better.

Since we are both seeing where we both went wrong, how about we simply call it quits and leave the past in the past?

 

[Balerion]

I will not deny it was... upsetting... to me to have that be the first email received... but at the same time, I will not deny that I probably could have handled it better.

Since we are both seeing where we both went wrong, how about we simply call it quits and leave the past in the past?

Hence my "Truce, fuckface?" email...but okay, I'm down for it.

 

[Trippy]

...I would hope Arne has the integrity to return the favor...

Apparently not.

 

[Kittamaru]

Apparently not.

I would say I am surprised by that... but I would be lying

 

[Balerion]

Apparently not.

That's a shame. But, at least you know how seriously to take his complaints in the future.

 

[quinnsong]

I know there is an ongoing attempt of certain members seeking the removal of a couple of mods, hope it does not happen. IMO the pros of these mods outweigh the cons.

 

[origin]

We often do; for example, it is why some people (such as Origin) have no infraction points - while they occasionally cross the line, it is just that - occasionally, and not in some egregious way, and as such a simple verbal reminder to be more polite/respectful is all that is needed.

I was reading through this thread when I ran across this. Interesting, I have often thought that I occasionally cross the line and afterwords I always come to the site worried that I will see the dreaded notification highlighted. This information will help me to moderate )) my behavior because I now know that some of my posts (not surprisingly) have raised some eyebrows.

 

[GeoffP]

El Paso “SciForums”

To the tune of "El Paso"

Out in the wild threads at olde SciForums
I fell in love with a post I had wrote
Mid-Thursday morning found me dodging the tantrums
I’d hit “Reply” and then pause for a gloat

Blacker than night were the lines under my eyes
Wicked and evil before I pressed “send”
A distain so profound and bolstered by Fresca
How could I know that my rampage would end?

One night a wild young Admin came in
Like a fart in a windowless ca-aaa-aa-aa-aar
Dashing and daring, opinions he’s sharing
I found myself locked in a bitter flamewar

So in anger
I challenged his logic and also his hygiene
Down went his fingers to crusty keyboard
My challenge was answered in thirty short pages
But then I called him a ‘dirty old whore’

Just for a moment I sat there in silence
Shocked at the way that my mouth had run
My ergonomic chair swung away slowly
My single chance was Ad-min-i-stra-tion

Straight to my forum Inbox I went
Figures the damn thing was fu-uuu-uu-uu-uull
I smacked the tower with all of my power
But strangely my violence did not seem to help

I logged out as fast
As I could from the SciForums server and I fled
Out to the badlands of TSF.com
Back on ‘Politics’ my account would be worthless
The thread is all frozen and everyone’s left
But it’s been so long since I trolled psykeyhackr
Without pointless debate my life seems bereft

I knew there'd be a stern notification
Delivered to me by PM-MM-MMMM-MM-MMM
But my addiction is stranger than fiction
I called up the site and I logged myself in

And at last here
I am overlooking the Ethics subforum
What’s that? Some moron tries non sequitur
My love for arguing makes me “Reply Quote” him
And then I just call him a dumb lazy turd

Closing the thread are two angry admins
Off to my left are a dozen or more
They’ve marshalled a case to just perma-ban me
…Well that just proves what I said before

Something is dreadfully wrong for I feel
An unpleasant burning deep in my profi-iiii-ii-iii-iile
I see the red card posted ‘bove my last comment
And then the banning cuts me out for a while

But my love of
Debating is strong and relentless and childish
I make up a sock and I’m back in an hour
I’ll have my say come hell or high water
You may have admin but I have a router

From out of nowhere my login is kicked out
My chances are ended and nothing to try
No point in raging and no time to pout now
Thescienceforum hello; and SF…. goooooodbyyyyyeeeeee

[instrumental Mexican guitar]

 

[quinnsong]

@ Geoff,

Masterpiece!

 

[Trooper]

I agree. Bravo, Geoff! :bravo: