A Public Service Announcement

[Spacey]

Thanks Come_Forth. That's a nice thing to say, and I appreciate it.

You were not in my mind when I was typing, and that passage your quoted was not based on our interaction as mod-user.

What you quoted was a postulation of mine as the what would motivate one poster to come onto the forum and deride another person: to threaten to cause bodily harm, loss/damage of property, or to try(and I use that loosely) to make fun of someone based on something they know nothing about(ie. gender, sexuality, intelligence, lifestyle, etc.), etc.

Right now, the only thing I can conclude that would possess someone to do that is if they 'looked down' on another. Where one would view another as inferior to them based on some criteria they established, founded on assumptions, fallacies, and hearsay. Thereby justifying(in their own mind) the treatment of another person as less than an equal.

Ultimately the end result is either to incite fear in the recipient, establish a hierarchy between the two players, or to cause them to conform to the perpetrator's demands. It is, really, inciting hate/violence through threats of bodily harm, destruction, and based on perceived power.

[Tyber Zann]

Many players hide under the shelter of anonymity. I do not believe they would dare say some things to people that they do on this forum or in pm. Fear of personal harm or other reprecussions would avert them from doing so, and many make assumptions that the conduct of someone on the forum is refelctive of who they actually are, when in fact text as it is commonly written gives a poor account of persoanl feeling and emotion, and who that person is in real life.

Such poor assesments, misinterpretations, etc. can be harmful in actual life, but I believe in a virtual community bolsters some people into a false sense of security/protection in what they say. I would be very interested to see if those who have spoken ill to me, would have the courage to say the same thing in person...I highly doubt they would.

So, basically...I wonder if anyone would say the same things they have to some if they actually met them in real life. The "protection" that their account/alliance gives also feeds into their ego, which is neither accurate or precise.

highly true to lots of people.

Just to let everyone know though, what i say to you here is the same as what ud get if i was on the phone or standing infront of you.

enjoy your debating, tom

[kurnous]

Deighty nice speach. Well put together and well thought out.

I wholy support you in any way i can. The last person i assed in game was cos they were rude to me. ADMIN NEED TO START BANNING PEOLPE FOR VULGAR POSTS AND NAMES. You think thats harsh? Tough. This is a non aged game with children playing as well as adults like me.

Brythalious is my best friend in real life and we call each other horrible names with all sorts of unplesant sexual referancis. BUT WE ARE MEATES AND HAVE BEEN FOR 13 YEARS AT LEAST NOW. So that is an understanding we have between us. But manners go a long way in game and real life.

If you got nothing nice to say then just dont say anything. If you have somthing constructive to say that is unplesent then at least say it politly!

THIS IS A GAME. DONT TAKE IT TO HART. PLAY IT FOR FUN. AND IF YOUR HAVING A BAD DAY THEN PLEASE MASS AWAY BUT DONT BE VULGARE OR RUDE IN THE PROCES.

[Spacey]

what i say to you here is the same as what ud get if i was on the phone or standing infront of you.

WHen I say thins I am not trying to imply anything...

I don't know...you have never me me in person...I think it could go either way...

[Londo Mollari]

the saying goes "you don't miss it till its gone" and i think that holds true

Buck mentioned earlier in this topic that the mods should strike for a day. Somebody else mentioned Valentines day. Go for it! Strike! Then you may see how much people value you and miss your moderating. It'll also show that you do have social lifes etc etc.

IMHO a strike from the mods and an increase in there powers/severity would be the best thing for this slowly rotting forum

[plm2]

if mods had are best interests at heart then they would seek our opinions before they enacted rules. most sections have rules like dont curse but the market has rules that limit what u can name ur post, wat u can sell and cant sell. thats retarded. market rules should be like no spmanning or discussion in threads. dont become a friggin despot. all the other mods do good jobs and i dont have complaints agianst them but i hate nuto vixen. its the black market, not nuto's market. quit messing up our sales.
<modded> <just cause you're sore about what's going on, doesn't give you the right to break the rules.>
go there if u wish to trade resources for $, no moded market thread titles, and most of all no nuto vixen.

also if the mods striked for a week wat would that do? all there would be is a bunch of unclosed threads. woopty doo.

[Spacey]

plm, were you here for the unmoderated section that turned up?

Also, you are entitled to you opinion, but kindly do not slag a mod publicly. If you have a problem please take it up with that mod, or forum admin. It could be interpreted as violating rule 7.

[Theta Sigma]

Dear friends and fellow players,
We are today faced with the prospect of a malignant growth taking over our once happy forums. The cancer of malcontent and decrepit behavior.
It has manifested itself in many forms but the most recent and prominent, and the one I’d like to biopsy and hopefully remove concerns the recent market section changes and the torrent of abuse that Nuto has had to take.

Abuse that she herself gives out in spades? My friend, there is an old saying: "if you can't take the **Filtered**, don't fling it."

If I were you I would simply rejoice that there have been some visible signs of an active moderator, a rarity of late.

Do you perhaps mean besides psi, Buck, Rienna,Teal'auc, REK, (sometimes) shaitain and naqael? yes, a rarity indeed. I can't imagine why we're screaming out for Nuto to be removed with her insistence of throwing abuse at all and sundry for the smallest details

Firstly you, the community whom the forums serve, complained that the Mods weren’t doing enough and the Admin staff agreed. So the Admins, who ultimately control what happens on the forums, did a Mod reshuffle which put a few noses out of join but alas did little to improve the situation. Some Mods went so far as to resign from their positions while a few soldiered on.

Oh yes, and what an improvement it's been. We constantly have mods I know personally breaking down because of the headaches they're given, Nuto appears to have gone on a rampage with her mankillers and is causing a few of those headaches herself, and we have an absentee game admin who's a lot keener on making money out of the game while showing no real interest in looking after his customer base by doing a simple thing like fixing the login procedure and upgrading the interface. If that's your idea of an improvement, I'd hate to see your idea of a fowl up.

One of the most active, widely known and loved Mods was even denied Admin status due to outside interference. Even though his credentials were impeccable, making him perfect for the job, he was looked over. Again.

Which in your opinion would be...?

Now as some have pointed out here and at the bastardised Market Forum, Nuto’s amendments have been major which has led those of you who are seemingly incapable of stringing together a plausible argument to plead your case to take the low path and make a move on her account. Is that how pathetic we have become?
If we can’t articulate, we destroy?

Destroy what little growth there was in a completely strangled in game market? Why the hell not, thought Nuto.

I had hoped that the distance between our apex and nadir was much larger. What a vain man I am.

Been meaning to talk to you about that - there's only one deity in this game and his name's REK.

At least RobinInDaHood steals on principle, now we see people proudly announcing how dubious their character is as if actively seeking adoration and approval for their actions.
I blame the parents.

And I blame the internet for breeding a generation of idiots who can barely spell their own name, unless you consider ebonics or text speech to be real english.

As a bit of supportive evidence, you should vaguely remember Psi being massed due to his apparently overzealous enforcement of the ‘No Signatures or Avatars of a Suggestive Sexual Nature’ rule. For those of you still scratching your heads, in essence the lovely Ms Alba got Psi massed, and he was just following a Forum Rule.

But don't you think going so far as to say "ok chaps, no sexy women in your signature banners" is even further constriction of a game that's already onle kept together because the gamers, funnily enough care less about the game than they do each other?

Naturally in all cases where an/a Admin’s/Mod’s account is attacked due to them doing their jobs, Forum refunds the damages. Some people just can’t distinguish between a personal attack on the forums and a Mod doing the job that we put them into power to do.

Ah yes. Yet another double standard. Thank you for pointing that out. While gamers get two things from having their account hacked: Jack and **Filtered**.

Forum is still Nuto’s Mod-Superior, as are the other Admin staff and the market changes were discussed within this exalted little group as well as Nuto’s peers, the other Mods.

Can your tongue be and browner?

If the Admins and other Mods didn’t allow the changes to happen they simply wouldn’t have taken place. Yet now when people have begun to moan these Mods decide to spring into action and turn on one of their own and use her as a scapegoat. Very reminiscent of a Jewish lad quite a few years back that you may have heard of.

How much is she paying you? I'm selling my principles for money nuto! I'll defend you for a double whopper with cheese!

People in power should be above mob mentality and they should also be virtuous enough not to take advantage of one and use it for their own purposes. This is thrice that I have witnessed the pack tear into a solitary member, and twice has it involved people I care about.

Again. You've got it completely wrong, and you're trying to attack the real good guys of the forum with subterfyge and fancy words; I assure you sir, if called I can fight fire with fire on that level.

To put it bluntly though, you should direct your ill will at those who only recently changed their tune on this topic.

I am.

Where was their apparent steadfast defiance when the changes were first proposed? Why is it that only now they spring into action? Were they on vacation?

No, I'm reasonably sure they have lives outside the internet and are trying to make a living. The fact is that the rules aren't even why Nuto is experiencing something of a dry patch in popularity; her open hostility towards anyone (but apprently you) is why.

Or are they more concerned with their public image that their Modship comes second?

Actually I'm fairly sure a couple of them have been trying their best.

But on a more constructive note, if you’d like to change the market structure, sit down, do up a rough draft and develop a valid argument for why you believe your format should be used. This forum does belong to us, as was pointed out.

Ah yes. excellent suggestion. for a good foru months now, I've seen people complain abot the login protocol and its security and the interface while admin tweaks those things that he feels makes the most money. In fact the last major change that he actually listened to the userbase over, ironically, was the market and look what's happened there; the tweak was actually to the detriment of the game.

And the Mods aren’t the unfeeling stone gargoyles that the rumour mill makes them out to be.

I don't think anyone beside tok'ra suggested they were.

And any two year old can *modded* and moan about a problem when things done go their way, adults actively try to find a solution and move on.
Which category do you fall into?

The latter, I like to think.

Now concerning time, I know Nuto works long hours. From midday till midnight most days, sometime longer and it’s a labour intensive job. By rights the only thing you should expect of her when she arrives home at night is for her to head straight to bed, however she does not.

Ah right, so you're her confidante as well? How very...comfortable and invalidating that statement is towards your impartiality

Nuto drags herself online to perform her Mod duties and other miscellaneous tasks. To be fair Modding isn’t the only thing she does of a night but I’d be lying if I said it didn’t occupy a decent amount of her time which, according to Phil and Steve, should be spent sleeping.

Then for god's sake, let her so we can have a decent moderator who doesn't abuse the userbase appointed.

Alas recently during this period of time she is quite often bombarded with PMs of a vulgar and sick nature.
To quote one of the more colourful ones:
“I bet you take it up the arse.”

Humourous but unnecessary.

As you can tell, that one was probably from one of the creative minds behind the latest season of Big Brother. An insult of that level is often associated with drunken lads at a pub, under no circumstances should a woman ever have to be on the receiving end of that. I was brought up to respect the fairer sex.

At least they didn't type "get yer tits out for the boys"? Jesus guy if a person will go that far in insulting her, doesn't that speak volumes in itself?

One can only wonder what kind of household fostered that.

Ah...more of that Judgemental superiority complex shining through. well done old chap. You've managed to make this entire post condascending, yet not too insulting on a comprehension level to the peons in the group.

Needless to say, it’s not the welcome home message any of us would look forward to and in spite of all that crap and long hours she still wakes up in time for breakfast and fits her real life family and friends into the morning hours before she has to head off to work and again and let the process repeat itself.

I repeat - she should then resign and allow someone else to take the position.

A portion of the people reading this will be workers, myself included, and can thus empathise. While on my University holidays I get up at 6am six days a week and depending on my work roster, I work 9-15 hours a day and often get home at around 11pm. At which point I make myself dinner, clean up and let the dog out to do his business and hop online to catch up with the day’s events, chat and whatever else needs to be done.

This people is where deity simplifies everything and tries to identify with you, while talking down to you, just so you know. Commonly known as going for the sympathy vote.

In the end I usually get to bed at about 2-3am, if I decided to sleep that night, and as per Nuto, repeat come 6am.
I’ve seen what I look like of a morning and I remember all to well how I feel and I wouldn’t wish it on anyone but to support myself I need the money. And I’m not the worst example of the bane that is work. There are many others in similar or worse situations. So before open your mouth and start spitting, think for a second about the day the person on the receiving end of your slander has had.

No? Turn the tables and ask her the same thing. Does she think for a second what effect her torrent of abuse is having? I doubt this.

But worry not for us, rather direct your concern towards those who can seemingly manage to maintain an online presence all day.
What pray tell do these people do for a living?

I work from home writing synopses for the back of DVD covers, lazy **Filtered** that I am.

I apologise to those of you who have legitimate reasons for the copious amounts of time you spend online, such as your job.

Accepted.

But the rest of you, get a *modded* life. Does the mere thought of human interaction repulse you so much? Perhaps your new forum rank should be Andy **Filtered**?

or in my case, misanthrope.

I tell you what, I’m sure you’re aware of the proposed SGW get-togethers that are in the works. Do yourself a favour and attend and see how the other half lives.

There's no way in hell I'm setting foot in liverpool.

If for some reason you can’t attend, grab your mates and go out for the night and enjoy the company of others.

Which I'm sure lots of people do, but thank you for more judging of people's character and broad generalisation. Were you going for the sympathy vote again?

I’m sure your Supers will forgive you. Lads, if you have a better half take her out and make the most of the night. Ladies, if your lad hasn’t done so already this week give him a swift kick in the pills to remind him.
For those of you who mindlessly ramble on about,
‘It’s only a game. There’s a reason there’s a W in SGW. You take it too seriously.’
stop being so damn hypocritical. If you feel you need to justify your actions then you obviously care about it more then you’ll admit.

Of course I do. My community. Online, that is.

Perhaps Forum can put everyone on PPT for Valentines and instead of sitting there watching and waiting for people to come off, spend the time constructively doing what I suggested above.

Alas, my love is away upon business requiring her services.

So Ladies and Gents, how we proceed from here is up to you. We can all focus on having a positive outlook and work towards a better set of forums or we can remain as we are, bitter and resentful.

OR we can continue demanding admin and nuto actually do something to help his userbase instead of alienate it.

And while Nuto has been the poster child for this particular piece of social commentary she is hardly the sole case. The behaviour on the forums of late has been shocking, for want of a better word. People need to separate themselves from their ingame personas and try and get along with one another. Sure you can mass someone, but do it for the right reasons.

because they took your autobot?

Regards,
The Hater of the Pallet

Regards,
The Grand Oral Disseminator

[Emma Desala]

You steal my regards!
And you've made it WAY too long.

Let's summarise your post:

Deity says: "It is like this. Mods are good. You should behave."
iKon says: "It's like that. Mods!? F* them. We need results."

In fact, both can be true.
Nevertheless, you've made it too long. Deities post was long already as it was. Disseminating it, while an interesting effort, is making it even longer.

Still, I like that you used "regards".


Regards,

[Winter Wolf]

Nice mate, that was a bloody good disection of Deity's post

As you can see *stares at post count* I don't post much, but I want to have my opinion on this issue heard.

I agree mostly with Deity, though I agree with Ikon on several points. On the abuse thrown at Nuto and then back at the users, well I believe that both sides are too blame. The users for not showing respect to the mods and the mods for losing their tempers and dishing it out.

I agree with Ikon that there should be steps taken to help the userbase, but this does not involve abuse, or spamming the hell out of the market forums like bryan wanted. Mate, no offence, but thats childish.

I can understand your point of view when it comes to some of the points listed in that other thread. Deleting threads because they wrote Attack Turns instead of AT is a bit drastic

Also Ikon, no need to start accusing my good friend in RL of being judmental and having a superiority complex. I can assure you he does not. Also mate, no need to be hypocritical. Calling Deity a brown noser and then stating "there's only one deity in this game and his name's REK" kinda smells. There is only one Deity, and his name is Deity. Personal attacks never fly with me, no matter who they are from (talking about the brown nosing and character remarks, not the REK part).

In my opinion, I reckon there should be a shakeup of the mods. All of them. Not just Nuto. And then admin should be asked to concentrate on making SGW more enjoyable and less about making money.

Anyway, woot for second post!

[Theta Sigma]

Calling Deity a brown noser and then stating "there's only one deity in this game and his name's REK" kinda smells. There is only one Deity, and his name is Deity. Personal attacks never fly with me, no matter who they are from (talking about the brown nosing and character remarks, not the REK part).

It was an attempt at levity to break a long post, a play on words, if you will

[Teioh]

A Public service announcement followed me home the other day
I paid it nevermind. Go away.
**Filtered** so thick you could stir it with a stick- free Teflon whitewashed presidency
We're sick of being jerked around
Wear that on your sleeve

REM =]