Genvid & Dies Gaudii Forums

I've been seeing high levels of dissatisfaction, people leaving, etc. It seems records have gone missing, so I can't quite piece together the whole chain of events. I find this atmosphere most distressing.

And I found it extremely odd that an admin/moderator would call several members "complete idiots".

I hope this thread won't be locked, cauldroned, or even outright deleted - so pls discuss the matter in a serious manner as it deserves, & exercise restraints everyone.

And thus I am restrained

My saying that isn't specifically directed at anyone, nor do I mean there's already been any poster not exercising restraints on this thread - it's just a precautionary call on everyone here.

It's a mass exodus. Of the good members.

(Not that I'm saying that everyone left on the board is a bad member. Not at all. But a lot of your solid members have left.)

Certain mods need to be removed. ASAP.

Trolls are being removed, that's what's happening. After years of mods not really taking administrative action in banning people who deserve it, now it's coming all at once and people are freaking out because they don't like being held accountable.

So long as you follow the forum rules you'll be fine. The people who have been made to leave / have left of their own accord are all in the same little clique who think it's OK to troll, post spam, and generally be a pain in the butt.

Considering most of them rarely ever posted in the Sailor Moon section of a Sailor Moon forum, I really don't see a big loss. I've been getting plenty of PMs from long time users letting me know they appreciate the trolls being banished, because now they can get back to discussing Sailor Moon without worrying about being mocked for it.

And I've been seeing that the forum has been dead lately. 1 post on in the Off Topic forum between the hours of 7:30-9:45pm last night?

Just sayin'.

I guess when you remove the people who post literally 10k times in the span of a few months, that happens. Just because the pace is slower in certain sub sections does not mean the entire forum is dead.

Also, five people leaving in a forum of thousands does not a "mass exodus" make.

It does when the five members make up the majority of entertaining comments/topics around here. Others wonder where they've gone and follow.

If you consider the same five people posting spam over and over as "the majority", then I guess so. *shrug*

You don't have to like me as a mod, but I assure you I'm not going anywhere. The mods are all in agreement about the recent bans of the three members involved. Just FYI.

I was going to start a thread just like this one, so I'm glad that someone else did it for me, lawl.

The place isn't dead. This is a Sailor Moon forum and the Sailor Moon part of it is still as lively as ever, especially with the manga being re-released (and all of the appreciation, critiques, etc. that go along with it). Did someone above seriously complain that the off-topic section only got 1 post within the span of a few hours ON A FRIDAY NIGHT?

When I first started posting here, I was a bit afraid of things/people because I was intimidated by this "Team Quality." But when I saw their posts, I didn't see quality -- I just saw a bunch of self-important people ganging up on others and then blaming it on the victim for being stupid, etc. When the mods decided to create rules that included not calling people out for stupidity, etc. in public, these people freaked out, because that's what their livelihood is based on -- mocking people for saying stupid things. They forgot that you should just report a post and let the mods deal with it.

As entertained as I was by the constant Spider-Man images, I did feel that they constituted as spam. Once they were posted, people would just flood a thread posting silly pictures instead of actually trying to have a discussion, or instead of ignoring/reporting a troll.

My god, I mean I know Team Quality has/had good intentions, but their methods were like trying to put out a forest fire with a bunch of napalm.

I honestly believe that while people like Nangbaby and Boon were banned for good reasons, they wouldn't have been pushed to their limits if it weren't for certain people egging them on and knowingly pissing them off. Instead of people cooperating and trying to talk to each other, you had a group of self-important people trying to cause drama wherever it happened.

I'm a little bit afraid to write this even now because I'm somewhat nervous about what they're going to say about me on that Wiki of theirs (if they even deem me important enough to write about), but it's really just my opinion and I think that the Team Quality people, while full of intelligent and fun individuals, really needs to shape up and set examples for some REAL quality.

You know, I found the wiki to be rather polarizing. Suddenly everyone on the forum is divided onto teams based on the opinions of three people, and of course they're on what they call "Team Quality." It just reeked of smugness and implied that everyone who wasn't approved to be on their team wasn't a quality poster. What was the purpose of that? It seemed like it was a ticking time bomb before someone who wasn't deemed part of "Team Quality" got offended and caused a fuss about it, and it wasn't fair that a small group of people got to decide who and who wasn't a quality poster on this forum when several of their posts were spammish in nature anyway.

It sucks that people are leaving because of this, but that's their problem. I was considering leaving the forum for a long time because of the state of things before the mods stepped it up. Call it fascist or whatever you want, but I don't want to go onto a Sailor Moon forum and see threads full of Spider-Man macros or whatever in response to a post. This isn't 4chan. It can get annoying to go read a thread and watch it go so far off-topic that it doesn't resemble the original posts anymore, especially when it has nothing to do with Sailor Moon. The whole BoondocksMoon thing wouldn't have escalated to the point it did if certain members didn't constantly bait her and respond to her posts every time she created a new account -- and yes, I responded once, but I was trying to be helpful. I wasn't calling her names or telling her to go away. If people had left her alone, it wouldn't have become such a big deal.

Honestly, if people think this forum is "fascist" now, go try posting at SomethingAwful or something. You'll get probated for something as small as not using capital letters or punctuation. Compared to things like that, the rules here are pretty easy to abide by.

Well, at least I'm still here. ":D"

I definitely noticed the forum going sooo much slooower when I returned a few days ago. And what sucks is that I'm still going on my runthrough so I cannot join conversation on the Sailor Moon section.

I think it depends on where you're looking. The general Sailor Moon section seems pretty lively as ever, and hey, your run-through of the series has something to do with that. The fandom section has been seeing people starting up their own Sailor Moon-related projects. I don't go to the fanart section too much so I can't say. If anything, the off-topic area is a bit slower than usual, but I'd say that's because it really devolved into a drama-llama section, and now that that's been taken care of, people don't know what to do with it.

Not to mention, people kind of have lives? I mean, I sort of don't understand why it's crazy to think that ONE new post in ONE section of the forum between like two and a half hours on a FRIDAY NIGHT means that the forum is dead.

Sailor Moon may be experiencing a revival, but it's not a new, contemporary fandom. It's up to us to keep things alive and well, and this board is going through some good changes, so it's natural that while we struggle to understand our new (old?) identity, things are going to be in flux a little bit. That doesn't mean it's "dead."

(Most of that wasn't aimed at you, Goten, so don't worry about it, lol.)



I feel the same way about TQ and the "teams" they created on that Wiki of theirs. They kept saying, "Oh no, this is our own thing, the forum is separate," but that just seemed like a load of BS to me. Not to sound like Nangbaby, but she had a point about one thing: when you're in a position of influence, it's easy to manipulate things to your liking. Some of the more vocal TQ members carried that "team" mentality with them in their posts. It felt very "us against them" at times. Not that they ever targeted me or anything, but they didn't have to. They always came across as rude and disparaging. Sure, they would say "This person deserved it," or "They had it coming," but that way of thinking is just....silly, I think. Their defenses consisted of, "Well the world isn't a nice place so I don't have to be nice." That's such BS. That's a very convenient excuse for not acting like a decent human being.

I guess I'm getting a bit disparaging right now, so I should probably step back and apologize. I know that lots of the TQ members are still here, and I really don't dislike most of them (for example, people like Gojira and Maria). But I agree. It's not "fascist" or whatever that a forum has rules requiring people to at least be polite. That's a standard forum thing, at least at the good places.

I beg to interrupt all this wonderful nonsense, but could someone explain what's the "Team Quality"-thing about?

Well, I was gonna link you to the wiki article but it looks like the whole wiki's been deleted.

Basically the banned members in question came up with teams on the wiki to divide the forum members. Team Quality consisted of Roman, Nevermind, Maria, emily, and a few others. The article basically said they were the top-notch posters and their posts were high quality. I don't call Spider-Man macros quality posting, but whatever. The thread about forming the wiki goes into it a little more. They would publicly "invite" people to be part of Team Quality, which made it seem like a super-special clubhouse to me. Basically it just gave people a title, but they would praise each other in their posts and always bring up "Team Quality" on the forum.

... l o l

Isn't it interesting what's happened here in my near month absence. What goes around comes around, know what I'm sayin'... I kind of saw it coming long ago but I never actually thought it would follow through.

^








Well, some things supposedly happened outside the forum, so I don't think many know too... At least I didn't understand some bans.



Not teams, I just recall there being a only one Team, and it was the Quality one. The other ones I didn't see them as teams. Maybe more as groups? You know, artists, people more active in the battledome, etc etc...
I always thought it was for fun and didn't take it that seriously.

Regardless, I found it to be divisive and kinda....elitist? Like, it's not their job to decide who's a regular and who's still a newbie. And sure, it looked like it was for fun, but some of the things they wrote about people were just trashy.

One of their guidelines for being "invited" into TQ was "don't be terrible," which implies that everyone else who's not a TQ member is terrible. That's elitist and not true at all, and I don't like it.

I had no idea of the occurrence of this "TQ" thing. What is up with that? So basically they think they're superior to everyone else, or what? Confusion.

I was more talking about the other groups in my post.
But sure, the Team Quality thing sounded elitist alright. Still there are good people there.

Besides, I think that the Newbie and Regular lists weren't updated that much. Anyone could add or delete their name if they didn't want, since it was free for editing (without the Team Quality page I guess).

I myself hardly looked at those two lists, only the perv list (which I made ).



Maybe some of them did, can't speak for all though. I know some didn't.

It's not your job to call people out. That's what the "report" button is for. You report posts and mods will deal with it. You do not feed the trolls.

Like I said before, Nang did act foolish and she got banned for it, but when I saw her posts, she was always at the very least respectful. It was only after people egged her on and disparaged HER that she got out of control.

Anyway, I'm not saying it's bad to point out people's foolish behavior. I'm saying there's a better way to do it, and TQ's method wasn't of good "quality." It was shallow and fickle and just as foolish as the ones they (you?) mock.

You're quoting Ayn Rand which is a totally different philosophy from my own so I'm not even gonna touch that. But you seem to be thinking in black-and-white terms here, when I never said I'm "against calling out someone for stupid ideas." Constructive criticism is a good thing. But you don't descend to someone else's level just to prove a point.

I don't have willpower to deal with conflict? I think I have more willpower to deal with conflict than many of the banned TQ members, and I feel like people here would agree with me on that at least. I certainly have more patience. Hell, I've really disagreed with Elly plenty of times, on some really pivotal things, but when you're in that kind of conflict with someone, it's important to be polite, respectful, and ALWAYS try to work things out, even when you don't agree. I've found that the "moral courage" you speak of isn't what you think it is; rather, it's been stirring the pot and ADDING to the mess. Like I said before, it was like trying to fix a forest fire with napalm.

I can deal with conflict. I don't like it, but I can do it. The way I deal with conflict is inherently different from the way you and TQ seem to handle conflict, and it's not better or worse, it's just different. I don't think I'm better than you guys.

Yes, I agree that foolishness should be dealt with. But having the members deal with it the way TQ did, it turned the board into a somewhat hostile environment. I think Minako fan is pretty trollish, for example, but I'm not about to spout off on why I think s/he should stop making those random threads. It's for the mods to do that.

And no one's saying you CAN'T do what you and TQ are famous for. The mods are saying to keep it to private messages. Is that so hard?

Edit: No, you guys were never cruel to the people who weren't TQ members. Sorry if you got that impression from my post. But the whole "doing something great" thing? In TQ's perspective, doing something great = publicly calling out someone and ripping them a new one. Even if said person really does deserve it, for some reason that just doesn't settle well with me.

This.

The sheer competence of the staff here is utterly laughable at best.

The staff has been letting things slide for a long time, if I'm getting my history right. Now they're finally doing their jobs. Good for them.

Edit: Anyway, that's actually the only thing that bugs me. =/ It's okay to have different philosophies about things, but for some reason, Maria, I really didn't like that you said I don't have the willpower to handle conflict. I disagree with that completely, and I hope I can show you in the future that I can indeed deal with conflict efficiently and effectively, if you're going to be sticking around.

First of all, I feel that Roman & Nevermind should be unbanned. I never found any of their posts to be offensive. They could be blunt and they could both post a lot of images, but I frankly found myself either laughing at their posts, or, at the very minimum, agreeing with them. I found them to be entertaining. That's probably why I post on their forum now.




Sweet Baby Jeebus (SBJ). There's a way to handle this and there's the way it was handled. A moderator calling them idiots was inappropriate. A moderator calling them trolls simply because they only posted in a couple of areas of the site was also inappropriate. This might be a news flash, but the majority of frequent posters here are trolls. I'm a troll too - look at how often I post on the Yaoi thread. Using this particular moderator's logic, I guess I'm an idiot too.

As has been said in many a fable, you don't feed trolls. Don't like their posts? Ignore them. It's just like the real world - you don't talk to people you don't enjoy in your free time, do you? Use the same logic, people. SBJ.

You're welcome to your opinion, Cutiebunny, but those two will not be unbanned.

The fact of the matter is that since they joined, their antics have driven away a considerable sum of members who wanted nothing more than to talk about Sailor Moon without being harassed or ridiculed for it. What is left after so many people (especially old timers like Dosei no Senshi, Kerochan no Miko, etc) - have flounced are trolls. And why did people leave? Because they got fed up with mods not taking any action against harassers, stalkers, and trolls. Frankly I'm ashamed that I ended up being the one to ban Confederate666; it should have been done once and for all YEARS ago.

I enjoyed Roman55's spiderman macros from time to time, although they were off-topic and can be considered spam. The bottom line is that he was warned FIVE TIMES by three different mods for trolling and flaming people. The forum rules are in place for a reason. This forum is about Sailor Moon, not drama. Just because it has recently become inundated with wank doesn't mean it ought to stay that way forever.

You are welcome to think that my actions as admin here are inappropriate. I won't deny that calling someone an idiot is rude. But so is calling someone a fascist, a cunt, a Nazi (especially to a Jew), a bitch, etc.

Applying your own logic, shouldn't someone be able to handle what they dish out?

In any case, it's not up to you or any other regular member here to decide what administrative actions are appropriate given that no regular member really knows what's going on behind the scenes the way the mods do. Never mind the fact that neither of these users even wants to return to these forums. What exactly are you crusading for? For me to be de-modded? Because I assure you that is never going to happen.

I really enjoy the new direction of the forums. I may not post often, or check often...but over time...i noticed things that should have been dealt with YEARS ago (like Elly said: Confederate!) and i am glad mods are now stepping up...

and while i am fairly new to the whole TQ thing (getting most of my info from what i just read in the previous posts)...i agree that it's rude to call someone out publicly for their stupidity. Just like in real life, if you have an issue with someone..you take it up with them privately...you don't stand in a crowded super market and tell the lady "hey! your kids are running a muck and you are a horrible parent for letting them do that!"...instead...you may speak to the lady privately...

the only thing i seem to agree on with TQ is "calling people out for their stupidity" BUT...i believe in doing it tastefully via private message. Is that so hard? Keep the threads nice and polite. Remember what Thumper said in the disney movie Bambi:

"If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all"

and TBH, i think thats how the forum SHOULD be...i am not saying you have to be nice with flowers and rainbows ALL the time..because everyone has differing opinions but if you know the first thing you are going to type out is going to be mean...then just zip it. it's not worth it. Yes, some of the banned members have posted things that were entertaining...but being that i am a member who HARDLY comes here...when ever i would read their posts...my first impression was a negative one....it made me go "really?? really?!?!" and posts like that weren't necessary. or at least they could have been worded differently because:

.said members who were banned...may have had VALID points when posting...but a philosophy i live by is "It's not a matter of WHAT you say...but how you say/type it..." I could give examples by what i mean..but i think we all understand...

and the last thing is something one of my college professors once told the class: "You don't have to like someone, but you need to respect them"

edit: and something i don't agree with is people who think that ONE post in the span of a few hours on a friday night = "dead forum"...the mentality that a forum needs to have SEVERAL posts an hour in order to be busy...is silly. People have lives, bills to pay, groceries to buy, school to attend to. Myself...if i wasn't broke..i'd be out with my friends tonight at the night club dancing.

People will post when they post...until then...there are tons of things you can do to abide your time If you get bored because you only find one NEW post...then get up and read a book, go for a walk, play a board game with someone, write someone a letter (omg!! rermember stamps?! and envelopes!!), watch a movie, bake, cook, draw, decorate, listen to music, clean your bedroom, go to a museum, find a park and play on the playground again, go for a scenic drive with the windows/top down, find an old electronic device and attack it with a screw driver to see how it works, learn a new language, discover something new...