It's been a good ride, but I'm out.

[Falcord]

I wondered for a while if I should write a goodbye message, because I'm not entirely sure of what I might accomplish, but in the end I guess I think it's better to say what I think, with the hope it will be positive.

There's the possibility a moderator will come and delete my thread, but I beg they take this as what it is: constructive criticism. I'm not angry, looking for attention or trying to provoke a reaction. I might as well dissapear without saying anything, but this is a community I actually like and respect so please, don't misunderstand what I'm doing. If you moderators still consider this in any form or shape insulting, or deem it "dangerous" for the community to get involved in a discussion like this, I appeal to your sense of honor and request that, if you're going to close this thread, at least don't delete it: leave it to be seen by everyone so they can have their own opinion.

The reason why I'm leaving is moderation. In my humble opinion this community is moderated too strictly, following abusive and seemingly random guidelines, not always following any specific rules. Because, and it's a good moment to clarify that, I'm the kind of person that reads the rules when joining a forum.

I appreciate that the content in these boards is streamlined and coherently classified. However, it struck me from the very beginning how strict the moderation team was regarding what goes where, to the point of being impolite to posters that where just inches away from writing at the right section.

My first real pet peeve came with the, again in my humble opinion, absolutely unnecessary termination of any thread discussing tiers or comparing the relative effectiveness of any characters from Duodecim. I understand early tier lists are never reliable, and I also understand discussions like those may tend to heat up and become a problem, but why should you close a perfectly normal thread in which people were sharing their opinions and speculation is completely beyond me, specially in a game in which, and sorry if I'm bursting someone's bubble, the competitive scene is minuscule. If you want an example of what I'm talking about, here's one: http://dissidiaforums.com/showthread.php?7271-Duodecim-s-Tier-List-Speculation-Prediction&highlight=tier+list (notice how the thread has a giant "SPECULATION" sign written in it and it gets closed somehow because... because what, again?)

My second issue is hypocrisy. I don't want to be blunt here but the position of the moderation team regarding piracy seems to change a lot depending on who they're dealing with. When the japanese game was leaked, everyone started sharing it like crazy and talking about it, trying to concieve it only barely, and nobody seemed to care much.

Then I got this thread closed: http://dissidiaforums.com/showthread.php?7917-EUR-savedata-for-5.00-M33.6

Okay, let's recap. I've heard a gazillion times in this forum (from the moderation team themselves every now and then) that talking about CFW is okay as long as you're not strictly mentioning piracy. Believe me or not, I'm one of those people that got CFW only because of homebrew applications. I admit I tested the japanese leaked version, but right now I have an original european copy of Dissidia in front of me. That's another story however. The other reason why my thread was closed is that "I was asking for the save before the game was out" when I clearly state "as soon as it's available" which implies that I knew it couldn't be out yet.

In conclusion, I was assumed to be a pirate and a hacker and I didn't really like that. But whatever, I didn't even complain, it wasn't that bad.

I staid, and there were some moderation decissions I also didn't agree with (like another tier speculation thread closed) but I could live with it.

The finishing blow came today, in this thread: http://dissidiaforums.com/showthread.php?8288-I-found-the-way-to-master-the-Chase!

Hello? Do you know what day it is? April 1st.

Even if it weren't April's Fools (anyone that stopped to think a little would've realized that was the entire point of my thread) everyone was having fun in there. It was an innocent joke, Dissidia related, and while it doesn't matter a little bit, with scientific accuracy. It was all fun and games until a moderator had to come and destroy the mood in a way which, in all sincerity, was very disrespectful.

Yes, I honestly don't want to belong to a forum in which an april's fools joke is met like that. I don't want to belong to a forum in which discussions disliked by the moderators are locked, regardless of how constructive and polite they are, and where the gray zone regarding piracy is black for one and white for another.

Again, sorry if anything of this was harsh or disrespectful. If that's the case, I apologize. I took my time to write down and express my opinions coherently, which means I have no intention of discussing them an entering a flame war, so fear not.

On the other hand, it's been a good ride, and I wanted to say thank you and nice to meet you to all the people that deserve it, which honestly is pretty much everyone, including the moderation team. I have no hard feelings towards anyone, I simply think the way this forum is handled should be changed for good. If anyone wants to find me, I'll be at my youtube channel (falcord) as always.

See you!

[Viva L'Empereur]

You're absolutely right. The moderators are completely arbitrary on this forum and the rules are often enforced irregularly or strangely as well. I'm sorry that you're leaving. I almost left because of the same shit, and was likewise nearly involuntarily forced out as well. Everything you said about CFW is true as well, and I'm also kinda one of those people. I usually buy games.

I hope that you just take a break and come back though. It's a shame that moderators and administrators are totally full of themselves and their authority (lol at Beltz closing that chase thread while everybody else just laughed at the joke; somebody's a sour puss), but there's still a pretty good community here.

I can definitely relate to you because I often posted joking remarks and was met with the same kind of dour reaction from seriously rectally pained mods (including the same one). This is a forum for a silly crossover fighting video game, not for the Wall Street Stock Exchange. There is seriously no reason for this "no fun allowed" attitude that prevails among some the higher-ups. I also noticed that the mods seem to have a policy of targeting somebody like snipers once they see them as doing something wrong. After seeing any of your posts about tier speculations they probably were browsing over every single one of your posts to try to discover any kind of wrongdoing that they could get you on.

PROIZVOL!

[Ghurdrich]

I'd like to take this opportunity to point out that instead of letting it build up, there are certain people in the staff who have an open mind and would like very much to hear your criticisms before you do something rash like leave. I dunno. I know I talked to Viva about it. Maybe he can vouch for me, but maybe I didn't do such a good job with it and he can vouch against me. Either way. It's like the court system, there's higher powers for a reason. If you don't like what a moderator does, talk to him. And if you don't like how he took it, talk to someone else. Or talk to a Global like Veysey, or even an admin like Spyder or Mass Zero. Mass may not be the most active, but he still does stuff when he has to. Spyder is more active, and would love your feedback.

Don't get me wrong, I get all your points. I even agree with most of them (The april fools thing was out of line for sure.) I just kind of think it's childish to let it all build up and not tell anybody, and then finally let it all out and leave. I dunno. I guess that's my opinion. But please try and understand that the staff, like the rest of you, are humans. And humans have opinions. And humans do rash things. And they disagree with each other. And most of all they get tired of the same shit time and time again. That tier thread was closed because we have an absolutely abhorrent track record with tier threads in the past. If you had asked, you would have learned that.

Anyways, sorry to see you go, but as a standing lesson to those of us who remain with this problem, Talk to someone.

[Dave880]

Just want to say... each moderator runs things differently so... if there is a problem with one contact the Admins on this site.

[Spyder]

Communication has always been, and will remain, the most important aspect of all societies. It is why we co-exist and form communities. Because of communication. With that said, I do appreciate you coming forth and giving us an opinion on the matter. However, I also think that this criticism was given too late.

All of our moderators are trusted to do the right thing and keep the forums clean. They work very hard and none of them are getting paid to sift through topics and posts to make sure that everything is organized and to keep order in the community. However, there will always be an occasional error on the moderator's part. We are human, after all. Today, especially, with an overabundance of April Fool's jokes, our moderators have to work hard to keep the real information separated from misinformation. A good, harmless joke could accidentally be paired with something that does need to be taken out--like misinformation.

I do not disagree with any of your statements, and I do appreciate you finally voicing this, because it gives everyone a chance to understand the situation better. Without feedback, there's little to improve on for both sides.

At the very least, I'm thrilled you enjoyed conversing with our community. Cheers.

[Luka]

I like how you took your time to type this all out. Of course, any problems, opinion's should be PM-(ed),straight to our MODS or Admin.
First, I thought when you typed out "April Fool's Day" you were gonna stay on the site, of course; you're not. Best wishes to you, and thank you for enjoying your stay.

Goodbye,

[Veysey]

Well written. Thanks for the food for thought and as it's been said before, if you're having problems or have questions, feel free to ask. I know I, personally, am always striving to improve so any and all criticism is good. Others on the staff feel much the same and only want to become better so they can help the community grow.

With tier lists, we've seen trouble in that area before. Things inevitably get heated and members start saying things they ought not to. Also, there is a large gap in understanding and assessing tiers between a lot of the members which further encourages aggression and aggravation (not being able to understand the points someones trying to make because you don't have the experience yet). You add in the fact that in that specific topic, they were basing the information on an incomplete demo, partial character cast, and no PvP - it really was just a bunch of infractions waiting to happen.

Tiers really shouldn't even be discussed at this point since we're all still working around the new meta of DDFF and getting used to the new mechanics. Once players start feeling comfortable, we'll see some really good tier discussions cropping up, I'm sure. Until then, I'd encourage players to spend the idle time learning as much as they can about the mechanics, cast, and other deciding factors. Not to say their shouldn't be tier discussion right now, but most people aren't experienced enough to really contribute at this point (have an informed decision and good backup experience). Remember, the point of a tier list isn't to predict who's top, who's not etc, it's to compare the skills of each character and see who has the tools to best deal with someone else. It's also a snapshot of the current PvP meta at that point in time. In those regards, a lot of consideration, understanding, and hard work go into tier lists - which is why it's so important that people have proper experience before REALLY engaging in a good tier discussion.

As for CFW on PSPs - the problem is, in order to have CFW, you're violating your agreement with Sony to not tamper with their software and hardware. It IS illegal and they COULD pursue legal action against you if they wanted. Of course, they likely wont since you're only one person, but hitting the site as a whole isn't out of the question (attempting to shut down DF). Consider the "no illegal talk" more of a precaution to protect the users, the site, and the administrators. We're not trying to be hardasses in that area and we definitely know most people have access to CFWs BUT it doesn't make it any less illegal.

Finally - and just a side note - I thought the chase topic was enjoyable XD I didn't have time to post this morning when I read it, but I got a good laugh out of it

If there is anything you'd like further clarification on, feel free to ask and we really appreciate the time you took to address your concerns and give us feedback. Thanks a lot! (I really mean this)

[Nevfx]

Just want to say... each moderator runs things differently so... if there is a problem with one contact the Admins on this site.

To be fair though, they shouldnt. It should all be the same, surely?

Otherwise it kinda sends mixed messages, and some people might complain that 'x' mod told them off for this, but when they did it before 'y' mod didnt.

To be honest, im a good boy, and do not get into trouble often, if at all. No that wasnt a dig at anyone, just an observation.

[No78]

I agree! But to be honest, this is one of the best forums I've found in ages. There are way worse ones than this...

I just try not to let it get to me anymore and just try not to take it too seriously...

[Nevfx]

I agree! But to be honest, this is one of the best forums I've found in ages. There are way worse ones than this...

I just try not to let it get to me anymore and just try not to take it too seriously...

Yes, this is one of the better forums out there, but its far from perfect. (Yes, I know you didnt say it was.)

When someone becomes a mod, I dont know HOW it works. Surely they would get a PM with some sort of guideline as how to best go about there new role? I dont think it should, if it is and no im not saying it it, this is just my observation and opinion, be left up to each mod how they run things, it shouldnt be. It should be strict for THEM on how they mod, with the ADmins stepping in if they have been to harsh or to hasty.

[Falcord]

Thanks for your responses. I'm pleasantly surprised with your input, from all of you.

I must admit I'm guilty of what you said: I have an unhealthy obsession that makes me think people simply don't change. That's why in my everyday relationships I keep on building pressure until I say it all suddenly (or breaking up if it's a girl). Some bad experiences have made me believe no matter how comunicative you are, you can't change anyone. I indeed have to work on that.

After reading your responses, I will reflect on how definitive my choice to leave is. Unfortunately, even if I wanted to stay, there are other factors that will keep me away. I'm very busy lately and I don't even touch my PSP, it wouldn't make sense to stick around without anything to contribute.

If I get my personal stuff sorted out and find some time to play again, I'll carefully consider coming back and be more comunicative.

Thank you everyone for accepting my explanation and keeping it constructive.

[Aevitas]

To be fair though, they shouldnt. It should all be the same, surely?

Otherwise it kinda sends mixed messages, and some people might complain that 'x' mod told them off for this, but when they did it before 'y' mod didnt.

In an ideal world, where everyone can understand everyone else perfectly, this would be the case. Unfortunately, everyone (not just mods) interpret the rules in certain ways based entirely on their personality and past experiences and it just can't be helped when differences of opinion arise. And as mentioned before, moderators do make mistakes, or get carried away with certain things.

One example I can think of comes from an old forum I used to be mod for. The global mod would be deleting something like 30-50 spam bots every day on the forums, but once in a while, one of them slips through because he needs to sleep, work, eat, etc. And then some forum members would complain about the 2 or 3 that slipped through and saying stuff like, "Can the moderators do something about all the spam bots posting in the forums?" when they don't see all the hard work done behind the scenes to keep the forums clean.

In this case, there has just been so much activity with the release of Duodecim and all the news and speculation leading up to its release that it's just been really difficult to separate fluff from actual news/information. The mods in charge of that section try their best to make everything easily accessible to everyone, and it's not an easy job. I'm not saying that posting jokes isn't allowed, but I guess if you look at it from the perspective of the moderators who have to sift through literally hundreds of thousands of posts, days like April 1st just makes their job that much more difficult and sometimes may accidentally treat harmless jokes as clutter. ^^; Did I think it was handled properly? No, but I guess I wanted people to also think about the other side of the argument.

[Nevfx]

In an ideal world, where everyone can understand everyone else perfectly, this would be the case. Unfortunately, everyone (not just mods) interpret the rules in certain ways based entirely on their personality and past experiences and it just can't be helped when differences of opinion arise. And as mentioned before, moderators do make mistakes, or get carried away with certain things.

One example I can think of comes from an old forum I used to be mod for. The global mod would be deleting something like 30-50 spam bots every day on the forums, but once in a while, one of them slips through because he needs to sleep, work, eat, etc. And then some forum members would complain about the 2 or 3 that slipped through and saying stuff like, "Can the moderators do something about all the spam bots posting in the forums?" when they don't see all the hard work done behind the scenes to keep the forums clean.

In this case, there has just been so much activity with the release of Duodecim and all the news and speculation leading up to its release that it's just been really difficult to separate fluff from actual news/information. The mods in charge of that section try their best to make everything easily accessible to everyone, and it's not an easy job. I'm not saying that posting jokes isn't allowed, but I guess if you look at it from the perspective of the moderators who have to sift through literally hundreds of thousands of posts, days like April 1st just makes their job that much more difficult and sometimes may accidentally treat harmless jokes as clutter. ^^; Did I think it was handled properly? No, but I guess I wanted people to also think about the other side of the argument.

Im not saying I dont KNOW how they hard they work, I"VE been a mod on forums too, but wht you hve said still doesnt change my point of view.

If the workload is so much, maybe some short term mods are needed to ease the workload? And the stress? Because despite the reasons, it still driven one person to leave and needs to be changed.

[Shiro]

Thanks for your responses. I'm pleasantly surprised with your input, from all of you.

I must admit I'm guilty of what you said: I have an unhealthy obsession that makes me think people simply don't change. That's why in my everyday relationships I keep on building pressure until I say it all suddenly (or breaking up if it's a girl). Some bad experiences have made me believe no matter how comunicative you are, you can't change anyone. I indeed have to work on that.

After reading your responses, I will reflect on how definitive my choice to leave is. Unfortunately, even if I wanted to stay, there are other factors that will keep me away. I'm very busy lately and I don't even touch my PSP, it wouldn't make sense to stick around without anything to contribute.

If I get my personal stuff sorted out and find some time to play again, I'll carefully consider coming back and be more comunicative.

Thank you everyone for accepting my explanation and keeping it constructive.

Ummm...belive it or not I only played DDFF only the ENG prologus...I have the US release and even though I didn't play it one bit I still hang here with people I know and talk about many other subjects...so...Not touching ur PSP as a reason to leave is a big no-no for me.

You can talk with ur buddies about other things right? right?

Aside from that...I've saw the situations you spoke in ur first post...and it's not something surprising...but hey! Even the mods are people...so sometimes they can mistake too and get too serious when is not nedeed...but they learn how to work better if you let them know what they did wrong.

Well...I'm not really into position to give this kind of opinion because I was a mod too on other forums and sometimes I just messed up things....anyway...I'm happy at least that here I didn't mess anything with the mods or my virtual buddies.

The whole point is...give it another shot to our little comunity...says a stranger to you!

[Aryo]

At first I though this thread was going to start a flame war but I am very happy it did not and there was instead in depth discussion about the issues and problems. Everyone has opinions but at the least it seems you starting to talk to each other in a diplomatic fashion.
There are obviously troubles with this forums as there are with any, but talking about them in an open minded and stable manner is how to solve them.

[533787655464]

Not to seem like I'm riding any of the moderators genitals, but I kinda agree with most of them.

The piracy shit is just.... yeah, there is plenty of other forums that can help you with that. If you read the rules, you should know that piracy is frowned upon in threads. And threads that may seem harmless, can grow and unconsciously get out of hand.

The tier list, it's just been released. Tier lists are made with so much discussion, so much experience, so much replays, battles, tournaments etc, that just speculating will get you nowhere. It's like getting a new appliance, say.... a TV. You might just hook it up, watch some quality TV shows, then you start playing around with the buttons, and you discover so much stuff. Pretend the instruction manual was lost when you bought it or something :P That's just me though.

Not sure why you're bitching about the April fools thing though

[Draec Khin]

Glad to see it sorted itself out. The number one thing anyone on this forum or in their life can do is voice themselves and establish a proper channel of communication whenever there is a problem or injustice happening. Some World Wars could have been avoided if people communicated and had an open mind. I think you did the right thing opening a discussion on something you felt was bothering you, and as you can see it paid off and you made a significant contribution in improving others around you as well as attained a deeper understanding of the situation. I would like to note, that from this discussion alone, its responses and my overall track record of this place, mod's here put a significant portion of their life making this place as awesome as it can be. Good work guys and I admire your determinism in keeping this place in one piece.

[Falcord]

Not sure why you're bitching about the April fools thing though

It was sorted out already and TWOxACROSS and I had a very friendly private conversation, but for the sake of understanding the point of my complaints, I'm going to explain the reasons.

The thread has now been unlocked and moved to the spambin, but it was first moved from 012 general to The Void and closed with a comment along the lines of "This was dumb, you shouldn't have posted it".

Then again, TWOxACROSS apologized and undid it, which I'm very grateful for, but I still had to explain it here because otherwise that point in my opening post would make no sense. Anyway, now it's a good example that moderators can listen and change their minds.

[Scott]

The main forum which I visit is a much freer place than the Dissidia Forums, and sometimes, I usually forget that and tend to spin off on tangents. I feel the team on DF, at times, come across with conflicting interests, and personally, it feels like a less effective team as a result, since there's no real united front. Rules seem to be enforced some times, but not others, and I feel perhaps that some actions are taken more out of spite than anything else.

I hope that over time, the Dissidia Forums can flow into a freer community as well, as those types of forums are always really fun.

[Ghurdrich]

It's true that sometimes we do have conflicting interests (Two of us in particular are somewhat notorious for this >.> <.<). However, we're using your ideas and your discussion as a launching point for a lot of potential reform, so we can double back on a lot of our negative points and get a more unified, solid team together. Of course, a lot of it is still in the planning phase, so there isn't much more to say about that, but you might just want to stick around a little longer, Falcord. You might see something you like. (Of course you can't please everyone, so some people might totally disagree with our decisions, and that's fine too.)

Basically what I'm saying, in the end, is that this kind of discussion and communication is something that has been lacking for a while, and because of that, the staff can sometimes fester and get complacent (I can think of a couple of good examples just off the top of my head) and that leads to unrest and disagreements. So I encourage everyone with even small niggling complaints to PM one of the mods who can bring it to the table, or if it's not so sensitive, even post it here in this thread. You'd be surprised how much someone's opinion can do.

[Nevfx]

The main forum which I visit is a much freer place than the Dissidia Forums, and sometimes, I usually forget that and tend to spin off on tangents. I feel the team on DF, at times, come across with conflicting interests, and personally, it feels like a less effective team as a result, since there's no real united front. Rules seem to be enforced some times, but not others, and I feel perhaps that some actions are taken more out of spite than anything else.

I hope that over time, the Dissidia Forums can flow into a freer community as well, as those types of forums are always really fun.

I find myself agreeing with this, just the point I was making earlier.

This is why Mods cannot be allowed to mod how they think it should be done, but there should be very strict guidelines, sent to them by the admins via PM, when they become one.

Otherwise, you have conflicting times when infractions or scoldings are done, and it confuses members who, when put on th spot, are not sure exactly what they can and cant do (obviously only in terms with what might not be mentioned in the Forum Rules of course.)

[Firestorm]

Glad this thread didn't become a flame war, says a lot about the people here :D (I've been on forums where the mods and admins have casually FLAMED THE LEAVING MEMBER INTO OBLIVION BECAUSE THEY HAD AN OPINION *ahem*)

Falcord, I'd like to ask you to stay, because the people here are usually very nice here, and you'll be able to get along with them. I mean, people could have easily chosen to insult you for the first post and chose not to, which shows how open-minded they are. :D Hope you stay (but obviously you're entitled to leave if you still want to.)

[Falcord]

Thank you everyone for asking me to stay, it really cheers me up =)

I insist, however, that I'm very busy so I'm going to take a break nevertheless, which I'll also devote to think about the flaws in my own personality regarding issues like this. It's likely I'll come back later however, at least when I can turn my PSP on every now and then.

[Mass Zero]

Thank you for expressing your concerns, Falcord, it always helps. I hope sometime you'll find your way back here.


This is why Mods cannot be allowed to mod how they think it should be done, but there should be very strict guidelines, sent to them by the admins via PM, when they become one.
Not to worry, there are guidelines and there's a lot of discussion amongst staff on how the way the forums are operated. But like mentioned before, we're only human and we aren't perfect. We sure try our best, though.

As for the discussion about DF not being "free," I can agree with that to a certain extent, since that's mainly my doing. The thing is, aside from this place being a community, it's also a huge source of information, getting close to 30,000 pageviews a day. I've been visiting forums for at least 10 years, as well, have experience with moderation and administration, and I know forums with too much freedom and too little "care" from the staff can tend to get very messy. I don't want that happening, since I want people who are just looking for information to find it, without too much trouble. Nobody's out to stop anyone from having fun, but not every discussion is the place for fun. I hope you can understand that, too. Also, as the one who wrote the main rules, I must say that I don't think they're that strict, at all. That's my opinion, though.

[Kirin]

ok tata bye bye XD

like the introductions thread there should be a leaving thread

[Viva L'Empereur]

Mods that govern least govern best.

[Veysey]

Mods that govern least govern best.

Really now? I would personally feel that that would be a rather bad approach. I prefer to follow the ideology of "Lead by Example" and try to help the community that way.

I don't really agree with what you're saying because as a parent (Parents that govern least govern best) doesn't work at all. Your children become unruly and don't respect the social structures of our society. I try to be as lenient as possible with my kids, but sometimes they DO need a stern hand to guide them in the right direction.

As I've had experience as a project manager (Project managers that govern least govern best) doesn't work at all, either. You will quickly realize that those 7 amazing staff members you have become completely useless when they're unguided and left to their own devices. They procrastinate, do things unrelated to the project, offer help to others, simply don't come to work, etc. In the end, you'd be left with 1 month to completion and a whole lot of stress/quitting.

Heck what about government? Government that governs least governs best? It doesn't work. Our governments tend to do a lot more than what we see and to put things relative to current events - play a very large part on controlling our respective local economies and social structures. If the government did nothing at all, companies who have monopolies would be left to completely gouge customers. If only one company in the world made bread (which is a high demand item) and governments didn't enforce some kind of pricing policy, I guarantee very few people would be able to afford that item. Also, without government influence, thieves, murderers, and other criminals would run rampant. We'd see the fall of society basically.

My point is, we DO need authority to guide us and help us decide what is and isn't acceptable so that everyone's rights, efforts, etc are upheld and that social unit is as fair as possible for as many people as possible. If that structure upsets say 30% of the community, it obviously needs revising since a good amount of people don't find it effective or efficient. BUT if maybe 5% of the people don't agree with it, it's safe to assume that the structure is quite effective and efficient and possibly only needs minor tweaking.

I hope you understand what I'm saying and I sincerely hope that if you're ever looking to "stick it to the man/woman" in your life, you make sure to consider all possible angles and go about it in a civilized fashion. It'll serve you much better in the end.

[533787655464]

Even if moderators are strict.

You can just not get caught.

Don't troll, or just troll in moderation.

*giggle giggle*

[Firestorm]

Thank you for expressing your concerns, Falcord, it always helps. I hope sometime you'll find your way back here.


Not to worry, there are guidelines and there's a lot of discussion amongst staff on how the way the forums are operated. But like mentioned before, we're only human and we aren't perfect. We sure try our best, though.

As for the discussion about DF not being "free," I can agree with that to a certain extent, since that's mainly my doing. The thing is, aside from this place being a community, it's also a huge source of information, getting close to 30,000 pageviews a day. I've been visiting forums for at least 10 years, as well, have experience with moderation and administration, and I know forums with too much freedom and too little "care" from the staff can tend to get very messy. I don't want that happening, since I want people who are just looking for information to find it, without too much trouble. Nobody's out to stop anyone from having fun, but not every discussion is the place for fun. I hope you can understand that, too. Also, as the one who wrote the main rules, I must say that I don't think they're that strict, at all. That's my opinion, though.

At least 10 years in forums, but that would mean you started at the age of 12 at the earliest? rebel.

[Ghurdrich]

At least 10 years in forums, but that would mean you started at the age of 12 at the earliest? rebel.

That's when I started foruming (Even if that forum was Gaia >.>)

[Firestorm]

That's when I started foruming (Even if that forum was Gaia >.>)

oh, breaking the "I am over 13 rule" I see, rebels everywhere....I am joking btw, I started foruming at 12 too

On topic, sorry you chose to leave Falcord, but you're always welcome back :D (unless there's a rollaback and your account is deleted :3)

[533787655464]

My first was in December 2009 Lololol

Anyway, what else is there to discuss in this thread?

Anyone else wanna rant about the way these forums be going about their business? lololol

[Viva L'Empereur]

Really now? I would personally feel that that would be a rather bad approach. I prefer to follow the ideology of "Lead by Example" and try to help the community that way.

I don't really agree with what you're saying because as a parent (Parents that govern least govern best) doesn't work at all. Your children become unruly and don't respect the social structures of our society. I try to be as lenient as possible with my kids, but sometimes they DO need a stern hand to guide them in the right direction.

As I've had experience as a project manager (Project managers that govern least govern best) doesn't work at all, either. You will quickly realize that those 7 amazing staff members you have become completely useless when they're unguided and left to their own devices. They procrastinate, do things unrelated to the project, offer help to others, simply don't come to work, etc. In the end, you'd be left with 1 month to completion and a whole lot of stress/quitting.

Heck what about government? Government that governs least governs best? It doesn't work. Our governments tend to do a lot more than what we see and to put things relative to current events - play a very large part on controlling our respective local economies and social structures. If the government did nothing at all, companies who have monopolies would be left to completely gouge customers. If only one company in the world made bread (which is a high demand item) and governments didn't enforce some kind of pricing policy, I guarantee very few people would be able to afford that item. Also, without government influence, thieves, murderers, and other criminals would run rampant. We'd see the fall of society basically.

My point is, we DO need authority to guide us and help us decide what is and isn't acceptable so that everyone's rights, efforts, etc are upheld and that social unit is as fair as possible for as many people as possible. If that structure upsets say 30% of the community, it obviously needs revising since a good amount of people don't find it effective or efficient. BUT if maybe 5% of the people don't agree with it, it's safe to assume that the structure is quite effective and efficient and possibly only needs minor tweaking.

I hope you understand what I'm saying and I sincerely hope that if you're ever looking to "stick it to the man/woman" in your life, you make sure to consider all possible angles and go about it in a civilized fashion. It'll serve you much better in the end.


You're not a parent of the forum members or a government and all of this just reeks of unwarranted self importance. The Internet isn't something that needs to be regulated excessively. Whether you crack down on somebody won't determine whether they go to college or not, and it won't result in less crime or whatever other nonsense your analogy brought up. So long as the forum runs ok, is organized and people aren't at each other's throats, there's really no need for excessive moderation.

The best mods are the ones that just do things silently here and there to make sure the forum stays in order. Most people on the Internet want to show off though so they talk a lot and try to bring as much attention to their actions as possible. I've been on both sides so I get how things work. I don't really care about "sticking it to the man." That wasn't the point of my comment at all.

Policing threads looking for anything that's even slightly tangential is an example of excessive and unnecessary moderation. Topics, like conversations, are always going to end up in a different place from where they started. Trying to enforce strict on-topic posts is really just a waste of time and energy. Really the same thing is true of threads within boards. if somebody goes and posts "buy cialis for increase penis" in the dissidia board, well yeah, that's something that should be moderated. If somebody makes a somewhat redundant dissidia thread or posts a rant outside of the rage thread though, it's really not the end of the world. That's really what I see as a big problem on this board: All of you take moderation as if it's some kind of job with strict protocol and not the really trivial thing it actually is. I think I posted this before, but this a forum for a silly fanservice video game, not the New York Stock exchange. Things don't need to be anywhere near as serious as some of you make it. The fact that one of you went haywire over a fucking harmless april fool's day thread really shows that something is wrong with the way things work.